STUDENT LOANS THE DEBT THAT WON'T GO AWAY; 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF MEDGAR EVERS ASSASSINATION & HISTORY REVISTED -BOOKER T. WASHINGTON & JULIUS ROSENWALD SCHOOLS

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By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All: 

I'm forwarding this to you from brother Munsup Seoh.  You know what they say "sharing is caring."  I'm a history buff, and believe you can never know enough about Black history - particularly since the meanstream spends so much time either hiding it from us, or distorting it.  This is fascinating information and vital to us all.  Not only is there practical information in reference to our educational future via the Student Loan Debacle; but I did not realize that this was the 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF MEDGAR EVERS - something the college should be aware of and recognizing as they go through the travesty of getting rid of a negro who was hired to be president to destroy the College named after him in Brooklyn, NY, and deprive Black students of a quality education. 

Also, I had heard of the great Julius Rosenwald, but did not know about the schools he and Booker T. Washington established as a joint effort to bring quality education to the Black community.  Something we need now more than ever. 

The first piece requires ACTION on our part in making sure the Vampires of the rep-ugh-blican party don't double interest rates and cause even more debt for struggling students; the second requires COMMEMORATION AND APPRECIATION for the bravery on the part of Medgar Evers, who had to know that he was a marked man in the racist state of Mississippi; and the third requires REFLECTION (and maybe ACTION, too).   Why don't we have Black academies today - quality schools to educate our youth the way New York Jews have Yeshivas and Japanese have Saturday Schools? We spend so much time begging others to provide our youth with an education that we ourselves can and should be providing.  That was the very essence of our late brother Jitu Weusi's Uhuru Sasa Shule in Brooklyn.  

There are so many things that we are capable of accomplishing and must accomplish if we are to continue to be viable in the future; we need to be about it.  We have trail blazers who have left big foot prints to follow - this is the way, walk ye in it.  

Now that you know, what will you do?

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
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From: khalfani718
Subject: Your student loan isn’t really a loan

WEDNESDAY, JUN 5, 2013 06:45 AM CDTYour student loan isn’t really a loan
You can't refinance, or get rid of the debt through bankruptcy. Here's how it's even more of a sham than you knowBY DAVID DAYEN

(Credit: hxdbzxy via Shutterstock/Salon)

It’s becoming an annual ritual. Every June, Congress debates what to do about the interest rate on federally subsidized student loans, to avert what this year will be the imminent doubling from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. But interest rates alone don’t tell the whole story.

At a time when overall student debt approaches $1 trillion, the facts reveal that student loans aren’t loans, not in the traditional sense. They exhibit none of the qualities of modern consumer financial instruments, and are often sold under false pretenses, with the promise of a lifelong benefit that never materializes. We need to change how these loans work and have a broader conversation about what we should be doing — including bankruptcy and refinancing — to help future generations obtain a quality, affordable education, which is critical to our economic future.

The roughly two-thirds of U.S. students who take out loans to finance their college education can end up in a situation most resembling the historical concept of indenture. In medieval times, peasants would sign deeds to work land, which would then get cut in a jagged line (looking like teeth, or “dentures”). Each party would get half, and rejoining them would prove the authenticity of the contract. Colonial indentures would trade years of labor for the opportunity of transportation to the New World. The indentured could not alter the terms of the contract, no matter their circumstances. One way or another, the debt would get paid.

This is basically how student loans work. A college student might remember freshman orientation, when an instructor told them to look to their left and right, explaining, “One of you won’t graduate.” But student loans aren’t extinguished for those who don’t finish college; instead, the debt becomes a burdensome reminder of this early mistake in life. This is also true for students snookered into matriculating at sketchy for-profit colleges, which offer almost no marketable skills or career preparedness to justify the cost. And it further describes recent college graduates who, through an accident of timing, entered the real world during the Great Recession and its aftermath, finding it difficult to obtain work in their field of study.

Due to these combined factors, delinquency rates for student loans – unlike auto, credit card or even mortgage debt – have risen the past two years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. But student debt is something you carry for the rest of your life. It’snearly impossible to refinance student loans, despite the current low-rate environment, primarily because of the high credit risk and lack of collateral. And unlike most other loans, you cannot get rid of student debt through bankruptcy.

This happened almost by accident. Before 1976, student debt was treated the same as any other in the bankruptcy process. Amid rising default rates – yes, even back then – Congress got it in its head that people were ripping off the government for a free education and then shedding the loans (a couple of well-placed stories about doctors declaring bankruptcy after graduating from medical school added to the panic). In an effort to stop this, Congress passed a law permitting students only to discharge loans in bankruptcy five years after origination, unless they demonstrated undue hardship.

In 1990 the five-year rule was extended to seven years, and then in 1998 Congress dropped that requirement altogether, making undue hardship the only way to discharge student loans in bankruptcy. And undue hardship is a very large chore to prove, according to Bob Lawless, law professor at the University of Illinois. “The courts require proof of an inability to get by without a modification,” Lawless told Salon. “They’re reluctant to allow a discharge if someone just has a lower-paying job and can’t afford the payment.” So the bankruptcy law has become harsher at the same time that college tuition has ballooned, increasing demand for student loans. As then-law professor Elizabeth Warren said in 2007, “Why should students who are trying to finance an education be treated more harshly than someone … who racked up tens of thousands of dollars gambling?”

In addition to having no escape from their loans, students must deal with aggressive creditors that can get to virtually any income source to secure payment – paychecks and tax refunds included. The Department of Education uses an “army of private debt collectors,”some of the most notorious financial operators out there, to intimidate and harass student borrowers. These collectors earned $1 billion in commissions from taxpayers in 2011. They get paid bonuses for extracting higher payments, and they can also rack up additional feesvirtually endlessly. That’s because student debt has no statute of limitations on collectors, unlike most other forms of debt. The government can even collect student loan paymentsfrom Social Security checks, thanks to a 1996 law (this is not theoretical, as growing numbers of seniors are entering retirement with student debt).

So, through a series of bad laws, student debt has become an inescapable trap, a terrible burden on those whose higher education dreams don’t pan out, and a significant burden even on successful graduates. Loan debt now averages $26,000 per student, up 40 percent in seven years, with significant chunks owing $50,000 or $100,000. Princeton professor Jesse Rothstein argued in a recent working paper that graduates burdened by debt will choose higher-paying jobs to pay off the loans, draining the talent pool for lower-paid, but critical, “public interest” job sectors like education, government or nonprofits. This further erodes the nation’s seed corn and funnels the best and brightest into the financial industry or other higher-paying power centers, reducing entrepreneurship in the bargain. Student debtors also put off major purchases like houses or cars, and the Federal Reserve believesthis is having a serious negative effect on our economy.

How do we quit loading up 18-year-olds with a risky gamble that could impact the rest of their lives? It will take more than just a low interest rate, though a variable rate that changes over time (the House Republican plan) or one that isn’t capped (the Obama administration plan) will just make things worse. Obviously a lower rate translates into lower payments, but it’s time to dismantle the treatment afforded student loans, and to eliminate the extreme dependence on them.

The National Consumer Law Center believes debt collection takes too much precedence over counseling, deferment and debt consolidation plans. Student debt collections need a reasonable statute of limitations, with a safety net prioritized over endless harassment.

Help may come in the form of new administration programs for income-based repayment(IBR). Under this program, low-income borrowers can cap payments at no more than 10 percent of their income over a 20-year period; any remaining debt is subsequently forgiven. Depending on changing circumstances, however, locking into IBR for 20 years could lead to paying more than the loan is worth. Rep. Karen Bass has a bill reducing the IBR time to 10 years. That bill also extends deferment to unemployed borrowers interest-free.

Income-based repayment is mostly forward-looking, however, and students already saddled with debt need help. Students currently paying high interest rates should be able to refinance, and reap the rewards of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing that asset-holders have enjoyed for so long. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s bill would mandate refinancingon all federal student loans into fixed 4 percent loans, which would benefit 90 percent of all current loans, and save 37 million borrowers around $14.5 billion in the first year alone. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a similar refinancing scheme for private student loans, which the government backstops anyway. The president constantly talks up the glories of refinancing for homeowners to reduce payments; students deserve the same lifeline.

The government must crack down on for-profit colleges, the place from which over half of student loan defaults emerge. The Obama administration tried to cut off these colleges from eligibility for federal student aid if they didn’t meet certain criteria for getting their graduates gainfully employed and out of default. Unfortunately, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appealsstruck down the rules. Congress could codify them into law, and it would definitely benefit students if they did. Otherwise, helping students pay for loans represents a huge subsidy to these unworthy for-profit college administrators.

The principle that bankrupt individuals should get a second chance at a fresh start has been established for hundreds of years; there’s no reason for student loans to be exempt. Law professor Bob Lawless believes that returning to the 1976-era treatment of student debt in bankruptcy, or even with a five-year waiting period to deal with the moral hazard issue, could put downward pressure on the cost of college. “Lenders and schools aren’t bearing the financial costs of the bankruptcy laws, students are,” Lawless told Salon. If lenders had skin in the game on student debt, they might force schools to deliver a better product and ensure their income streams.

Ultimately, keeping college affordable is the answer. Costs are far outpacing inflation, and even fallbacks for lower-income students like community colleges have seen a dramatic loss of government funding support. Reducing student debt goes hand-in-hand with reducing theneed for student loans. At $50,000 a year, the wage premium that college graduates get over their peers is almost not worth the pain and stress of overwhelming debt. And that exacerbates inequality, as economist Joseph Stiglitz points out. The wealthiest opt out of the student debt cycle, while the rest have to gamble with huge financial burdens in the hopes that they graduate and succeed.

You can make the argument that rising borrowing has exacerbated college cost escalation, with no improvement in the finished product. This entire system must be overhauled. Otherwise, it will continue to damage our economy by indenturing talented students, our greatest renewable resource.

David Dayen is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA. Follow him on Twitter at @ddayen.

From: Jerome Reide
Subject: Medgar Evers Church Bulletin Insert and Litany, Membership Application, Tracking Sheet

From: River Road African American Museum
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 5:09 PM

Subject: Reminder: Remembering Louisiana Rosenwald Schools - June 8th, 2013

Remembering Louisiana Rosenwald Schools Click here to make a donation if you are unavailable to attend For more information contact: River Road African American Museum   kathe@aamuseum.org (225)474-5553

Write President Obama to Protect UN Ambassador Susan Rice from Racist Republicans

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By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Well, the Eagles have won the election, but the turkeys and buzzards are already circling to try to thwart the progress that has been made.  According to the communique below from the CEO of the International Association for Women of Color Day, Susan Brooks, 97 racist Rep-ugh-blicans have written a letter to President Obama claiming that UN Ambassador Susan Rice is unfit to assume the role of Secretary of State when Hillary Clinton vacates the post. 

Of course, intelligent minds know that anything, or anyone, the Rep-ugh-blicans don't like must be good.  Or they wouldn't be against them.  What a great endorsement for Ambassador Rice!!!

I'm  supporting Susan Rice and think she would make an excellent Secretary of State.  So I'm posting the articles on my blog and circulating it to you, as well, to write letters of support - as they have done - to President Obama endorsing Ms. Rice for the position.  We have proven that our voices and our votes make a difference; we've stood together in the re-election of President Obama, we've sent some 49 newly elected Democrats to Washington, DC. 

We have the momentum of victory moving us forward, we have the proof that united we stand and we make things - great things - happen.  It is absolutely imperative that we maintain the same momentum.  Please make sure you circulate this to your friends, associates, relatives, and urge the to write President Obama as well.
Our TeamWork makes the Dream Work.

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

The letter from Susan Brooks follows below:

97 House Republicans wrote President Obama that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is unfit to be Secretary of State. 94% of Black Women voted for Obama.
Please read the article below and help rally millions of African American women to stop the racism plus sexism being hurled without reason against Susan Rice. Here is another blatant example that despite overwhelming participation as voters--the highest voting group for any candidate--yet until now it has benefitted others and not African American and other women of color. In the entire history of this country, women of color have been on the bottom of the country--the poorest, the most abused, the most excluded--and it is continuing. Today is the day for all of us, African American women, Latinas, Asian American women, Native American women, Pacific Island women and all those men of color and White women and White men who stand with us, recognizing that only women of color experience both racism and sexism. If we don't take a massive stand now, we will not have the opportunity later. It has taken 236 years to get to this point--the possibility of a woman of color, an African American woman who is not the token that the 97 Republicans want. Yes, Condeleeza Rice was Secretary of State under President Bush. She is educated and intelligent but minimized the racism in her own life and remains unknown to the majority of women of color because she was never our ally or champion.

Now we are at a moment in history in which we, women of color, along with our true allies, can trump the pressure of 97 Republicans because of the 94%  of African American women who voted for Obama--more than any other group (87% of African American men voted for Obama.) Our voices will count as much as our votes, if we speak out now. We must end the practice of taking our votes, our support, our money, our volunteer service and being given nothing in return that speaks directly to our most unique experience, the experience of racism plus sexism.
This year during the presidential campaign, I wrote and called numerous candidates and political party representatives. Many others did the same. Neither Democrats nor Republicans had a single person willing to say the words "women of color" followed by the expression "racism plus sexism." As long as that condition continues, we will make no progress on anything else. With all the celebration of 4 new women senators, the fact that none were women of color was unmentioned. Only one African American woman (she was also the only woman of color ever in the Senate) served a single term in the US Senate in the entire history of this country. We are grossly underrepresented in the House of Representatives and not yet in every state legislature. We are without enough representation in the government at all levels with the result that we remain virtually enslaved. No slave owner, no overseer in the service of slavery, ever gave up their privileges, including life-death power over us without a struggle.
No other people walk in our shoes. No one will save us if we don't save ourselves.No one who doesn't stand with us is our friend or ally. For these reasons, I am forwarding this letter to President Obama and to 100 other people tonight. If each of those people would do the same, across the country in every state, we would stop the efforts of too many Republicans to block access of women of color, as they have been committed to do against Obama. The irrationality of their efforts has led to people in 30 states filing lawsuits enabling their states to secede from the United States. When we stand up for Susan Rice, we will also have the strength to stop the starving of our people through reductions in food stamps and school lunches. We will also have the strength to stop the wars and the attacks on Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid and bring about jobs, education and services for all of the people of this country as we begin eclipsing the domination of the country by White males with the inevitable increases in diverse groups, making this country multicultural in fact. It is no longer just a concept. It is an idea whose time has come.
Suzanne Brooks, CEO
International Association for Women of Color Day 
http://www.womenofcolorday.com

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WASHINGTON -- A group of 97 House Republicans sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Monday, saying that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice misled the nation about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, making her unfit to be a candidate to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. { Note: Susan Rice had no responsibility related to the events in Libya. She only answered questions in a manner consistent with the official information provided to here}
The letter, organized by South Carolina freshman Jeff Duncan, said Rice's "misleading statements" about the attack that led to the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans "caused irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world.
It was the latest GOP effort to single out Rice for the mixed signals sent out by the administration in the immediate aftermath of the September attack in Benghazi.
Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have led criticism in the Senate, saying Rice is unqualified and untrustworthy and promising to block her nomination if Obama picks her to take over the State Department after Clinton steps down.
Obama responded last week at a news conference, saying McCain and Graham should "go after me" if they want to criticize administration actions. He said Rice had nothing to do with the Benghazi affair and "to besmirch her reputation is outrageous."
On Friday a dozen Democratic female members of the House also came to Rice's defense, saying the criticisms of her smacked of sexism and racism.
Rice became a target when she went on the Sunday talk shows five days after the attack on the Benghazi diplomatic mission on Sept. 11 and said that, from the best information she had at the time, the attack was a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Muslim video and not a premeditated attack. That assessment later proved to be incorrect.
Rice, the House Republicans said in their letter, "is widely viewed as having either willfully or incompetently misled the American public in the Benghazi matter." As a result, they said, "we believe that making her the face of U.S. foreign policy in your second term would greatly undermine your desire to improve U.S. relations with the world and continue to build trust with the American people."
Clinton has not formally announced when she is leaving her post and Obama has not said who might succeed her, although Rice has often been named as a leading candidate. Senior-level positions must be confirmed by the Senate." ###

Please pass this information on - circulate it nationally and locally to make sure that we don't allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security.  As we all know, we can't leave any gaps in our vigilance - you leave one crack open, the Rep-ugh-blicans have a way of oozing their way in and taking over.  We now know that we have stay alert, involved and empowered.

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

 

 

Message to White People from Andrew M. Manis: When Are WE Going to Get Over It?

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Hello All:
Just received this piece from one of my Lincoln U Classmates, and thought it would be an interesting read and share piece.  It was originally written by Mr. Andrew M. Manis in 2008; but has been re-circulated by the author as a wake up call to his fellow Caucasians.
Read, share, respond
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Subject: Read what a white reporter wrote in a Georgia newspaper VERY INTERESTING, PLEASE READ TO END. "Without Love There Is No Life, Without Life There Is No Love"   This is a MUST read which resonates with at least 90% of the world.  Please, please pass this one on, even if you have to print it and mail it to your "computer challenged" friends and relatives.  Don't forget  your Caucasian friends and "relatives".  Read what a white reporter wrote in a Georgia newspaper. Andrew M. Manis is associate professor of history at Macon State..".John Dawkins

Andrew M. Manis: When Are WE Going to Get Over It?
For much of the last forty years, ever since America "fixed" its race   problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have been impatient with African Americans who continued to blame race for their difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, "When are  African Americans finally going to get over it?

Now I want to ask:   "When are we White Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession  with skin  color?

 Recent reports that "Election Spurs Hundreds' of Race Threats, Crimes"  should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in "Bombingham," Alabama in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted  to do to John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

 Eventually, as you may recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than "talk the talk."
 Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame we are once again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my  boyhood.

We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and United States for some 400 years on this continent.

Conservative whites have been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years, conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the right. Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that anyone was calling for the assassinations of presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, or either of the Bushes.  Criticize them, yes.  Call for their impeachment, perhaps. But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was non-political mental case who wanted merely to impress Jody Foster.

But elect a liberal who happens to be Black and we're back in the sixties again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we've proven what conservatives are always saying -- that in America anything is possible, EVEN electing a Black man as president.   But instead we now hear that school children from Maine to California are talking about wanting to "assassinate   Obama."  

Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?"  How long before we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us?    How long until we white people can - once and for all - get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin  color?   
                                                           How long until we white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us superior?
How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments about being demoted to the status of equality with non-whites?;
  
How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head of the line merely because of our white skin?

How long until we white people end our silence and call out our peers  when they share the latest racist jokes in the privacy of our  white-only conversations?

I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners?

How long until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become President of the United States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?  

How long before we start "living out the true meaning" of our creeds, both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that "red and yellow, black and white" all are precious in God's sight?

 Until this past November 4 (2008), I didn't believe this country would ever  elect an African American to the presidency. I still don't believe I'll live long enough to see us white people get over our racism problem. 
 
But here's my three-point plan: 
First, everyday that Barack Obama lives in the White House that Black Slaves Built, I'm going to pray that God (and the Secret Service) will protect him and his family from us white people.

Second, I'm going to report to the FBI any white person I overhear saying, in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President Obama.

Third, I'm going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise the world once again, when white people can "in spirit and in truth" sing of our damnable color prejudice, 
  "We HAVE overcome!!"
Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?"  How long before we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us?

How long until we white people can - once and for all - get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color?

 **************************       
"It takes a Village to protect our President!!!"  -- Andrew M. Manis
A word to the wise whites should be sufficient.
Stay Blessed
Gloria Dulan-Wilson 

Rep-ugh-blicans Try to Lynch Attorney General Eric Holder

by Gloria Dulan-Wilson

It should come as no surprise, given their other attempts at undermining President Barack Obama and the 99% American citizens, that the sitting Rep-ugh-blicans would find some bogus reason for finding Attorney General Eric Holder in "contempt" of Congress. But, since this is probably the most "contemptible" Congress since the overturning of the Jim Crow laws under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Holder may well wear it as a badge of honor, as opposed to one of disgrace.

We who overunderstand the situation salute Eric Holder for maintaining his cool and professionalism under what has to have been the most ludicrous and thinly veiled mockery ever perpetrated in modern political history.

Can you spell RACISM boys and girls? And it is no accident that racism starts with the letter "r" Republicans Acting Crazy In the Same Manner - could well be the true acronym for the travesty that played out in congress - wasting thousands of our tax dollars; obviously pockets lined by NRA dollars, to try to undermine Holder's authority and detract from the good job he is doing under an equally competent President.

I wanted to find out just what this whole thing is about, so I looked up the "operation fast and furious" info, and found out that it was generated quite some time prior to Holder coming on board as Attorney General, and generated out of Arizona - notably a cowboy state - hence the monicker "fast and furious" to indicate that it centered around guns. Now, being from Oklahoma myself, and having had a dad who routinely kept his own stash of guns, I have nothing against guns, per se. In the hands of intelligent people, guns really can't hurt you. However, we in America have to admit that we to have a lunatic fringe - in both the urban and rural areas - who should never come within sniffing distance of guns or gunpowder - it renders them crazy - and woe betide the person who gets in their way.

That said, Operation Fast and furious was anything but. There was nothing fast about the botched sting operation, that was obstensibly set up to track a cache of guns from a seller in Arizona to a buyer somewhere in Mexico. It really was kind of a slow, watch the paint dry kind of affair, during which our guys (much like they do on TV) pretended to go along with the gun runners so they could get to the real perpetrators with the deep pockets, who were looking to purchase the guns across the border.

According to the debate before the contempt "vote", Republicans claimed they were seeking answers for the Michigan family of Brian Terry, a Border Patrol agent killed in December 2010 in a shootout with Mexican bandits (??? they still have bandits in Mexico? Wow!). Two guns from "Fast and Furious" were found at the scene. Like I said, how convenient that those banditos, who were so interested in getting guns, just happened to have left two of them at the scene of the crime. Democrats wanted the Terry family to have all the facts, and argued that it merited a more thorough, bipartisan investigation to accomplish that. (of course, when a grieving widow is being manipulated by nefarious elements, and there is possibly some major money involved, she is going to side on those who appear to be doing her the most good - capice?)

Apparently, something went horribly wrong during the "Fast and Furious" sting. Maybe one of our guys "jumped the gun" and blew the cover of the other agents. Whatever happened, one of the border patrol officers, Terry, was killed in the process. And "ironically" two of the guns from the sting operation were found at the site. Hmmmmm "how convenient!" That was in 2010 (I think). Now the officer's widow, who obviously and understandably is totally destroyed at the death of her husband, is looking for answers and possibly who to "blame" is being manipulated by the NRA and the Rep-ugh-blicans, into accusing Attorney General Eric Holder of wrong doing( I know I just said it, but I really want the rest of you to get the bigger picture - what we have here is a SET UP folks!! Pure and simple.

The alleged five (5) email memos alluded to in the testimonies,that were supposedly sent to Holder's attention, most of which came prior to the officer's demise, were appropriately filtered by Holder's staff according to their priority. Unfortunately, given that he is the Attorney General of the United States, the "fast and furious" sting at that time was not a priority, given other more pressing issues.

Additionally, at the risk of sounding a wee bit callous, officer Terry died in the line of duty, which I am sure he was well aware was a possibility, given the nature of his job - that of border patrol, where you have to have a gun to patrol the border; and where you are expected to fire it, because you as a guard may be fired upon by someone desperately trying enter our country illegally. I.e., he knew the job was dangerous when he took it (a la` Super Chicken). My condolences to his widow and family. The loss of a loved one is horrible and painful, no matter what the circumstances. The big concern here, however, is whether she realizes that she is being emotionally manipulated by the repughblicans in a massive ploy to overthrow the President. If she doesn't know this, would somebody please go over to her house, knock on her door, and tell her and her family what's really going on? She lives in Michigan, I think. I'm sure there is some FOIA info. She should definitely be aware of wolves in sheeps clothing pretending to be working in behalf of her family, when there are bigger, more ulterior motives afoot.

Just out of curiosity, I would really like to know who really generated the guns in Arizona? (which recently had their heads handed to them on a plate by the Supreme Court via the striking down of their immigration laws. It seems to me that if the guns were generated in Arizona, and were being sent south to be sold in Mexico, we have more to worry about than just a few Mexicans sneaking across the border. It appears that Arizona needs to be scrutinized for gun running activities within the borders of the US. And, by the way, that's just what the NRA is afraid of. If it can be proved that there are illegal gun smugglers in the US, the Attorney General can ask for, and get, a tightening up of the gun laws, including licensing and regulations, throughout the country. And the NRA absolutely does NOT want that to happen. With one of the most powerful lobbies in the world, it's no wonder they are pandering to the Terry family, the red-neck Democrats, the Rep-ughblicans, and every one else they can get to. No wonder they want Holder out of the way.

Moving foward, the rep-ugh-blicans and their cohorts, the NRA, pounce on this so called "fast and furious" issue, because they really have nothing else no other way of stopping the President, or of slowing Eric Holder down; and because they need to detract us -WE THE PEOPLE - from their other racist shenaninagans - like voter nullification, the re-establishment of poll taxes in Florida and other southern states; the corporations under Koch brothers trying to buy the election. You know the stuff they and the meanstream press do everyday, day in and day out; 24/7 - 365 - all racism all the time, ad infinitum.

So we now have Congressman Issa out of California, heading up a hearing committee where the fine art of evidence suppression is being practiced in a not-so-veiled attempt to slow Holder down, if not stop him completely. Even Boehner ("bone head") put in his two cents worth. He almost choked on the words, because he knew they were bogus.

And when Eric Holder, fine Black man and exemplary Attorney General that he is, was neither intimidated, nor off put by their allegations, these bozos come up with a threat of holding him in "contempt."

Now I guess they didn't check their popularity ratings in America, or they might have held off on that very stupid ploy, because by and large, most Americans have been holding this Rep-ugh-blican-lead congress in "contempt" for quite some time. It's apparent that they have nothing but contempt for Americans due to the fact that they have not implemented the "jobs now" initiative President Obama requested during his State of the Union Address; the fact that they are trying to double the interest rate on Student Loans; the fact that they actually had the audacity to try to have the Health Care Plan rendered unconstitutional - as though Americans did not deserve to have decent, affordable and comprehensive health care - the same that the Congress receives and provides for their families; the fact that they can pocket all the money they want from public/private interest groups under the guise of campaign funds, while at the same time making it illegal for locally based non-profit organizations to do the same. This is the same contemptible Congress who are trying to hold Eric Holder in contempt!!

Get real. We, the voters, see through that cellophane effort very clearly - as did the Congressional Black Caucus, who walked out of the hearings in protest of the bogus measure; and made it very plain that their political posturings did not fool them at all.

Now, however, it's time for Black Americans - Americans in general, and other individuals who are concerned about the future of this country, to act and act decisively. Not all of us recognize racism when it's couched in legaleze, and hidden behind law books. In fact, as a result we are getting increased requests for voter registration forms - I guess people realize that it will take their active participation in November to STOP THE MADNESS.

But, since not all of us get it, especially when the people who are being escoriated are "higher ups". We sometimes don't recognize what that means for the rest of us - i.e. regardless of the job title and the locale, at the end of the day, ERIC HOLDER IS A BLACK MAN, facing a white redneck "lynch" mob, that goes under the guise of the Rep-ugh-blican branch of the U.S. Congress. So in the interest of making sure we don't miss the lesson, let me spell it out for you. Hopefully, once you understand, I won't have to be riding on a bus somewhere in Brooklyn and hear some misinformed miscreant say something stupid about Attorney General Eric Holder.

President Barack Obama is the first Black President of the United States of America. He is doing a fantastic job, despite the obstacles thrown in his way and the very real attempts to undermine him. There are people who are so racist - elected officials included - that they would rather see this country go down in the dust than to see this Black man succeed. And they will literally stop at nothing to destroy the good he does.

Eric Holder is the first Black Attorney general of the United States of America. He is doing a fantastic job, despite the obstacles thrown in his way, and the very real attempts to undermine him. There are people so racist - elected officials included - that they would rather see this country go down in the dust than to see this Black man succeed. And they will literally stop at nothing to destroy the good he does.

These two men are at the top of the "food chain" and the Rep-ughblicans want them gone. They want to go back to bad business as usual, where the top 1% of the white racists rule over the 99% - who are Black, white, Latino, Asian - i.e. the rainbow that really make up this country. They got caught with their hands in the til. They are behind the economic down turn that Obama has been turning around, despite their efforts to block him. They are very much afraid of the investigations that Holder has launched to get to who really is to blame for the millions of homes that underwent massive foreclosure; who is to blame for the drugs being flooded into the communities; who is to blame for business practices that are now coming to light that have literally left us bankrupt, while their banking cronies and other perpetrators go free.

The so called "fast and furious" hearings are a tip of the iceberg for the most egregious racist congress of modern times.

Make no mistake about it, though - it's up to us to stop this crap in its tracks. We in New York have already heard the call, and this past June 26 we made absolutely sure we did not lose one seat to the Republicans, but we now have to do the same across this nation.

That said, I am not being naive when I also state that during the so call contempt hearing there were 17 Democrats who crossed the line and voted with the repughblicans, including one from Oklahoma. They were Jason Altmire (Pa.), John Barrow (Ga.), Dan Boren (Okla.), Leonard Boswell (Iowa), Ben Chandler (Ky.), Mark Critz (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), *Kathy Hochul (N.Y.), Ron Kind (Wis.), Larry Kissell (N.C.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), *Bill Owens (N.Y.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Nick Rahall (W.Va.), Mike Ross (Ark.) and Tim Walz (Minn.)
NOTE: Rarely has any pro-gun-rights Democrat representing a rural and Southern district broken with the NRA’s position on key votes, especially in an election year. However, there are two New York Dems who voted for censureship - you might want to be wary of them for future reference.

On the other hand at least two Repughblicans voted against contempt measures, they were: Steve LaTourette (Ohio) and Scott Rigell (Va.). Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) was the only "present" vote from either party.

Note, however that there were 108 Democrats who didn't cast votes in this debacle, primarily a combination of members from the Congressional Black Caucus and those who sided with them. They actually walked out of the proceedings, protesting the fact that the House GOP was even holding the vote, which was racist and pretentious in nature.

According to the Associated Press, "The contempt vote was met with outrage from Democrats. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), joined by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and many other Democrats, staged a walkout during the vote as Democrats charged the GOP with staging a witch hunt against Holder that demeans the lower chamber."

Pelosi said during the debate that she would join the walkout, and told Democrats it's up to them whether to stay and vote against the resolution, or leave: "So now I say to those who have a doubt about how they want to proceed, that instead of doing what I said before -- which was just to come and to treat this as a bill before the Congress and express my 'no' -- listening to the unconscionable presentation, I want to join my CBC colleagues in boycotting the vote when we have the walkout after we have the debate," she said. Democrats charged Republicans with using the hearings as a veiled political ploy against the Obama administration to help them in the upcoming November elections.

"When the history of this despicable proceeding is recorded, it will be said that your actions were politically motivated to discredit and defeat a president who has worked so hard over the past three years," Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) declared on the House floor during debate on the rule.

Guess what, folks, we don't have to wait for history, we can see it now. It's not only obvious, it's interesting that they are so oblivious to the potential Black lash, that they really think they can make this madness stick.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi stated Republicans were targeting Holder because he is fighting their efforts to suppress voter turnout in November. Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut, chastised Republicans for pushing ahead on the contempt vote as part of a strategy to prevent economic progress and harm Obama’s re-election chances in November. He stated, and rightly so: “This is just all part of a continuing plan, and whether it’s suppressing the vote or suppressing the economy — this obstructionist regime that we see that continues to block because they think they would rather see President Obama fail than the nation succeed.”

To illustrate how far the rep-ugh-blicans would go to discredit and undermine both the President and the Attorney General, according to the Associated Press, a video was released Tuesday by Democrats on Issa’s panel showing the chairman making past allegations of White House links to Fast and Furious, juxtaposed with Issa saying as recently as Sunday, June 24, that there was no evidence of a White House cover-up whatsoever. What happened? Was there an about-face? No. Issa, though towing the party line, even had to admit the speciousness of the so-called hearings. Must be difficult to live in a duplicitous system where your membership relies on lies and deceit.

Circling back to my original statement, the Rep-ugh-blicans are trying to lynch Attorney General Holder. Our job is to make sure that each and every person, if they voted for his contempt of Congress, and if they are running for anything this fall or in the coming years, that they are not only not re-elected, but are defeated and replaced by someone who supports us, who are the 99%, President Obama, and Eric Holder as he moves to bring justice and fairness to the country's judicial system. The congressional record has the names of all those who voted against Holder. It's easy to access via: www.congressonrecord.com - it not only tells you who said what about the Contempt motion, but who voted, how they voted, and where they're from. So if you have relatives in any of those states where they voted to hold Holder in "contempt", you can make it your business to reach out to them and let them know who in their state voted "yes" or "no".

While under ordinary circumstances, most of us would shrug our collective shoulders, suck our teeth and say it's just how racists are; we cannot afford to do that in this case. THIS IS AN ALL OUT WAR PERPETRATED AGAINST US. We are the targets via President Obama and Attorney General Holder. They are taking the hits for us. We have to fight back. There can be no one on neutral ground - no matter where you live. Battleground or Blue State. We have to realize that all of this is to make sure that Mitt (the s--t head) Romney is selected President, and the rest of us go to poverty, marginalism, and defeat.

I think I've given you enough fuel for action. However, I am also enclosing a copy of Attorney General Holder's response to the Congress's Hearing, below:



Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder on the U.S. House of Representatives Vote
Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today:
 
“Today’s vote is the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided – and politically motivated – investigation during an election year.   By advancing it over the past year and a half, Congressman Issa and others have focused on politics over public safety.   Instead of trying to correct the problems that led to a series of flawed law enforcement operations, and instead of helping us find ways to better protect the brave law enforcement officers, like Agent Brian Terry, who keep us safe – they have led us to this unnecessary and unwarranted outcome.
 
“During this time, the men and women of the Department of Justice – and I – have remained focused on wha

t should and must be our government’s top priority: protecting the American people.
 
“When concerns about Operation Fast and Furious first came to light, I took action – and ordered an independent investigation into what happened.   We learned that the flawed tactics used in this operation began in the previous administration – but I made sure that they ended under this one.   I also made sure that agents and prosecutors around the country knew that such tactics must never be used again.   I put in place new policies, new safeguards, and new leadership to make certain of this – and took extraordinary steps to facilitate robust congressional oversight.   Let me be very clear – that was my response to Operation Fast and Furious.   Any suggestion to the contrary simply ignores the facts.
 
“I had hoped that Congressional leaders would be good-faith partners in this work.   Some have.   Others, however, have devoted their time and attention to making reckless charges – unsupported by fact – and to advancing truly absurd conspiracy theories.   Unfortunately, these same members of Congress were nowhere to be found when the Justice Department and others invited them to help look for real solutions to the terrible problem of violence on both sides of our Southwest Border.   That’s tragic, and it’s irresponsible.  The problem of drugs and weapons trafficking across this border is a real and significant public safety threat – and it deserves the attention of every leader in Washington.
 
“In the face of these and other challenges, the Justice Department has continued to move forward in fulfilling its critical law enforcement responsibilities. Whether it is with regard to prosecuting financial and health care fraud, achieving a record mortgage settlement, taking aggressive action in protecting the most vulnerable among us, or challenging proposed voting changes and redistricting maps that could disenfranchise millions of voters – this Department of Justice has not been afraid to act.
 
“Some of these enforcement decisions were not politically popular and help to explain the action taken today by the House.   As Attorney General, I do not look to do that which is politically expedient – on behalf of the American people whom I am privileged to serve, I seek justice.  
 
“In recent weeks, the Justice Department secured its seventh conviction in the most serious terrorist plot our nation has faced since 9/11.   And just two days ago, the Department awarded more than $100 million in grants to save or create law enforcement jobs, including more than 600 jobs for recent veterans.  
 
“This is the kind of work that leaders in Washington should be striving together to advance.   At a time when so many Americans are in need of our help, I refuse to be deterred from it.   And I will not let election-year politics and gamesmanship stand in the way of continued progress.  
 
“Today’s vote may make for good political theater in the minds of some, but it is – at base – both a crass effort and a grave disservice to the American people.   They expect – and deserve – far better.
 
“As a result of the action taken today by the House, an unnecessary court conflict will ensue.   My efforts to resolve this matter short of such a battle were rebuffed by Congressman Issa and his supporters.  It’s clear that they were not interested in bringing an end to this dispute or obtaining the information they claimed to seek.  Ultimately, their goal was the vote that – with the help of special interests – they now have engineered.
 
“Whatever the path that this matter will now follow, it will not distract me or the men and women of the Department of Justice from the important tasks that are our responsibility.   A great deal of work for the American people remains to be done – I’m getting back to it.   I suggest that those who orchestrated today’s vote do the same." Attorney General Eric Holder (gdw)


Of course, make no mistake about it, we New Yorkers could not be prouder or more supportive of Brother Eric Holder, and realize that these are the kinds of challenges that make us stronger in the long run. We stand solidly with Eric Holder and President Obama, and will continue to take care of the business of making sure they have four more years.

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson