Rabid Yellow Dog

Note To Jim Shella

If your “blog” doesn’t have a comment feature that works, you’re not really blogging. Just because you use Wordpress, doesn’t make it a blog. Call it Jim’s corner, Jim’s scribble area, WISHTV allmostablog, but don’t call it a blog unless you allow comments. Oh, and that goes to you too, Mike Pence.

 If you have an account already, you can see that no one has been able to comment on Jim’s “blog” since July. 

Abdul’s Dick Is Bigger Than Yours

In the vein of stAllio!’s Way:

Shorter Abdul Hakim-Shabazz: Big penises make for good politics!

I’m sure Abdul’s attitude has nothing to do with the fact that Marion County Democratic Chairman Ed Treacy called Abdul’s show a “POS”.

When Treacy denied him an interview, Abdul came back with this gem:

“Now I don’t blame Ed for not wanting to face me and engage in a discussion. I’d be hesitant if if I were going head-to-head with someone who was my intellectual superior. I’d also be worried about throwing verbal grenades at someone who would just pick them up, pull the pin and throw them back.And I’d probably sweat like a Girl Scout at R. Kelly’s house if I had to argue on the merits and couldn’t just talk out of my rear.”

First of all, who is Abdul? He runs a fairly popular show on a puny little radio station that can’t be heard very far outside of metro Indianapolis. He serves as an “of counsel” for Lewis and Wilkins LLP. According to Wikipedia, an “of counsel” is:

“the title of an attorney who is employed by a law firm or an organization, but is not an associate or a partner. According to ABA Formal Opinion 90-357 the term ‘of counsel’ is to describe ‘a close, regular, personal relationship.’”

According to their bio of Abdul, after law school (in 2003) he served as an aide to then Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan. He served in a media, policy, and public affairs role. The bio also states that he:

has extensive political and public policy experience. He has covered politics in both Indiana and Illinois.

One has to wonder how he got that “extensive political and public policy experience” working as AN AIDE! And if I’m not mistaken, Jim Ryan was Attorney General till 2004. Abdul worked for WMAY in June of 2004, so where’s all this so called “legislative experience” coming from? Working for Jim Ryan as an aide for a year or so makes Abdul a “superior intellect” politically?

He’s compared himself to the Economist, in terms of where he fits into the Indiana blogosphere. But last time I checked, I didn’t see many articles in the Economist that mentioned a lawmaker’s penis or used statutory rape of Girl Scouts as a vehicle for a joke. I have seen that in Hustler cartoons though….

Someone’s good at blowing smoke out their ass, but it’s not Ed Treacy.

P.S.

The Economist usually proofreads their commentary:

Hillary Goes For The Jugular

Hillary Clinton kicked Barack Obama in his most sensitive spot, Pastor Wright.

It seems she’s trying to cover for her untruths about Bosnia.

Not that I’m proud of it, but in my twenties I became a very conservative Republican. I remember all the nasty things that the right wing threw at the Clinton family. The fact that Hillary would engage in the same type of smearing, is exactly why I don’t support her.

I have to wonder how many Democrats in Indiana are swayed by either of these stories. The Howey-Gauge Poll in February showed Obama leading Hillary 40% to 20%, with 36% undecided.
Do you think either controversy will change these numbers? I’m skeptical.

The Right Wing’s Assault on Obama and Carson

Since writing “It’s Not The Issues, It’s Your God,” I’ve been thinking about the similarities in the election campaigns of Barack Obama and Andre Carson. Both are being attacked because of their Islamic history (Barack isn’t a Muslim, and never has been, but has been attacked because of his middle name and being raised in an Islamic culture). Both are running on a campaign of hope and unity, both have a strong African American base, both are relative newcomers to the national stage, both have a mix of corporate and progressive (liberal and conservative) policy positions, and while both have stated that they are devout in their religious beliefs, both support GLBT equality.

Conservatives will settle on personal attacks because they don’t have a plan. Their “trickle down” economics has trickled down poverty, job losses, consolidation of power, and the destroyed America’s manufacturing sector. The gap between the rich and poor is verging on 1920’s proportions. Amazingly, the Republican’s answer to these problems is free market capitalism. Einstein’s definition of insanity rings in my ears when I hear them talk this line of shit. Unfettered capitalism has brought unfettered greed and unfettered corruption.

That all being said, I’m not shocked that the Republicans are attacking both Obama and Carson with islamophobic rhetoric and fear, it’s all they have.

It’s Not The Issues, It’s Your God

The Democratic candidate for Indiana’s 7th Congressional District is in law enforcement, sits on the City-County Council, and is the grandson of an Indiana political legend, Julia Carson. Andre Carson wants to end the Iraq War, is against privatizing Social Security, and supports strengthening homeland security against another terrorist attack. Andre’s link to the national party is strong, so much so that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has targeted Carson for financial support.

With all these positives, where is Carson’s Achilles’ heel? The headline this morning answers the question: ” ‘I am multifaceted’ Carson’s Muslim faith, Farrakhan’s funeral speech raise questions for congressional candidate. “ The Associated Press states it even more bluntly: “Muslim has eye on Congress”. I wonder if the Associated Press has ever written a story entitled “Baptist minister (or Mormon) runs for President” or  “Methodist runs against Andre Carson”? It seems that Andre’s religion only matters because of what religion it is.
Read more »

Indiana Equality Forum

Last night I attended a forum sponsored by Indiana Equality. The forum featured the three candidates (Andre Carson (D), Jon Elrod (R). and Sean Shepard (L)) running in the March 11, 2008 special election. This election will decide who will fill the vacancy created with the passing of US Rep. Julia Carson who represented Indiana’s 7th Congressional District.

Earlier in the week I wrote about how many in the Indy right wing blogosphere had chastised Andre Carson for a scheduling conflict, some even suggesting that he was afraid to debate Jon Elrod and Sean Shepard. Anyone that was in attendance last night knows just how much of a pipe dream that is. Read more »

The Myth of Destruction

I recently received a link to the following post from a progressive list I’m on:

An Open Letter to Senators Clinton and Obama
February 19th, 2008

Dear Senators Clinton and Obama-

You’re both talented, experienced, inspiring, accomplished individuals. However, as the last few months and few dozen primaries have shown, voters are divided about which one of you should be our presidential candidate. But we all agree: both of you are far better than the alternative.

We need a Democrat to take the White House. But if we spend the next months fighting each other over which of you is the best candidate, we’re going to lose this fall. That loss will be devastating not just for the next four years but for decades to come.

Don’t divide our party the way the last two elections have divided our country. Work together. Make the Democratic ticket as strong as it can be. Show us that you’re capable of leading the party — and the country — together.

Clinton-Obama. Obama-Clinton. We don’t all agree which ticket would be best, but what we do know is that our party and our nation will be much better united than divided.

Sincerely,

Your Party Members

Honestly, I don’t understand this kind of talk. A few things should be keep in mind:

1. Primary voters should have a chance to vote.

2. The primary voter totals show that:

With 99 percent of the vote (in Wisconsin), both Obama and Clinton received more votes
than ALL THE REPUBLICANS COMBINED! If it was only on votes and you stripped all party affiliation (of those that are still running), the order would go:

Obama 645,554
Clinton 452,590
McCain 224,122
Huckabee 151,114
Paul 19,129
Gravel 596

How is this election process ripping the Democratic Party apart?

Read more »

Playground Politics In The Seventh

The Indy right wing blog machine is on fire (examples: here, here, here, here and here) because Andre Carson, candidate for the 7th district, had a scheduling conflict and missed a community forum. The ensuing drama that unfolded is nothing short of 4th grade playground politics.

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, the most blatant of shit stirrers, titled his post “CARSON SKIPS OUT ON EASTSIDE FORUM” and said:

Apparently someone in the Andre Carson camp isn’t too keen on sharing the stage tonight with Republican Jon Elrod and Libertarian Sean Shepard.

Showing an obvious bias, Shabazz uses an inflammatory title that isn’t even remotely factual. Shabazz might benefit from an explanation of the difference between “skipping out” (which implies intent, and no warning) and “scheduling conflict” (of which there is no intent, and notice is given). According to the Indy Star:

Brad Klopfenstein, a former executive director of the state Libertarian Party, coordinated the event at Arlington Heights Baptist Church on the Eastside. Klopfenstein said Carson’s campaign agreed to appear several weeks ago but called about noon Tuesday to cancel because of a scheduling conflict.

When one “skips out” on rent, they don’t call and say “I ain’t payin’ “, they just don’t pay. You can call it a screwup , or a scheduling conflict, but it’s complete spin (see also:falsehood) to call it a “skip out”. Read more »

Hillary’s Rudy Moment

Recently the New York Times recently ran a story about Hillary’s strategy concerning their pathway for the next few weeks of the campaign. They wrote:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her advisers increasingly believe that, after a series of losses, she has been boxed into a must-win position in the Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4, and she has begun reassuring anxious donors and superdelegates that the nomination is not slipping away from her, aides said on Monday.

By not addressing the losses of the past weekend, Clinton is following the path of fellow New Yorker, Rudy Gulliani. Gulliani kept saying that it was all about Florida, that his early losses didn’t mean anything. If Clinton is wise, she’ll back away from this tactic and start making big money dumps in the states ahead. If it’s one thing that should be learned from Rudy, it’s that every primary is important.

Mr. GLBT Friendly

It’s been said recently that John Elrod is “GLBT friendly.” If you listen to this clip from an interview of Jon Elrod by Hoosier Access Radio, I think it’s obvious that the rumors of John being a “friend of the community” is false. You be the judge.

 The following audio recording is owned by Hoosier Access Radio and is not affiliated with this website. The clip is used under fair use. 

 

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