Should You Believe Americans for Prosperity or Your Own Lying Eyes?

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Although it’s been a few years since Wally was in college and he was never a member of any fraternity, he remembers reading about some of their “pranks” in the campus newspaper.  At most, they may have caused some minor inconveniences but were pretty harmless.  “In a few cases,” he said, “I was even amused and enjoyed their creativity.”  In the case of a recent election prank perpetrated by the Koch brothers’, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), however, the prank was neither amusing nor creative and Wally says he is highly pissed.

“It’s bad enough they think us Democrats are composed of stupid minorities and single young women who are easily fooled,” Wally wrote in another of his unpublished letters to the editor.  “But the fact that those arrogant Republican assholes think that they can trick us with a third-rate fraternity prank is pretty damn insulting.”

Recently, the Democratic Party of North Carolina filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections that AFP sent out mailers to targeted groups riddled with lies and misinformation.  In short, the mailers instructed people to wrong voting places, on wrong days and then, directed those with questions to an incorrect phone number and address.  Such actions are illegal and are currently being investigated by the North Carolina Board of Elections.   

Meanwhile, AFP is saying the mistakes are unintentional and Democrats are insisting that the mailers were a voter suppression tool.

“Seems like the Koch brothers think they’re cops and are probably expecting to get away with committing felony crimes by either taking the life or rights away from, what they seriously see as, lesser and undeserving people."

Celebrate Friday and Enjoy Our Civilization!

Just a Routine Police Shooting of Another Unarmed Black Man

Victim lived to tell about it.

Wally is no longer enraged when an unarmed brother gets shot by a trigger happy white policeman.  This time it was though, the victim lived and the entire incident was caught on police dash cam.  The offending officer, Lance Corporal Sean M. Groubert, a South Carolina state trooper, was arrested and charged with assault and battery of a high nature.

Had it not been for the fact that the victim lived and the entire shooting caught on camera, no one would have been accountable.  After all, Levar Edward Jones, would have been terminated, after reaching for, what appeared to be, a gun and charging toward the officer in a threatening manner. 

The irony is, according to Wally, is that Mr. Jones was stopped for an alleged seatbelt violation that, had he been white, never would have happened in the first place.

Vote Like Your Life Depends On It (Revised)

This article was initially posted on May 19, 2013 and is being reposted again because it speaks to something important.  And since the midterms are nearly upon us, it’s time to sit-up and pay attention!  You might not realize it right now, but you need to vote like your life depends on it, because…

 At some point soon, it just might.  

Weird Wally didn’t get serious about blogging until around 2007.   And that was about the time he got his head out of his butt and took a look around.  Something was up, but not yet obvious and Wally took to blogging to help him figure it out.  Although nothing more than an online journal, he learned to question authority, and in the process, finally started paying attention.  A lot of other people also started paying attention, but we could not believe what we were seeing.

Besides the irrational tax cuts and big bank deregulation that no one really wanted, we also saw a gigantic increase in corporate welfare, billion dollar no-bid government contracts, and a senseless war in Iraq.  And not too long before the financial crises of 2008, President Bush and other Republicans were pushing hard to privatize social security and hand the money over to Wall Street.  Fortunately, that didn’t happen.  But would President Obama be sitting in the Oval Office today, were it not for the financial meltdown of September 2008?  

For a while, we believed that our votes actually made a difference, but as Obama’s first term progressed, he didn’t stand up for much and many began forgetting what he once stood for.  Nobody from Wall Street went to jail, foreclosures continued, wages remained stagnant and the rich kept getting richer.

Meanwhile, with the help of a super-secret society, known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), many states were busy finding ways to keep minorities, single moms, seniors and single women in general, away from the polls, and voter suppression was just a start.  ALEC also promoted cutting state taxes for large corporations, fighting unions and keeping worker wages as low as possible.

In Washington, DC, things were equally as bad.  The Supreme Court had gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, immigration reform stalled and in Congress, the House voted over 50 times to repeal “Obamacare” and Republican politicians cowered to talking heads like Rush Limbaugh and people on Fox News and denied that they were all just bunch of women hating racists, anyway.

But as things started getting uglier, Wally could not yet believe how ugly things already were.  Black men and women who were unarmed were getting gunned down by cops and regular citizens alike.  Seems like, if you shot and killed an African-American, all you have to say is, that person was “black and I feared for my life,” and if you’re white, you might just get away with it.

Even as Obamacare shows major signs of success and the president is getting his mojo back, no one from Wall Street has gone to jail and the “too big to fail banks,” continue to keep private their profits and make public their loses (by way of the tax code, monetary policy and government subsidies), I’m pissed, but will vote this November in spite of it.

Had Romney been elected in 2012, he and his administration would have ignored ALEC and its attempts at voter suppression and a lot of states would be throwing people off voter rolls unhindered.   As it is, it’s an uphill struggle. 

So if we don’t vote in November, there’s a good possibility we won’t ever have to stress about it again.  A lot can happen in only two years.  Meanwhile, keep an eye out and please pay attention, because you never know.

Moyers & Company   Watch the Full Show: United States of ALEC – A Follow-Up (June 21, 2013)

The Road to War

http://www.cagle.com/2014/06/isis-and-iraq/

Wally doesn't know.  Obama doesn’t know.  And most of all, McCain, Cheney and Graham don’t know.  There is, however, a difference.  People like Wally, Obama and most everyone else admit to being confused and conflicted.  “But those who know the least,” according to Wally, “seem to have the loudest and most confident voices.”  Yet despite all of their previous failures, like Herpes Syndrome, they keep coming back to distract and annoy. 

Dick Cheney:  How about immediate boots on the ground?

Weird Wally:  How about an immediate boot up your ass?

If the polls are to be believed, we don’t want another war in Iraq.   But as we learn more and more about ISIS (ISIL), as a nation, we are getting really pissed.  But wait.  There’s a bad taste from the last time we sent ground troops to Iraq.  “And I am glad the president is taking his time,” Wally wrote in an unpublished letter to the editor.  “Seems like we can’t tell friend from foe over there, and it’s a matter of life and death that we get it right this time.

“On the other hand,” he concluded, “we can always flip a coin.”

Adrian Peterson: It’s More Than Just Child Abuse

Since retiring from child protective services in Denver back in 2006, Wally tries not to think about abused children.  But there’s something about the Adrian Peterson case that makes it hard to ignore.   It’s one of those situations where there are no winners and everyone loses.   “Although I feel bad for Adrian, I feel even worse for the kid,” said Wally.  “For the rest of his life, he will feel responsible for whatever happens to both his mother and father.”

Meanwhile, Peterson appears remorseful but Wally wonders if the man truly understands the extent of his damage.  Peterson is quick to point out that he was only disciplining his son the way he was disciplined.  Even Wally admits that back in the day when he and his black friends sans whites, were hanging together, they often would talk with fondness about the “switch.”  As a matter of fact, it often turned into a friendly competition to see who’d come up with the most horrid childhood switch story. 

But while Wally and other African-American adults may remember the switch with fondness, to children it is both traumatic and harmful.  It may even cause PTSD and although the physical scars may eventually heal, the emotional and psychological ones may always, on some level, be with them.

It is said, according to Wally, that the switch actually dates back to the days of American slavery when slave owners used to strip their slaves of clothes and beat them with a whip, often to near-death, for any rule infraction or lack of respect, perceived by the owner or overseer. 

As adults, the switch stories were entertaining, but over time the lifelong results of those whippings started becoming clear.  A violent childhood often leads to a violent adulthood.  Perhaps that is one reason why black on black crime is so high and, “when in doubt swing out,” is often their first option. 

Judging from police photos and the child’s statement, however, Wally says that what happened went way beyond discipline.  If nothing else, it’s obvious that Peterson was out of control.  But if the child’s statement to police is true and Peterson’s rule of thumb was to inflict large amounts of pain and horror, along with his discipline, then might that make dad mentally or emotionally ill?  For sure, it is a sign of his rage, but might that type of parenting also be a symptom of some kind of disease?

NFL is Photo Worth a Thousand Words

Weird Wally Sez: This NFL promotion photograph says it all.

Condoleezza Rice to Head up the NFL

Wally has been acting weirder than usual of late and is taking bets that Condoleezza Rice will be heading up the NFL, very soon.  “It wouldn’t surprise me if Wally knows something the rest of us don’t,” an acquaintance of his recently said.  “After all, they’re both African-American…”

Although people aren’t lining up to place their bets, if she is the next NFL commissioner, Wally might make a few bucks.  “Roger Goodell is really in deep shit because of his fuck up over Ray Rice’s left hook to his girlfriend’s face,” Wally Said.  “It was handled real badly and Goodell has no choice but to step down, because of it.

“Besides.  It would fit the image of what most white people think about black families; a strong black woman bossing around a bunch of young black dudes.  And if any of them hit their woman, they’d have to come and talk with to mama.  Kind of scary when you think about it.”

 According to Wally, Condi’s father was a football coach and she grew up knowing football, “I was a student of the game,” she said.  And in April of 2002, in a New York Times interview, she said that being the “NFL commissioner would be her dream job.”   

“And as everyone well knows,” said Wally, “you don’t ever say ‘no’ to mama.”

But wait!

There’s more…

Since most of the NFL owners are very conservative, it’s highly likely that they’ll jump at the chance to piss off a bunch of liberals. 

“But now that I think about it,” sez Wally.  “A few African-American owners might add a little depth to this picture.”

Weekend Update: What ISIS Warriors Aren’t Being Told…

Just Ducky on ISIS

When Wally first came across a clip of Phillip Robertson, the patriarch of Duck Dynasty, being interviewed on FOX News by Sean Hannity, Wally found himself speechless for several minutes.  Initially scheduled to promote his new book, “unPHILtered, Robertson mainly concerned himself with foreign policy, ISIS and God.

Reading from the Bible which he carries his with him at all times, he talked of the war between good and evil and emphasized that since he is a Christian, he is with the “children of God,” and forever fighting with those under the power of the “evil one.”   According to Robertson, ISIS and possibly all Muslims are under the power of the evil one and there’s only way to deal with them, “I think you either have to convert them…or kill them.  One or the other,” he said.

Weird Wally Sez:  It’s a bizarre clip, but you gotta see it to believe it…

Weekend Update: Androids vs. iPhones and War Games

Friday morning and Wally has finally made up his mind and decided against replacing his 3G Motorola with a much newer iPhone 5s.  “The buypartisan app seems like fun,” he'd wrote on the internet and looked forward to downloading and using his new toy. 

“And I’m actually anticipating doing some serious shopping and barcode scanning this weekend," he’d said to friends.

But alas, when he went to download the buypartisan app, he found that it did not work on his Android.  Meanwhile, most of his iPhone owning friends were having a blast at the stores and, of course, they sent him their many “thank you” texts for having turned them onto the app, in the first place.

Late Friday night, however, Wally learned that the buypartisan app will soon be available for Androids, and hopes it's out before he is forced to purchase an iPhone.  He wants in on the fun, but since he uses his cell only for voice and text, he’d like to save a few bucks and stick with his obsolete Motorola 3G

War Games

Wally’s been following the news and readily admits to having mixed feelings.  “As for Syria and Iraq,” he says, “they need to figure out their own shit because we ain’t the cops of the world.”  On the other hand, he realizes that ISIS is composed of psychopaths and crazy people and some of them have U.S. Passports and will be a problem upon their return.  “Besides,” he says, “we’re the ones who upset the applecart over there in the first place.”

Putin’s Russia?  Now that’s a different story.  “Everyone knows the man is crazy,” Wally said in a recent tweet.  “But is he crazy like a fox?”  He does like Russia’s story about how their soldiers ended up crossing the border into Ukraine.   “Story is, they had gotten lost or were on vacation.”  Although not sure of which is true, Wally gets a kick out of the map Canada’s NATO delegation drew for the Russian soldiers.   And, of course, Russia’s response was almost as funny

Friday, 8/29/14

Wally said that he came across this on twitter.

Possible: A Nationwide Law Enforcement Conspiracy

Wally can’t help but wonder about all the shootings of unarmed African-American teens, of late.  “I don’t know how most white people feel about them,” he said.  “But for me, it’s real creepy.”   And citing the many police shootings and beatings of unarmed black people across the nation, “It’s starting to seem like more than random events and may be informal, but very organized.”

 Although the well-known police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO is very scary, Wally is just as concerned about the death of Victor White III, in New Iberia, LA,, last March  "What I can’t understand is how an African-American teenager managed to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chest, while in the back seat of a police car, hands cuffed behind him, “ he said.

While insisting that he is not some kind of conspiracy freak, Wally is quick to point out, neither does he believe in coincidence.   

Wally says he first noticed a lot of red states starting to pass eviscerating, but subtle anti-union legislation and cutting of taxes for the wealthy, among other kinds of distasteful policies, sometime around 2007.  Like many others, he noticed, but paid it little attention.   “After all,” he had said, “just a bunch of Republicans screwing us over to make life better for rich people.”

But these anti-worker laws and policies, it later turned out, were not just mere coincidence.  Not only were the passing of the legislation well organized, the subtle scenario was well executed and a perfect conspiracy.  It was a well-funded group of elites, including the Koch brothers, behind a group calling itself the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

“I’m not saying the shootings are a conspiracy or anything, but a black teenager with a body full of bullets charging at a cop, or another one shooting himself in the chest, hands cuffed behind him, while in the back seat of a police car?”

For Wally, the Oath Keepers, or something like them, may end up doing for police and sheriffs as something similar to what ALEC has done for corporations and politicians.   “I’m just saying...” he said.

It’s Not Just Demographics, Stupid

GO:  IPI-Clock

Although he missed it by less than twenty-four hours, he still missed it.  Worse yet, he didn’t even know it was coming until after it had already passed.  On Friday, August 22, 2014, according to EthniFacts, the United States of America reached its “Multicultural Tipping Point.”

And Wally is a little depressed about it.  “I’m PC and into the diversity thing,” he recently told friends.  “But right now, we’re on the precipice and either we’ll step back a little or jump off.

“Meanwhile, we’re all pissed off, angry and compartmentalized.   Whites want to keep what they have and fear the rest of us want to take it from them and that we’ll treat them like they treat us.  And the fact that we have an African American as president really scares the shit out of them and they’d rather cut off their nose to spite their face than abide a successful black president.”

At times, even Wally is known to be verbose.  In short, most minorities go to #Ferguson, and white people tend toward #ILoveFerguson.   “It’s a simple tale of two cities,” Wally said.  “And symbolic of what’s happening all over the country.”

It’s possible that the Republicans will take the Senate in November, 2014.  And if they do, according to Wally, our government will most likely cease to function and we’ll all be fucked. 

Right now, Obama is sending a message that he is no longer, “the caver in chief,” and will stand strong and fight them off.  Meanwhile, Republicans are betting that he’ll fold and cave rather than risk a total government shutdown.  Now, does that suck or what?

Democrats, meanwhile, seem to be focused on 2016 and already writing off 2014.  Only problem is, a lot can happen in those two short years.  Imagine the worst possible things that Republican governments can do and, rest assured, it will be done.  Not only will they do as bad as you imagine, they will do worse than you can imagine.

In two years, they can suppress the vote, destroy the environment, repeal Obamacare, eviscerate public education and privatize social security, and that’s just for starts.   For Republicans, it’s all about power and control and by 2016, there may be only a few Democrats left who are still able to vote.  Republicans do not play fair and will do whatever it takes.  This is not a game for them and neither is it about democracy.

But if Republicans end up controlling both houses of Congress as well as state legislatures, it’ll be just like Wally said, “…we’ll all be fucked.”

Weird Wally Sez:  Remember, This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around.

A Buy Partisan (BuyPartisan) App Has Finally Arrived: Now We Can Spend Consciously

App's screenshot after scanning the barcode of a product

Although Wally is technically smartphone illiterate and manages well enough with his Motorola 3G, when he chanced upon something called a “BuyPartisan” app, he downloaded it immediately.  It was his second ever smartphone download.  “Since there is no longer such a thing “bipartisan” in politics,” he said, “I may as well join the shitfest.”

According to Colby Itkowitz, of the Washington Post’s “In the Loop,” Matthew Colbert “developed the app to give consumers more knowledge about how they spend their money.  For some, it may translate to not buying a certain cereal anymore, for others it could simply be a conversation starter, Colbert said.  But he hopes all users will appreciate having at their fingertips an awareness that a fraction of their grocery bill went to political contributions.”

Wally says that he is anxious to try it out, “It’s my newest and most fun toy of the year, so far.”  And although he doubts that the app will seriously effect his buying habits, “it’ll still be fun to know where some of my money goes,” he said.

“As long as people take Wally’s attitude towards the app, there won’t be much of a problem,” says one Denver attorney.  “But should it become both popular and effective, then you can expect that state and federal legislators will start passing laws placing mucho limits on what apps like that will be able to do.  Most likely it’ll happen as a Corporate Privacy issue because, unlike in the recent past, corporations are now people.”

It’s Time for Voter Registration in Ferguson, MO

Let's protest at the polls people. Let's protest at the polls

“The Ferguson Police Department,” insists Wally, “is what happens when black people don’t vote.”  And despite all that is wrong in Ferguson politics, the fact remains that most brothers and sisters of Ferguson didn’t bother to vote.  “It’s only common sense that people tend to get the type of government they deserve,” he’d said.

Initially, Wally was somewhat upset with the victims of the Ferguson Police and wondered how it was possible in a town where African Americans outnumber whites by more than two-thirds, whites hold all the political power? 

Like most Americans, regardless of race, Wally’s thoughts and opinions were much like bumper stickers; short, sweet and to the point.  And “Black People Don’t Vote,” precisely fit the bill. 

But after typing “how many blacks voted in the last Ferguson, MO elections,” into google search,  Wally says that he now sees with eyes wide open and things aren’t always as they first appear.  As a result, Wally figures it might be a good idea to couple voter registration and education to the current protests, “That'll scare the shit out of those power hungry bastards,” he said.

Note:  Today is August 19, 2014 and the mentioned search has surely been updated and improved.  But by far, the best article to date appeared in yesterday’s edition of the Daily Kos and is probably still worth reading even if you read nothing else.  

Weird Wally Sez:  Remember, if you don't vote, you won't count.

Foiled in Ferguson and WTF

It’s hard to accomplish a police cover-up when the whole world is watching.  #Ferguson

Riot Gear ✔️

Tear Gas ✔️

Camouflage ✔️

Assault Rifles ✔️

Armored Land Mine Vehicles ✔

Dashboard cameras X

Wally and his laptop were up way past midnight logging onto google search and twitter.  Besides live-streaming, he was looking for an answer to a very simple question.  “How is it possible that a town with a 67% African-American population, has a white mayor, mostly all white police force, no members on the local school board and, of the six members of the city council, only one is black.”

But what was most scary for Wally were the videos and images coming out of Ferguson.  For a county, according to the 2010 census, of just under a million people, the local police looked more like an occupying army, and instead of “to protect and to serve,” their mission seemed more like, “to repress and to repel.”

Outfitted in gasmasks, riot gear, assault rifles, and camouflage, these masked invaders patrolled in Humvees and Armored Land mind Vehicles.  And what Wally wants to know is, in a county jurisdiction of less than a million people, where the hell did all that money come from?

Seems as if the St. Louis County and Ferguson Police Departments were part of a federal program run out of the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) and known as Program 1033.  Designed to distribute surplus military equipment to police departments across the country, Program 1033 gave away $449,309,003.71 in arms and armor in 2013 alone.  The equipment ranges from simple pistols and assault rifles to MRAPS and Heavy Armored Vehicles, used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Problem with that kind of policing,” Wally insists, “is that the cops become schoolyard bullies and everyone else is helpless.”

The Real American Spring

#Ferguson      Nothing else need be said.

The Coming Shakeup at MSNBC and NBC News

Wally stayed up very late last night doing, what he refers to as, “important research.”   This morning, he told some friends that the shit will soon be hitting the fan at MSNBC and NBC NEWS.  And if there is any truth to what he said, the splatter pattern will be interesting.

Although he declines to name his sources, Wally is saying, “I wouldn’t put my money on Chuck Todd to host Meet the Press yet, if I were you.” 

According to Wally, many at NBC want to change the show’s format and Deborah Turness, President of NBC News, remains uncertain if MtP should even continue. 

In order for the show to survive, says Wally, NBC is considering pulling in Chris Matthews from MSNBC.  Problem is, Chris Matthews is quietly talking about retirement.  The other contender, Rachel Maddow, is saying, “I already have a life, thank you very much.”  With Matthews and Maddow pretty much out of the picture, Turness is said to be considering Joy-Ann Reid for the spot.  “It’s not as much of a long as you may think,” one NBC insider is rumored to have said.  “Watch this space.”

Weird Wally Sez:  Remember, you read this on the internet.

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown

Wally is reported to have spent most of this weekend hold up in his apartment and reading tweets on the, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, Twitter feed.  Several years north of 65, he knew he appeared neither threatening nor gangsta, but Wally also realized that there were a lot of crazy white people and cops with guns on the street.  “It’s like open season black folk,” he tweeted.  “And it’s pretty scary.”

Although he seldom mentions it in mixed company, the recent killings of young black people by white civilians and cops is very much on his mind.  And since most whites simply don’t understand, Wally usually remains mute on the matter.  But in the absence of whites, he is said to freely speak his mind. 

Ever since Trayvon Martin was shot while walking home from the store in 2012, Wally has felt a bit more distant from even his closest white friends.  “It’s hard to explain,” he told one white friend.  “But I do know that you’ll never know that kind of fear for yourself, your children, nor your grandkids.”

Twenty some years ago, Wally’s son was in his teens and early twenties and there didn’t seem to be so much gun craziness and stereotyping.   Now, on almost a daily bases, young, unarmed black people are being shot.  And even after their death, the deceased are treated like defendants with a lot of whites assuming that the black person must have been doing something to deserve it.

“Do you remember hurricane Katrina in 2005 and how the media had two different descriptions for very similar photos and videos?” Wally asked a friend, via cell.  “If you were white, you found food.  But if you were black, you stole food.  And it’s still all like that and not too much has changed.”