Son and daughter, now in their 30s, testify in court that their father never molested them, and that they lied and said he did after being badgered by their mother and investigating police officers. The father did 20 years in prison.
Ridiculous story about a gay couple arrested in Utah after a public kiss on the cheek. I’m linking to Fark’s comments thread about the story because of the headline.
Congressman introduces bill that would require members of Congress to give up their own sweet health care package and be the first guinea pigs for whatever plan they end up passing.
Pretty sad how anti-gay bigotry keeps popping up in black civil rights groups.
World’s oldest still-inhabited cities. Some beautiful photos, too.
Popehat has an aggravating roundup of free speech-related stories.
It’s an anonymous comment, so take that for what it’s worth, but it’s pretty alarming. “Although he was one of the state’s top prosecutors, my friend was very critical of police and prosecutors in Illinois. He was thoroughly disgusted by, and would not participate in, a pool in the 1980s prosecutor’s office–winner determined by who convicts “the highest tonnage of n…..s.” Might help explain the state’s high exoneration rate.
So I suppose this is the part where conservatives chime in to excuse this and this because . . . Sen. Robert Byrd was once a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
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TheAgitator.com
That first story sickens me to no end. I note that the prosecutors won’t relent even though the alleged victims have recanted their testimony. Another strike against state-run “justice” systems.
Free Republic is a cesspool.
I’ve always found it interesting how federal employees receive benefits after their employment that no one else, not even CEOs, enjoy. It’s almost as if they are a class of nobles.
LOL, the headline is great! You must click and read. :)
Regarding the persecution of gays by blacks (and everyone else)…
I’m often embarrassed by how long it took me to realize that racism isn’t the last battle in the fight against bigotry and persecution. I finally understand that it’s human nature to condemn everyone who is not like you and that it takes constant proactive questioning of one’s own motives to eradicate it first in one’s self before there can be any hope of defeating it in the public at large.
The persecution of groups of people defined by behavior or other characteristics is the rule, not the exception. And in all cases, those who practice it do not see it as intolerance or bigotry, but rather as a justifiable fight against the forces of evil.
That’s why you don’t often see members of persecuted groups standing up for the rights of others. To them, it was only persecution when it was directed toward them. When directed toward others, it’s justifiable.
Laws that discriminate against minority races are obviously evil, but laws and enforcement practices that specifically target gays, drug users, gamblers, prostitutes, wife swappers, nudists, polygamists, people who swear, non Christians, etc are perfect acceptable because these are considered to be just as legitimate as laws against heresy were back during the Inquisition.
Tell someone that laws against nudity or polygamy are persecution and they will give you the same look your dog gives you when you explain to him why he shouldn’t gnaw the legs off the dining room table. It’s a completely foreign concept. To them, nudity and having multiple wives are universally recognized as immoral attacks on humanity and to question it is just nonsense.
Tolerance and recognizing persecution disguised as a worthwhile crusade are attitudes you have to actively cultivate and develop.
Regarding gay/black discrimination:
I challenge anyone to name a group – white, black, gay, religious, atheist, etc – that with significant number of members, hasn’t supporting taking civil rights away from some other group.
First story really isn’t surprising, and I’m sure much more common then you want to believe.
Crimes like that have largely become witch hunts where facts and evidence don’t matter, even while they’re being tried let alone years later.
If you are charged with a such a crime you need to decide between life in prison (in many states under guise of “treatment” that never happens and doesn’t exist) in others eventual release to live as an outcast like a troll under a bridge, or simply ending your life. Oh, and actual innoncence? Doesn’t matter.
ZOMG THERE ARE RACISTS COMMENTING ON TEH INTERWEBZ?
ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG
If you are charged with a such a crime you need to decide between life in prison (in many states under guise of “treatment” that never happens and doesn’t exist) in others eventual release to live as an outcast like a troll under a bridge, or simply ending your life.
I would not willingly enter a prison for 20 years, knowing that I was an innocent person; nor can I understand how anyone else does.
The Free Republic blog story blows my mind. It’s like a charactature of the modern “Conservative” movement. What blows me away is the fact that the blog owners can’t seem to applicate that hosting comments of that type (racist and ignorant) hurts their cause more than anything that liberals could ever publish.
With the wealth of legitimate political issues to attack the President, the best that the writers could manage was some lame name calling? That to me is more telling than anything else.
excuse it, Radley? no, there is never an appropriate excuse for bigotry.
an acknowledgement that the right doesn’t have a monopoly on it would be refreshing, though.
I am in 100% agreement with congress eating their own dogfood.
“Son and daughter, now in their 30s, testify in court that their father never molested them, and that they lied and said he did after being badgered by their mother and investigating police officers. The father did 20 years in prison”
I feared stuff like this would happen with things like 50 years
statute of limitations for crimes like these, shield laws,etc
There was a naive assumption there would
not be malicious or vinditictive prosecutions as a result. Yeah,
right.
The Free Republic blog story blows my mind. It’s like a charactature of the modern “Conservative” movement. What blows me away is the fact that the blog owners can’t seem to applicate that hosting comments of that type (racist and ignorant) hurts their cause more than anything that liberals could ever publish.
They don’t give a shit about a cause. They’re just pissed off and want to get “even.” One sign of a privileged bully is the complete lack of proportion – a tiny slight calls for an extended campaign of terror and ostracism. Because that’s what they want to do anyway.
#9 Thorn:
I would not willingly enter a prison for 20 years, knowing that I was an innocent person; nor can I understand how anyone else does.
This could and can easily happen to someone who truly believes in the the CJS or Courts… that justice and presumption of innocence are paramount.
The reality of course is much different. Once you have been targeted by the Courts you are a goner.
Odd that someone who was a cop placed so much faith in the public pretender. I would think he of all people would know that next to not having a lawyer at all, a PD is the worst thing an innocent person can have.
If someone were to leave a post here, slamming a minority with racial slurs, would that indict TheAgitator.com as a site that welcomes bigotry? No, it wouldn’t.
Well said, Dave K…Well said.
Regarding the son and daughter: From this news vid I saw yesterday one of the lead investigators was having an affair with the wife of the convicted cop.
http://www.katu.com/news/50543537.html?video=YHI&t=a
Members of Congress get the same health insurance that all federal employees get.
If someone were to leave a post here, slamming a minority with racial slurs, would that indict TheAgitator.com as a site that welcomes bigotry? No, it wouldn’t.
It wouldn’t because, unlike Jim Thompson, Radley would immediately condemn that post and, unlike at Free Republic, 99% of the other posters here would condemn it as well.
That’s why Free Republic is, indeed, a site that welcomes bigotry and The Agitator is not.
Isn’t that always the way? Whenever some opressed group acheives freedom, invariably the first freedom they want to exercise is their “freedom” to opress someone else.
So, when are the prosecutors and the adult childrens’ mother going to be summarily thrown in cages for twenty years as a deterrent?
If the mother is still alive I wouldn’t want to be her right now, and she might want to consider moving far far away. Perhaps he is a stronger man than me, but if someone turned my children against me and basically ruined my life with 20 years of prison I would be coming for blood.
“Pretty sad how anti-gay bigotry keeps popping up in black civil rights groups”
Yes it is. Perhaps some gay guys need to picket outside some of the involved churches hoisting up the iconic “I AM A MAN” sign made famous during the civil rights struggle. Hmmm….
@ Helmut
“Perhaps some gay guys need to picket outside some of the involved churches hoisting up the iconic “I AM A MAN” sign made famous during the civil rights struggle.”
Holy shit, that would be fucking awesome. Nothing makes a point better than irony.
Fark headline is GREAT!!!!!
Fark the Mormons anyway….now I have a new place to attempt public copulation.
A cop dicked over by the system. I call that poetic justice.
I eagerly await the Vancouver Sun’s article on the anti-Palin-kid rants of Andrew Sullivan and Daily Kos. I did a search but found nothing on their website. I’m sure it’s forthcoming, though…. After all, libs never selectively attack children!
I have to agree that it’s extremely bigoted to judge all members of a group based on the actions of a few, especially if those few may not even be members of the group. It seems to be natural for people to magnify the actions of select members of a group that they choose to hate in order to justify their hatred.
There’s nothing in the Salon article that would indicate that the gay guys didn’t really “became argumentative and used profanity and refused to leave the property.” If that’s the case, why is this ridiculous? Also, they weren’t arrested. They were detained by security guards and recieved a trespassing citation by police.
The SCLC ceased being a civil rights group several decades ago. They’re a political advocacy group for a lot of blacks, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That first C stands for Christian btw; is it really a surprise that many would oppose gay marriage?
I’m one of the more conservative commenters on here: Fuck Free Republic. In defense of conservatives, Free Republic is most definitely not “commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing.”
BTW, everyone should read the really excellent, and well named, Popehat.
I eagerly await the Vancouver Sun’s article on the anti-Palin-kid rants of Andrew Sullivan and Daily Kos.
You’ll have to explain what’s “anti-kid” about pointing out that a known liar is probably lying.
So the church was demanding they leave immediately while simultaneously demanding they stay until the police arrived?
“Ridiculous story about a gay couple arrested in Utah after a public kiss on the cheek.”
Yes, because there’s nothing more ridiculous than a church regulating what type of behavior it allows on its OWN property.
“Fark the Mormons anyway….now I have a new place to attempt public copulation.”
Hey, that’s what I keep telling gay rights activists: If you’re trying to shock people, then do something really outrageous.
“So the church was demanding they leave immediately while simultaneously demanding they stay until the police arrived?”
People who don’t reflexively side with politically sympathetic groups might, just might, read the story and see that the guys are blaming the incident on their sexuality, not on some crazy mindfuck Catch 22. To sane people this would make the scenario you present highly unlikely.
Is it just me, or is Chet pretty much the liberal Dondero?
Looks like we know what the conservative response to the “racism on Free Republic” story is: “What a coincidence that this was uncovered by the same guy who advocated posting racist comments on conservative websites!”
Oppressed groups have prejudices mostly because oppressed groups are made of people, and prejudice is pretty normal. Also, being oppressed tends to mean having fewer resources for helping third parties. And contrary to what people keep being surprised by, being oppressed doesn’t tend to make people more interested in being kind to everyone.
Regarding the abuse case (top item), not surprising.
Lets see, a full grown man violently rapes a 9 year old and 5 year old and they don’t have any physical signs of abuse? Huge red flag right there, and that the prosecutors witheld the information speaks of a possible conspiracy to convict this guy. I’d look to Krause and the supervisor mentioned in the story who was having an affair witht he accused’s wife.
Gee, maybe on advice of her attorney because she knows she is about to be sued and may possibly face criminal charges…oh wait, a cop, sorry no charges she was just doing her job.
I didn’t notice on the FR screenshot any posts about monkeys, etc. Were those on later pages that were not captured?
While there were posts that referred to the girl’s trashy appearance, I’m not clear what was supposedly “racist” about them. If the daughter were white, but were photographed in similar dress and pose, I see no reason to believe that would have caused her to be treated differently. Further, anyone who tries to put forth a political message is fair game for criticism; those who do not wish to be subject to criticism should refrain from putting forth political messages. Why was Malia wearing nuclear disarmament t-shirts, if not to convey a message?
Re: SCLC and sexuality.
News flash: Homophobia is rampant in the African-American communities that tend to be VERY religious. My cousin, I’ll call him Jeff, was black, openly gay and had AIDS. He died two years ago. His sister, I’ll call her Janet, is one of those Bible-thumping, minister-wife types who thinks Harry Potter is evil. Yeah. Anyway, she and her husband’s congregation was supportive of Jeff but primarily because he too was a Bible-thumper. No, seriously. I doubt that would have been the case if he was anything like me: an unrepentant “heathen” and “atheist”.
People like my cousin Janet are upset whenever the gay community compares their fight for civil rights to the African-American civil rights movement (which wasn’t JUST AA but don’t tell THEM that). So, in short, I was not at all surprised to hear about Rev. Lee’s situation.
Supercat,
All criticism of Obama or anyone affiliated with his administration or him personally is racist by default. If you disagree, that’s just because you’re racist.
#41:
I’d say the phrase “ghetto trash” is unambiguously racist.
Which word refers to race, “ghetto” or “trash”?
If you have to ask a question like that, you belong on that site, not this one.
Anybody care to guess how much retired detective Krause (in the phony WA child molestation case is collecting in pension money?
BTW, the whole state of Washington was a hotbed of phony child abuse cases all through the ’80s and ’90s.
Frank said:
“A cop dicked over by the system. I call that poetic justice.”
No Frank, that’s not justice, and its not poetic. You and I know nothing of Mr. Spencer other than that he was wrongly convicted. Try spending 20 years behind bars for something you didn’t do and get back to us.
Simple, straightforward questions aren’t allowed on this site? It’s a fair question, and I’d be surprised if most of the commentors wouldn’t be interested in your answer.
RE: Free Republic Site
I know this is late, but I’ve been busy and haven’t been paying attention.
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/07/daily-kos-racist-nutjob-caught-in.html
The reporter who wrote the vancouver newspaper story is the same guy who has repeatedly suggested that folks at the Daily Kos write horrific comments on conservative sites and blame it on “right wingers”. Just a happy coincidence that he’s the guy who “broke” this story I’m sure. This is why you shouldn’t take comments on a site at face value and why you probably shouldn’t hold it against the owners of a site that has comments that are outrageous.
Byrd was actually a Grand Kleagle, not just a member of the KKK if I remember correctly.
Is it just me, or is Chet pretty much the liberal Dondero?
WTF? This is pretty much the definition of “echo chamber” discourse. Conservatives and libertarians really have hit “peak wingnut”, when their conversations, references, and shared identity become completely unintelligable to anyone who isn’t one of them.
@JohnJ:
ghetto + trash = racist
I guess I was wrong. No one seems interested in explaining to me the racial component of “ghetto trash”.
To some people, any disparaging term for a subset of the population will be construed as racist if the vast majority of the people in that subset happen to belong to a particular race, regardless of whether the definition of the subset would mention race at all.
Further, some people regard as racist any criticism of a cultural traits which happen to be found primarily among people of a particular race, again regardless of whether the definition of those traits would involve race.
The left has been very effective at convincing people that certain subsets of the population or cultural traits must be regarded as beyond reproach, since any criticism of them would be denounced as ‘racist’. I see no reason to go along with that.
You people have to ask yourselves why it’s so important to you that you can use terms like “ghetto trash” but the rest of us can’t use terms like “racist.” It’s well within your rights, as far as Radley allows, for you to describe all the black people you like as “ghetto trash”, just as its our right to describe you as “racist” for doing so.
Why is it so important to you that the rest of us not object to your disparaging terms for “a subset of the population”?
Why is it so important to you that the rest of us not object to your language? The question is whether or not the language is being used accurately. I’m perfectly free to describe really tall buildings as “small” or to use “blue” to mean “convenient”, and other people are free to tell me that I’m using the word incorrectly. And I’m free to reject their words if I want.
“`And how exactly like an egg he is!’ she said aloud, standing with her hands ready to catch him, for she was every moment expecting him to fall.
`It’s very provoking,’ Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence, looking away from Alice as he spoke, `to be called an egg — very!’
`I said you looked like an egg, Sir,’ Alice gently explained. `And some eggs are very pretty, you know,’ she added, hoping to turn her remark into a sort of compliment.
`Some people,’ said Humpty Dumpty, looking away from her as usual, `have no more sense than a baby!’ “
And what do you mean, “you people”?