Occupy Atlanta Shows Their True (Lack of) Color

Well, the little self-indulgent hipsters descended upon Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta yesterday afternoon and began their occupation. I give them credit for one thing, they started their little hissyfit at a time that it dovetailed with another gathering that was already going on in the area and therefore made it appear to outsiders that they had a far bigger crowd then what was in reality their true numbers. As soon as the other folks realized what was going on they started leaving and it wasn't long before this group of hundreds was down to a group of dozens, but by far the biggest boneheaded stunt of the night goes to this group when they refused Rep John Lewis a chance to address the crowd.

Sorry that should read Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis. (I forgot the AP style book on his correct title.)

Rep. Lewis was already on the record as supporting the progressive causes espoused by these occupy folks, views which for most of the country are completely a mystery. Well, in truth they are a mystery to most of the folks participating in the protests too.

What made this snub so noteworthy was the fact that the mostly white, mostly young, and mostly southern accent-challenged crowd failed to realize that in Atlanta if Rep. Lewis shows up and wants to speak, you had better damn sure give him five minutes of your time or you are going to alienate a vast majority of the population.

Their rationale for refusing him is even more hilarious. I watched the whole thing last night on their UStream feed; I can't even begin to describe how torturous that was, something if utilized at Gitmo would most assuredly run afoul of most human rights groups. Their reason? Nobody was special. Everybody was equal.

Just imagine if something similar had happened at a Tea Party rally. We would never hear the end of it from the melanin-challenged cast of MSNBC and every race pimp in the country from Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton would have taken to the airwaves to tell what despicable people they were to deny this icon a chance to speak.

The local Fox affiliate has probably the most unbiased report, yeah, no surprise, I know, but notice even they realize the need to send an African-American reporter to this location; she did manage to locate a couple of blacks to put on camera but notice all the group shots, including the one of Rep. Lewis surrounded by clueless masses. I choose this clip for precisely that reason. None of the others seemed able to get an African-American on camera.

Yes, this is the rainbows and unicorns alternate universe these folks live in. Everything they did last night was by consent of the crowd. They claim to have no leaders. It was a group decision. Nice way to avoid assigning blame, ya numbnuts.

Shortly after denying him a chance to speak many members of the group began to notice the lack of color in the crowd, something that is somewhat of a miracle to accomplish in downtown Atlanta. Especially in this location.

A little bit more about the location they chose. Woodruff Park is named in honor of the man who donated the money to have it built, the former Coca-Cola president Robert Woodruff.

Established in the early 1970s, Woodruff Park was formerly known as Central City Park. The park was created thanks to a philanthropic gift from former Coca-Cola Company president Robert W. Woodruff, who donated the money anonymously. After two years of planning and preparation, the park opened in 1973.

Yeah, one of those evil capitalists. Of course, if the occupiers are looking for something to do with their spare time might, I suggest a trip over to the Georgia Aquarium which is just a few blocks away.

The Georgia Aquarium started with The Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus. Marcus wanted to present a gift to the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia, one that would encourage education and economic growth. In November of 2001, he announced his plan to build an aquarium in downtown Atlanta. He and his wife Billi donated $250 million toward the Georgia Aquarium's construction.

Damn, more evil capitalism.

Well, I hope they enjoy themselves, and for God's sake, clean up after yourselves; but seeing as this is Saturday and football season in the south, most of us will have better things to do today then monitor the antics of this Ritalin-deprived crowd.

Go Ramblin' Wreck!

Update (JWF) : Really creepy video:

A Lesson In How To Scam Tax Dollars

I can not be the only one who is getting fed up with all of the lies, and that is what they are, that spew out of liberal politicians mouths. Unfortunately we live in a society that doesn't read beyond the headlines, or an email in this case and their expert opinion on matters is based on information provided in 10 second soundbites on their 6 or 11 newscast.

It is an established fact that the Democrats know as much about creating private sector jobs as they know about anything military related.

Rep John Lewis recently sent an email newsletter to the folks who have signed up for it in which he made the claim that a proposed streetcar project in Atlanta, here we go with the Dems love of trains again, in which he made the wild claim that it would create a gazillion jobs.

Even better, it would create jobs, according to a newsletter to constituents from U.S. Rep. John Lewis. Under the header "New jobs created by the Streetcar project," it said the line would generate 1,399 jobs to build and run it, and an additional 4,204 when it spurs economic development in surrounding neighborhoods.

Somebody sent the story to PolitiFact for a little research of these pie in the sky numbers and they were able to quickly label this as False. In more sleight of hand accounting that has got to infuriate Bernie Madoff, Lewis used figures provided to him by the group which applied for the taxpayer funds to hoodwink the feds. In reality the number of jobs that would be created, and I don't think created is even an accurate term since those who get the contract will probably use mostly current employees. The basic scheme behind these numbers is to count the same job for each year of the project, so for example if you employed 10 people for 10 years that equals 100 jobs using their new math.

Regarding the streetcar project. It is an attempt to recapture a time from Atlanta's past and it does have a certain appeal but Atlanta's biggest problem is that it does not really have what some would term a tourist area. The closet we have is an area known as Five Points which is where you will find attractions such as the Aquarium, the Coca-Cola Museum and Centennial Olympic Park. After you have made the rounds there you are left with not much else to do. The city has been struggling for years with trying to build some sort of character that would put Atlanta on the minds of people but they just can't seem to get it right. The biggest problem is that when the sun goes down most sensible people make sure they are outside of "The Perimeter". The perimeter is the area formed by I-285 which circles the city. They killed off the nightlife which used to abound in an area of town called Buckhead after some high profile killings, at least one of them involving Ray Lewis of the NFL. The other nightlife hot spot was Underground Atlanta but the same story. Criminals took over and regular patrons left. Venues that are hard to get to with the lack of security leaves most events for those visiting from out of town. They can't seem to figure out why sporting events have low attendance, especially those that take place at night. They are more likely to sell out a football or baseball game if it takes place during daylight then they will at night.

Anyway, this post is about a congress critter telling folks what they want to hear in order to secure our tax dollars for a project that will quite honestly probably yield little benefit either in the way of jobs or what it's intended purpose once completed is. We just come full circle on this spending argument though. Everybody says cut spending just don't cut my allowance. Hey, congress. Somebody is always going to be upset, so man up, grow up, step on a few toes and let's cut the damn spending.

Indentured Servitude Way Of Life For Democrats

Democrats might want to cut all this crap about civil rights out when it seems that indentured servitude is a way of life for their party members. Imagine your employer coming to you and ordering you raise X number of dollars to stay in good standing.

Term after term, Lewis easily wins reelection in a district that is solidly Democratic -- a district that even many Republicans consider "safe" for Lewis, for as long as he wants to serve. He continues to try to raise money, trying to match the Republicans in neighboring districts who are members of the million-dollar fund-raising club. So he's spending lots of the campaign money that he does have on consultants, to help him raise even more money.

Here's the email that Lewis's office in Washington sent to 11Alive News on Thursday:

"Cong. Lewis... said that he not only has a Republican challenger, and he does take that challenge seriously, but he also has financial obligations as a member of the Democratic leadership. As senior chief deputy whip, he is required to raise $350,000 to pay his dues to the Democratic National Committee and about $500,000 to contribute to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to support other Democratic candidates. So he's not just raising money for himself, but developing resources that will support other Democratic candidates around the country. This, he said, is a matter of public record."

The only hardcore Democrat principle seems to be show me the money. Might explain why William "Cold Hard Cash" Jefferson was protected for so long by his Democrat cronies. Some of that money was probably destined for the Democrat coffers and he was just being a good little fundraiser.

If you try that in civilian life law enforcement has a term for that type of behavior. Extortion. It gets Gotti a jail cell and politicians reelected.

Who knew it cost so much money to be a Democrat? And they call Republicans fat cats.

Your Government In Action: Four-Year-Olds Now Qualify for Homebuyer Credit

Not only can your pre-schoolers now qualify for a first time home-buying loan, but if you've got some more kids in the pipeline they too may be qualify thanks to a helping hand from Senator Christopher Dodd.

They may not be able to cross the street on their own or color within the lines, but many kids qualified for the first-time homebuyer credit.

Due to a loophole and some odd reporting criteria, children as young as 4 received the first-time homebuyer credit that Congress passed last year, according to PoliticsDaily.com. The credit is worth $8,000 and was created to encourage first-time buyers to purchase a home.

More than 500 people have used their children to sign up, with one parent using a 4-year-old to get the credit, the site reported.

These types of claims are among the myriad cases of fraud that have cost the government nearly half a billion dollars, federal investigators told Congress.

Fraudulent claims include people who received the credit but have not purchased homes, who already owned homes, or who were in the country illegally. More worrying, numerous IRS employees have applied for the credit who should not have.

Chalk up another success for big gubmint.

Meanwhile, on the heels of this news comes word this program will likely be extended. Wonderful.

The temporary program was created by Congress in 2008 to jolt the weakened housing market and was renewed and expanded in 2009 by the $787 billion stimulus bill. This week Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) began a push to expand the credit to all homebuyers and extend the deadline, now set for Nov. 30th, to July 2010.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), chairman of the subcommittee, said that 1.4 million families have claimed nearly $10 billion in credits, but that the speed of implementing the program meant policing fraud was at first unacceptably poor. "We want to and we need to stop this fraud and abuse," he said.

Good luck with that. Really instills confidence these idiots can run our healthcare system, doesn't it?

I wonder how deep the tentacles from ACORN are into the scam?

I Will Not Be Silenced

So much for Saturday's being slow news days. There is now a brouhaha shaping up spurred on by a Democrat representative from Georgia by the name of John Lewis. He is no stranger to the race wars.

Here is a chronology of events so far today.

First it is Lewis shooting off his mouth.

"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing today reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

"During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who only desired to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed one Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

"As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

Mr Lewis never accused Hillary Clinton, who he supported at first, of any such thing when she was making the same statements.

The McCain camp, to their credit, hit back demanding that the Obama denounce such talk.

Well, now the Obama has issued a statement. Doesn't sound like they renounced anything.

Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies. But John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States pals around with terrorists. As Barack Obama has said himself, the last thing we need from either party is the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric that tears us apart at a time of crisis when we desperately need to come together. That is the kind of campaign Senator Obama will continue to run in the weeks ahead, said Obama-Biden spokesman Bill Burton.

Did she hit a nerve? I will not be silenced by the race card or intimidated into some sort of white guilt by the race warlords. You want anger, Barry O? Does anger scare you? You want to know what people are angry about? It is all of your associations, not just William Ayers. How about Tony Rezko? Bernadette Dohrn? Jeremiah Wright? Jeffrey Pfleger?

Are your internal polls indicating something the public polls aren't? Are you really losing this race in spite of all of your assistance from the media?

You say you want this to be about issues, yet when asked about issues, which is rare, you evade and go off and tell us what a wonderful government program you are waiting to impose to solve all of our problems.

We are angry because you surround yourself with people who act as an echo chamber, constantly telling you how great you are, while at the same time embracing the most radical fringes of your party. Have you ever denounced anything MoveOn has done? Have you ever criticized what passes for comments over on those favorite liberal blogs of yours like the Daily Kos and Democratic Underground? Did you ever condemn any of the liberal columnists or radio personalities who openly wished for the death of Bush or Cheney?

Maybe you ought to clean up your own side of the aisle before you come over picking a fight on the other side.