Three men indicted for burning black church on election night

Just hours after Barack Obama was elected president last November, three men set ablaze a predominantly African-American church in Massachusetts to "interfere" with the civil rights of its congregants, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.

Benjamin Haskell, 22, Michael Jacques, 24, and Thomas Gleason, 21, all of Springfield, Mass., burned Macedonia Church of God in Christ to the ground in the early hours of Nov. 5th as payback for the election of the country’s first African-American president, the department's indictment alleges.

The three men were released Monday on $100,000 bail each, the Springfield Republican reported, after spending 11 days in federal custody.

"These allegations of racial violence connected with the presidential election are serious and disturbing," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King. "The Justice Department will aggressively prosecute individuals who conspire to commit such acts of violence and intimidation."

Before they burned the Pentecostal church, the construction of which was 75 percent complete, the men used racial slurs to express anger with Obama's victory and discussed burning the new church building because the church members, congregants and bishop were African-American, according to the indictment.

After finding gasoline, the trio poured it on the interior and exterior of the 18,000 square-foot building and set it ablaze, the department said, which ended up injuring firefighters.

Haskell, Jacques and Gleason face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years If convicted. The department did not say when a trial would begin.

The racist right indulges its assassination fantasies

We're already aware that the white-supremacist crowd is already creating a higher level of security concerns surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration.

So somehow it probably figures that Sean Hannity's old pal Hal Turner would be out there leading the parade of nutcases making threats around the events.

According to Mark Potok at the SPLC, Turner has gone public this week with his threats:

On Friday, neo-Nazi threatmeister Hal Turner, amplifying on an earlier posting suggesting that it would be a good thing to use an unmanned drone carrying explosives to attack the crowds, said a mass murder of those attending the festivities “would be a public service.” “I won’t say what may happen Tuesday but I will say this,” Turner wrote on his blog. “After Tuesday, the name Hal Turner may live in infamy. Let it be known that I saw what was necessary and decided to do what had to be done. I make no apology to those affected or their families.”

Earlier, on Jan. 11, Turner had posted photos to his blog, under the headline “My Inauguration Dream,” of a small, unmanned drone, an electronic guidance system and sticks of dynamite as he laid out one method of attack. He also discussed the possibility of sending up balloons filled with helium and a “payload” and fitted with fuses that would explode the balloons over the crowds. And he displayed a grainy video that purported to show that method being tested. “Too far fetched?” Turner asks of a possible balloon attack. “It got tested and it worked! … Watch the video and imagine what payload, other than the index cards taped to the outside of the test balloons, might be substituted? HMMMMMM. Might be something messy? Something contagious? Something deadly? Ahhhh, such possibilities!” Then, last Thursday, he posted an update, saying: “All the assets that need to be in-place for next week are now in-place; deep within the security perimeter. Everything is a ‘go.’ We have crossed the Rubicon; let history judge us well.”

Well, fortunately, Turner is not someone to take seriously, any more than gay-basher Fred Phelps. He's made numerous threats in the past, and all have been just so much gasbaggery. Moreover, he has a nonexistent following, especially after it was revealed he had been doing federal-informant work, which pretty much destroys your cred in white-power circles.

Mind you, part of Turner's schtick is planting a seed of doubt in the back of people's minds. That's what he is doing when he says he hopes more to target the crowds than Obama himself.

Mind you, if you happen to see Turner this week in D.C., you'll want to steer clear. Not because he really poses a threat, but just because he's Hal Turner.

Blackwell: GOP Must Defeat Job-Creating Stimulus Because It Will Ruin GOP’s Election Chances

In an article published on Townhall today, RNC Chairman candidate and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell urges congressional conservatives to oppose the reinvestment and recovery stimulus plan promoted by President-elect Obama. Though he offers standard conservative arguments against the plan — including a screed against the growth of “big government” — Blackwell seemed most concerned about the political benefit Democrats might see from successfully boosting the economy.

He warned that the bill, which calls for 80 percent job creation in the private sector, could create 600,000 new federal jobs — a problem because it would make it that much harder for for Republicans to win back Virginia:

While only a few details are known, one overlooked issue is that it could create a major electoral advantage for Democrats at taxpayer expense. That would be unacceptable for what is being touted as a nonpartisan measure, and gives Republicans yet another reason to oppose it if not restructured. […]

But most federal employees, that are not political appointees, vote Democrat. Since Washington, DC is the seat of government, whenever new federal bureaucrats are created many live in Maryland and Virginia. In 2008, Virginia went Democrat for the first time since 1964, and Mr. Obama won it by 130,000 votes. Creating 600,000 new jobs might help cement Virginia in the Democrat column, making it harder for Republicans to retake the White House.

Blackwell cites House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) as his source for the 600,000 “bureaucrats” figure. In fact, Obama’s council of economic advisers predicts that the plan would create about 240,000 government jobs, compared to, for example, 700,000 in mining and construction. And of course, there’s no reason to assume the bulk of government jobs would be created in the D.C. area, though the District — which has the 6th highest unemployment rate in the nation — could use the new jobs.

The bottom line is that, in an economy that lost 1.2 million jobs last year, Blackwell’s biggest concern is to block the creation of new jobs because those newly-employed Americans might vote Democratic.

RNC chair candidate Chip Saltsman sent out a CD of the “Barack the Magic Negro” song

For his Christmas greeting this year, RNC chair candidate Chip Saltsman sent out a CD of the “Barack the Magic Negro” song. Saltsman’s Christmas message:

“I look forward to working together in the New Year,” Saltsman wrote. “Please enjoy the enclosed CD by my friend Paul Shanklin of the Rush Limbaugh Show.”

Shanklin’s CD, “We Hate the USA,” also contains songs such as “Star Spanglish banner” and “Wright place, wrong pastor.”

Saltsman is refusing to apologize, telling CNN: “I think most people recognize political satire when they see it. I think RNC members understand that.”

Saltsman isn’t the only RNC candidate who has come under fire on race issues. South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson was a member of a whites-only country club until recently, when he withdrew his membership in order to lay the groundwork for his RNC candidacy.

Update Politico's Mike Allen notes that more than 18 hours after the news about Saltsman broke, not a single Republican official has condemned his actions.

Update Today RNC chairman Mike Duncan issued a statement distancing himself from Saltsman: "The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party. I am shocked and appalled that anyone would think this is appropriate as it clearly does not move us in the right direction."

Update RNC chairman candidate Kenneth Blackwell, who is African-American, also defended Saltsman, saying that "there is hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race."

Report: White vigilante groups blockaded small town in post-Katrina New Orleans and murdered blacks

Earlier this week, A.C. Thompson of The Nation revealed that after Hurricane Katrina, white vigilante groups patrolled New Orleans, blockaded streets, and shot at least eleven black men. It “was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it,” said one vigilante. Color of Change is organizing a campaign to tell Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and state officials to investigate the shootings, as “Louisiana’s broken law enforcement agencies have refused to investigate these crimes.” Watch Thompson’s video on his report:

Color of Change is also sending messages to Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Attorney General nominee Eric Holder. Sign the petition here.Colorofchange.org

Charles Barkley is right

Most of you know that I love sports. ESPN and all things sports have become a part of my daily life. Take your pick, I love pro and college sports, it doesn't really matter.


But I want to talk about college sports for a minute, and a dirty little secret in big time college football. For those of you who follow college sports, you will know by now that Auburn University fired their successful football coach, and hired a guy who was about to get fired by a lessor known football school, Iowa State. He was about to be fired because even at a non powerhouse program like Iowa State, a record of 5-19 is not acceptable. Gene Chizik might be a good man and a great motivator, but the truth of the matter is that he did not deserve to get the Auburn job. Turner Gill did.

Why Turner Gill? Well, Turner Gill is African American and....Oh here we go, of course, here comes the give it to the black guy speech. No, not quite, this time it's a give it to the best guy who happens to be black, speech. And if I did give that speech, could you think of a better group of people to give it to than the nation's top college Athletic Directors? Consider: Twenty five percent of the assistance in major college football are African American; fifty percent of the players are African American; yet only three percent of the coaches are black. That grades an "F" from the Black Coaches Association. Wouldn't it have been nice if a big time program like Auburn had stepped up to the plate and hired a qualified person of color? Charles was right about his Alma Mater this time. "It’s a comment on Auburn. It’s a comment on the state of Alabama, I just feel sadness because you know what people think of the South and Alabama, things like that. And you just hope that at some point that people are going to say we’re going to change this. Or it’s just going to stay status quo...” ...I look at things from a commonsense standpoint, how do you interview Turner Gill and pick Gene Chizik over Turner Gill?"

And now the buzz is that one reason Gill was turned down, wasn't because he is black, but because his wife is white. Yep, seems jungle fever doesn't play too well at those cocktail parties with those good ole boy boosters. Oh, and we might want to add Florida assistant, Charlie Strong, to that mix. Yep, seems the white wife scuttled his chances as well. Honey I am going on a job interview. Hey, check out this new tanning bed I got you. Oh, and look at this nice wig.

Do you think we could use 9 Billion dollars that went missing in Iraq now ?

The Republicans blocked the auto makers bail out tonight.

The prospects of a $14 billion government rescue of the American auto industry seemed to vaporize Thursday as the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, spoke out forcefully against the bill, effectively ending its chances despite the urgings of the White House.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Mr. McConnell said he and other Republicans had drawn a clear distinction between the Treasury’s $700 billion economic stabilization, which they helped pass in October, and the proposal to aid the American automakers, which he said raised questions about which industries or individuals deserve help.

Wow, the Republicants are so worried about taxpayer money these days I often wonder where they disappeared when 9 billion dollars just vanished in the black hole of Iraq?

Nearly $9 billion of money spent on Iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of inefficiencies and bad management, according to a watchdog report published Sunday. An inspector general's report said the U.S.-led administration that ran Iraq until June 2004 is unable to account for the funds.

An inspector general's report said the U.S.-led administration that ran Iraq until June 2004 is unable to account for the funds.

"Severe inefficiencies and poor management" by the Coalition Provisional Authority has left auditors with no guarantee the money was properly used," the report said.

These knuckleheads are willing to let the auto companies go down in flames, but never lifted a finger when it came to funding Bush's war. For war, there is never enough funding for conservatives, but to help Americans ... Nada.