I live in the state of Connecticut.  For those who don’t know much about U.S. geography, it’s a small state in the northeastern portion of the country.  For years, Connecticut has had a reputation as a liberal haven.  The bicameral state legislature has a veto-proof majority; many of the 169 towns and cities are run by Democrats; all of the elected state official positions are Democrats; all the Congressional Representatives and Senators are Democrats except one (and he’s the last one in the northeast); only the Lieutenant Governor and Governor are Republicans; also, despite having a strong Democratic twinge, most politicians tend to be on the moderate side of the scale, and 44% of Connecticut voters are Independents.

So, with all the blue love going on in Connecticut, are we all a bunch of peace-loving hippies?  Not necessarily.

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Islamists have threatened a Christian Bishop in the Philippines… (H/T: UP Pompeii)

Philippine bishop reports receiving threat to convert to Islam

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — A bishop in the southern Philippines reported receiving a letter threatening him with harm if he does not convert to Islam or pay “Islamic taxes.”

Such brazenness in a country where over 86% of the population is Christian, 9% is Muslim and the remaining 5% is divided among various groups such as: Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, animists and non-believers.

Even if those who sent these letters are no more than common criminals who use religion as a mere tool, the fact that they chose to represent themselves as Muslims is in itself significant. But Muslim brazenness does not stop there, unfortunately, this one is far from an isolated case! Remember the kidnapped and murdered Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Mgr Faraj Rahho? What about the plight of Assyrian Christians in Iraq? What about the Sabian Mandaeans? Or the plight of Christians girls kidnapped in Nigeria by practitioners of the Religion of Peace? What about the treatment of Christian Copts in Egypt? Ot the threats against Western politicians like Geert Wilders or Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi? The list, gentle reader, goes on and on ad nauseum…

You may read the rest at: Freedom’s Cost

Why when it talks like a bigot, and walks like a bigot, it’s not bad to call it a bigot. (more…)

All too often, people - albeit especially progressives - assume that conservatives were strongly opposed to the civil rights movement, back in the early second part of the 20th century. Conservatives, most progressives believe, were opposed to equal rights and equal treatment because they were either racist or because they, well, opposed any change because they preferred the status quo out of fear that change may produce unwanted results and chaos. (more…)

I have watched with dismay the intense, unfairly negative attention given to the State of West Virginia over the past week.  The Poligazette team knows I prefer research to ranting, so I thought I would look up a few interesting facts that go against the prevailing “narrative.” (more…)

Roberto Lovato’s new Ode to Juan Crow is a must-read simply because it’s Americans’ responsibility to know what the people who are actively seeking to undermine our country are doing.  Unfortunately equating the racial discrimination faced by Black Americans under Jim Crow to current anti-illegal immigration laws fails on one simple point:  the illegals are, well, here illegally.

What say you?

A tragic article in the German newspaper the Spiegel: “Insulted, spat at and attacked — by ordinary Germans. Unable to bear the daily racism, a pastor’s family fled from a small town in eastern Germany back to the their former home in the west.” (more…)

The Florida legislature approved a statement in which it officially apologized for the slavery suffered by blacks.

I’m a bit ambivalent about this whole apologizing thing. For starters, all the real victims are long dead. Additionally, how could a little piece of paper saying “oops, sorry” do diddly squat to make up for generations of slavery? On the other hand, if it makes the community descendant from those slaves feel better, I guess it’s not too big of a deal. Still, this sins of the fathers business doesn’t sit well with me. An apology to the living victims from the government for Jim Crow, now that I could understand.

Thoughts?

Barack Obama, undoubtedly stunned by the outcry that followed the popularization of Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s racist and anti-American statements, has "strongly condemned" his pastor’s teachings today.

This decision is the correct one.  But it’s late in coming.  If Obama is really to be the trans-party, post-racial leader America has been waiting for he must demonstrate that in his core beliefs.  What he should have done, I believe, was renounce his membership in Wright’s church outright.

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Both John McCain and Barack Obama are being criticized because of their association with bigoted pastors. (more…)

The German newspaper the Spiegel reports that a woman threw a 19-year old Angolan man in front of an approaching train in Berlin on Sunday. That’s newsworthy in itself, but what’s even more newsworthy is that police said that the woman pushed the black man in front of the train because she’s a racist. (more…)

“Canada has withdrawn its support for a UN anti-racism conference slated to take place in South Africa next year,” the Globe and Mail reports. The reason: ‘The so-called Durban II conference “has gone completely off the rails” and Canada wants no part of it, said Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity.’ (more…)

A very interesting article appeared at the Atlantic about why the FBI was watching MLK’s step very closely: the civil rights leader had communist connections. (more…)

Anti-Muslim groups in Europe, and especially in the Netherlands, are becoming increasingly extreme. They’re not conservative: they’re fascist. (more…)

Barack Obama’s team is constantly using race against Hillary Clinton and anyone who dares to associate with or even worse, to support her. Whenever someone says something, Obama’s supporters, advisers and campaign staff try to twist it in a way that suggests that the person who criticized him is a racist. It happens time and again, and I’ve had it with it.

When Bill Clinton calls something a fairy tale, it’s suddenly racism. Listen: there’s nothing racist about that, and Obama’s supporters should stop demanding special treatment. (more…)

Blame racism. Here as well.

I have to admit that I find it interesting to see that when a Democratic candidate loses, there’s always someone else to blame. There is a difference between Clinton and Obama though: In the case of Hillary Clinton there was clearly sexism involved. Probably not in the votes as such, but in the media coverage. With Obama, however, there’s simple no evidence at all that implies that there was racism involved. The only strange thing were the polls. Well, polls can be wrong. (more…)

This is one of those fascinating articles that make one think two things at the same time: 1. that’s truly awesome, 2. that shouldn’t have anything to do with it.

What I am talking about? The article is about what Obama’s rise and victory in Iowa mean to African-Americans. Examples:

For Sadou Brown in a Los Angeles suburb, the decisive victory of Senator Barack Obama in Iowa was a moment to show his 14-year-old son what is possible. (more…)

One of the strengths of Barack Obama is that he has turned his campaign into one of ‘hope.’ Hope for what isn’t exactly clear, but hope nonetheless. His message is positive, mostly. He isn’t talking about two Americas, he isn’t talking about the oppression of minorities, instead he says that the American people are a great people, that there are problems, yes, but that they can be overcome.

That’s a strong message. (more…)

It seems that some Iowans aren’t all too comfortable with a black candidate who has a shot at winning the Democratic nomination. One man, for instance, implied to John Edwards that Barack Obama would probably want to give “something back” to people like Rev. Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, etc. if he becomes president. He also wanted to know whether Obama thought OJ was guilty or not.

“How are you going to get that brought out in your campaign? Will the same thing happen? If he should become elected, you think Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey are going to let him forget about that and their obligation?” he said.

Hmm. Yeah. I see the point. Those black folk cover for each other at all times, don’t they?

More ridiculous quotes at MSNBC.

Charles Johnson links to two fascinating, “devastating” he rightfully calls them, posts about the Belgium political party Vlaams Belang and its neo-nazist ideology. One of those articles is this one at Noblesse Oblige. I encourage all of you to head on over to NO as to read it in its entirety. It’s, indeed, a devastating article. It leaves no doubt about the ideology of the leaders of the Vlaams Belang and many of its supporters. These people shouldn’t be defended, they should be attacked, time and again. It says all we need to know about the European blogs who like to call themselves ‘conservative’ (they’re no such thing, they’re simply bigots) and who defend the Vlaams Belang. (more…)

A couple of days ago, I published a post about Bill Cosby’s appearance on “Meet the Press” with Tim Russert. As I wrote back then, I found it a very informative show, one all who are interested in the issue of African-Americans and their problems, should watch.

One of the things that fascinated me about Cosby is that he didn’t blame ’society’ as so many progressives tend to do. He didn’t blame ‘the white man.’ He blamed blacks. Why? Too many black men and women fail to take responsibility for themselves, for their children and for the African-American community. The black family has been destroyed, not due to racism but due to the mistakes of the black community itself. Of course, the black family has been destroyed after institutional racism was abolished, which is something one always has to keep in mind when one talks about this subject. (more…)

Olaf Metzel, a German sculpture, made a statue that’s displayed at a University in Austria - Viyana Karlsplatz - which is incredibly insulting to all Turks and to all those who have an affinity for Turkey. I’m all for art, and people shouldn’t riot over this one, but the Minister of Austria should have discouraged - not forbidden - those who wanted to put this statue where all could see it.

This what the sculpture looks like: (more…)

I just finished reading Diane Ackerman’s The Zookeeper’s Wife that talks about a Polish couple who hides Jews in their Warsaw Zoo during the war. It’s non-fiction, and I’ll have a review up soon enough.

Tonight is the Ken Burns documentary–The War, which I plan on watching. Anyway, going back to the subject line, one of the things she spoke about in the book was an anti-Semitic children’s book called The Poison Mushroom. I remember seeing this book behind glass at the Holocaust Museum. The front image is that of a mushroom with a face on it with an overly large nose. In the book, the German children are all drawn cute and blond, while the Jews are ugly, have mean faces and huge noses. (more…)