An Open Letter to the NRA..Guns, Guns & More Guns Is that the Solution?

Davey-D-purple-frameDear NRA (National Rifle Association) we peeped your press conference this afternoon and lemme make sure I understand the main premise.. What we need in this society as follows; Guns, Guns and More Guns.. We need a cop on every corner and armed guard in every school..

We also got from the NRA, that the reason the school kids died tragically in Newtown at Sandy Hook elementary was because the Principal, Dawn Hochsprung who courageously gave her life didn’t have a gun..

If only she had a gun, then the school kids would’ve been saved..That’s the type nonsense you guys always say, but when push comes to shove, it never rally pans out..Most folks unless they been trained gun or not are thinking about getting out the line of fire, not running around like they in a James Bond movie shooting down assailants packing military style assault weapons..

George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman

Sure you NRA types like so-called neighborhood watch George Zimmerman or gun collector Michael Dunn are quick to kill an unarmed Trayvon Martin or a shoot into a car of unarmed teens and kill an unarmed Jordan Davis for playing his music loud or be like Shawna Forde who shot unarmed Raul “Junior” Flores, 29, and his daughter, Brisenia, 9 because she thought they were here ‘illegally’ (they weren’t). Forde and her colleagues in the Minutemen were supposedly ‘protecting the border’.

In these instances and many like them its easy to shoot unarmed folks, but when others are strapped like you are and willing to bust back, you’re doing like everyone else running for cover and then talking smack days later about what you would’ve and could’ve done with a gun.. As the NY Times recently pointed out, there’s been over 60 mass shootings in past 30 years and not one has been stopped by the NRA or armed civilians. You can’t shoot your way out of a problem NRA..So Please Stop all that noise.

Also you all went  and blamed the media and video games for mass shootings. You basically said we need to crack down on that…I’m wondering if you were including the games that your fine organization helped develop like ‘NRA Gun Club‘ or the newest the ‘Medal to Honor‘ video game that our esteemed Navy Seals worked on?

Medea Benjamin

Will the NRA join drone protests since they recruit people who are good at violent  videos games?

Also considering that our military says they need good video game players to operate its new sophisticated equipment which include drones are you suggesting that the protests many of us had against drones is a right? Will the NRA be joining us in that fight against the drone lobby and drone caucus in congress?

Will the NRA hold its criticism when folks speak about violence in entertainment and video games and conclude that our kids have easy access to guns?  Seems like NRA members are usually the first to respond and put down folks who critique our nation’s culture of violence and include in their well thought out solution reduced gun access.. Soon as folks say that then the NRA is out there opposing such critiques. Your solution is we need less violent video games and more guns..

You said that movies are too violent…I guess what you’re saying is that we should be up in arms when favored actor  Clint Eastwood is standing before the world at the Republican National Convention getting the crowd to chant ‘Make My Day‘, a line taken from his violent movie ‘Sudden Impact‘? We’re you guys upset about that? I know I was..

Did the NRA think it was violent back in August when he quoted the Dirty Harry lines or did you cheer along with the other 20 thousand folks? After all it was Clint.. But to hear you guys at the NRA speak today.. Clint’s violent movies led to Sandy Hook..

Dirty Harry..Make My Day

Dirty Harry..Make My Day

When Clint tells folks to ‘Get off His Lawn‘ while holding a shotgun like he did in the movie ‘Gran Torino’, then we should protest and you guys at the NRA will be alongside us..because like you suggested during the press conference, such violent rhetoric is what led to the Sandy Hook massacre..Did I understand that right NRA?

When you talk about violence in music.. You’re talking Toby Keith right? When he tells everyone ‘Cause we’ll put a BOOT in your ass It’s the American way‘ in the song Courtesy of the Red White and Blue?  Is that the type of violence that led to the shootings at Sandy Hook? Was that song ok for Adam Lanza to listen to?

Will the NRA be protesting some of the violent lyrics in NRA member singer Kid Rock‘s songs like ‘Low Life’ and Drinking Smoking where he talks about ‘smacking hoes’, ‘making black music for the white man and how he likes racist jokes ‘ and how his ‘best friend is in the gun rack’? Are those the violent lyrics that led to Sandy Hook..NRA? .

Basically the you guys at NRA wants the whole country to be strapped and once that happens we’ll all be safe according to your logic..Maybe its me, but I’ve been in neighborhoods where everyone is packing and you know what happens? Armed folks shoot other armed folks.. The casualties are usually folks from both sides with innocent people being caught in the crossfire..

Could the NRA have stopped this shoot out at a Reno Casino btw biker gangs?

Could the NRA have stopped this shoot out at a Reno Casino btw biker gangs?

When armed camps go at it we call it gang wars..and whether its Crips and Bloods in Compton going at it or organized crime syndicates like the Gambinos and the Genoveses shooting it out in Brooklyn or biker gangs like Hells Angels and Mongols going at it in Reno, everyone is strapped, guns are drawn and people get shot and killed. Meanwhile you NRA folks are back at the ranch talking about if we had more guns shyt wouldn’t have gone down..To me the outcome is always the same.. Bloodshed..Maybe not mass school shootings but bloodshed nevertheless..

So just so I’m clear, the NRA wants the government to pay for armed guards at every school? You want the government to do this so should we raise taxes? Or cut spending for schools or lower teacher’s salaries? Does this include nursery and day care? What about the fact that we already saw armed guards at school didn’t work when we had Columbine, one of the worst mass school shootings..The good folks over at Gawker pointed this out..You can read about that HERE

If we are going to have armed citizens on every corner as you proposed, does that mean we can bring back the Black Panthers, SNCC, Deacons for Defense, Black Berets, Brown Berets, Young Lords and have them patrol our neighborhoods for folks who misuses their guns and shoot at unarmed civilians? Lemme know whats up NRA so we can get things cracking..

Davey D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZb8EXUrQTo&feature=youtu.be

Reporting Live from Charlotte.. The DNC 2012: Day 1

Live From the DNC-Charlotte Day 1: Today is the first day of the Democratic Nat’l Convention and already in there have been more and bigger protests in the past 3 days then all of what we saw in Tampa.. The big one was the Historic Wall Street South March which saw large number of Labor People come together to not only highlight economic disparities. 99% vs 1% but to also bring heat to President Obama and the DNC for holding a convention in North Carolina which ranks #50 in Union members..

In fact up until a couple of weeks ago some of those business interests supporting Obama had boldly advertised on their website.. ‘Welcome to Charlotte Where We Don’t Have Unions’.. It was a huge smack to labor who pulled back significantly in both money and support… They noted that they had very little input from day one on any decision making..The corporate bigwigs have their own trade associations and and belong to outlets like the US Chamber of Commerce who represent their collective interests, but those same forces are adamantly against the average worker organizing unions.   On the flipside of the coin, the DNC says they came to Charlotte to make sure that North Carolina, which had long been a red state would remain blue.. Obama made that happen in 08.. Currently Mitt Romney is leading in most polls in North Carolina..

Sadly for many union members they feel they have no choice.. So while many went in hard on Obama at the march, they tempered their remarks to say they will support him. Over the past few months I’ve been used to going to places where I would hear folks critical of the President..especially when it comes to him pushing an agenda that looks out for Black folks.. That definitely is not the case hear.. Black folks in Charlotte are riding uber hard for Obama. Over and over I heard from folks saying that was their guy hands down.. One brother who does radio out here even changed his name to Obama.. From what I gather the President and his people have a strong presence in Charlotte.. There’s a lot of communication.

BET/Hip Hop Caucus Townhall was packed

A lot of that support was evident when I went to the BET/HiP Hop Caucus Town Hall on Voter Suppression. It was packed with crowds spilling into overflow rooms. The Hood was definitely there.. Folks were attentive, soaking up the array of info on voter suppression tactics and what they need to do to combat it.. That townhall was impressive and scary just hearing all the madness being done to stop votes…From where I sat folks  at the townhall were rolling hard with Obama…

Some of this came to a head yesterday when about 30 members of local union UFWS, mostly African American came to a recently occupied Marshall Park in the center of the city wearing yellow shirts and said Obama 2012.. Seeing how much the unions spoke out against Obama at the big March the Day before, some of the Occupy folks confronted them an a war of word ensued.. The labor cats were chanting ‘4 More Years‘, Occupy folks chanted ‘No More Wars‘.. No More Years‘.. It got pretty heated.. The union cats refused to interview with me as they left in disgust.. The Occupy folks I spoke to said these guys were being corporate pawns and gave breakdown of where and how these folks had dropped the ball and in been slow in organizing.. Others said Occupy was out of line and made things ugly.. Occupy was definitely the aggressor and more animated in the situation.. Many were quite clear that corporate dominance is a problem in both parties. The racial dynamics did not go unnoticed of the Black union members and the 20 or so mostly white Occupy exchanging words over Obama..

Having a huge presence here in Charlotte are brown folks, many undocumented who came to the march deep  and held a Fear No Papers rally last night.. That rally was heavily supported by those who are documented.. Many are not happy with Obama and even though the President has promised to ease back and give folks a break, many are still angry that over one million folks were deported. That means one million families were broken up.. Most undocumented folks are connected to families who are citizens.. So each deportation means a mother, father Uncle etc has been shipped out..  Brown folks from all over, are here and they are geared up to hold a big event tomorrow night.. I don’t get the sense of excitement the way I did in Tampa last week..

The opening party held at the Music Factory was blah..Noticeably absent were all the big stars especially young popular artists and actors..No Jay-Z, Will I am, Diddy etc.. It’s not like 08 in the least ..The bulk of the people arrive today and thus that may change..Earlier this week there was a large contingent of local and underground artists including Rebel Diaz and their collective and Jasiri X among others.

Whereas Mitt Romney had to work at getting people to like him.. Obama will have to work at energizing young people and other parts of his base responsible for getting him into office..  In fact Obama the big concern now is whether or not Obama will be able to pack the Bank of America Stadium which seats 73k.. If that place is not packed , whatever damage Clint Eastwood did to Romney will be countered by photos and footage of a half filled stadium. He has Mary J Blige, Earth Wind & Fire and Foo Fighters performing, but there is still no buzz..Obama better hope the sporadic rain storms Charlotte is having occurs Thursday night..Tonight Michele Obama speaks. Also Julian Castro Mayor of San Antonio speaks.. The DNC is really going hard to win over Brown votes..

Reporting Live From Tampa the RNC Wrap Up: Clint Eastwood Steals the Show in a Bad Way

For those who don’t know, political conventions are elaborate, very scripted multi-million dollars productions designed to project a compelling message drawing you to the presidential candidate.. Here at the RNC in Tampa Bay, tons of resources were devoted to trying to make people forget about the ‘legitimate rape‘ comments made earlier this month by prominent Republicans like Todd Akins.

The RNC Convention was designed to make you forget that GOP candidates like Tom Smith of Pennsylvania were running around equating out-of-wedlock pregnancies to rape. The RNC convention was designed to make everyone forget that a youthful looking VP Presidential hopeful, Paul Ryan focused on defining ‘legitimate rape’ and would prohibit an abortion under any circumstance..

In spite the ‘diversity of speakers’ on stage at the RNC it was still pretty much a sea of whiteness

The RNC Convention was designed to make the overwhelmingly white, GOP seem vastly diverse. It seems like these guys found just about every person of color they could think of to take the stage and say a lil something about how they love Mitt Romney and how great republicans are. They found some conservative Black and Brown folks who are relatively unknown and have absolutely no pull in their respective community to act like they have the masses on lock..

When they ran out of Black and Brown speakers they made sure to get some multi-racial funk, jazz and gospel bands along with singer Bebe Winans to take up the rear and perform to a crowd that was over 95% white and in more than a few instances quite hostile to people of color.

The camera people were instructed to pan to people of color in the audience, with RNC handlers strategically moving Black and Brown bodies to camera ready locations throughout the building.  On top of that signs and hand-held fans that read Hispanics for Mitt were handed out to all-white delegates of Kansas. Global Grind Editor-in-Chief Michael Skolnik was the one who was tweeting live and first reported this, was in utter shock that the GOP was orchestrating this fake diversity.

The RNC was designed to get an ultra hard-right, xenophobic, evangelical base to warm up to Mitt Romney, who just a few months prior they considered a fake conservative whose religious background (Mormonism) was dooming him to hell. The call to action was to humanize Mitt, make him likeable and have him be the friendly face of a Leave it Beaver 1950s bygone era that the GOP is determined, to return to. When they say Take Back the Country.. it’s code for ‘do whatever it takes policy-wise and economic-wise to put ‘minorities’, gays and women back in their subservient place. It’s code for ‘get rid of all safety nets and let the poor fend for themselves‘.

Mitch McConnell

The over arching theme for the RNC was if you’re poor, jobless and deep in debt, its your fault for not working hard enough. In interview after interview we did with folks like; Herman Cain to Ann Coulter to Rick Santorum to Newt Gingrich to countless surrogates the party line was ‘poor people are poor because they wanna be poor’… I want folks to read that again and reflect on that for minute..

I had a chance to Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, when I asked him if he thought some of the GOP policies would hurt the economically disadvantage?  I asked him what would you say to someone in the hood who is struggling about getting on board with some of the GOP Policies.. McConnell, looked at me and did not answer. His handlers and secret service rushed him away even though we were standing face to face. This philosophy of blaming the poor for their plight is rooted in a prosperity religious bent many here at the RNC seem to hold. The thinking is, if you are somehow economically bad off, it’s because you don’t have enough faith in God..

The RNC had been very strategic in using culture and cultural icons to put a friendly face to their intolerance. They have two highly produced movies they put out.. One was put together by the late Andrew Breibert, a former FBI informant Brandon Darby and Citizens United where it bashes the Occupy Movement, and erroneously makes the case that Occupy was a big money backed organization designed to help Obama and the Democrats. The movie depicted members of Code Pink as key members of OWS, something that is so far off the mark, that eveb Stevie Wonder can see it..

A scene from Obama 2016

The other movie, Obama 2016, was put together by former Ronald Reagan staffer Dinesh D’Souza and Gerald Molen who produced Schindler’s List. Itwas designed to demonize President Obama and show the root of his supposed rage by tracing it back to Kenya. The film says Obama grew up to have a strong disliking for colonization and colonial powers. As a result, the film suggests that Obama hates America and basically wants to get revenge on white folks. It’s a very sophisticated, polished Willie Hortonizing type of flick.. The RNC also produced some high-polished videos on welfare which needs to be banished and education which needs to be privatized.

The RNC tried to glitz things up, by calling on, Dirty Harry actor Clint Eastwood.  Someone had the bright idea, that the best was to humanize stiff, robotic Mitt Romney was to have the legendary actor sell his good virtues to America. That was a big mistake.. Clint threw away the script, abandoned the GOP game plan they spent hours and countless dollars perfecting and basically did some off the cuff type crap which in the end is likely to cost Romney major points in what looks to be a close election..

Clint Eastwood blew up the spot in a bad way w/ a bizarre conversation w/ an invisible President Obama

Clint came to the stage with slurred incoherent speech and bizarre monologue directed at an empty chair that he said contained an invisible President Obama. The whole ordeal was painful and  had everyone wondering the soundness of Mitt Romney’s business acumen. What kind of business man spends millions crafting an image only to throw it away with the recklessness of having an out of touch Clint Eastwood ‘steal the show’? At the end of the night instead of talking about Romney speech,it was Clint Eastwood that was trending on social media platforms that was being talked about endlessly.

What took the cake was when Eastwood, midway threw his act, pretended to slit the throat of Barack Obama..The cameras panned away, some cheered because they really want the President dead and others looked shocked..

Clint Eastwood’s behavior overshadowed Mitt Romney’s strongest speaker and secret weapon Senator Marc Rubio who was gonna set the tone for the GOP moving forward and with his Cuban background, remind everyone within ear shot that the GOP loves Latinos in spite of crazy anti-Brown People laws like SB 1070 and the crowd showing great enthusiasm and giving rousing standing ovations for folks like Az Gov Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

During last nights proceedings there were several disruptions both from members of Code Pink as well as upset delegates repping for Ron Paul. The Paul delegates held up signs stating how the RNC had been hijacked and Democracy was stolen. With each disruption the crowd would stand, clap and chant loudly USA, USA USA..

At the end of the day Mitt Romney gave what many deemed a lackluster speech. Skolnic pointed out that during the first part of the speech only the delegates loyal to Mitt were cheering, everyone else was either bored or unimpressed. It was only when he started talking about ways the GOP planned to make money did they warm up, and then only slightly.

Many are speculating that this election is gonna hinge not so much on undecided middle of the road voters which has long been the tradition, but instead its going to hinge on who can get their base out. The GOP has peeped that there is not a lot of enthusiasm for President Obama among key demographics and they are playing to that big time.. House speaker John Boehner spoke to this the other day when he stated loudly that he is looking forward to Black and Brown voters not showing up to the polls. GOP leaders are quick to point out that Obama has lost the enthusiasm of young voters, Black voters and Brown voters who are still upset that this his administration hs deported more than one million people, which means over one million families were broken up.

The biggest irony is even though the GOP has blatant anti-immigrant sentiments, they are hawking Obama’s deportation record while Black conservatives and even quite a few whites are actually stating that Obama has no agenda for Black people. I cannot make this stuff up folks. Look for this rhetoric to be given big microphones over the next few weeks..  Such talking points may not sway voters per say to the GOP, but it may lead to many staying home in November.

Obama supporters like to point out that the president has 94% of the Black vote and 80% of the Brown vote etc.. All that may be true. The problem is percentages don’t reflect actual numbers.. Obama may have 94% of the Black vote of those who actually show up to vote. There is talk that over 90 million people may NOT show up to the polls in November. That’s what Boehner is banking on. The RNC folks seem confident that if lack of enthusiasm for Obama doesn’t keep folks at home then the 26 states employing voter suppression tactics and laws will.

The bottom line is the folks I came across at the RNC are really angry and unrestrained in expressing and acting upon that anger. They are angry about the economy, and their way of life slipping before them. That anger has been directed toward folks of color, women, unions and students. I would not underestimate that anger.. lots of money being spent on the Presidential election, even more money is being spent on the local elections.. The GOP is pushing to win all those small seats that folks wanna ignore..

written by Davey D