How old was I, when I became a suspect for life?

I'm trying to remember how old I was, when I discovered that I was "a real suspicious guy." I was 18. It was the summer of 1968, in Chicago, just before the Democratic Convention. It was late evening. My dad owned a television repair business on 63rd Street. When we closed up shop, we put the televisions we were working on in the vault and carried the repaired sets to the van out front, so we could make deliveries on the way home. That's where the trouble started. As we were getting into the van, a police car, with lights flashing, blocked us in. Two officers got out, guns drawn, and told us to get out of the van with our hands up. They were convinced we were burglars. I thought this would be straightened out immediately. The business name was "C. Ingram's Radio and Television." The Van was registered in his name, Case closed.

A Harsh Thing I Should Have Said (Martin Peretz Dept) Updated - James Fallows - Politics - The Atlantic

A Harsh Thing I Should Have Said (Martin Peretz Dept) Updated - James Fallows - Politics - The Atlantic

James Fallows

“The upsurge in expressed hostility toward Muslims -- not toward extremists or terrorists but toward adherents of a religion as a group -- creates an American moment that isn't going to look good in historical retrospect. The people indulging in this kind of group-bias speech deserve to be called out. ”

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/09/a-harsh-thing-i-should-have-said-martin-peretz-dept-updated/62613/

Update

A Primer on Bigotry - James Fallows - Politics - The Atlantic

Sep 17, 2010 ... Why it's as wrong to talk about "the Muslims" as about "the blacks" or "the Jews

“…one obvious truth is that the more populous the category, the less it tells you about any individual within it. Yes, "men" are all a certain way. But there are three billion of us, and Kim Jong-Il doesn't have that much in common with Lance Armstrong -- or either of them with Benedict XVI or Stephen Hawking or Lil Wayne. Another obvious truth is that the less contact you have with individuals, the more you necessarily rely on group traits -- or stereotypes - for your images.”

“I suggested that if such a person were any less well-connected, or if the sentiment had been about any other religious or racial group, he would be taking much more heat. (See: Marge Schott, Al Campanis, Trent Lott, Mel Gibson, Pat Buchanan, Dinesh D'Souza, Helen Thomas, etc. Think even of the flap over Lawrence Summers's comments about gender differences in math-and-science skills, or James Watson or William Shockley on racial differences in IQ. Try to find in one of these cases something approaching "Group X's life is cheap.") The question was all the more salient because, when called on this claim by Nicholas Kristof in a New York Times column, the editor doubled down and said that "Muslim life is cheap" was "a statement of fact."

The dissenting mail I've gotten has fallen into two main categories. Category one: He's right! Islam is a culture of violence, and Muslim life really is cheap! Category two: That was an unfortunate statement, but he's a great guy with a big heart. ”

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/09/a-primer-on-bigotry/63056/

Are These The Real Republican Principles?

Op-Ed Columnist - A Sin and a Shame - NYTimes.com:

"The recession officially started in December 2007. From the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2009, real aggregate output in the U.S., as measured by the gross domestic product, fell by about 2.5 percent. But employers cut their payrolls by 6 percent.

 In many cases, bosses told panicked workers who were still on the job that they had to take pay cuts or cuts in hours, or both. And raises were out of the question. The staggering job losses and stagnant wages are central reasons why any real recovery has been so difficult.

 “They threw out far more workers and hours than they lost output,” said Professor Sum. “Here’s what happened: At the end of the fourth quarter in 2008, you see corporate profits begin to really take off, and they grow by the time you get to the first quarter of 2010 by $572 billion. And over that same time period, wage and salary payments go down by $122 billion.”

 That kind of disconnect, said Mr. Sum, had never been seen before in all the decades since World War II."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/opinion/31herbert.html?th&emc=th 

Dick Cheney, Exploding Uderwear, Undisclosed Locations

nImage via Wikipedia

I can't.

I really can't.

I just can't get the image out of my head.

On a beautiful clear September 11th, firefighters are running up the stairs of the burning twin towers. At the Pentagon wounded are helping those worse wounded to evacuate. Over Pennsylvania the passengers of the last hijacked plane give their lives, saving lives.

Dick Cheney is hiding in his undisclosed location. Right there and right then, the first case of  terrorist caused exploding underwear in the United States happens.  It's just an image I see every time I hear him whine, Air freshener please.