AWARE-LA » Politics

Santorum Puts a Black Church to Sleep [Photo]

Jorge Rivas — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:29:35 +0000

The image above is part of a great “Florida Primary” photo essay put together by the New York Times. The picture above is of Santorum addressing the congregation at the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach on Jan. 22. The look on the face of the kids in the back is priceless.

And another picture that’s actually disturbing is the one below. “Punching puppets of Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama on the Romney campaign bus. Mr. Gingrich had stressed that he was the best Republican candidate to challenge Mr. Obama in debates, but Mr. Romney challenged that notion with his strong showings in Florida.”

(h/t HuffPost)

Gingrich’s Rick Tyler Says Democrats "Abort Black Babies" [Video]

Jorge Rivas — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:05:26 +0000

Rick Tyler, Newt Gingrich’s former communications director who now runs his Sheldon Adelson-funded SuperPac, was a guest on “The Rachel Maddow Show” yesterday and claimed Democrats “abort black babies” and that African Americans children need the movie “Red Tails” because they don’t have any positive role models in their lives.

Gingrich has for decades been the GOP standard bearer in using racial caricatures to demonize poor people. Colorlines.com’s Seth Freed Wessler wrote a piece entitled “Gingrich Surges With Old, Familiar Ploy: Racist Attacks on Poor People” that looks at the history.

Jan Brewer Uses Wagging Finger Incident to Raise Money

Jorge Rivas — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:54:51 +0000

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s book sales skyrocketed last week after the famous wagging finger incident and this past weekend she used the same incident to raise political campaign contributions. And she’s switched up to story to make her sound like a maverick.

Last week, Brewer said that, despite the widely circulated photo
of her with her finger a few inches from Obama’s face, said she
“really wasn’t pointing at him.”

“We could have been talking about a lot of different things,”
Brewer explained then, saying she respects the office of the
president. “And I would never be disrespectful in that manner.”

But on her website for supporters, Brewer said she was holding the President accountable.

“I was telling him, ‘You have ONE more year,’ ” she writes, a
clear reference to the upcoming presidential race.

“The president needs to be reminded that he is the president of
the FEDERAL REPUBLIC and not a KING lording over state
governors.”

And then she went in for the ask: “Donate today to Jan PAC and help me stop President Obama in
2012 and others like him who are taking our country down the wrong
path,” she wrote on her website.

Indiana’s ‘Right-to-Work’ Final Vote to Take Place Wednesday

Jorge Rivas — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:08:02 +0000

Right-to-work legislation in Indiana cleared one of its final steps Monday with a state Senate committee passing the bill 6-1. Supporters of right-to-work, led by Indiana’s Republican Governor Mitch Daniels, say it is needed to bring business and jobs to the state. But opponents call it “union busting” and say it will hurt workers with lower wages.

If the bill gets final approval Wednesday it will allow workers to opt out of paying union dues, even when a workplace is unionized.

Local 150 International Union of Operating Engineers representative Todd Vandermyde told the Sun Times the bill goes against a protection found in the state Constitution restricting services from being demanded without just compensation.

“This bill forces my local and many others to render representation to people who choose not to be a member and pay any fees,” Vandermyde said.

Indiana would join 22 other states with right-to-work laws, most of them in the South and West, according to Reuters. Indiana’s action has stirred a national debate because no state has approved right-to-work legislation since Oklahoma a decade ago.

The bill now moves to the full Senate with the potential for amendments Tuesday and a final vote Wednesday.

New Yorker Cover Shows Obama Enjoying Super Bowl of Romney vs. Gingrich

Jorge Rivas — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:44:39 +0000

On newsstands today is the latest “New Yorker” magazine with a cover depicting Obama enjoying a Super Bowl of epic proportions with Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich battling out.

Barry Blitt, the artist responsible for this week’s cover, also illustrated the controversial image of Obama in a turban and robe fist-bumping the First Lady depicted with an afro.