Whatever happened to Noel Fritsch?

MoonHowler

dailyProgress.com:

RICHMOND — GOP U.S. Senate candidate Corey Stewart has fired a top campaign aide, Noel Fritsch, who had helped bring a far-right presence to the campaign’s social media and strategy.

Fritsch, who lives in North Carolina, responded by text to a request for an interview, saying: “Are you at liberty to tell me how you learned?” but did not return the phone call seeking comment.

Stewart, facing an uphill fight against Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., confirmed to the newspaper that he let Fritsch go, but declined to say why.

“I can confirm that he’s no longer with the campaign as of Aug. 31,” Stewart said Monday.

Fritsch had previously worked for candidates including Paul Nehlen, an anti-Semitic politician in Wisconsin who has run against GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan; and Roy Moore, the failed GOP Senate candidate in Alabama who faced allegations that he sexually preyed on young women years ago.

Fritsch also worked on Stewart’s GOP primary run for governor in 2017.

Stewart has walked back praise he previously offered to Nehlen, saying he did not know Nehlen was anti-Semitic when Stewart called him his “personal hero.” Stewart traveled to Alabama in December to campaign for Moore, who lost the race to Democrat Doug Jones.

Fritsch made a series of controversial social media posts that drew negative attention to Stewart’s campaign. Another Stewart campaign aide, Rick Shaftan, has a history of social media posts that includes calling the NAACP a “more violent” version of the KKK and saying only a “fool” would start a business in a black neighborhood. John Whitbeck, the immediate past chairman of the Virginia GOP, called Shaftan’s posts “despicable.”

I don’t know about you but I am just plain old curious what Noel Fritsch did to get fired.   Was he racist?  Was he a white supremacist?   Did he praise the dude who killed Heather Heyer in Charlottesville a little over a year ago?  Why would you have someone who supported Roy Moore as your campaign chairman anyway?

This makes no sense to me.  Is there such a thing as being just a little bit Nazi?  Where is the benchmark?  Where are the standards?  Is Corey going to address this issue more directly?  Are we going to not demand answers?

I know, lots and lots of questions but that’s about all we are left to deal with when someone as important as a campaign manager just goes poof!

I checked out this dude’s Facebook page.  I am pretty sure I have the right person because the FB page I checked had lots of friends standing with “Old Dixie.”  I also found this post which I thought spoke volumes:  “College only cares about what between your legs & your skin color.”

If you are still curious, check out this CNN Politics article.    What took Corey so long to fire him or was this all by design?

 

Is that Corey to the right of “Old Dixie?”  It appears that it is.

Corey, this isn’t the image you really want to project

MoonHowler
Corey Stewart and the Confederate battle flag

Our BOCS chairman, Corey Stewart, has taken up a cause that really doesn’t concern him.  He isn’t a native Virginian and he isn’t from Charlottesville.  I doubt if he has even ever lived there.

Corey has embedded himself in the cause to save the statue of Robert E. Lee from being removed from Lee Park in Charlottesville.  While I actually agree with Corey (or I should probably say Corey agrees with me), it is a local matter and a matter for the people of Charlottesville to decide, and ultimately the courts.

I was born and raised in Charlottesville.  My mother’s family has been there since the 1700’s.  In fact, Lee Park was dedicated to my great-great-great aunt and her husband, parents of Paul Goodloe McIntire.   When this entire Lee Park kerfuffle came to a head, I thought seriously about getting involved because of family.  Then I came to the conclusion that I had been gone from the city way too long and I should keep my mouth shut publicly.

Corey should do the same.  He has less standing  on the matter than I do.  He is only trying to beef up his conservative credentials.  That isn’t going to work in this case.  He has cast it as a liberal/conservative issue.  Not really.  We Virginians, even we liberal Virginians, still love our Virginia history, warts and all.  We despise Taliban mentality–you know, those thought-police ideas demand we tear down anything that might expose a less than shining past.  Virginians try to preserve our history and if nothing else, learn from it.  No, it really isn’t along liberal/conservative lines.

The courts will decide the fate of the Robert E. Lee Statue.  The City needs to look carefully at the deed giving Charlottesville the land that is known as Lee Park.  They might not want to take that tiger by the tail.  Statues and other public memorabilia  tell a story of the place where they are located, as a rule.  They commemorate history.  The statues commissioned by Mr. McIntire in the early part of the 20th century are part of the ethos of the City.

Corey needs to stay away from crowds that wave Confederate battle flags.  That kind of image will paint him in a corner from which he cannot extricate himself.  Unfortunately, in modern times, that flag has been misused–it has been misused as an object and symbol of hate.

Several pastors support Orlando execution

MoonHowler

 

Washingtonpost.com:

Following the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, a Baptist preacher stood at his pulpit Sunday night in Northern California and delivered an impassioned sermon praising the brutal massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida.

Pastor Roger Jimenez from Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento told his congregation that Christians “shouldn’t be mourning the death of 50 sodomites.”

“People say, like: Well, aren’t you sad that 50 sodomites died?” Jimenez said, referencing the initial death toll in Orlando, which authorities later clarified included 49 victims plus the gunman. “Here’s the problem with that. It’s like the equivalent of asking me — what if you asked me: Hey, are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today?’

“Um, no, I think that’s great. I think that helps society. You know, I think Orlando, Fla., is a little safer tonight.”

He added: “The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die. The tragedy is — I’m kind of upset that he didn’t finish the job!”

These clowns obviously do not represent Christianity any more than the Orlando shooter represents Islam.  Encouraging and supporting this heinous act is getting darn close to what I would call Christian terrorism.

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CNN dust up on Super Tuesday night turns into a meltdown

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

On the night of a primary, CNN is known for its comprehensive coverage of who won what, flashy graphics, stalling for time, and open speculation about what the heck will happen next. Moments of passionate exchange are, perhaps, less common.

Yet, during CNN’s Super Tuesday coverage, such a moment came when former Obama staffer Van Jones took on former Reagan staffer and Donald Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord in a heated debate about race, the Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan.

The trouble began when fellow contributor S.E. Cupp, a conservative, accused Trump of “crazy, dog-whistle policy proposals” to curry favor with prejudiced voters.

“Donald Trump has tried to otherize every other candidate in this race,” Cupp said, “… to sort of scare this very small part of the electorate who thinks that all of their problems are the fault of people who don’t look like them.”

 

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Mizzou: The drama continues and I have a new hero

MoonHowler

brigham

Washingtonpost.com:

Dale Brigham thought he was doing the right thing.

As anonymous death threats against minorities swirled on social media Tuesday night, setting the college town of Columbia, Mo., on edge, the bespectacled Mizzou professor began receiving e-mails from terrified students.

“Good Evening Professor Brigham,” wrote an African American student in Brigham’s Nutritional Science 1034 class. “There are online threats at our school warning the minorities to not step on campus tomorrow. I am scared for my life therefore, I will not be attending class tomorrow. When can I makeup the exam?”

[Ed. Note:  Translation:  I didn’t study for my exam because I was out being a drama king or queen.]

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Rep. Don Young: races to the bottom with homeless remark

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) suggested Thursday that the solution to homelessness is wolves. Young made the comment during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing during an exchange with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. He was arguing that gray wolves should be taken off the endangered species list, criticizing the National Park Service and his congressional colleagues who seek to protect the animals.

“How many of you have got wolves in your district? None. None. Not one,” Young said, calling the gray wolf “a predator.”

“We’ve got 79 congressmen sending you a letter, they haven’t got a damn wolf in their whole district,” Young added. “I’d like to introduce them in your district. If I introduced them in your district, you wouldn’t have a homeless problem anymore.”

Why do people make remarks that savage the weakest and helpless of our society. I think Congressman Young has hit a new low. I thought that suggesting that immigrants should be dog food was low.(See our beginnings tab)

In the race to the bottom a new nadir has been reached by Congressman Young who suggested that he would introduce wolves into someone’s district to thin out the homeless population. Does Congress not censure these people? What an ignorant, grotesque, evil suggestion. Decent human beings don’t think like this man does.

Citizens of Charlottesville and beyond clash over Lee / Jackson Day

MoonHowler

confederate

Dailyprogress.com:

A debate over whether to pan Charlottesville’s annual observance of a holiday honoring Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson plunged the Charlottesville City Council Chambers into chaos at times Monday.

On Feb. 17, the council is scheduled to decide whether Charlottesville will continue to mark the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day — the third Monday of January — as a local government holiday.

“There is a sentiment in our community that the holiday is outdated and offensive to many, and should be retired here in the City,” City Manager Maurice Jones wrote in a Jan. 28 email to city employees.

Charlottesville does not give employees a paid day off on Veterans Day, he noted, at the meeting.

The debate Monday drew speakers from Petersburg and Richmond and letter writers from Oregon, Maryland and Ohio, some of whom signed their notes “In Honor of Old Virginia” or “Respectfully … a daughter of the South.”

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Bob FitzSimmonds puts his foot in his mouth again

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

 

Several Virginia Republican leaders called Wednesday for the resignation of a state GOP official who questioned in a Facebook post whether Muslim Americans have contributed to U.S. society.

The comment came in response to a statement by President Obama marking Eid al-Fitr, the celebration that concludes the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“In the United States, Eid also reminds us of the many achievements and contributions of Muslim Americans to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy,” Obama said. “That is why we stand with people of all faiths, here at home and around the world, to protect and advance their rights to prosper, and we welcome their commitment to giving back to their communities.”
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Black student group challenges practices of Washington Lee University

MoonHowler

lee chapel

A small group of black students at Washington and Lee University took school administrators by surprise with a list of demands that included renouncing Robert E. Lee for his racism.  The students, who do not represent all African American students at Washington and Lee,  call themselves The Committee.  The Committee has threated civil disobedience if W & L officials administrators do not meet their demands.

Washingtonpost.com:

A group of black law students at Washington and Lee University is urging administrators to atone for its Confederate heritage and what they call the “dishonorable conduct” of namesake Robert E. Lee. The movement has struck a racial divide on the bucolic campus in Lexington, Va., where black students make up about 3.5 percent of the total student population. Third-year law student Dominik Taylor, a descendent of slaves on his father’s side, said he felt betrayed by admissions representatives who touted the school’s diversity. “They assured me it was a welcoming environment where everyone sticks together as a community,” Taylor said. “Then I came here and felt ostracized and alienated.” Read More

Racism comes to the NCAA Foul Line SMU Style

MoonHowler

From loope21.com:

Kansas State coach Frank Martin always makes it a point to recruit a Latino high school ball player from overseas every year.

Martin, who is Cuban, knows that the islands of Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and countless others have talent that many U.S. coaches pass over.

But when he brings these players to the states, the last thing he’d ever expect was the treatment one of his players received at the foul line in the school’s opening game of the NCAA Tournament yesterday.

Freshman point guard Angel Rodriguez, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, was at the foul-line when the Southern Mississippi University {sic} band began chanting “Where’s your green card?”

Holy cow!  Are college students from University of Southern Mississippi   really this rude and ignorant?   Puerto Ricans are American citizens.  They don’t need green cards.  Even if they did, who is really that  rude? 

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Oregon Man fired over display of 5 foot Confederate Flag

MoonHowler

Richmond Times Dispatch:

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Ken Webber still proudly flies his Confederate battle flag with the word “Redneck” emblazed across it from the CB antenna on his pickup truck. He hopes that his lawsuit in federal court will get his job back driving a school bus.

“What Mr. Webber is encapsulating is a Jeffersonian agrarianism, where you stand up for your rights,” attorney Thomas Boardman argued Thursday in U.S. District Court. “If we are going to say someone cannot identify as a redneck, what else can we not identify ourselves as?”

Attorneys for bus company First Student Inc. and the Phoenix-Talent School District countered that Webber himself said that the flag, a gift from his father, represented his “redneck” lifestyle, where family comes first, and people enjoy hunting, fishing and driving four-wheel-drive trucks through the mud. They said the flag did not represent any kind of political speech that would be protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The arguments came on a motion filed by the bus company and the school district asking the judge to decide the case based on legal arguments without going to a trial before a jury. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke took the matter under advisement. No trial date has been set.

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Is Andrew Breitbart acquiring integrity and decency?

MoonHowler

 

 

 

 

From the Advocate:

Conservative website mogul Andrew Breitbart has quit the advisory board for GOProud, saying he has a “zero tolerance” policy for outing people.

Trouble started when GOProud’s Jimmy LaSalvia and Chris Barron reacted to an antigay Rick Perry television ad by angrily taking to Twitter, attacking pollster Tony Fabrizio.

“I’ve just about had it with faggots who line their pockets with checks from antigay homophobes while throwing the rest of us under the bus,” LaSalvia wrote.

GOProud issued a statement defending itself from the ensuing backlash, but that apparently only contributed to Breitbart’s disappointment.

“I have a zero tolerance attitude toward the intentional infliction of vocational and family harm by divulging the details of an individual’s sexual orientation as a weapon of political destruction,” Breitbart wrote on one of his websites, BigGovernment.com. Breitbart said he’d long ago told LaSalvia and Barron about his opinion on outing, which Breitbart said contributed to his “evolution from the political left to the right.”

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Russian Newscaster fired, after giving Obama the finger on camera

MoonHowler

 

 Huffingtonpost.com:

Tatyana Limanova, one of Russia’s most popular and respected newscasters, has been fired from her job at REN TV, after a video of her appearing to give President Barack Obama the middle finger on live TV went viral on the internet.

The incident occurred on Nov. 14, during a segment about Russian President Dmitry Medvedev assuming the chairmanship of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. Obama had held the position previously, and Limanova raised her middle finger as she read Obama’s name.

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Expensive Blow Up

MoonHowler

Kobe Bryant has another scandal.  Bryant had a technical foul called on him. Kobe, not being a mild mannered chap at all, responded.   According to Eurweb.com:

It took place during the 3rd quarter of their game with the San Antonio Spurs after Kobe received a technical foul. The NBA star — clearly upset — screams for ref  Bennie Adams and appears to mouth the words, “F**king f**got.”

 

I am no fan of Kobe Bryant. But $100,000 fine? Was he fined for the first F word or the second F word?  Team representatives said they could not confirm that is what he said.

Now I am all for not using homophobic slurs.  It is a matter of sensitivity and good manners to refrain from doing so.  But is the punishment really worth $100,000?