Linked here is a YouTube copy of a radio interview of Southern Poverty Law Center "intelligence director" Heidi Beirich.

Readers will recall the work this blog has done on the issue of how the SPLC has categorized Kyle Bristow and the Michigan State University (MSU) chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF - not to be confused with Young Americans Foundation). Beirich exposes her lack of evidence in her answers to the interviewer.

Whoa, and does he ever.  He accuses this writer's past - and society's continuing - nemesis, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), of "killing our children" (and I can't say that's wrong).
This is why Akindele's Unleashed blog is clearly one of the best in the Michigan blogosphere.

Here's a sample of his powerful critique:

Every now and then I look at what BAMN is doing in the community. Here are a socialist group of bandits that causes more hell than a headache.

First, they were against my friend Ward Connerly and the whole affirmative action thing. Thank God my sister Jennifer Gratz and company won that war. We thought BAMN would go away and crawl back in their cave.

I guess not.

Now, these misfits are having a town hall meeting on solving the crisis of public education in Detroit. [Dec. 6 if you're interested].
...
Again, where is BAMN on these critical issues [charters, parenting, and choice]? Where are those quacks Steve Conn and Heather Miller?
...
BAMN is doing nothing but keeping our children angry. Our children do not need anger. Our children and parents need options.

Having seen the Conn game and Ms. Miller an action, I'm fond of Akindele's use of terms here, even if it is slightly over-the-top. When you incite riots and take your children out of classes for your political machinations and you're a public school teacher, the term "quacks" is has a descriptive truth to it despite its ad hominem nature.

The following YouTube video from Oklahoma shows an amazing 10 minute scene where a petitioner is ceaselessly harangued by a "blocker". The petitioner, trying to collect signatures for the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative (OkCRI), remains calm and level-headed while two others from the signature-management team videotape the situation.

Having been through this personally, I can say it both stirs memories and is straight out of the playbook against MCRI.

DC Observer, which is a blogger's choice award nominee level blog with a tilt to the left, has used the "blood quantum" argument to attack Ward Connerly. DC Observer now claims the authority to declare "that it is not accurate to consider Ward Connerly as a black person." It's rare that the left uses the blood quantum argument to attack its conservative Republican enemies, but this isn't the first time Ward's multi-racial status (and he'll call himself that before he calls himself black, but that's not the point -- the argument that is "not black" should not be made and exposes a double-standard on the left). All reasonable persons on either side of this debate should criticize this argument - the blood quantum was used viciously historically to implement Jim Crow laws, and Ward certainly grew in conditions where he didn't "benefit" from any "whiteness" (and he visually couldn't "pass" for white). It's a bad argument that should be thrown into the ash bin of history.

Here's the entry:

Related Post Script

I do not believe it is accurate to consider Ward Connerly as a Black person. In an article, Connerly has described himself as 25% Black.

Connerly has stated he is one-quarter Black, three-eighths Irish, one-quarter French and one-eighth Choctaw.

The inference from his statement is that he is primarily White and Native American.

And my response:

Who the heck (I'd use a stronger term, but I'm being nice) are you to determine accuracy of what is or isn't a "black person". This post is insulting and you should apologize for it.

There used to be a "one-drop" blood test that offensively labeled anyone, with any drop of African lineage, "black," and subjected that person to Jim Crow (or, simpler, whether the person "looked" black -- Ward, visually, definitely couldn't "pass" for white).

Now, when its convenient for you to argue that someone that would have fit that test which most on the left (and the right and the middle and everywhere that reason is accepted) have condemned as an immoral and disgusting practice, you want to apply a similar purity test to your benefit.

Chetly Zarko,
OutsideLansing.com

PS - as a matter of disclosure, I worked with Ward on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. Nonetheless, that doesn't change the offensiveness of this post.

... and an Arizona CRI update.

Three must reads from our sister-site, OutsideLansing.com, all dealing with campaign finance research we've done, and on statewide stories. 

First, a story of shady self-dealing from the newest, revived pro-stem cell ballot committee. $10K goes into the pocket of the same non-profit executive director, while $7500 goes to the non-profit.  $2500 was spent on the aborted 2004 ballot operations, out of $20,000 raised.  Not a good deal for donors.

Second, the analysis of a new Jon Stryker Michigan PAC, Communities Voting Together, and some odd accounting.

Third, the campaign finance complaint this author filed today against the Stryker committee.

And here's some interesting updates on other issues.

Same old tactics in Arizona against the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative (AzCRI). For example, its "divisive" (all political questions are) and programs for women's violence might be stopped (not so at all since its "public education, contracting, and employment" only, and educational programs against violence should be broad-based anyway, and physical protection programs even without the categorical protection would be protected under the "bona fide" sex-based differences clause):

State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, said she feared the initiative would wipe out the Governor’s Commission to Prevent Violence Against Women and the Women in Applied Science and Education program at Arizona State University aimed at helping women in the College of Education.

But Max McPhail, director of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative, said the University of Michigan still has programs aimed largely at helping women in science and engineering despite voter approval last year of a ban on discrimination in education “But they don’t discriminate against men,’’ McPhail said. “So if men want to come to the program, they’re allowed.’’

McPhail's response is correct, and he probably also hit the violence argument hard too but it didn't get put in the paper. There are just too many of these bogus arguments out there.

If it has to do with signature-gathering (particularly if not inside Michigan where one of my sister-sites will pick it up), its a subject ripe for PP&M. And this one is ripe - Ralph Nader has sued the DNC alleging a vast conspiracy (VLWC) by the Demoncratic National Committee to obstruct his ability to get on the 2004 ballot. Frivolous lawsuits, blockers, bogus challenge-phase assertions. The suit itself details some 90 law firms that participated.

This story, from the site "Ballot-pedia", which is a brilliant use of the wiki concept to map out a small universe of specialized knowledge, details it well and provides links to the original source documents and news stories.

Needless to say, while ZR doesn't normally subscribe to conspiracy arguments because they are too complex and usually not the simplest explanation, there is some validity to this one. The DNC didn't make it a secret that it wanted to keep Nader off the ballot - in fact, it admitted it was trying to do so. And various officials admit to using frivolous legal techniques solely to drain Nader. That's abuse of process, and Nader should recover something for it.