Photo image by skywarn55419A recent story in the Star Tribune, click here, referenced a "statement" by mayoral fringe candidate Al Flowers, but only included quotes, not the statement itself.
In another kind of "statement," one of my Twitter followers sent me this image, above.
Stay tuned for exclusive Johnny Northside parody video, Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women" with new Al Flowers lyrics about how "everybody must get stoned."
No, I'm not even kidding about this.
(Do not click "Read More")
That distinguished gentleman needs one of these; http://www.dormgear.net/dormgear/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/170x170/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/f/i/file_2_2.jpg
ReplyDeleteCan someone photoshop it to his lapel?
How bout a new game. Instead of caption the photo, how about flair the candidate?
Your URL went off the edge, sorry.
ReplyDeleteI'd just like to point out what Al said at the end of this article:
ReplyDeleteFlowers said that with a high proportion of Minneapolis blacks "having some sort of trumped-up charges filed against us by the police in our lifetimes, none of us would be able to enter the home of any friend or family member for fear of having some guilt by association accusation hurled at us."
Now, can you IMAGINE the outcry if R.T. were to say, "Sorry everybody, but I can't enter the home of a black person because I might have some guilt by association accusation hurled at me"?
You just KNOW Al and his gang would be among the first to cry racism if that happened, and rightfully so.
So I'm calling him out on this double standard right now.
Furthermore, he said MAJORITY. When I've heard him talk about NSP and empowerment zone dollars, it often seems like he's pulling numbers out of thin air. So let me explain something here. "Majority" means a minimum of 50% plus one. I wonder if any JNS readers can help find out the percentage of African Americans with ANY criminal record in Minneapolis (not just trumped-up charges).
Because something tells me it's a bit lower than 50%.
http://www.dormgear.net/dormgear/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/170x170/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/f/i/file_2_2.jpg
ReplyDeletehope this works Johnny, because Al needs a green 'support my habit' ribbon.
i've noticed a somewhat disturbing mini-trend of young white progressives, unfamiliar with the day to day realities and politics of life on the Northside jumping on the Flowers and/or NJL bandwagon.
ReplyDeletebecause i sort of fall into this demographic myself (a grad student asking myself "which candidate would pierre bourdieu or judith butler or paulo freire support?"), i feel like i need to call out my little rnc welcoming committee-type buddies here.
1) just because you, a privileged young white person, smoke a pipe now and again, that has nothing to do with the ravages that the relentless machinery of the drug trade and gang violence have on my neighborhood. the people who get held up at gunpoint in convenience stores run by gangs are almost always young teens who stop by for a pop and are victimized. you aren't helping them by equating your casual drug use with the capitalistic machine known as the drug trade. in fact, choosing to make this equation is a luxury afforded to you by your privilege. here on the northside, we live with the actual consequences of your willful and naivete.
2) in grad school, we are focused on theory--on finding the least hegemonic position to hold. what we don't learn a lot about are the roles of demagogues. which is better: an autocrat who has learned the latest post-marxist rhetoric, but who is primarily interested in funneling city funds into the pockets of a few oligarchs, or a person with a real track record of improving life on real city streets, who sometimes says something awkwardly, or who sometimes compromises with middle-of-the-road democrats? if you choose the former, you are privileging theory over material reality. even in post-marxist terms, that's a no-no, remember? at any rate, doing so is a luxury that your privilege grants you, and you are asking us to live with the consequences of your self-absorption.
This web attack on Al Flowers would be funny , if not so sad. I think I read the same search warrant as everyone else and it was clear that Flowers was not the intended person.
ReplyDeleteIf the warrant was not about him, where is he blaming everybody but himself. Get a clue or get a life.
Anon 6:16 said...
ReplyDeleteThis web attack on Al Flowers would be funny , if not so sad. I think I read the same search warrant as everyone else and it was clear that Flowers was not the intended person.
If the warrant was not about him, where is he blaming everybody but himself. Get a clue or get a life.
Web attack? Is it in the best interests of the citizens of Mpls to elect someone to the position of Mayor of the City that "hangs-out" with know gang members and drug dealers. What judgement is AF projecting in doing this? Is it the type of judgement citizens should expect from the official they elect to run the city in which they live.
It is absurd to expect that there would not be some fall-out associated with this issue. And even more absurd that citizens which care about the city in which they live, would not discuss it in varying forms. Maybe YOU need to get a clue, or get a life?
dennis plante
Apparently you're getting to the Al Flowers appologist at the Mpls Mirror. If you have not already, check out the "No Hate in Our State?" piece on the site where she's taking you task midway down the rant.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I saw that. And the assertion that I "seem" only criticize black people is just malicious. Anybody can go to this blog and see individuals I've criticized like Richard Webb (the scum behind the slum) who is whiter than white bread. And the TJ Waconia fraudsters--Thomas Balko and Jon Helgason--are also whiter than white bread.
ReplyDeleteThere is a long list of whiter than white bread individuals I have harshly taken to task on this blog.
But what do you expect from a site that is basically an Al Flowers apologist mouthpiece?