South Dakota Ranchers Need Our Help

Yes, after the catastrophic October 2013 snowstorm,  South Dakota Ranchers still need our help.

In early October of this year, 2013, South Dakota and its neighboring states were hit with a snow storm of historic proportions. While states were hit, South Dakota caught the full brunt of the the storm.

Four to five feet of snow fell in the Black Hills area during the storm, killing at least 100,000 head of livestock, South Dakota state officials say.

South Dakota was hit the hardest and the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association estimates that parts of the state lost at least 5 to 10 percent of its cattle.

Ranchers were encouraged to take carcasses to sites which were built to state Animal Industry Board guidelines.

At one site in western South Dakota more than two 20-foot-deep disposal pits were opened to help ranchers dispose of tens of thousands of livestock carcasses piled up since the early October blizzard decimated herds.

The already saturated by the quickly melting snow, made it difficult for ranchers to traverse the vast terrain to assess losses and tend to stressed but surviving animals.

Behind that epic blizzard another snowstorm slammed into the Black Hills. It did nothing to help the situation, bringing a foot of snow, it only complicate the mess.

Animal Industry Board rules require carcasses to be burned, buried to a depth of 4 feet or disposed of by a licensed rendering plant within 36 hours of death, though South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard had waived the standard time frame, recognizing the difficulty in meeting that deadline.

Ben Kantack, a former South Dakota State University Extension entomologist, said he worries about dead cattle hidden in remote locations, saying they will create public health issues as they decompose.

He said ranchers need to make sure their surviving cattle don’t come into contact with a carcass or drink from water where one is rotting.

Kantack was concerned about water contamination.

The pits were dug specifically to avoid such health problems, as burial sites must be at least 1,000 feet from surface water, floodplains, rivers or private or public drinking water wells.

Burial is also prohibited when the primary subsurface material 20 feet below the bottom of the pit is primarily sand or gravel or when the depth to an aquifer is less than 20 feet from the bottom of the pit.

Ranchers in South Dakota were afraid they may lose everything after the freak storm - killing as many as 100,000 cattle.

Matt Kammerer, a 45-year-old rancher whose family has operated in South Dakota’s Meade County since 1882, told FoxNews.com that he lost 60 cattle in the storm, or one-third of his entire herd.

" ... It’s just dead cow after dead cow, where they’ve gotten caught in dams, streams, fences, you name it. They’re dead everywhere."- Rancher Matt Kammerer

“You’re talking about $120,000 of assets that are just gone,” Kammerer said Friday by phone. “And we still owe the banks, too. It’s like driving a brand-new pickup off a cliff and still having to make payments.”

Kammerer painted a gruesome scene north of Rapid City, where a record 23 inches of snow fell.

“It’s just unreal,” he said. “There are cattle that are 8 or 9 miles away from the pasture they were in, just lying dead. And within that whole stretch, it’s just dead cow after dead cow, where they’ve gotten caught in dams, streams, fences, you name it. They’re dead everywhere.”

Carcasses of mature cows as well as calves were floating downstream local waterways in droves, Kammerer said, stoking fears of a potential outbreak of disease.

“If you don’t get those picked up and buried, you’re looking at the possibility of disease or possibly contamination,” he said. “You’ve got to get them all picked up.”

Most ranchers in the state lost anywhere between 50 to 75 percent of their herds, according to Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, which represents 1,500 ranching operations.

“We’re certainly looking at tens of thousands if not pushing 100,000 at this point,” she said of the dead livestock.

Aside from the economic losses, which will be severe once finally tallied, the unprecedented storm has left an “incredible emotional burden” on the state’s ranchers, Christen said.

“They know how dependent these livestock are on them and they’re absolutely emotionally devastated at the losses they’re seeing,” she said. “It’s been extremely difficult.”

In the days since the storm, Christen said ranchers are now focusing on providing medical care to the animals that did survive.

“That really has to be the priority before we start counting loss,” she said. “They need to make sure they’re safe and that they stay healthy now.”

Gary Cammack, a 60-year-old rancher near Union Center in Meade County, said he lost about 15 percent of his herd, including 70 cows and some calves, which normally sell for $1,000.

A mature cow usually brings in $1,500 or more, he said.

Livestock were initially soaked by 12 hours of rain before 48 consecutive hours or snow and winds up to 60 mph, Cammack said.

Matt Kammerer said his ranch will be able to recover, but he’s more worried about his fellow cattlemen.

“We just had one of the worst droughts ever and now we take a hit like this,” Kammerer said, his voice cracking with emotion.

“It’s just catastrophic. I’m going to be fine; it’s my counterparts … it’s my neighbors, my friends, the people you can’t even look in the face to tell them that you’re sorry.”

So how big was the snowstorm?

The unusually early and enormous snowstorm over that weekend caught South Dakota ranchers and farmers unprepared, killing tens of thousands of cattle and ravaging the state's $7 billion industry — an industry left without assistance because of the federal government shutdown.

Across the state, snow totals averaged 30 inches, with some isolated areas recording almost 5 feet, The Weather Channel reported.
The storm was accompanied by hurricane-force wind gusts, which drove some herds seeking shelter miles from their ranches.

A trail of carcasses left a gruesome sight, said Martha Wierzbicki, emergency management director for Butte County, in the northwestern corner of the state.

"They're in the fence line, laying alongside the roads," Wierzbicki told The Rapid City Journal. "It's really sickening."

Ranchers have no one to ask for help or reimbursement. That's because Congress has yet to pass a new farm bill, which subsidizes agricultural producers.

State Agriculture Secretary Lucas Lentsch called the early-season blizzard "devastating to our producers," saying his agency was trying to figure out a response.

In the meantime, he said, the best farmers and ranchers could do was to meticulously document their losses, with detailed photos, for use when and if claims can be processed.

The most immediate concern was the proper disposal of the dead livestock, which state law says must be burned, buried or rendered within 36 hours — for the health not only of surviving herds but also for people.

"That can be a significant source of disease spread, so we want to make sure those carcasses are burned, buried or rendered as quickly as possible," Dustin Oedekoven, South Dakota's state veterinarian, told the Journal.

But the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association warned that the effects would be felt for years afterward. Not only were tens of thousands of calves killed, but so were thousands more cows that would have delivered calves next year.

And the stress of the storm will leave its mark on surviving herds, the South Dakota State University Agricultural Extension Service said, leaving the remaining cattle vulnerable to ruinous diseases with names like infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine respiratory syncytial virus and bovine viral diarrhea virus.

UPDATE:

Ranchers donate cattle after South Dakota blizzard kills livestock

November 25th, 2013

One to start a new herd. This one from Russ Allderdice runs onto the J S Livestock yard in Havre, Montana.

Russ Allderdice and other area ranchers brought cattle to the stockyard throughout the day to send to the South Dakota ranchers whose cattle was ravaged by the October blizzard.

Nov. 21, 2013: Rene Brown locks up a cattle delivery at the J S Livestock yard in Havre, Montana. Brown collected cattle donations from area ranchers to send to the South Dakota Ranchers whose cattle was ravaged by the October blizzard. (AP/Havre Daily News, Lindsay Brown)

Hope on hooves is arriving in South Dakota, one heifer at a time.

A month after the freak snow storm dumped 4 to 5 feet of snow on South Dakota, 45 donated head of cattle from Montana designed to serve as breeding stock were sent to ranchers in The Mount Rushmore State.

Another 400 cattle, including yearling and bred heifers worth as much as $75,000, have also been sent to South Dakota from neighboring Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota to help the afflicted ranchers get back on their feet ahead of the looming harsh winter.

“The support from other states has been phenomenal,” Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, told FoxNews.com early Monday, November 25th.

“We have volunteers from in the state who have helped with cleanup, we have people from surrounding states who shipped heifers and about $1.5 million has been donated to the Rancher Relief Fund.”

Christen estimated in the days after the storm that as many as 100,000 cattle would ultimately die as a result of the “devastating” storm, although state officials have said the blizzard killed roughly 14,000 cattle, more than 1,200 sheep, nearly 300 horses and 40 bison.

She still expects that number to “go up quite a bit” in coming weeks.

Part of the problem, Christen said, is that state officials have relied on self-reporting from ranchers, some of whom may be dealing with the guilt of not suffering widespread losses like their counterparts.

“They’re a very private, self-sufficient group,” Christen said of ranchers.

“The emotional flow of this whole thing has been incredible. These ranchers define themselves as caretakers of their animals and many of them feel they have failed in their role.”

Christen continued: “Many of them say, ‘Well, our neighbors had it worse,’ and some of them haven’t reported those losses due to survivor’s guilt. Many of these ranchers won’t be able to financially survive this. There’s an incredible amount of guilt among those who are going to survive. Many of them wish they can do more for others.”

Two people desperate to make a difference were Montana ranchers Rene Brown and Alisha Burcham, who began gathering cattle donations from northern Montana through Heifers for South Dakota.

The organization selected family ranches that had herds of roughly 160 cattle but lost up to 60 percent of them in the storm.

“Twelve hours this way with that storm and that could have been us,” Brown told The Associated Press.

Brown, a rancher near Chinook, Mont., could not be reached for comment early Monday. Her brother-in-law, Earl Brown, started moving the donated cattle on Friday.

“I told him I wanted to get a pot load of cattle together to send to South Dakota,” she continued.

“He told me I couldn’t do it and that if I did, he would drive them there. Well, we did and even have donations for the fuel, so he’s donating his time for the drive.”

Many small producers in South Dakota did not have insurance due to high costs, she said.

“Congress may approve some disaster aid, but that’s not a sure thing and they can’t even pass a farm bill,” Brown said.

But frankly, these people don't wait for Congress.

“This donation will make a big difference to ranchers in South Dakota. I knew the Hi-Line would come through, but it is humbling to see this come together.”

The South Dakota Rancher Relief Fund was established by a consortium of livestock organizations following the blizzard and has thus far raised $1.5 million, Christen said.

An application deadline of Dec. 31 has been set in order to assess the number of applicants and the severity of those applicants’ needs.

“The outpouring of support for the West River ranchers who lost animals during the blizzard has been overwhelming,” South Dakota cattleman Cory Eich said in a statement.

As more winter comes, Christen said colder conditions have helped the cleanup effort by drying up large mud patches created by melted snow and water runoff.

“The snow has melted and we’ve had some new snowfall, but there’s not a lot on the ground,” she said. “The ground is freezing though, which is actually helping things because it’s easier to move around these ranches and get to remote areas.”

And while the long-term financial outlook looks dicey for some ranchers, especially young breeders, Christen said livestock producers in South Dakota have plenty to be thankful for ahead of the holiday season.

“It has been incredible to see the kind of support we have gotten,” Christen told FoxNews.com. “It’s really kind of beyond words. It’s been very humbling.”

American farmers and ranchers are some of the toughest people on the face of the earth. They endure when others fail, and they don't ask help from anyone.

These great Americans who feed us and the world need our help.

If you would like to contribute to the The South Dakota Rancher Relief Fund, please do so by clicking on the links below and give what you can to help those who really need our help.

At this time, let's be the ones who showed what we are made of and help our neighbors in South Dakota!    

If one link doesn't work, please try the other.

BHACF/SD Rancher Relief Fund  

Ranchers Relief Fund   

Thank you, and God Bless you!

Tom Correa
Editor
American Cowboy Chronicles



George Zimmerman's Actions & Character

Dear Readers,

Last year, I wrote an article saying why I supported George Zimmerman in his case.

I have gotten a lot of email on this. While many are laced with profanity calling me everything in the book, and yes there have been many who have threatened me and my family, some are simply comments calling people like me who would not hesitate using a gun to protect myself  - cowards.

I usually hit delete and move on not worrying about it.

I've just received this latest comment on that post which I decided was so typical of the people who have wrote, yet was not threatening, that I wanted to share it with you:

Anonymous November 19, 2013 at 2:35 PM

"it's not hard to kick a cowards ass. Put a gun in his hand and now he is a hero. It would have never happened if the coward didn't have a gun. He even pulls guns on women. Guarantee you he would never do that that to a full grown man or anyone with a gun in their possession.. Keep supporting losers cowboys! Do you know the real origin of cowboys?"

This is my reply to that person:

While I agree that it's true that it's not hard to kick a coward's ass, what does that have to do with anything? Nothing really.

As for George Zimmerman,  I've NEVER said in any editorial that he is a hero of any sort.

I have said that he was being sat on and was having his head beaten into the concrete pavement, in what is commonly known as a "ground and pound," and to my belief of the facts given to the public -- he used his pistol as a last resort to save his own life.

I believe that you would have done the same thing if you felt that your life was in mortal danger, I know that I would.

For me, if for any other reason, simply because my training says that in a combat situation -- I should use everything in my personal arsenal to stay alive.

Now, like many of you, I have read about Zimmerman's latest problems with the law.

I've never addressed the man's "character" restricting myself to only talk about his actions against Martin.

He could be a card cheat and a woman beater, a bum and a low life, on the other hand he can be someone who volunteers his life to the sick and needy - I don't know the guy.

I only know what I would have done if I had a younger stronger assailant on top of me trying to kill me by smashing my head into the cement.

I would have used everything including shooting Martin in the case that I've described.

As for Zimmerman breaking the law himself and assaulting others, he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for that crime..

As for me and others supporting losers, well I would support you if you were in the same situation as he was on his back that night and you used your legally carried pistol to save your own life.

If your character as a man is a loser, that doesn't take away from the fact that you have the right to defend yourself - loser or not.

As for the origin of cowboys? Yes, I know the origin. What does that have to do with your accusing me of supporting some loser like yourself who was within the law to act as he did?

Write me, let me know why you feel it would have been OK for Martin to go ahead and kill Zimmerman, but it was not OK for a loser like Zimmerman or you to protect his or your own life?

Ask yourself this, if you were armed and on your back. And yes, you felt that you were about to die, knowing that you carried a gun for self-defense -- would you have used it? Or, and be honest, would you have really allowed Martin to kill you by smashing your head into the concrete pavement?

Write me to tell me if you would have taken what you call the coward's way out - or would you have not done everything that you could to stay alive?

If you put yourself in Zimmerman's place, are honest with yourself, and still say that you wouldn't have shot Martin - then you are a bigger coward than most.

Only a true coward, a real loser, wouldn't do everything in his or her power to stay alive when faced with the prospect of death.

Thanks for your comment,
Tom Correa
Editor

Also ...
I find that there are two camps when it come to the whole George Zimmerman / Trayvon Martin case.

The first camp is made of Conservatives who believe that we all have a right, a moral obligation, a duty, to use "every means" at our disposal to fend off danger and protect our lives.

We in that camp understand that "every means" also means using a gun if we have one.

The second camp is made up of Liberals who believe that while it is OK to kill a helpless child before birth, and forgive those on Death Row, that we are duty bound to run away if we can -- and of course, if that is useless, they feel that we should simply allow aggressors to kill us without a fight using everything at our means.

I believe that Liberals would have rather seen George Zimmerman die, be found dead after having his head caved in, than see him defend himself with a gun or a knife or a brick or whatever.

For the record ...

Since I have been asked, let me answer.

The fights that I have been in were never something called "friendly fights." I have never been in, nor ever seen, such a thing called a "friendly fight."

Each and every fight that I have ever been in, I immediately understood that the man who I was fighting wanted to hurt or kill me.

And yes, I in turn obliged them meeting force with force and moreso - all with the same intent.

I never tried to hit and run, or shake their hands afterwards. I was taught that anything short of fighting "all out" is a waste of time.

Those who have tried to hurt me in the past fully understand that I don't believe in rules when trying to preserving my life - or protecting those I hold dear.

Maybe it is my Marine training, but I truly believe that one who does not fight with every means available, to the fullest extent of his or her abilities, is the real coward!

Some call my training barbaric and vicious in a civilized world, but frankly I expect one to fight in an altercation with the same zeal and effort, wanting to use any and every means at their disposal, the same as if they were fighting cancer - with the desire to stop it or kill it.     
That's just how I see it.

Tom Correa

RANDOM SHOTS - Obama Lies Again, More HealthCare Cancellations Coming, Benghazi Consulate Pled For Their Lives, and More!

FIRST SHOT!

Second Wave of HealthCare Plan Cancellations Coming Soon!

A new and independent analysis of ObamaCare warns of a ticking time bomb, predicting a second wave of 50 million to 100 million insurance policy cancellations next fall -- right before the mid-term elections next year.

The next round of cancellations and premium hikes is expected to hit employees, particularly of small businesses.

While the administration has tried to downplay the cancellation notices hitting policyholders on the individual market by noting they represent a relatively small fraction of the population, the swath of people who will be affected by the shake-up in employer-sponsored coverage will be much broader.

An analysis by the American Enterprise Institute shows the administration anticipates half to two-thirds of small businesses would have policies canceled or be compelled to send workers onto the ObamaCare exchanges.

They predict up to 100 million small and large business policies could be cancelled next year.

Under the health care law, businesses with fewer than 50 workers do not have to provide health coverage. But if they do, the policies will still have to meet the benefit standards set by ObamaCare.

For workers, their experience could mirror that of the already 5 Million or so Americans on the individual market who have already received cancellation notices because their plans did not meet new standards under the Affordable Care Act.

Though the administration describes these accounts as "anecdotal" -- and has already delayed the employer mandate by a year -- studies suggest otherwise.

The International Franchise Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have studied the impact and say the president's health care law has resulted in higher costs and fewer full-time positions.

A survey showed 31 percent of franchise businesses, and 12 percent of non-franchise businesses, have already reduced worker hours.

It also showed 27 percent of franchise businesses, and 12 percent of non-franchise businesses, have replaced full-time workers with part-time employees.

So goes the "fundamental CHANGE" that Obama supporters asked for!

Yes, those who voted for Obama are to blame here!

I can only hope that the people in the pictures, those who blindly supported the unqualified liar to be President, get their HealthCare cancellation notices first.

Yes, that would only be justice!

SECOND SHOT!

Benghazi Consulate was "Pleading For Their Lives" on Night of Attack

November 20, 2013, FoxNews.com, Catherine Herridge reported that State Department employees at the Benghazi compound knew they were in a death trap and made a series of radio distress calls to the CIA annex during the terror assault last year.

That is a fact according to congressional sources familiar with recent testimony on the attack from five CIA personnel.

Sources told Fox News that the radio calls, which were described in closed testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, were characterized as almost frantic, with State Department employees who knew they could not defend themselves "pleading" for their lives.

When the CIA team arrived from the annex about a mile away, they found the State Department employees without guns that could adequately protect them; one of the agents was found hiding in the consulate, apparently in a closet.

The testimony lends more weight to repeated claims, in the wake of the attack, that the consulate was not adequately protected despite being located in a volatile and violent area prone to attack.

When the CIA personnel were asked for their reaction to the administration's initial explanation that an anti-Islam video and a demonstration gone awry were to blame for the attack, Fox News is told they were seething with anger because everything on the ground -- from their perspective -- showed it was a premeditated attack.

At least three of the five -- who were all in Benghazi -- responded to the scene that night.

The witnesses testified that five mortars rained down on the annex in less than a minute.

They pointed to those details as more evidence of a professionally trained team, describing the attack on the annex as akin to a professional hit on the operation in order to drive it out of Benghazi.

Congressional sources say the testimony seems to further conflict with and undercut the briefing three days after the attack by then-CIA Director David Petraeus, who likened the attack to a flash mob.

When pressed on the number and precision of the mortars, Petraeus offered that Benghazi was flooded with mortars, and played down their accuracy by suggesting they could have been fired from the back of a pick-up truck.

When then secretary of state Hillary Clinton appeared on the Hill, first she tried to claim that no one knew it was a terrorist attack while emphasising that it was due to their made up story about on the anti-Islam Youtube video; then she said, "What difference does it make?!"

Someone should have told her that there is a big difference in getting help to try to save the lives of four American versus simply letting them die by not bothering to get them any help at all!


THIRD SHOT!

Oprah and Bill Clinton get National Awards

Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton were among the 16 other Democrat campaign donors who were awarded Medals of Freedom by President Obama this morning at the White House.

It proved out the fact that you can be a racist as in the case of Oprah and a liar who came within a few votes of being Impeached as President as in the case of Bill Clinton -- and still be seen as great Americans by the Obama White House.

FOURTH SHOT!

Obama The Liar Rides Again!

It was reported that Obama lied again during a HealthCare conference call with his supporters, all community organizers, claiming that "more than 100 MILLION Americans' have enrolled" in the

Monday evening he held a conference call with his most ardent supporters, Organizing for Action.

During the conference call, Obama told his supporters that nearly one-third of the entire population of the United States has signed up for ObamaCare.

Imagine that!

In reality, Health and Human Services announced the ObamaCare enrollment numbers for the first 32 days of this expanded open enrollment period was 26,794.

If it is true that liar liar pants on fire, than Obama is smoke'n!




LAST SHOT!

A Few Fun Facts About The U.S. Constitution

1. The 13th amendment that Abolished Slavery: 100% Republican support, 22% Democratic support.

2. The 14th amendment which Granted Citizenship to Freed Slaves: 100% Republican support, 0% Democratic support.

3. The 15th amendment which granted Black Americans the Right to Vote: 100% Republican support 0% Democratic support.

Yes, Republicans, and not Democrats, have been the real Champions of Civil Rights for Black Americans - but if you listen to Democrats its not that way at all!

Our American heritage and history is something that needs to be remembered, especially when being told the opposite of what really took place.

And yes, factual history is good to know, even if it breaks your Liberal Bullshit Detector whenever a Democrat speaks!



Liberal Bullshit Detector


Story by Tom Correa

Oprah calls Obama's Critics Racists and says Death Is The Answer

Dear Readers,

Oprah Winfrey says that President Obama's critics are motivated by racism, and that death is the answer.

Did she mean that death is the only way to stop us who criticize the president? Sounds like it to me.

Though Oprah Winfrey is one of the wealthiest women in the world, let's be frank here and admit that Liberals like her, especially those in the Entertainment Industry, just aren't very bright.

Take for example, the old super-lib Barbra Streisand who once said, "Republican control of the House has resulted in poison in the water, salmonella in the food, carbon dioxide in the air and toxic waste in the ground." 

Yes, she said it as if it were true. Just as if she believes that Republicans are responsible for every ill in the world including the Black Plague, the fall of Rome, and the attack on 9/11.

And yes, Whoopi Goldberg did in fact utter the very stupid statement, "I don't really view communism as a bad thing."

Jane Fonda put Communism this way, saying, "I would think that if you understood what Communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees, that we would someday become communists."

Of course, that's coming from two wealthy women who understand nothing about the real world practical application of Communism as applied by Stalin and Mao -- who of course slaughtered millions of their own people and exported death around the world all in an attempt to enslave mankind for the good of the Communist Party.

When it comes to anti-Constitution celebrities, we'd have to search pretty hard to find one who tops the big Rosie. Yes, Rosie O'Donnell obviously believes that the 2nd Amendment should be null and void.

We know this because she said, "I think there should be a law - and I know this is extreme - that no one can have a gun in the U.S."

As much as Big Rosie would love being the number one anti-American in Hollywood with the dumbest quote, she's only tied with Janeane Garofalo who said, "Our country is founded on a sham: our forefathers were slave-owning rich white guys who wanted it their way. So when I see the American flag, I go, 'Oh my God, you're insulting me.' That you can have a gay parade on Christopher Street in New York, with naked men and women on a float cheering, 'We're here, we're queer!' -- that's what makes my heart swell. Not the flag, but a gay naked man or woman burning the flag. I get choked up with pride."

But no, not all ignorant quotes from celebrities come from those who may profit from being an American -- but hate America.

For example, academy award winning actress actor Meryl Streep decided to show her ignorance of the uses of oil besides that of using it for cars, by saying, "If everybody that had two cars had a Prius instead of an SUV, we wouldn't be in the Middle East right now." 

Of course no one told her that electric cars means a need for more electrical power, which of course means more power plants, which means more coal or nuclear energy use -- but those are just pesky details that liberals are not good with. 

Besides, she probably does care about that other half a barrel of oil which is used to make over 6,000 commonly used household products that have absolutely nothing to do with cars or energy.

But again, why let little details like that ruin a stupid quote from a celebrity. 

Singer/environmentalist Sheryl Crow famously said, "I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required."

And no, I don't even want to speculate on her personal hygiene habits.

Of course there was actor Richard Gere who told an audience in New York City right after 9/11, "In a situation like this, of course you identify with everyone who's suffering. But we must also think about the terrorists who are creating such horrible future lives for themselves because of the negativity of this karma. It's all of our jobs to keep our minds as expansive as possible. If you can see the terrorists as a relative who's dangerously sick and we have to give them medicine, and the medicine is love and compassion. There's nothing better."

This week we had a couple of really stupid celebrities come out and prove to the world just how truly dumb they are.

First it was Tom Cruise who compared "acting" to actually fighting in Afghanistan, then it was my favorite racist -- Oprah Winfrey.

The gal that is in fact one of the richest people in the entire world, says some really dumb things. 

This is not new because I read a few weeks or so ago where she actually said it before, but while promoting her movie "The Butler" in Great Britain, Oprah Winfrey said that critics of Barack Obama are motivated by racism.

There is nothing new about celebs calling whites racist, but they don't see themselves as racists - yet there is a lot of evidence pointing to black racism against every other race in America.

But being frank, their favorite targets are white people - both physically violent and through statements which the media gives them a pass for saying.

Take for example Jamie Foxx talking about his movie "Django Unchained," he said, "I play a slave. How black is that? I have to wear chains. How whack is that? But don’t worry. I get free. I save my wife and I kill all the white people in the movie. How great is that?"

As racist as that is, it doesn't really rank very high when compared to the very ignorant

Oprah Winfrey during this last week.

As I said, that's not really that new because she did say it before when she called all white people racists deep down.

In that interview, she said that a white person didn't have to utter a slur or say anything offensive at all -- she said that it was needed because deep down all white people are racists.

What makes this quote different is that this time she said that ultimately, "demographic pruning" would be needed to stamp out racism.

No kidding!

Oprah told BBC's Will Gompertz, "There are still generations of [white] people, older [white] people, who were born and bred and marinated in it, in that prejudice and racism, and they [those white people] just have to die."

Gompertz also asked Winfrey if it had ever crossed her mind that Obama has faced racism.

"Probably it's crossed my mind more times than it's crossed your mind," she said. "I think that there is a level of disrespect for the office that occurs. And that occurs in some cases and maybe even many cases because he is African American. There's no question about that and it's the kind of thing nobody ever says but everybody's thinking it."

This is not the first time Winfrey has made such statements regarding race.

Yes, earlier this year, she falsely claimed that "millions" of blacks were lynched because of race.

"You cannot be my friend and use that word around me. It shows my age, but I feel strongly about it. … I always think of the millions of people who heard that as their last word as they were hanging from a tree," she told Parade magazine in July.

The Tuskegee Institute, however, put the number of lynchings both black and white between 1882 and 1968 at 4,743, far short of the "millions" claimed by Winfrey.

Today, the Democrat Party does not want to own up to its Racist and Segragationist past policies.

And yes, they certainly don't want Americans to know that white Republicans in the South during the Reconstruction Era there to help freed blacks were also lunched routinely by that great Democrat organization called the Ku Klux Klan.

Since Obama's 2008 election, Liberals have reacted like Pavlov's dogs to any criticism of the president by falsely accusing those critics of racism.

Now, can you imagine if some white man or woman said the same things that Oprah said but in reverse?

Imagine the uproar if a white person came out and told BBC's Will Gompertz, "There are still generations of [black] people, younger [black] people, who were born and bred and marinated in it, in that prejudice and racism, and they [those young blacks] just have to die before anything gets better."

Can you imagine the uproar?

Yes, there's no question about the racism which Oprah exhibits. And yes, I see Oprah Winfrey as part of the problem with America today.

She is successful, wealthy, powerful, and influential. She has made a great deal of money and had helped put a man without any experience or competence in the White House.

She did not do it for reasons such as skill, leadership qualities and outstanding qualifications, but rather simply because of his skin color.

Then, when that man reveals himself as being crooked, a liar, and is totally incompetent - she defends him by calling his critics racists.

She is so totally consumed with defending Barack Obama's failure as president that she is ignoring the fact that even black people see him for who he really is - a total failure.

Oprah is a racist, but also clever.  She knows too well that its much easier to call white people racists, than to have to explain why over 55% of the black Americans who voted for Obama - now say they wish they hadn't.


Story by Tom Correa