Richard Cebull is the 67-year-old George W. Bush appointed Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. We owe him a debt of gratitude born out of the simple gesture of forwarding an email to pals. This gesture revealed the definitive proof of what most of us knew all along.
Right-wing Republicans hate Obama because he’s black. That’s a fact that’s been the subtext of virtually every political mouthing made by the extremist element of the party. “Poor, food stamps, housing loans ‘they’ couldn’t afford, ‘they’ don’t wanna work…†There have always been vehement denials by the offending parties of any racial intent. And here’s another denial. But the action by the judge is so base, so visceral, that it’s beyond denial.
Here’s the email forwarded by the judge to six friends and his brother. I imagine this piece of racist shit got the hell forwarded out of it. One of the recipients had to forward it to somebody who took extreme offense and got it to the ‘elite’ Montana media, in this instance, the Great Falls Tribune.
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The paper reported that before getting to the hateful meat of the email, Cebull wrote – “Normally I don’t send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.” While these statements were obviously tongue in cheek, minimally coded racism, I actually doubt Cebull wrote that part of the email as some media are reporting. I’ll explain in a moment.
Here’s the heart of the email: “A little boy said to his mother; ‘Mommy, how come I’m black and you’re white?’ His mother replied, ‘Don’t even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you’re lucky you don’t bark!'”
The actual email was in the golden-hued color of a greeting card with a mother holding hands with her young son on the banks of what appears to be a river or lake. For such despicable content, the picture, though hackneyed, is not unattractive. Above the picture and the disgusting ‘joke’ are the words ‘A Mom’s Memory’ under which, in smaller print, was the paragraph written out above and attributed by some to the judge, ‘Normally, I don’t send, etc. This was followed by ‘This is so beautiful’, again, in larger print. Then comes the ‘ joke’ text.
No judge with a sliver of common sense, should have sent this email to anybody, not only for its overt racism, but for the fact that federal judges cannot express a political preference for either party.
When confronted with the email, the Judge responded with an answer of such disingenuousness as to be almost as offensive as the email itself. Cebull said he wasn’t a racist and apologized while adding that he sent it “because it’s anti-Obama. I apologize to anybody who is offended by it, and I can obviously understand why people would be offended.â€
“The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan,” he said. “I didn’t send it as racist, although that’s what it is. I sent it out because it’s anti-Obama.” All of the above was definitely written by the judge.
The whole unseemly apology reminds me of Christians who spend their whole lives drinking and whoring around, then think a last minute ‘apology’ will get them to heaven. Folks, you can’t commit sins like racism, and it is a sin, and expect to bail yourself out with an insincere bullshit apology. Throw the robe in a hamper, replace it with a sheet with eye holes and throw his ass out of the courtroom, forevermore. Somewhere, sometime, the lesson of civility and acceptance of our fellow men and women has to be taught, even in the minority-hating environment we live in today.
Less than ½ of 1% of the Montana population is black. You’ll spot a Bald Eagle before you’ll see an African-American in Montana. Looking at his profile, it doesn’t appear the good judge has set foot outside of Montana. He took his undergrad degree from Montana State University, he graduated from the University of Montana Law School and practiced exclusively in Montana. He was also a Trial Judge for the North Cheyenne Tribal Court. I wonder if he held our Native American brothers and sisters in as much contempt as he holds for Obama?
Having had virtually no life’s experiences outside of one state, he’s likely basing his hatred on abject stupidity, just like most racists. Stupid racist though he might be, there appears to be no threat to the judge’s tenure on the bench. By the time you read this he’ll be sitting where he’s always sat.
John Conyers and Steve Cohen, two Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are trying to get a hearing on this unseemly mess. A federal judge can be impeached and removed for misconduct. Committee Chairman, Lamar Smith, a Texas republican has not responded to the request as of this writing. Let’ see; A Texan, a Republican – my guess is….
One small comfort for this Obama-hating judge; with the email’s bestiality connection, I can think of a natural next step if the judge is defrocked – the Rick Santorum campaign team!
Raised rural & small town, then lived in N.Y., Chicago & LA. Widely traveled. Returned from world wandering to pursue media life of anchorman/reporter and major, medium and small market talk radio. Highly active in politics. Once worked as orderly & security in Mens Lock Ward for the Criminally Insane at a state institution. Much more rational population than current Teapublicans. Great concern for country run by and for the extreme wealthy. The inhumane current running through this country has no precedent in modern history.
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