And Stephanie Tubbs could drown in my crack.
Yes, she is still numero uno on my hit list.
From the Huff Post:
Barack Obama's endorsement of a white incumbent facing a black primary challenger has disappointed some members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who are wondering whether he will support them in their primaries.
Last month, the Illinois senator surprised many political observers by endorsing centrist Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) in Tuesday's primary against state Sen. Regina Thomas.
Read the whole story here.
My Response:
Are these the same Lilly-livered colored cowards of the CBC who by and large refused to step out and strongly support the primary candidacy of Barack Obama?
Are these the same triangulating, self-serving Negroes who bet on the white woman from Arkansas when there was an actual viable candidate of color who differed negligibly in policy?!!!
IS THIS THE SAME CBC WHO DID NOT WANT TO MAKE RACE AN ISSUE IN THE PRIMARIES?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really? Is it now? you know what? I'm tired of us pretending there has ever been some kind of broad swath of racial solidarity in the black community. black preachers undermined King, black folks shot Malcolm, and black slaves turned in runaways regularly. This man owes these weak willed politicians NOTHING!!!! I am so glad he won without them because now he is not beholden to any of them. He gets to choose who he will support, just like most of them chose.
They don't get to play the "brother where art thou" card now. Oh no, my "brothers and sisters". Call Bill and Hillary and ask them for an endorsement. I'm sure they owe you one.
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Saturday, March 31, 2007
It's Official. I'm all in!
I know what you’re thinking.
“What” you say, “kind of loser is updating an admittedly unimpressive political blog on a Saturday night?”
An amped loser, that’s who!
I mean I'm not exactly a…aw, who am I kidding? I’m definitely a loser.
But after spending the better part of the day with a group of diverse strangers, all gathered together under a common political banner, here’s hoping I have attached myself to a winner.
I participated in one of several thousand “community kick-off” events hosted by Barack Obama’s online machine.
It was a last minute decision, and another late night Internet romp, that led me to register at Obama’s website. I found no fewer than 100 active groups within a 50-mile radius. On a whim, I picked the kick-off event that had the most RSVPs and off I went, my mother in tow for protection.
We were early. Real early judging by our hostess’ purple Velcro rollers. But true to great hostess form she did not let that stop her from offering a gracious welcome into a beautiful home in one of Charlotte’s most historic, read: expensive, neighborhoods.
Before long about 27 other guests joined us, all squeezed into a quaint and tastefully decorated sitting room.
The group included college students and people who spoke of "ol' Bobby Kennedy" with the wistfulness of those who were actually alive to witness the dying of Camelot. There was a straw vote that revealed the crowd to be 25% registered Republicans and 30% first time political activists. Men and women; black and white – we all shared our reasons for supporting Obama.
I listened as people I suspect are quite different from myself espoused some fairly intimate and passionate beliefs about why Barack represents them and their politics. From globe-trotters who have witnessed first-hand how deep anti-American sentiment runs to registered Republicans who prize common sense over party affiliation; they were all there.
The sentiment that surprised me the most was the oft expressed hope that electing Obama would send a signal to the rest of the world that America is no longer as myopic as our history suggests or as gleefully ignorant as the past 7 years prove.
Mature white woman waxed rhapsodic over the connection they feel with this young black man. An old acquaintance from his Harvard Law Review days offered personal antidotes that reinforced the popular opinion in the room that he is as real as he seems.
By the end of the day money had been raised, a few barriers maybe transgressed and promises to organize rallies and discussion salons made.
And, so, it is with great pleasure that I make the announcement dozens, or maybe two, of you have been waiting for: UnCommon Sense Politics is endorsing Barack Obama for President.
Your Militant Diva has harbored Obama love for quite some time now, but I finally decided that he is not only viable, but timely. It would seem that I am not the only one to come to that conclusion.
To that end, I encourage you all who do not know him to get to know him at http://www.barackobama.com/. Read his two books. As a writer and voracious reader I promise them to be engaging and authentic.
Check him out for yourself and if you feel the same warmth and inspired rightness of this man at this moment, get involved.
Maybe he cannot win as some claim. Maybe he won’t win, as is very much a real possibility. Maybe Hillary has Bill and Rudy has the right. Maybe Fred Thompson is, indeed, the Great White Hope.
But if he does not pull it off, I for one do not want it to be because those of us who truly believe in his message, his politics, and his potential did not do our personal best to support his cause.
After all, what could be more American than a group of passionate individuals crossing gulfs of party, gender, race, and age to gather for civil political discourse on a sunny day in Carolina?
What, indeed.
“What” you say, “kind of loser is updating an admittedly unimpressive political blog on a Saturday night?”
An amped loser, that’s who!
I mean I'm not exactly a…aw, who am I kidding? I’m definitely a loser.
But after spending the better part of the day with a group of diverse strangers, all gathered together under a common political banner, here’s hoping I have attached myself to a winner.
I participated in one of several thousand “community kick-off” events hosted by Barack Obama’s online machine.
It was a last minute decision, and another late night Internet romp, that led me to register at Obama’s website. I found no fewer than 100 active groups within a 50-mile radius. On a whim, I picked the kick-off event that had the most RSVPs and off I went, my mother in tow for protection.
We were early. Real early judging by our hostess’ purple Velcro rollers. But true to great hostess form she did not let that stop her from offering a gracious welcome into a beautiful home in one of Charlotte’s most historic, read: expensive, neighborhoods.
Before long about 27 other guests joined us, all squeezed into a quaint and tastefully decorated sitting room.
The group included college students and people who spoke of "ol' Bobby Kennedy" with the wistfulness of those who were actually alive to witness the dying of Camelot. There was a straw vote that revealed the crowd to be 25% registered Republicans and 30% first time political activists. Men and women; black and white – we all shared our reasons for supporting Obama.
I listened as people I suspect are quite different from myself espoused some fairly intimate and passionate beliefs about why Barack represents them and their politics. From globe-trotters who have witnessed first-hand how deep anti-American sentiment runs to registered Republicans who prize common sense over party affiliation; they were all there.
The sentiment that surprised me the most was the oft expressed hope that electing Obama would send a signal to the rest of the world that America is no longer as myopic as our history suggests or as gleefully ignorant as the past 7 years prove.
Mature white woman waxed rhapsodic over the connection they feel with this young black man. An old acquaintance from his Harvard Law Review days offered personal antidotes that reinforced the popular opinion in the room that he is as real as he seems.
By the end of the day money had been raised, a few barriers maybe transgressed and promises to organize rallies and discussion salons made.
And, so, it is with great pleasure that I make the announcement dozens, or maybe two, of you have been waiting for: UnCommon Sense Politics is endorsing Barack Obama for President.
Your Militant Diva has harbored Obama love for quite some time now, but I finally decided that he is not only viable, but timely. It would seem that I am not the only one to come to that conclusion.
To that end, I encourage you all who do not know him to get to know him at http://www.barackobama.com/. Read his two books. As a writer and voracious reader I promise them to be engaging and authentic.
Check him out for yourself and if you feel the same warmth and inspired rightness of this man at this moment, get involved.
Maybe he cannot win as some claim. Maybe he won’t win, as is very much a real possibility. Maybe Hillary has Bill and Rudy has the right. Maybe Fred Thompson is, indeed, the Great White Hope.
But if he does not pull it off, I for one do not want it to be because those of us who truly believe in his message, his politics, and his potential did not do our personal best to support his cause.
After all, what could be more American than a group of passionate individuals crossing gulfs of party, gender, race, and age to gather for civil political discourse on a sunny day in Carolina?
What, indeed.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The War and The Race
Alright kiddies. Forgive me my delay in posting, but there have not been many presidential run bombshells and, well, to be honest, I was pretty sick and tired.
But your girl is bouncing back and what is in the news? What is always in the news – war is the topic of the day.
The Democrats have rolled out their ambitious 100 hour plan/manifesto and they are tackling some mighty big issues head on. Chief among them is a national minimum wage hike and capping the cost of prescription drug costs. I am also hearing the faint rumblings of a “national health care” plan. I anticipate being called a socialist commie in about 10, 9, 8…damn. There went Fox News. Yep. It’s official. I’m a socialist commie. Wait until they find out my views on subsidized part-time daycare and extended job protections for maternity/paternity leaves of absence. They’ll think I’m a Nazi.
Again, the real issue is the one that the majority of Americans voted on in this past election – the Iraq war. Or more to the point, how in the hell are we going to get OUT of Iraq without looking like bumbling, incompetent idiots. As usual I hate to be Debby Downer – no, I really do! – but we are a bit too late on both of those objectives. We no longer even have an articulated goal or definition of “success” in Iraq, we are seemingly way more vested in the democracy of the Iraq people than they are themselves, and the rest of the world has already seen the little man behind the curtain. This ain’t purdy folks.
I feel like we are in some clichéd sitcom where the comedy of errors has gone on so long that no one even bothers to ask if the joke is funny anymore.
Well, this joke is no longer funny. The President’s “surge” idea is just another word for “escalation” or “throw more water on that oil fire” or “we have deemed the lives of American soldiers expendable”. Sending MORE troops to achieve an objective that isn’t even an objective with an enemy that cannot be defined or defended against goes beyond foolish at the speed of light and head-first into criminal.
Some pundits speculate that this is all political posturing – America’s last stand before we pull-out. Even that is a fool’s agenda. This is beyond pageantry at this point. If you feel the same way I strongly urge you to contact your senator. Sure, the wartime power we gave Bush after 9/11 makes them about as impotent as Bob Dole after he misses a dose of the little blue pill, but if you are like me, you will at least sleep better at night.
With all of this warring and lawmakering it would be easy to forget that for all practical political purposes the 2008 presidential election is underway. Easy to forget if you do not read People or watch TV that is.
It is official folks: Obama is sexier than John McCain and Edwards doesn’t not hate black people.
In other news, Joe Biden should be announcing any day and the Good Reverend Al Sharpton is considering tossing his Blue Magic into the ring.
When Al Sharpton runs for President he’s not running for President. It means someone has not told him what he wants to hear and he wants a seat at the debate.
Could it be some Dems are already slacking on courting that black vote? It seems Brother Al thinks so.
And I have heard plenty of rumblings about an Edwards-Obama ticket. That rumbling always leaves me vaguely confused. Why in the hot hell would Obama play second to Edwards? The other way around, maybe.
But the ticket dream that keeps me up nights is an Obama-Biden ticket. Yep. I said it. And the order is no mistake. Obama has the “it” factor and should capitalize it to no end, if that is his heart’s desire. However, I do think that Biden’s experience and breadth of foreign policy knowledge could add some gravitas to the unseasoned Senator from Illinois.
Here’s hoping the boys – and Hillary – can stop measuring themselves long enough to do what is best for us all.
But your girl is bouncing back and what is in the news? What is always in the news – war is the topic of the day.
The Democrats have rolled out their ambitious 100 hour plan/manifesto and they are tackling some mighty big issues head on. Chief among them is a national minimum wage hike and capping the cost of prescription drug costs. I am also hearing the faint rumblings of a “national health care” plan. I anticipate being called a socialist commie in about 10, 9, 8…damn. There went Fox News. Yep. It’s official. I’m a socialist commie. Wait until they find out my views on subsidized part-time daycare and extended job protections for maternity/paternity leaves of absence. They’ll think I’m a Nazi.
Again, the real issue is the one that the majority of Americans voted on in this past election – the Iraq war. Or more to the point, how in the hell are we going to get OUT of Iraq without looking like bumbling, incompetent idiots. As usual I hate to be Debby Downer – no, I really do! – but we are a bit too late on both of those objectives. We no longer even have an articulated goal or definition of “success” in Iraq, we are seemingly way more vested in the democracy of the Iraq people than they are themselves, and the rest of the world has already seen the little man behind the curtain. This ain’t purdy folks.
I feel like we are in some clichéd sitcom where the comedy of errors has gone on so long that no one even bothers to ask if the joke is funny anymore.
Well, this joke is no longer funny. The President’s “surge” idea is just another word for “escalation” or “throw more water on that oil fire” or “we have deemed the lives of American soldiers expendable”. Sending MORE troops to achieve an objective that isn’t even an objective with an enemy that cannot be defined or defended against goes beyond foolish at the speed of light and head-first into criminal.
Some pundits speculate that this is all political posturing – America’s last stand before we pull-out. Even that is a fool’s agenda. This is beyond pageantry at this point. If you feel the same way I strongly urge you to contact your senator. Sure, the wartime power we gave Bush after 9/11 makes them about as impotent as Bob Dole after he misses a dose of the little blue pill, but if you are like me, you will at least sleep better at night.
With all of this warring and lawmakering it would be easy to forget that for all practical political purposes the 2008 presidential election is underway. Easy to forget if you do not read People or watch TV that is.
It is official folks: Obama is sexier than John McCain and Edwards doesn’t not hate black people.
In other news, Joe Biden should be announcing any day and the Good Reverend Al Sharpton is considering tossing his Blue Magic into the ring.
When Al Sharpton runs for President he’s not running for President. It means someone has not told him what he wants to hear and he wants a seat at the debate.
Could it be some Dems are already slacking on courting that black vote? It seems Brother Al thinks so.
And I have heard plenty of rumblings about an Edwards-Obama ticket. That rumbling always leaves me vaguely confused. Why in the hot hell would Obama play second to Edwards? The other way around, maybe.
But the ticket dream that keeps me up nights is an Obama-Biden ticket. Yep. I said it. And the order is no mistake. Obama has the “it” factor and should capitalize it to no end, if that is his heart’s desire. However, I do think that Biden’s experience and breadth of foreign policy knowledge could add some gravitas to the unseasoned Senator from Illinois.
Here’s hoping the boys – and Hillary – can stop measuring themselves long enough to do what is best for us all.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Black, but Not Like Me?
Black, but Not Like Me?
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US political darling Barack Obama has received enthusiastic support for a possible 2008 presidential bid -- except from fellow African-Americans, a group many believed would be among his staunchest backers.
Oh, really now?
I am always amazed at the five or ten black people that get to speak for ALL blackfolks. Stanley may well be a nice enough fellow but I don't know him or his people so his opinion? As representative of mine as Condi's hair helmet is of my own luscious 'do.
To be fair, I have seen this cautious optimism and borderline disdain for Obama first hand, but this story in no way captures why so many of us feel the way we do. There are several factions at work in our communities.
There are the old-schoolers who think "black politics" have to be combative and monolithic to be effective. Most of those folks owe their own jobs and livelihoods to that kind of sheepherding loud talking so that is to be expected. They are a dying breed and they don't have my vote to sell for a cushy job anymore so I find them irrelevant.
Then you have those self-hating blackfolks, very much like the Uncle Rukus character from the Boondocks comic strip, who don't understand why us darkies always got to cause so much trouble seein' how nice massa been to us'n. They are sad and funny kind like a fatal car crash is funny and should be prevented from voting by lethal injection if necessary, but they are no threat.
I've seen the faction of us who want Obama to "prove" something to them. They are distrustful of anyone that adored, that respected by the majority culture. These tend to be the same people who do not ask for the same level of proof from white elected officials. This is the "ghetto pass" mentality -- they want Obama to engage in some political dis track reminiscent of Nas and Jay Z so they can find him "genuinely black." Think: folks who actually know what the Chicken Noodle Soup dance is...and do it. Not my kind of folk, not because they don't love Obama but because they have a different threshold established for him than for his white counterparts.
Finally, I think there is a large group of black people who have lived long enough or studied enough history to know that getting your hopes up as a person of color in this country is a recipe for major disappointment. So they refrain from discussing this matter in mixed company, lest the whitefolks catch on to how we really feel and use it as a weapon to destroy the brother.
These are the same folks who know enough conspiracy theories have proven to be true, and so they worry Obama's safety and will believe it -- the possiblity of a black man in the White House -- when they see it. They are not disdainful of Obama but of a white dominant culture who makes sport of elevating people in general, black folks in particular, to exalted positions only to knock them down like a lifeless pinata.
In the end, the media and pollsters have yet to discover that we are not a monolithic group of people. Stanley Crouch no more speaks for me than Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly. Shared skin color do not a shared political ideology make.
But, as always, when presented with the choice of the devil we know and the devil we don't know, I'm betting we'll choose the devil that looks more like family.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US political darling Barack Obama has received enthusiastic support for a possible 2008 presidential bid -- except from fellow African-Americans, a group many believed would be among his staunchest backers.
Oh, really now?
I am always amazed at the five or ten black people that get to speak for ALL blackfolks. Stanley may well be a nice enough fellow but I don't know him or his people so his opinion? As representative of mine as Condi's hair helmet is of my own luscious 'do.
To be fair, I have seen this cautious optimism and borderline disdain for Obama first hand, but this story in no way captures why so many of us feel the way we do. There are several factions at work in our communities.
There are the old-schoolers who think "black politics" have to be combative and monolithic to be effective. Most of those folks owe their own jobs and livelihoods to that kind of sheepherding loud talking so that is to be expected. They are a dying breed and they don't have my vote to sell for a cushy job anymore so I find them irrelevant.
Then you have those self-hating blackfolks, very much like the Uncle Rukus character from the Boondocks comic strip, who don't understand why us darkies always got to cause so much trouble seein' how nice massa been to us'n. They are sad and funny kind like a fatal car crash is funny and should be prevented from voting by lethal injection if necessary, but they are no threat.
I've seen the faction of us who want Obama to "prove" something to them. They are distrustful of anyone that adored, that respected by the majority culture. These tend to be the same people who do not ask for the same level of proof from white elected officials. This is the "ghetto pass" mentality -- they want Obama to engage in some political dis track reminiscent of Nas and Jay Z so they can find him "genuinely black." Think: folks who actually know what the Chicken Noodle Soup dance is...and do it. Not my kind of folk, not because they don't love Obama but because they have a different threshold established for him than for his white counterparts.
Finally, I think there is a large group of black people who have lived long enough or studied enough history to know that getting your hopes up as a person of color in this country is a recipe for major disappointment. So they refrain from discussing this matter in mixed company, lest the whitefolks catch on to how we really feel and use it as a weapon to destroy the brother.
These are the same folks who know enough conspiracy theories have proven to be true, and so they worry Obama's safety and will believe it -- the possiblity of a black man in the White House -- when they see it. They are not disdainful of Obama but of a white dominant culture who makes sport of elevating people in general, black folks in particular, to exalted positions only to knock them down like a lifeless pinata.
In the end, the media and pollsters have yet to discover that we are not a monolithic group of people. Stanley Crouch no more speaks for me than Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly. Shared skin color do not a shared political ideology make.
But, as always, when presented with the choice of the devil we know and the devil we don't know, I'm betting we'll choose the devil that looks more like family.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
The Obama Factor
There are no less than five thousand current sources extolling the virtues of Senator Barack Obama. They are, by and large, written by better writers than myself who have done way more research than I am ever willing to do. So I will not wade into that fray.
However, I WILL talk about some of Obama's heretofore unmentioned qualifications for President of the United States.
The man is no dummy. In this day and age I know that does not mean alot but have we not tired of politicians that do not even READ the bills they vote on? Pointy head intellects aren't the devil people. The people who point and laugh at the pointy head intellectuals...well, they sell defense contracts to the devil.
Go smart. I promise you won't regret it.
Obama is fine, yes. But more importantly in our image-concious society he is not "too" fine. He's not that kind of black fine that sets off alarms of white male sexual inadequecies and fear. He is just fine enough to want to identify with but not so fine that the call to lock up the blondes is sounded.
He has a black wife. And not some Jack and Jill milquetoast black wife, but a sister's sister. In other words, you are never going to confuse this woman for a latina. As much as this is significent for black women voters it is equally important to white voters. If he loves black woman, he can't possibly be defiling innocent white ones on the weekends a la Harold Ford. This makes him immune to that type of race baiting campaigning.
For all of the articles and press I have not heard one person acknowledge one of Obama's most basic strengths in the mental endurance contest that is a run for the White House. Black Americans, by virtue of being both black and American, are innately skilled at withstanding the kind of bullying, backstabbing and power trips that is the political system.
The brother working at McDonald's learns how to sidestep conversations on sexy white women with his boss. The sister working in the office downtown knows, instinctively, just how much she can trust her white co-workers with her ambitions and personal business. Almost all of us have learned that there is only so much of our true selves that we can bring to the white folks' party and we do it without even thinking.
That kind of ingrained cloak and dagger survival skill set can be found in the most unsophisticated of black folk. Imagine how highly tuned and refined it must be in a brother who was elected President of the Harvard Law Review?
They can keep thinking the optimistic tone, upbeat approach and easy smile is soft if they want to.
We know the deal and that helps to explain some of that cautious excitement you feel in the air.
However, I WILL talk about some of Obama's heretofore unmentioned qualifications for President of the United States.
The man is no dummy. In this day and age I know that does not mean alot but have we not tired of politicians that do not even READ the bills they vote on? Pointy head intellects aren't the devil people. The people who point and laugh at the pointy head intellectuals...well, they sell defense contracts to the devil.
Go smart. I promise you won't regret it.
Obama is fine, yes. But more importantly in our image-concious society he is not "too" fine. He's not that kind of black fine that sets off alarms of white male sexual inadequecies and fear. He is just fine enough to want to identify with but not so fine that the call to lock up the blondes is sounded.
He has a black wife. And not some Jack and Jill milquetoast black wife, but a sister's sister. In other words, you are never going to confuse this woman for a latina. As much as this is significent for black women voters it is equally important to white voters. If he loves black woman, he can't possibly be defiling innocent white ones on the weekends a la Harold Ford. This makes him immune to that type of race baiting campaigning.
For all of the articles and press I have not heard one person acknowledge one of Obama's most basic strengths in the mental endurance contest that is a run for the White House. Black Americans, by virtue of being both black and American, are innately skilled at withstanding the kind of bullying, backstabbing and power trips that is the political system.
The brother working at McDonald's learns how to sidestep conversations on sexy white women with his boss. The sister working in the office downtown knows, instinctively, just how much she can trust her white co-workers with her ambitions and personal business. Almost all of us have learned that there is only so much of our true selves that we can bring to the white folks' party and we do it without even thinking.
That kind of ingrained cloak and dagger survival skill set can be found in the most unsophisticated of black folk. Imagine how highly tuned and refined it must be in a brother who was elected President of the Harvard Law Review?
They can keep thinking the optimistic tone, upbeat approach and easy smile is soft if they want to.
We know the deal and that helps to explain some of that cautious excitement you feel in the air.
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