A growing number of Republicans are expressing concern about Sarah Palin's uneven — and sometimes downright awkward — performances in her limited media appearances.
Conservative columnists Kathleen Parker, a former Palin supporter, says the vice presidential nominee should step aside. Kathryn Jean Lopez, writing on the conservative National Review, says "that's not a crazy suggestion" and that "something's gotta change."
Tony Fabrizio, a GOP strategist, says Palin's recent CBS appearance isn't disqualifying but is certainly alarming. "You can't continue to have interviews like that and not take on water."
"I have not been blown away by the interviews from her, but at the same time I haven't come away from them thinking she doesn't know s—t," said Chris Lacivita, a GOP strategist. "But she ain't Dick Cheney, nor Joe Biden and definitely not Hillary Clinton."
There is no doubt that Palin retains a tremendous amount of support among rank-and-file Republicans. She draws huge crowds, continues to raise a lot of money for the McCain campaign and state parties report she has sparked an uptick in the number of volunteers.
Asked about Palin's performance in the CBS interview, a McCain official briefing reporters on condition of anonymity said: "She did fine. She's a tremendous asset and a fantastic candidate."
But there is also no doubt many Republican insiders are worried she could blow next week's debate, based on her unexpectedly weak and unsteady media appearances, and hurt the Republican ticket if she does.
What follows is a viewer's guide to some of Palin's toughest moments on camera so far.
Speaking this week with CBS's Katie Couric, Palin seemed caught off-guard by a very predictable question about the status of McCain adviser Rick Davis's relationship with mortgage lender Freddie Mac. Davis was accused by several news outlets of retaining ties — and profiting off — the companies despite his denials.
Where a more experienced politician might have been able to brush off Couric's follow-up question, Palin seemed genuinely stumped, repeating the same answer twice and resorting to boilerplate language about the "undue influence of lobbyists."
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These missteps could be attributed to inadequate preparation and don't necessarily reflect more deeply on Palin's ability to perform as vice president. But when reporters have tried to probe Palin's thinking on subjects such as foreign policy, she's been similarly opaque.
In an interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson, Palin gave a muddled answer to a question about her opinion of the Bush Doctrine.
..
And given the chance to describe her foreign policy credentials more fully, Palin recited familiar talking points, telling Gibson that her experience with energy policy was sufficient preparation for dealing with national security issues.
In the same interview, Palin let Gibson lead her into saying it might be necessary to wage war on Russia — a suggestion that most candidates would have avoided making explicitly and that signaled her discomfort in discussing global affairs.
..
Then, asked this week by Couric to discuss her knowledge of foreign relations — in particular, her assertion that Alaska's proximity to Russia gave her international experience — Palin tripped herself up explaining her interactions with Alaska's neighbor to the west.
On the economy, too, Palin has avoided taking clear stances. In a largely friendly interview with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity, Palin spoke in tangled generalities in response to a question about a possible Wall Street bailout — and even preempted her campaign by coming out against it.
On Thursday, Palin finally took questions from her traveling press — but shut things down quickly after Politico's Kenneth P. Vogel asked her whether she would support Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who has been indicted for corruption, and Rep. Don Young, who is under federal investigation, for reelection.
..
Unlike her other interviews, at least this time Palin had the option to walk away.
For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a "light" burden.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull.
Obama Isn’t Qualified?
Current mood: full
Category: News and Politics
Okay, answer this question for me: Why does it matter if a presidential candiate is Muslim or rumored to be Muslim? Is there a law somewhere stating that 'For the position of Presidential candidates, non-Christians need not apply'?
Footnote: Besides, to be a Christian is to follow the teachings of Christ. many of our political figures who use Christianity as their foot in the door for political seats are not practicing Christians. Let's take Bush, for example. He claims to be sucha Christian, but as Gov. of Texas he regarded killing prison inmates as important as swatting flies and his thirst for lying and murdering others for the sake of greed and pursuit of money goes against everythng that Chritstianity is founded on. So when will we select a President who is QUALIFIED to do the job, rather than one who wears the right label? That's like choosing a president based on the line of suits he wears. What's on the outside doesn't count asmuch as what's on the inside. Afterall, the decision affects ALL of our LIVES!
Currently
listening
:
Make It Last Forever
By
Keith Sweat
Release date: 1990-10-25
Negroes Better Recognize!
Current mood: adventurous
Know your history--ALL of it--and recognize how powerful it was/is for a woman like this to tell the industry 'you will not make a carmen miranda out of me and lighten me up--I am Negrita and you will love me for that. All hail the queen, Ms. Black Sugar herself:
Guantanamera:
Currently
listening
:
Azucar Negra
By
Celia Cruz
Release date: 1998-01-13
I got a text message this morning that says: Call Fox News at 212-301-3000 to make a complaint about the story Meghan Kelly did in which she referred to Michelle Obama as Barack's "baby mama"! PASS IT ON!
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY MOM & POP-POP!
Current mood: full
Category: Life
Well, father's day is approaching, and as always I send a little thanks out to my mom and grandfather, and all those other great kinfolk that were excellent "fathers" to me in my growing up. So here's looking at y'all, folk ;-) I love you guys!
P.S--what's kinda sad is now you can find Fathers day cards for single mothers in the stores! I'm sure it gets rough but dang, if one person can carry the load of two, surely some of these men out here can at least be halfway decent driveby daddies. Like the song says "be a father to your child". ~fin~
Currently
listening
:
Water Babies
By
Miles Davis
Release date: 2007-12-15
I was online just now, helping a fellow myspacer get info on my fair city of Atlanta, and, while talking about the beauty of certain areas (and mostly their history and culture) such as Little 5 Points, Cabbage Town and Buttermilk Bottom, I felt compelled to share info on Atlanta's Buttermilk Bottom (which is unfortunately gone, due to gentrification--like most of historically black Atlanta--basically, it was like Atlanta swooped in and 'repossesed' the community and black residents were basically "removed" from the area to make room for new white residents), for those who ride thru and chill there daily and just don't know (photos below):
Buttermilk Bottom is Gone but not Forgotten By Dolores Bundy Special to the NNPA from the Atlanta Voice Thursday, December 7, 2006
ATLANTA (NNPA) – Straight from the heart and soul of a poor and proud community, Buttermilk Bottom still hails as the core of Atlanta's flood plain. The new age look of Buttermilk Bottom has evolved to reclaim and recapture the milk and honey of a spiritual time and place. What was once poor and proud is now proud and productive.
Retrospectively, it wasn't grand or fancy, but to thousands of hard-working Black Atlantans, Buttermilk Bottom was home. According to local history, Buttermilk Bottom was home to a little bit of everyone – the good and the bad, the respectable businesses and those of ill repute. It was a close-knit community of down home folks – a place where you came for fun, to see the action or just to sit and be still. Now, there's something for everyone here, giving the area a decidedly diverse cultural feeling. Buttermilk Bottom currently hosts a multi-ethnic mix of quaint shops: Barraza Coffee Bar, owned by Ethiopian husband and wife team Yohannes Gessese and Tsapatos Belay; New Yorker Mick Glover owns Nancy's Pizza and claims to have the only authentic Chicago deep dish pizza in Atlanta.
There are other spots – some well-known city staples – including the Too Groovy Spa & Salon, Spaghetti Factory, Mary Mac's and Krispy Kreme donuts. Surrounding areas offer a wide selection of luxury and high-rise living like Herman Russell's first-ever, tax-free condominiums that recently replaced establishments like The Shark Bar and Gold's Gym.
Originally a stretch from Ralph McGill Boulevard to Peachtree Street, Buttermilk Bottom has been re-zoned so many times throughout the years that its parameters are unclear. But what is clear is that the "Move or Be Moved" slogan that aptly depicted what was then a systematic hoodwink of poor Black property owners had strong validity. The banner called "urban renewal" quickly became urban removal – a carnage in the killing fields of urban anthropology. Civil rights advocate Tyrone Brooks, who serves as a Georgia state representative and president of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, comments, "I have watched the transition of Buttermilk Bottom, which was supposed to be a redevelopment of neighborhoods to create a better living environment for poor citizens. What we saw instead was the Civic Center, Georgia Power and a variety of upscale housing built. I think we lost much more than we gained," he says.
"Many poor and middle-income people were forced out and could not afford to live in the new upscale housing. It contributed to what we now call the 'homelessness problem' in metro Atlanta," he adds. "All of what we called the 'projects' like your Techwood Homes, Eastlake Meadows, etc., are no longer. They are now upscale, high-income housing with less than 10 percent of its original residents able to return."
James Malone, an original resident of Buttermilk Bottom now in his 70s, remembers all well what it meant to live in "The Bottom" as it was affectionately called. "When we were kids, we had our own corner stores," Malone says. "We had our own schools, barbershops and churches. Our neighborhood was isolated and considered the bottom of Atlanta – the low lands, like a waste fill."
He continued, "We didn't have radios, telephones or electric lights. We didn't have locks on our doors either - not that we could afford them or had anything worth stealing. We were a poor community, but we didn't know we were poor. We were one big family that lived and played in our own neighborhood and we were happy."
During the 1960s, Buttermilk Bottom was wiped out by an onslaught of sky-scraping urbanization, which was to pave the way for a new, grander city of Atlanta. Buttermilk Bottom was gone by the 1970s.
In 1983, New York sculptor Tom Klem and writer Neill Bogan teamed-up to organize large public projects connecting issues of private memory and public history, notably with the New York artists' collective, REPOhistory. One REPOhistory project was a 1995 collaboration called "Entering Buttermilk Bottom," in which the New York group joined with Atlanta artists to jog the repressed memory of Buttermilk Bottom back to life.
"When Buttermilk Bottom was raised and leveled in the early 70s, there was a promise that housing would be supplied for its residents. This was untrue," recalls Klem. "You had people who were in their 70s and 80s who had to go elsewhere. There was very little mark of the 'Old South' after that."
Klem adds, "We were invited by the Atlanta Arts Festival to go back and remark Buttermilk Bottom on the site that it originally exited. After interviewing several residents from that time, I was fixated on the idea of putting a face to this place."
The REPOhistory project recreated this lost neighborhood through works by an assembly of Atlanta and New York artists, bringing up the issues of population growth and racial segregation. Signs were placed near the former boundaries of Buttermilk Bottom and 18 historic markers were situated in the surrounding area. A diagram of the lost streets and houses were painted on a parking lot at the Atlanta Civic Center. To the right of the Center, a map that recreates the neighborhood stands.
Kwanza Hall, the Atlanta City Council member for District 2 - which also covers Buttermilk Bottom - is on the board of Historic History Development Corporation (HHDC). He believes that just because the development is new doesn't make it necessarily better. "There is still much needed help. I think areas like Bedford Pines has a tremendous amount of challenges."
Hall adds, "Drugs are prevalent in this area. 2000 people are living in 780 units managed by Wingate Management, and everything else are condos. The question is, 'How do we make this good for everybody?' These areas need a mix of income, as well new residents who are considerate of the history that exists here and who are willing to participate in community building."
Hall adds, "We need to value education throughout the community with life-long learning, trade and skills necessary to provide opportunity and to give people an opportunity to better themselves. We need a redevelopment perspective that does not displace residents who are contributing while weeding out the bad elements."
Currently, the city is working on an update to the Old Fourth Ward Redevelopment plan, which encompasses Buttermilk Bottom's architectural issues, housing and educational perspectives.
"We are incorporating all the best ideas," Hall concludes. "The city will be issuing a request for proposal through the planning department to hear from different bidders who will help us go through a community visioning process and come up with our vision, whereby everyone from the area will participate."
Addressing the historical and cultural needs of the community will play a major role in the future and properly pay respect to what was once Buttermilk Bottom. A collective that includes the REPOhistory project and dedicated city leaders like Hall are attempting to resurface the pride of this historic Atlanta staple of yesteryear.
One thing remains certain: The clapboard houses have been torn down to make way for the Atlanta Civic Center. Bulldozers silenced the corner juke joints, the up-standing churches and front porch stoops where neighbors traded tales and swore that times would get better one day.
Now this area at Piedmont and Ralph McGill flaunts a simple plaque with just two words - "Buttermilk Bottom" - and marks where this teeming community once stood.
Decorum. Chile, it's gone and people, I'm learning, are no longer raised with simple decorum and common courtesy. It's even worse, sad to say, with my own people. So many of us are content with being rude, disrespectful, distasteful, unreliable and full of baloney (bologna). It's just so funny to me because common courtesy is just common sense and it's always the apropos folks who show just how lacking they are in this arena--common sense and/or common courtesy. But like Jesus said: "if your right hand offends you, cut it off"--Matthew 5:30.
During a convo with some friends the other day (and today), one of them thought I should post a blog on this topic and I agreed with my "ya knowwwww...why not?) So here are just a few of Mo's do-s and don'ts of e'rday decorum (my lucky 13):
1.) DO RSVP for an event you have been invited to. DON'T opt out of the event without letting the host/hostess know. That's just common sense right there. Now. I've opted out of a few events myself, but I was never afraid to call or email the host and say "I'm so sorry but it looks like I can't make it after all..." The people that are guilty of this one are usually those who will write you off for something stupid like not offering to buy them lunch because they heard you went to Wendy's.
2.) DO say "Thank you"!!! So many people feel like they are "owed" another person's gratitude. In the words of my grandmother, the QUEEN of that innate sense of decorum and etiquette, "Heifer, please!" (oh, please believe, grandma would get you told if the situation called for it).
3.) DON'T get mad at somebody for calling you on your s***. That just cracks me up every time. Somebody gets called on their s*** and gets mad at the person bringing the issue to light. What, you'd rather someone dance around it, sugar coat it and then dish the real behind your back?? These people (the I'm-mad-at-you-for-exposing-the-real-me people) are usually synonymous with those who complain about their other "friends" not being real or complaining that they want their significant other to "just be real and tell me straight up--respect me enough to come to me..." people who scream that sort of speak with such angst are usually the ones who hate you for doing what they claim they'd like you to do. These people are JOKES.
4.) DON'T invite other people to an event and you don't show or send up a smoke signal ya damn self. No explanation needed for that, that's just tacky as hell and I've only seen that happen once in my life, but damn. Kudos to the loner who has the cajones to stop through anyway. That's what you call a SOUL-JA! (on the real)
5.) DO have fun. If you can't be grown and make your own fun, or just have fun in most any situation, then just don't leave the house---EVER. lol stay home and knit me a sweater.
6.) DO smile (or at least look fantastically well). Mean muggin' is only sexy on rap videos...and at this stage in the game, it's just video cliché anyway.
7.) DON'T leave the house without your intelligence. It helps you find your decorum.
8.) DO admit when you are wrong and move forward. People don't realize that most folks just want you to admit you screwed up and keep it moving. Lord knows I've done it, and continue to do it, MANY a times. Hey, I'm not perfect and I do f*** up daily...that makes me human.
9.) DON'T attend an outing with the sole purpose of hating on guests or everyone else in the vicinity. That just makes you look like an a$$hole your damn self.
10.) DO avoid unnecessary confrontations. While it makes for good fun and great stories that begin with "yo, let me tell you what happened at the spot over the weekend..." Not every incident needs to end with "you have the right to remain silent".
11.) DO make yourself presentable. Honey Chile, at o'dark thirty in the evening, there should be no crust in your eye waiting to jump out and greet people. And ladies, if you rock a weave, keep it funky fresh...if it looks like my straw weaved purse I got from the Gullah folks, comb it out or snatch it out. Weave is supposed to look like hair, not a welcome mat.
12.) DON'T get mad because no one's paying you attention. You want something (attention included), get it, but have some class while you go about getting it.
13.) DO act your damn age. I don't care how cool you think you are--but at 30+ years of age, your lame behind should not be trying to supaman dat *** or dancing to Bow Wow. That just makes you look wacker than wack. To piggyback on this...if you are a grown a** person pushing 40, you should not be renting houses AND have a roommate(s), unless you live in one of the unbelievably high cost of living markets like LA, SFO, NY (in the city--not NY state) or DC. But in places live ATL, TX and the Carolinas, where your mortgage can be less than what you probably pay in rent right now--NO. It's time to get off the big wheel and get a 10 speed.....and if you are renting, take care of your spot, regardless.
I mean, I'm just sayin'....
PS: I'm thinking if I put my lucky 13 to music and silky sounds of Levert in the background like Chris Rock did with No Sex in the Champagne Room, maybe folks might be more receptive? So I'll end this blog sorta like he did that 'song':
Some of these things may not apply to you.Some of these things may offend you….
So it's another birthday, another year, and I'm older..again. And so true to form, I haven't heard from my father (who lives in the same state as I do, by the way) in months and he has not called me today (my birthday) or even yesterday (before my birthday). I'm wondering when will I finally stop being the young girl who holds people accountable for what they say they will do and become the woman who doesnt give a damn whether you do or you don't?
For some reason, despite the many jokes I make about the man, every year I honestly do get optimistic and think 'maybe this year he will remember my birthday..." "maybe this year he will care that I was born today" "maybe this year, he will love me enough to show me love"...but it never happens. Hopefully I will get a happy birthday phone call 11 days late like I did last year. With my father, one must always be satisfied with being an afterthought.
But it puts it all into perspective...my grandfather (who's 85, by the way, and sometimes forgets whether my first name is my middle name and vice versa--because he has always called me by my middle name or my nickname) never misses a beat and it seems is the only DECENT man that I know who truly loves me for me and is happy each day to know I am alive.
I cannot say the same for my father, a man who I dont even know where the hell he lives.
But, for all of you who wonder why I dont trust anyone's word and why I am so skeptical..I get it from knowing my father and trying to make him love me since the day I met him. And there you have it, that's life, and as my grandma used to say "trust no living soul and step lively around the dead." I can dig it.
Drowning in Capitalism
Current mood: angsty
Category: Life
5/27/2008 10:18 PM
I'm feeling a bit depressed and overwhelmed with the stress of life.Every now and then life sucks; and your mind starts racing about quick fixes to seemingly get to a brighter day. Most women can identify with the one random "maybe I should start stripping" thought that floats through our minds every so often. LOL
While some females take a leap in that direction (hey, do you), there are others, like me, who just brush the thought away and go back to feeling miserable about drowning in capitalism.Dang, treading water is hard when you have debt cramping your style.
It's really sad when, decades later, the theme song from Good Times so applies to the lives of most Americans, I mean come on now, we don't want CHANGE—we NEED CHANGE (literal and figurative change…shoot, one of y'all got change you can loan me till pay day?…my gas tank is almost on E….). On a final note, I just had a great thought--I'd make an excellent Madame if any codependent chicks wanted to earn some extra money--hey, I'll even let you keep 40% (THIS IS A JOKE, FEDERALI!) ;-)
Well, not too long ago, I was a bit troubled by seeing a very big crow numerous times in one day. I was always under the impression, I think by folklore, that crows signaled death or the crossing over of someone you know.
I have many great friends who calmed my superstitions and made me "REALize" that it is what you make it and not to be concerned with it. But having lost one of my newest cousins recently in addition to my best friend losing one of her relatives and a very good friend of my family passing on yesterday, I can't help but wonder.
All I can say is that we are all thankful that your souls are FREE and as the Mayans used to say, "Travel Well." It's always so calming to remember that they are transforming into their new life in a better realm.
I'm trying to remain supportive of him because I know he's the most qualified for the job (and, I aint afraid to say it--he's a brother) and I know he has a campaign to run and needs to play the game to win. I just don't like how he and all of us in this nation are playing into this media hype mind-game about Rev. Wright...they did the same thing years ago with Bill Cosby when he spoke the truth and of course, most people had problems with that then because he said it in the presence of white folks.
I just wish we lived in a nation where a person does not have to demean and denounce the morality and the intelligence of another to get ahead. I wish he could say, and leave it at "the thoughts or actions of another do not dictate my thoughts and feelings or my ability to get the job done." The Clintons avoid going in depth about all sorts of things, why cant we? It kind of put a little damper in my enthusiasm about the campaign (which is what the media wants---but I'm just upset that Obama had to play into it) but I'm trying to stay hopeful. I wish that one of the things in creating CHANGE would be CHANGING the game at how this country plays us and instigates us playing against each other. Sort of like back in the day when the media hyped up a supposed beef between MLK and Malcolm X--but when they later began meeting and discussing organizing things for the Poor Peoples' Campaign, their death sentence was basically signed--because that would go against the grain--2 of the most prominent and influential YOUNG black people in this nation coming together--can't have that. Willie Lynch in full effect.
Bad part about it is, all this bullshyt that's poppin' off now is just a setup to put that wacko McCain in office and IF that happens--watch every black person and every black talk show host then say "I can't believe we all allowed ourselves to get caught up in that media firestorm and lose focus of our common goal". Jeremiah Wright is good enough to stand up with, talk to, invite to dinners at the White House, minister to a candidate and his children for years--UNTIL the white media has a problem with it and then he's painted with implications of crazy. I can't even say I agree with all of the things Rev. Wright says, my sadness is in--not too long ago, you was ridin' hard with dude and now that the "powers that be" have an issue with it--you denounce the man. As a black person trying to reach an ultimate position of power or assuming a position of power--this is just the tip of the iceberg. When they go after his wife again for a comment she makes, will he denounce her? That's just where my sadness is.
I'm still voting for the man, all the way, but I am a little disappointed because I did put ALL my hope in believing that he will stand strong in his beliefs....I've just always been disappointed in people who waver so easily on what and who they believe in. I still believe the man can do the job and is the best for the job. Unfortunately, now, I am not as CERTAIN as I was that he will not allow the media and others to influence his stance on things---mind you, I'm no fool--I realize that with that position and in the game of politics, you have to play the game sometimes--I totally realize that--but like I said, I just think there's a way to play it and put a spin on the media without publicly implying that dude is a crazy old man or something--they tried to do the same thing to Joseph Lowry with the comments he made about or government at Coretta's funeral--folks were appalled because he said it in front of Bush---can you believe that? the media tried to put a spin on him because he said his piece in the presence of the person causing turmoil on this earth..for saying something to somebody's face--LOL
A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was not in their bed. She puts on her robe and goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee in front of him. He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee...
What's the matter, dear?" she whispers as she steps into the room, "Why are you down here at this time of night?" The husband looks up from his coffee, "I am just remembering when we first met 20 years ago and started dating. You were only sixteen. Do you remember back then?" he asks solemnly. The wife is touched to tears thinking that her husband is so caring, So sensitive. "Yes, I do" she replies. The husband pauses. The words were not coming easily. "Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?"
"Yes, I remember," said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him. The husband continues. "Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, "Either you marry my daughter, or I will send you to jail for 20 years?" "I remember that, too" she replies softly. He wipes another tear from his cheek and says... "I would have gotten out today
infuriated
full
adventurous
angsty