Who Rules?

The voting results tonight are astounding. After all the press told the voters Barack is the presumptive nominee, he gets mauled. We see continued erosion of Barack's core and accelerating loss of the working class precisely when by the game rules he is the front runner.

Delegates are the game. The people pick the President.

Who rules?

Barack Obama is winning the nomination and losing the election.

75000 Honeysuckles

Many thanks to the Obama supporters who sent me those *informative* and *morale boosting* emails last weekend. It was a beautiful weekend in Alabama with the honeysuckles blooming. The rodeo was fantastic and the smell of fear from Chicago was overwhelming. God bless you. You do make me feel better about living here.

Obama telling everyone not to talk trash about his wife is admirable and probably prudent. He could have mentioned it when his wife told the supporters that if Clinton can't handle her house, how can she handle the country?

Well, what goes around comes around, Bo. You know that. It was time to suckle some honey up your way. I'm married. I get that. :-)

But despite the press, the delegate math and the out-of-towners bussed into Oregon to make that crowd, some trends are not going the way of the Democratic Party these days.

The revealing trend is the Democratic Party is splitting in a way it hasn't before. Yes, Clinton and Obama have created an unusual interest in the election, the process and the parties. Party bosses say this makes the process healthier and that might be so, but it may not be working as they think.

Many who have for years supported their party of choice like it was a weekend sports contest or because their family supported the party or it once had a candidate they supported have done so sleep walking. Now they are awake. Now they are looking.

Now many don't like what they see. The same people who are resisting one candidate or another are also resisting their party leadership for reasons they feel justify that resistance.

Some party leaders are losing more than they know. Pelosi, Dean etc., have sided with the same candidate that Hamas is siding with. That may not work out very well for them.

You can get 75,000 people in one place in Oregon by lighting a joint on the same day the wind is blowing. "Too Much, The Magic Bus!" So Obama flipped a Byrd. He should have gotten David Crosby. That at least would be entertaining.

1. Obama's State count doesn't reflect the electoral count. He is losing to Clinton and would lose to McCain when you examine the electoral math.

2. Hillary Clinton is ahead in the popular vote. That lead will get bigger tomorrow.

3. Obama's core constituency has been weakening since Ohio and the rate of erosion increased since West Virginia. The defection of the Reagan Democrats and a not inconsiderable number of women voters weakens him further.

4. Obama is picking up delegates with promises of cash and positions. No one who commits has to vote the same way twice except the popular vote. The delegates know that on a second vote at the convention, they are free to vote anyway they like. That means they can take money and play again. Alice Palmer will enjoy this wherever she is.

5. Obama continues to show weak character and bad judgment in the press. Michelle is fair game while she campaigns for him. Obama supporters told Chelsea to toughen up. I suggest you forward that to BO. A man making hollow threats is not about to bargain credibly with Hamas.

It gets better on CNN. John King admits and the Democratic insiders admit that Hillary is stronger in the electoral math. She will win. Obama? They aren't sure. He has to turn an eroding constituency around but the constituency he needs appears growing only angrier at the Democratic Party and Barack Obama.

Meanwhile the delegate count is slipping away from Clinton as if the Dems have signed a mutual electoral suicide pact.

And McCain? Enjoying it. As he should. "Imagine the excitement of leaving the convention and still not knowing who the nominee is?"

However this nomination fight goes, the Democratic Party needs to throw Pelosi and Dean to the wolves. The party claims to be uniting but it isn't going to happen this time. Overmanaging and blind ambition have cost us the one election we could not lose.

Suckle up to honey, Sweetie. The drums are beating and the natives are restless.

Lysistrata 2008

It seems the women are waking up to the power of the media, big money and men in this campaign. They also realize that Hillary Clinton has been screwed over by all three. The creeping realization of Nancy Pelosi's role in this is also dawning as they see articles like this from Atlantic Monthly.

Here are some exchanges from an ABC blog.

To John Cowan: as I said, too disorganized for their own good. Otherwise, you would be right.

I support the HC supporters who realize that sexism not racism was the real issue here. I am thrilled that the women have *finally* decided to fight for Hillary. Great.

But do understand that this has NEVER been about Obama vs Clinton. Obama did not have the organization or clout to create the "Amazing Money Machine" as Atlantic Monthly calls it. That was done by Nancy Pelosi using her contacts in Silly Valley. This race is about her blind ambition to be the first female president and not to become Hillary Clinton's water boy.

So step back and consider this: you've been hustled by one of your own and you didn't notice because the sexism and racism issues blind you to the reality of one woman working hard to derail another. Until you get that and manage it, you're majority status is useless.

From IndigoGrrl comes:

I agree with you that Pelosi has had her hands in this... but do not discount the part of Dean, Kennedy & Daschle in this charade!

Yes, IndigoGrrl, but before you walk into the sexist trap all fired up, go cold and go slow. Read the Atlantic Monthly article and understand the power behind the throne here. It was Pelosi that built the money machine. Everyone else is a front dummy. Men just aren't usually that smart.

Otherwise, this revolt is coming too little and too late and won't mean a thing to this election or Hillary Clinton.

Remember, they want you to fire up and act like 'teed off girls'. The anger you feel is real, but if it becomes Lysistrata 2008, defectors will disable you before you can do anything useful.

Remember: Go slow. Go cold.

Then the paid Obama male blogger chimes in:

the sexist argument hurts women...

if this was a sexist situation then why was hillary the presumptive nominee in October with what 53 to Obama's 20 in the consistent polls...

there would have had to be a massive sexist movement in the 3 months.

calling her loss on sexism...hurts every woman who faces real sexism.

dl

and the fast riposte

Wrong dl. Sexism is the oldest of the isms. It's been in play as long as there have been sexes, for any practical measure, forever. It just turns ugly sometimes.

But if you missed the MSNBC comments, the "w**re, c**t, b**ch, kitchen, laundry, kewpie doll, let's gang up on her" affairs, you are a real latecomer to this process and I know that isn't true, so you are hoodwinking.

My quandary is why it took other women so long to notice and get angry about it. The finest woman candidate of a generation got belitted and stomped without much reaction because everyone was so caught up in the fear of being called 'racist'. The women let The View shut them up when they should have been declaring Lysistrata 2008.

But it is Pelosi who did the damage to them. That may take some time to be clearly understood.

The problem of letting an ism take hold is it blinds us to the other isms.

indigoGrrl sez:

I've bookmarked your blog -- good stuff...others here should do the same.

@indigoGrrl:

Thanks. Good idea because the ABC moderators will delete these messages almost as fast as we post them. That at least tells us where that network stands with regards to women's rights although Desperate Housewives should have been a ringing bell.

Don't give up. Go Slow. Go Cold.


HRC: 16,691,639
BHO: 16,648,060


Hillary has the popular vote. The DNC with able maneuvering by Nancy Pelosi and the MSM takes the victory away. The Republicans win in the General Election because of defections from the Democrats angered over a corrupt process and rampant sexism.

Lysistrata 2008. Make them eat their campaign signs.

It should be an entertaining summer. Go get 'em ladies!

$70 and Chelsea

$70 to a widow on a WWII US Navy pension is a month's worth of gas if she scrimps and only makes necessary trips.

But it's something.

So screw you, Obama.

Thanks for remembering when a little means to a lot to the many, Senator Clinton. Thanks for remembering my Mom.

On a more fun topic..

I met Chelsea in Puerto Rico. For my generation, she is forever young, the big eyed big smile we watched grow up on her parent's arm. It was grand to see that Miss Clinton is an amazing woman, too. An Obama supporter asked on the ABC list why she wears those jeans. Umm... because she can. The coat? The coat I thought almost tacky in the heat until I saw how close the crowd was allowed for pictures. I took a few Secret Service elbows until my company contact arranged it. Chelsea is a very brave woman to go through that wherever she goes. True courage. But like a diamond, hard pressed for so long she has quite mastered the smile that betrays nothing. Que lastima.

Nancy and Newt!

My beautiful wife, Dana, has the Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich commercial cold:

Wow! Even the scary people are scared of this!

Modern Vocabulary

From time to time, we see new words added to the vocabulary reflecting changes in the zeitgeist. Here are some:

Friken: French fried chicken.
Use: "Did you see that friken chicken?"

Frappuchino: Mexican Fried Frapps.
Use: "Let's stop and pick up a frappuchino on the way to the mall."

Obamite: remains of the planet Obama.
Use: "The Obamites will weaken her, but she's a real fighter."

ObamaBot: rogue killer robots from planet Obama.
Use: "The ObamaBots are out in force today."

BillaryBot: Nemesis of ObamaBots.
Use: "The BillaryBots are striking back, but they seem outnumbered."

Clintonista: operating system of the US President.
Use: "Can they stop the Clintonistas before August?"

McCain: A new drink from McDonalds.
Use: "If you drink McCain you won't be able."

Pundits: chewing gum for bad commedians
Use: "These lousy pundits just don't seem to help."

Jay-Z: The last Jay.
Use: Isn't one hit of Jay-Z enough?

Arianna: A hirsute British royal.
Use: Never use. MI6 is Listening

Soros: What comes with suffering.
Use: All my soros'll soon be over.

For Hillary: Show Some Love

Jobs:

1. Credible plan to restart manufacturing.

2. Credible promise for high quality products.

3. No Product. No Market. No Sale. No Pay.

The War:

Bad investment. First strike is not the American way. Disengage and deal. Even if Carter is not where he is supposed to be or even if he is, his message is LISTEN. Embrace his actions while not endorsing them.

Pick your fights: Defend those who will vote for you.

The damage from the published character assassination is done.

Speak in clear hopeful terms about how we will create markets, not just in high tech, but also in commodity products. How can we do that in an economy where the American Dream is not something everyone can get, but has the equal opportunity to try? Cost vs Function.

What America wants is to feel good about itself again. The good bits in life are not faster cars, bigger houses, a huge individual carbon footprint; the good bits are the shared bits.

My Take: Breathe America. You are a very powerful nation. Be Proud, but quit condescending to the rest of the world. Pick your fights. Booty raids are a bad reason to wage modern war.

If we want the rest of the world to respect us, we must respect ourselves. If we want the rest of the world to love us, we must respect them. Love is not force or the absence of force. It is the respect in the application of force.

Leave Iraq. If they kill each other, that is their business. Cold but the only way we can completely disengage.

Say NO to Thugs.

Show some love, Hillary, show some love.

On the web, the cost of communication is borne by the listener.

Say NO To Thugs

Hillary won the debate. By a large measure.

When a woman wins in this election, the Obama supporters turn vicious. Read the MoveOn instructions to attack ABC. See the tenor of the Obama supporters and the language.

Do you not see the bullies? How dumb are we?

She was great because she showed the strength and leadership and knowledge of the issues that are very important to the next president

Precisely right, President Clinton. Precisely right.

But tell her, No We Won't. If not Hillary, then McCain.

Say NO to Thugs.

You Lost. Get Over It.

The long bitter butter battle over OOXML should have ended with the ratification from ISO. Instead, those who cannot accept that decision decided to go to the streets. I respect Steve Pepper, but this time, he is wrong. I respect Tim Bray, but he is very wrong. Bob Sutor is an IBM VP of Standards. He is working for a corporation on a suicide mission. He has my sympathy, but between the anti-Microsoft tactics and now the push to move all IBM employees to Macs, thus killing off IBM's most profitable business units, IBM is moving beyond wrong into dumb.

Don't engage the anti-OOXML forces with explanations. Their tactic now is to accuse ISO of corruption, thus making it even more difficult to create international standards by negotiated consensus. They are moving on to a scorched Earth strategy that will ultimately destroy any real chance at maintaining open standards organizations if they succeed.

These are not reasonable people. They were full of fury before the vote, and frustration will drive them to be even more furious. You won't win them over with logical arguments or appeals for professional behavior.

The answer is simple:

"You lost. Get over it."

How Can A Man Stand Such Poor Times and Live

Obama describes his view of poverty. Long winded lawyers... sheesh.

Poverty: No Product. No Market. No Sale. No Pay.

That's capitalism in eight words or less. Simplistic but true.

Let Brother Cooder say it all.

Meat To The Spit

The John Legend interview Jake Tapper at ABC blogged illustrates that the news coverage of the election has run out of stories. Obama is doing what Nixon did with George Wallace: every issue that resonates, he adopts and the media goes along with that.

Legend can't see beyond the color of his skin. Obama can't see past the demons that have chased him since birth. Hillary sees that poverty is a far more potent source of misery than race. She has more insight than either of them.

Vote your skin color or vote for change. It's that simple. As Mahalia Jackson said, "Get up today and help someone. If you can't today, try again tomorrow."

That is the way to get it done.

It's time to quit pitting the rich against the poor, young against old, white against black, Christian against Muslim. This is how we are manipulated. That is why we are fools fighting in a burning house.

If you are tired being the meat, vote your conscience and your self-interest. When you can figure out how to do both at once, you'll do the right thing.

Otherwise, we are fools for the fooling, meat to the spit, and yet another failed generation.

If Not Today, We'll Try Again Tomorrow

Ever been to your local jail? I played a gig at the jail. 90% of my audience was black. Now there is no way that racism creates that kind of disproportionate number. There aren't enough racist cops on the street to do it and in this case, a large percentage of the cops ARE black.

Only poverty and a thug culture can create that number. This is a Chinese finger puzzle. The only way out is for one side to push TOWARD the other. Only the blacks can look at their culture and decide how best to change it. Many have. Ask Cosby.

At the other side, we can ALL work on the poverty trap.

How do we do that in a broken economy? I don’t know, but we’ll have to do it together or it won’t get done. Nothing will change.

Actions speak louder. Choices illuminate character. The wisdom of choice is not in how it makes us feel but in how it enables us to change for the better.

Reverend Martin Luther King was a fighter for the spirit as was Gandhi. If we are to stay on the road to social justice, we need a fighter for the spirit.

Does our judgment hold us back?

It is not just about freedom from Jim Crow, but from judgments that imprison our hearts and separate us from each other. We forge our own chains that way. When will we spiritually understand the deep meaning of "Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

Racism doesn't end the day we quit hating each other for what we are; it ends the day we start loving each other for what we are. We can break those chains.

We have to get the mote out of our own eye first. Then get on the bus.

Today we celebrate the legacy of Reverend Martin Luther King. We'll all get through this. If we can't do it today, we'll try again tomorrow.

The Dream Speech

We come to the anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, and of course, it is folded into the current political contests. That is understandable. Regardless of what we pretend, race and gender are twin elephants in this room. The story of gender is so old we can barely tell it. The story of race is very fresh in my mind. I was born in 1954 and grew up in Alabama. That story circumscribes my life tightly.

It's a story with many sides. Media, movies, popular books, etc., tend to tell only one. That would be the real value of The Conversation: to get all the stories out where all sides can hear them and maybe understand the demons each has living inside them to this day.

We didn't get over racism. We decided to do everything in our power to keep it from being passed on to our children.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

We found out too late, they pass it on to each other. But this much is true: our children in Alabama play together today and no one gets in their way. Whatever we could not fix in the inequalities of wealth, we've done a lot for opportunity and equality before the law. While there are exceptions, we do live together peacefully.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

Things have changed. Responsibilities have shifted. This is where Obama and I agree.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I can't get past Obama attending Trinity with his family for twenty years and denying he knew what his pastor was on about. I can't understand a man exposing his children to so much racist rhetoric unless this is the way he wants them to perceive the world they live in today. There are so many contradictions in his character, one wonders if the demons he is wrestling with will get the better of him.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Amen, Reverend King. Amen.

Smoking In The Boys Room

Jake Tapper at ABC reports that he smelled cigarette smoke on Obama. Yesterday it was video of Obama being rude to a fan seeking a photo.

Hmm... Obama lies about Rezko, his resume, the Kennedy's, his contributions from big oil, and on and on and on. In fact it's hard to find out where he told the truth about anything. But sneaking off to suck on a cancer stick? Wow! What a big phony!

"SMILING FACES SMILING FACE SOMETIMES THEY DON'T TELL THE TRUTH!"

... then someone with a real nicotine aversion finds you out.

Money Needed for Beer, Pot and A Hooker

We can bitchslap this country into a depression.
We can forget everything that makes us proud of who we are.
We can lose the election and continue the war.
We can ignore the homeless. We can walk past the hungry.
We can saddle our grandchildren's grandchildren with debt.
We can keep on polluting the air for them.
We can keep on teaching them to hate.
We can keep on showing them how to lie.
We can pave a road straight to hell for them and light it like the second coming.

... or maybe

we could remember that there is world of hurt out there

... and do something about it.

Do the right thing by America
If you call yourselves leaders
Show it. Embrace the change.
Be the change. Join hands.

Everyone needs a friend.
Everyone follows a leader.

Hillary/Obama 08

Listen To Mario

Here's how it plays out. Obama squeaks out a narrow victory in the General Election. Once in office, lacking a credible legislative agenda, the ultra-left wing extremists in the DNC are able to force bills onto the floor with more spending, reparations, etc. With the US economy tanking, a recession becomes a searing depression. Inflation soars.

In two years, the Republicans sweep both houses of congress with calls to repeal Obama's socialist agenda. In four years, the executive branch falls to the Republicans.

So much for the election we couldn't lose.

Obama didn't throw his grandmother under the bus. He exaggerated a situation he thought would buy him time. It worked. None of the people in his circle who made the statements causing the uproar are allowed anywhere near a microphone. That is working too.

The problem is, it won't work all the way to November much less for four years.

He had a normal upper middle class childhood and found himself feeling guilty about that. Why? Ask him. He has led a very successful life but is still telling us about his pain filled background of self-loathing and doubt? Why? Ask him.

In fact, this man is not a race candidate. In the mixed neighborhood I grew up in, the blacks would have referred to him as an 'oreo' and me as 'buttermilk'. Those names stick hard and hurt but we raise ourselves above them and move on because we learn that the only names that matter are the ones we call ourselves. The beliefs that matter are the ones we choose.

Justice is not found in nature. It is found in the choices of the heart.

Obama didn't move on. He married, embraced his wife's faith and church. He chose a base of political support that chooses to preach Black Liberation Theology. Obama can't speak to those beliefs so he puts them down as 60s rhetoric but they still are the tightly held beliefs of his base in Chicago.

Obama is a man with demons. He needs to work those out and the conversation will help. But he can't be doing that and running the country at a time of economic crisis and threats to our security. Give him some time and one day he might be ready for this.

But that time is not now. He is unelectable.

Bosnia: well that was dumb, big girl. On the other hand, screw the lie. I saw the movie, folks. She was there. Where was Obama? She was in the Senate for the vote? Where was Obama? She was in the White House for eight years? Where was Obama?

Tell you what, I'll trade you a verse of "My Baby Does the Hanky Panky" for a verse of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". Then we can all drink ripple and smoke gold together while we dance on the grave of the Democratic Party.

A caucus is not an election. It is a screamfest. Rumors are it is getting mean at these. The caucai are getting caca. Should we mau mau our way to the nomination?

How did the guy at CNet put it?

Write like a strategist and think like a stoner.

Now the TUCC scrubs their site. For a campaign that is rumored to be very good with technology, not knowing about Google cache wasn't too bright either. Nor is ignoring that your competition and not just a few nutcases have it archived in their personal cache.

We've let our parties be hijacked by the extremes. Bummer.

Scrubbing the web site is just the opener. It gets even more Orwellian from this point forward. It is one thing to misstate memory. It is quite another to start erasing it. That's fear. With a double digit lead and the press piling on, moves like this means the Chicago machine is terrified of what has yet to surface.

You want to win this. Listen to Mario. Mario knows things. Like getting 28% back in the fold is the difference between winning and losing no matter who is nominated.

Or ID_NilCorrecto: Mario is Italian. Italians know things. Capiche?

The following video has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this blog, but seriously, doncha need a laugh right about now?

Come Together

Blackmail. Hate. Muscling. Orders to Get Out.

Not really the election I was looking forward to.

Don't let either side divide us. Don't come together for Hillary. Don't come together for Obama.

Come together for each other.

Or have you already? Someone said that Senator Obama being elected would be the fulfillment of Reverend King's dream. When the black and white children began to play together in Alabama, and no one stopped them, that was the fulfillment of the dream. That dream was for black and white, together, unbound.

I suggest both candidates get over themselves and sit down and work out the deal for a victory in November for all Americans.

Let It Be

I read that the reason white people don't get Reverend Wright is because white people have not had to sort out the issues of race.

Oh yes, some white people had to sort that one out. Come to Alabama. For those of us born in the fifties, we've been sorting that out all of our lives.

We live together in peace and prosperity. We have attitudes but we have common causes: our children and our God. People who love their children and honor and respect their neighbor do not hate. We worship.

This isn't about misunderstanding; it is about not caring. We care about our children and our God, and that is common purpose enough for living together. Gandhi was right. Reverend King was right.

Two suggestions:

1. Ask Reverend Wright to appear on a Sunday morning with a panel of theologians from all religions and ethnicities. Let them ask him questions about Black Liberation Theology.

2. Create a YouTube channel called "The Conversation" for the people to contribute their thoughts and memories of the race issues in America and the world. Mainstream media by fact of concentration of power must not manage the limits of a converation that must be honest.

Leave the campaigns out. No ads. No sneaky posts. Make it a conversation among people, one at a time, two at a time, whatever.

Ask the hateful, ask the faithful, ask the powerful to let it be.

Brain Dead Liberals and Other Extremists

David Mamet wrote an excellent article on why he quit being a 'brain-dead liberal' in the Village Voice. He explains

I took the liberal view for many decades, but I believe I have changed my mind. As a child of the '60s, I accepted as an article of faith that government is corrupt, that business is exploitative, and that people are generally good at heart. These cherished precepts had, over the years, become ingrained as increasingly impracticable prejudices.

Dean, Pelosi and MoveOn do not represent the Democratic Party any more than Reverend Wright, Michelle Obama and Black Liberation Theology represent the black faithful in America. They are both examples of extremism. We need competency in the white house, not another eight years of extremism. The infatuation with the minority view of extremists is how we got ourselves into this mess. More extremism is simply fighting in a burning house.

Extremism and extremists are the death knell of the Democratic Party. If ever we have needed moderation in our actions and words it is now, but the media will not enable it because anything said in low tones with deliberate thoughts does not play well.

I am voting for Hillary because she has the best grasp of the policies and the problems. Obama and Michelle are students of the school of Black Liberation Theology. I am liberal but I am not brain-dead. When told to take Wright's comments in 'context', I find even more scary rhetoric. When told to read Obama and Michelle's writings, I find more separatism and inability to articulate a united vision.

Take it all the way to August and beyond. Senator Clinton, it is time to quit parsing and worrying about who you will offend by speaking truth to bigotry. The bigots won't vote for you anyway. Instead of worrying about who you will offend, speak loudly for those you must defend. They will vote for you.

Hijack The Conversation

The Conversation is too important to the people to leave it to the politicians except where the politicians are people. :-)

Open a YouTube channel for The Conversation. Ally ally in come free.

I lived the 1960s in Alabama. Some lived more of it in Boston, Watts, Detroit, all the cities that burned.

Some lived it in Poughkipsie. Everyone has a story. Video is cheap.

Tell the story of the people. Have The Conversation on YouTube.

We must recite our tales to find our common fears.
We must understand our tales to find our common God.

Tell it all, brother!

Hillary Says Vote for Obama If He Wins the Nomination

It's a matter of loyalty. If she says vote for Obama, I will....

.... as soon as he can explain Black Liberation Theology to the rest of the faithful.

We are told we cannot hold another man's religion against him. True for some. Not others.

How otherwise can one reply if another holds it against you?

This is a real hurt, Senator Obama. This is a real wound. Is it your intent to spend the duration of your term closing that wound?

Or fixing the economy, the environment, the war, the housing crisis, the cleanup (FINALLY!!) of New Orleans, you know, FIX STUFF.

In my generation, we believed we had taken down the ropes. Two very powerful forces were at work: the media and our shared belief in God. Black Liberation Theology hammers our souls on the anvil of our shared beliefs.

Is it a goal of your administration to take our souls off the anvil, or to hammer harder? When the anvil breaks the hammer, what is between them remains undone.

Having A Conversation

Shelby Steele made points worth making. It is the black perception of themselves as victims (we keep being told that politics are about perceptions) that is the strongest link in the chain that binds them to the past. Senator Obama cannot change being black, but he cannot make the campaign about "The Conversation" without distracting the electorate from issues of more immediate importance to the electorate as a whole: the war, the economy, and the environment.

A conversation has to be two way. Consensus is compromise. If Senator Obama's supporters want to discuss race, they can't just complain. They have to offer solutions.

Reparations? No. That won't change anything. It leads to the same victim mentality that keeps the issue of racism on the table. So precisely what will be considered 'the end of racism in America'? I don't think the textbook definitions from sociology help here, Joy Behar not withstanding. The fact of Senator Obama's successes suggest we are past "oppression of a minority by a majority", a phrase she used to make the claims that blacks cannot be racist.

Puhleeeze... ask Hispanics about that one.

Guilt-proscribing definitions won't further The Conversation. We have to change The Conversation from the past to the future and that means we need to talk about our shared goals.

Perhaps a change of term is needed. Try this: white America does not fear black America. It is intimidated by black culture. Our government does not practice racism if the laws on the books are enforced. But nothing can change the preferences for culture except appeal and excellence.

So now white America might ask itself: what about black culture is intimidating?

I will not vote for Obama. He lacks the depth of character I require for a President at this time. On the other hand, no one is prying my Temptations collection out of my lily white hands. I'm not giving them up. Black music has black soul and black soul is a very powerful force for good and comfort.

Is it really about hate or fear? We've shown we can get past fear. When the ropes came down, when the signs came down, when the neighborhoods integrated, when the mixed marriages became non-notable, we put down fear. I'm not saying there are no racists and that we have eliminated fear. Racism is a disease. It can't be eradicated but it can be made statistically irrelevant and manageable. Polarities are not resolved; they are managed.

Fear has to be conquered by individuals. There is no universal solution.

Hate? Each generation has to decide for itself one person at a time just as they have to understand their fears. The difference is hate inspires violence. Wherever we can use the tools of culture to reduce hate, we must. This must be the goal we share. Culture can be a means. Ask Whoopie Goldberg. Ask Sinbad. Ask Reverend Wright. Ask Obama.

Hate? My advice? Lay it down. Then pick up the prize of love and celebration of distinctions. It isn't enough to quit fearing or hating. In my opinion, racism ends the day we walk into our daily lives and instead of accepting someone for being black or white, we revel in it, we enjoy it, we love it. It isn't about loving them despite who they are, but because of it.

Here's the fun bit: this many years later, we all still know who Tonya Harding is. Few remember Kerrigan and almost no one can pronounce the winner's name.

When politics become entertainment, the news media becomes a ring master. Beware of tigers and clowns.

Democrats United By Our Stupidity

If we let this nomination be about race, we are stupid.

If we let this nomination be about Bill Clinton, we are stupid.

If we let this election be a web blog conversation instead of a campaign to win, we are stupid.

If we lose THIS election to the republicans, we are blithering professional A-lister STUPID!

They could run together and the Democrats could have the White House for sixteen years. Any Democrat who can't work out what kind of real change that would be shouldn't be in the Democratic Party.

It isn't hard to be stupid but it takes practice to be good at it. I know it sounds stupid, heck it is stupid, but wow, should we make stupid moves that give us the White House for 16 years or stupid moves that give it back to the Republicans after the last eight?

How stupid can we be before it qualifies as brain-dead?

Well, you have to pick your stupid moves too. And wow, can we be stupid in the Democratic Party!

He can't win the general election.

She can. Together they can run the table and show in one election the power of the right choices by people who REALLY DO hold the good of the country above their own.

Now THAT would be REAL change.

The Swift Boat

It just keeps getting uglier. Some one posted the following today on one of the news sites. The quote is from a professor who teaches Black Liberation Theology, Dr. James Cone whom Reverend Wright cites. You can google him for Cone.

Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. . . . Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.

Maybe there is a context for this. I'm not sure it matters. Lanny Davis, a hard nose attorney, posted this as the two questions Barack Obama will have to answer before or during a General Election.

1. If a white minister preached sermons to his congregation and had used the "N" word and used rhetoric and words similar to members of the KKK, would you support a Democratic presidential candidate who decided to continue to be a member of that congregation?

2. Would you support that candidate if, after knowing of or hearing those sermons, he or she still appointed that minister to serve on his or her "Religious Advisory Committee" of his or her presidential campaign?

Therein is the crux of what Obama has to explain in conversation. For my colleagues who use the Internet to promote Obama, like it or not, this is what you are involving yourselves and the technology in. One wants to believe Obama is not involved in this theology, but he will have to answer those questions. Some one really should have vetted all of this before the Democratic National Committee allowed this to go this far. Howard Dean is toast no matter how the election fares.

One astute reporter said it best noting that Obama did not grow up as poor or oppressed: he won't be defeated for what he is, but he may be defeated by what he pretends to be.

We tell ourselves we won't be fooled again. Then we are.

The Kareoke Candidate

Obama is the Kareoke Candidate. He presents well but every note is borrowed and his sound is the sound of overamplified overprocessed machinery.

Kareoke and disco became popular for the same reason: people with no talent and no discipline could pretend to be dancers and singers. As an old band mate of mine put it, 'it is the audience as the stars instead of the professionals'.

Populism succeeds in elections. It simply cannot govern. If we elect this man, we'll go from a ruthless DJ who only spins what he likes to amateur singers who can stay on message but not on beat. Meanwhile, the sucking sound in the background is our economy being flushed to syncopated blues notes.

Using Bill Richardson and other surrogates, the Obama campaign will keep picking 09-09-Race and giving it to the media kareoke masters of ceremonies for today's news spin cycle. The Wright affair and the Rezko trial are causing Obama's base to erode. That base is passionate about the race issue. His campaign will keep finding ways to hit that button. The best thing the rest of us can do is yawn. It isn't that the conversation isn't important, it is that this isn't a conversation. It is a one-sided attempt to guilt us into voting for Obama. Ignore it.

Barack Obama isn't the Manchurian Candidate; he is the Kareoke Candidate picking his songs from a playbook. He does that well. He is a good singer. That doesn't mean he is a good musician or a bandleader.

Gesthemane: YouTube

My gig tonight was a Maundy Thursday service.
Sing the songs of the death of the Savior.
Pray for forgiveness.
Be quiet as you leave.

Here is something I share with you as a You Tube video. Be well!

Conversations

@John Cowan:

13.4 and women don't get along with each other well enough to be 51.4. Hence, the Democratic Party.

Friend Obama, does a great service, Dr. John. He introduces a conversation. Conversations are the soul of the Web. If our technology is a greater good, this is where it is more easily sensed.

Whatever the greater scary of economics and war, what America wants is to feel good about itself again. What change we make we make because we need that.

The conversation of race is a conversation the people choose. It is a conversation that may indeed be a healing force in our country.

Whatever we speculate, it is a conversation that the young want or a very important demographic drops away from Friend Obama.

Conversation is their birthright.

It Was A Good Speech

>>Will his speech help or hurt his chances of becoming President?

It won’t change the fact that he waited too late and made too many contradictory statements. Obama lacks discernment and the ability to make the right decisions even on topics to which he has given considerable thought. When it got to the crunch, he chose to protect his candidacy instead of the values he espoused. He is not ready for the toughest job in the world. He may be someday, but his time is not yet come.

>>And is our nation in a racial stalemate?

No. If it were, Obama's candidacy could not have come as far as it has. He is the proof of change if not the agent of change. Have we come far enough? The fact as stated by him that statements such as those made by Wright are typical of the black church experience in America proves we have not. We have a lot of anger and hate yet to lay down.

However, the sad fact is if he does lose this nomination, it will be the statements of his pastor and his own refusal to confront him many years ago that beat him. Trying to spin that any other way is exactly the kind of response that keeps us from making that progress so many desire so earnestly.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Senator Obama gives his speech tomorrow. I hope it is a good one.

Race divides America.
Gender divides America.
Wealth divides America.
War divides America.

America is a land divided.
Are we a family divided, too?

Lord, let us find a way from the hate that divides us.
Show us the bridge across these troubled waters
In this saddest of weeks for the followers of Jesus
Show us mercy and a way into the Promised Land
Undivided by hate
United by your purpose
Living together in hope of His Return
Lead us
Love us
Keep us
Forever in your hands.

Amen

Lay It Down

That moment between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the Senate floor yesterday counts for something. I do hope earnestly that supporters on both sides pay attention.

The Obamites make much of what Obama says, and repeat over and over that words matter. If words really matter, then will Obama take responsibility for belonging to a church for so many years and espousing the words and works of a man who is clearly a black racist, his minister? Where I live, if a minister says things like that, we fire him or go to another church. Obama full well knows what his base believes. It isn't just what a man says that he is judged by, but also who he listens to attentively.

Is this really the campaign you want to run? Can the black community in America get past those remarks? Can the rest of us ignore them? If we keep ratcheting this up, only bad will come of it.

For the kids in the campaign, step back and ask yourselves if you want to be the ones to set back race relations in this country fifty years. For the adults of my generation, try to remember when we promised each other that despite what our parents said or did, the horrible disease of racism stopped in our generation.

Do it for your children. An election isn't worth this.

"Lay down lay down
Lay it on down
Let your white bird smile up
At the ones who stand and frown."
- Melanie Safka -

The Devil and Obama Webster

Jack Cafferty asks at CNN.Com if Obama should go negative.

Not if he wants to win. He needs to get his supporters to quit being shrill.

Explain this, Jack: if he claims that his rival believes his followers are delusional, what does it mean when he claims her support is all blue-collar and undereducated, or in short form, stupid?

Obama is running out of speeches fast. If he continues to repeat himself, he begins to sound like a caged parrot. If he squawks too loudly and shrilly, he is a cooked goose. That is the fatal flaw of populism: it is based on the popularity of an idea,