The Georgia Republican State Convention is popping this weekend so it’s time to play “count the negroes.” I will get calls from Black GOP friends and associates regarding the size vehicle you could put all of the African-Americans at this event in at one time comfortably. Escalade seems appropriate because we love ourselves some Cadillacs.
Georgia contains the best Black area in the world, Atlanta, and therefore, the state has many many business-oriented, self-made Blacks who are conservative to moderate on paper. Secondly, outside of Atlanta, Blacks are use to functioning with GOP elected leaders. The opportunity has been there for GOP candidates to enjoy 10, 20, or maybe 30% of the Black vote but they don’t want it because the regular GOP crew would see sizable Black numbers as an indicator of liberalism.
The 2014 U.S. Senate primary on the GOP side could be decided by a few votes. This week, former Secretary of State Karen Handel jumped into the race. This former Atlanta area elected official could have been governor if she cultivated a little of the Black support she experienced in the ATL but she was defeated in a primary runoff by 2500 votes. Of course, the maneuver I am suggesting would have required Black voting in the GOP primary but wise folks know that the Dem team is weak in Georgia so the GOP primary is often where leaders are picked. I do it all the time.
Rep. Jack Kingston is in the senate race also. …Jack…cool Jack….my man Jack. Careful, Jack. Please. One on one, Kingston is one friendly guy but the GOP information (or disinformation) machine requires the delivery of rough talking point (yes, the Dems do the same thing.) Jack is well liked in the Black community from Augusta to Warner Robins to Valdosta because he supports our military bases and farms. So, Kingston should play that Rep. Austin Scott/Rep. Sanford Bishop nice guy role by voting the party line but limited the non-policy attacks on the president from the other party. The Obama administration is currently giving them plenty of real targets so fire away nicely.
Handel or Kingston could get 20% of their primary votes from crossover Blacks who aren’t GOP if they play their cards right. The percentage is more than enough to tip the scales to victory and if Michelle Nunn doesn’t jump into the race, the whole state should vote in the GOP primary.
In the land of MLK, “I have a dream” that one day the GOP—the party of Lincoln- will have a state convention with brothers and sistas with goatees and naturals. I mean the bros should have goatees. You know, guys who grew up on Black self-reliance discussions at the dinner table. People who are uncomfortable with the government being all up in their business. People who don’t need the state to tell them to care for and feed their children.
Surprisingly, Clarence Thomas is one the most afro-centric cats on the nation stage and as Chuck D said about someone else “don’t tell me that you understand until you hear the man.” A new Black conservatism could be based on Thomas’s book about his grandfather. Black southerners are primed to be separated from real liberals and from the thug element of the hip hop culture. However, we can’t find a home inside the Right because the far Right likes ugly talk too much. What’s a brother to do?
Moderates need to use the coming Georgia U.S. Senate race as an opportunity to flex our “king making, scale tipping” muscles. Sen. Saxby Chambliss is an old school pro-business Republican rather than a new school pro-crazy drama starter. The far Right wants him gone and they want him to take any member of congress who talks with the other side with him. No.
The extreme radical element of the GOP shouldn’t run Georgia or America. They are small in numbers yet vocal and crafty. Well, the reasonable center is huge and somewhat homeless regarding political parties. Since Georgia is a red state because the Democratic Party is poorly organized, Saxby’s replacement will likely be decided in a July primary rather than a November general election. Rep. Sanford Bishop, Rep. John Barrow or Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed could beat a Tea Party candidate but that is too risky.
Moderate Democrats must consider the possibility of swaying the Republican primary to a Saxby-like conservative. This move keeps a zealot out Georgia’s Senate office. Personally, I would pick Rep. Austin Scott or Rep. Jack Kingston because I want one of the two Senators to come from south Georgia and have a history of serving agriculture and military areas.
Since rural Georgia Democrats are as conservative as California Republicans, we can dig the whole no labels approach to governing—voting for a less bitter conservative would be easy. We need solutions; we need peaceful dialog. We need someone who will join with the Blue Dogs, Jon Huntsman, Barrack Obama, Condi Rice, Jeb Bush and Colin Powell to get about the business of fixing what is broken with our government and our mindsets.
Furthermore, candidacies for this Senate seat will likely open up U.S. House seats and I want to see some variety in the Georgia congressional delegation. A minority or woman in the Georgia congressional delegation from the GOP side would be peachy keen because someone should be at the table to say “enough with the silliness…let’s do the people’s work and govern.”
The buzz around Georgia politics is that Eric Erickson of CNN and Red State might challenge Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Saxby (he told us to call him that) was nice to me once a long time ago during a congressional ag staffers visit to Taylor County, Georgia, and I will never forget that. He leaves when he is ready to go and if the far Right wants to push him for rebuffing his 20 year old tax pledge, their primary numbers can be replace by crossover moderates.
Perhaps, Erickson of Bibb County could get the House of Representatives seat when Austin Scott exits for the U.S. Senate. The polarization of the electorate that we have experienced in the last few years could be seen coming from a mile away. I have always thought of Austin as a trendsetter who might be a great national leader and we are at a pivotal time when such leaders should emerge.
Actually, the conservative movement would look better in my community if the recent election results moved them to listen to Republicans like Jeb Bush and Jon Huntsman.
The Democrats should start developing future Senate candidates closer to the middle modeled after Rep. Sanford Bishop and the Republicans should do the same with Austin in mind.
Isakson and Chambliss are more statesmen at this point than politicians and that is a good thing. I was thinking about the past, present and future Georgia congressional delegation while watching the legislative maneuvering in the movie Lincoln. Austin Scott has that House seat on lock but he should function like a person who wants to win statewide in the future based on relationships and connections cultivated now. What would old Abe do?
Who really represents you in congress could be a technicality? On my street, a community activist has several “Sanford Bishop for Congress” signs in his yard. I started to tell him that after the last redistricting, we can’t vote for Bishop and he doesn’t represent us anymore.
But, the thought occurred to me: “your congressman” isn’t necessarily the one who has your geographic district. For example, ultra-conservatives that live in Rep. Bishop’s 2nd congressional district of Georgia ignore his service because they want a far-right winger in office. For southwest and middle Georgia, Rep. Bishop and conservative Rep. Austin Scott actually listen to more of the opposition than most members of congress. While moderates appreciate Bishop’s listening to everyone, I think the far-right section of the conservative movement only wants GOP representatives and senators to hear from them—because they are the only people who are right.
Since junior high school, I have known that once elected an official was obligated to serve everyone but that is some theoretical middle school stuff. In actuality, neither Bishop nor Scott will have a real competitive race before the next redistricting after the next census. So, conservatives will fuss at Bishop then call one of the two GOP U.S. Senators’ offices. As a moderate in conservative Austin Scott’s district, I can still dialog with him because the guy is about explaining his views in a healthy manner (rather than being as ugly as the far-Right.)
Rep. Bishop still represents my community and that is fine because more people who sleep in my town work in Bishop’s district than work in our technical congressional district. We work, shop, worship, study, eat and chill across that invisible congressional line. Bishop and Scott have parts of Macon, Georgia and Columbus, Georgia, and you can believe that people constantly smudge- out that line in their minds.
You might not be able to vote for the congressman or woman from the neighboring district but you can still make that campaign donation. Also, our votes are becoming less impactful anyway. As a moderate Democrat, my voting in the GOP primary was more important to selecting the next president than my coming vote for President Obama in this non-swing state. Yes, I voted in the GOP primary because I wanted to ensure that even if my guy didn’t win, the winner would be the best from the other side. In other words, Romney wasn’t crazy like some in the GOP primary field—just aloof.
For the record, I would be undecided at this point if the GOP presidential candidate was Jon Huntsman, Condi Rice or Mitch Daniels. I don’t vote for Bishop and Obama because they look like me. I vote for them because they try to incorporate everyone’s opinions in the decision-making process.
To my conservative friends, I say look to Austin Scott when you discover that you can’t be a national party without having a functional relationship with the political center.
I should call it like it “t.i.s. tis.” I live in the mega-congressional district Georgia 2nd/8th which is represented by Rep. Bishop and Rep. Scott.
Candidate Romney should have listened to the song “Pop Life” by Prince before making his 47% statement last spring. He could have spent two days in south Georgia listening to Rep. Austin Scott and two more days learning from me on the front porch—but more about that later.
“What’s the matter with your life…is proverty bringing you down.” Prince is actually a rather conservative music star and his patriotism and logic comes out in his lyrics. In “Pop Life,” Prince sang, “everybody can’t be on top…life, it ain’t real funky unless it’s got that pop.” There it is; that is what I have been waiting to hear from some leader for three decades. America doesn’t guarantee a great life to everyone but (as Newt Gingrich said when he was Speaker of the House) everyone should have the opportunity to learn in a quality school, train as an adult and build wealth overtime through hard work and smart living. Yes, we should have temporary help but don’t plan on life-long government assistance.
Everyone can’t be middle class and those who find themselves in a lower-income bracket likely arrived there because of personal decisions, playing in school and simply being out hustled by the real go-getters. I am not a real go-getter and most classmates from 16 years of formal education drove harder for the good life– congrats to them on their success. I know who to blame for my thin wallet—the guy in the mirror. Attending a high school football game today is difficult for me because I am concern with the fact that some of the kids in the crowd are prepping for the state penn rather than Penn State. Their music doesn’t have the substance of Prince or early rappers.
My wallet would be crazy fat if conservatives asked me how to create a segment in their movement that would attract the sensible center but they are too busy loving on the angry far-Right. During then congressional candidate Austin Scott’s effort to unseat Blue Dog Dem Jim Marshall, I saw Scott and RNC chair Michael Steele get off a bus together. I knew that the Dems would be in trouble if the Scott, Steele, Jon Huntsman, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and similar minds crafted a message high on issues and solutions and low on name calling and fear tactics. That development never happened and President Obama has the lion share of us in the middle.
Yeah, my man Prince wrote the daylights out of Pop Life with lines like “..is the Mailman jerking you around…did he put your million dollar check in someone else’s box.” While Prince was talking about the sweepstakes, people in my community put too much hope in the lottery and wishing that their sons will make the NBA. Once and for all, if your son spent as much time and effort in school work as he does bouncing a ball, he could be so rich that he had money offshore like Romney. Plus, most former NBA players are destitute six years after leaving the league.
Austin Scott seems like Barack Obama during his first congressional bid. He played the smooth role and stayed fiscal in his concerns about Democrats–avoiding the birther nonsense. Do you think the GOP spent much time studying his blueprint for defeating a moderate Democrat? Nope.
Well, I am not one to want anyone to wallow in ignorance. When they get ready to learn how to approach reasonable people reasonably, my flat wallet and I will be right here.
Pop Life By Prince
What’s the matter with your life Is the poverty bringing u down? Is the mailman jerking u round? Did he put your million dollar check In someone elses box?
Tell me, what’s the matter with your world Was it a boy when u wanted a girl? (boy when u wanted a girl) Don’t u know straight hair aint got no curl (no curl) Life it aint real funky Unless it’s got that pop Dig it
Pop life Everybody needs a thrill Pop life We all got a space 2 fill Pop life Everybody can’t be on top But life it aint real funky Unless it’s got that pop Dig it
Tell me, what’s that underneath your hair? Is there anybody living there? (anybody living there) U can’t get over, if u say u just don’t care (don’t care) Show me a boy who stays in school And I’ll show u a boy aware! Dig it
Pop life Everybody needs a thrill Pop life We all got a space 2 fill Pop life Everybody can’t be on top But life it aint real funky Unless it’s got that pop Dig it
What u putting in your nose? Is that where all your money goes (is that where your money goes) The river of addiction flows U think it’s hot, but there wont be no water When the fire blows Dig it
Pop life Everybody needs a thrill Pop life We all got a space 2 fill Pop life Everybody wants to be on top But life it aint real funky Unless it’s got that pop Dig it
Pop life Everybody needs a thrill Pop life We all got a space 2 fill Pop life Everybody can’t be on top But life it aint real funky Unless it’s got that pop Dig it
Duct taping my 2008 Obama sign over an old Sanford Bishop for Congress sign was a green move to me and old political signs are like old Levis jeans and even older boxy Volvos. Rep. Bishop doesn’t technically serve my hometown anymore but interests don’t stop neatly at political lines. The southwest Georgia economic engines that Rep. Bishop, Rep. Austin Scott and the two U.S. Senators protect are often located in one congressional district while employees live in another district. For example, Bishop should know ABAC and Scott should know ag school Fort Valley State—good people on both campuses.
On the subject of GOP congressional candidates, the GOP amazed me again in the runoff elections yesterday. When Austin Scott played the cool role and beat a long-term Dem. congressman, his election should have served as the template for 2012 candidates—nice, smart and someone who doesn’t frighten moderates. Of course, these candidates (like a Trojan Horse) can do anything once in office. In the GOP congressional primary runoffs to face Rep. Bishop and Rep. John Barrow, the primary voters selected the most conservative candidates rather than someone who could attract a percentage of the political middle or moderates.
With the large turnout from Obama supporters coming in November, Bishop is on cruise control but there is still important work for him this year. Senior statesman Sanford should be unofficially in-large in rural Dem turnout from Savannah to Columbus and all points south until Florida. He should lead Dems in areas without major Democratic leadership in the form of a sitting congressman or serious congressional candidate. I have heard Rep. Bishop quote Luke 12:48 “…For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”
Team Obama needs to put Bishop to work in South Georgia and maybe North Florida since North FLA is really south Georgia and south Alabama. Remember, Congressman Bishop has been running campaigns and on the local news in North Florida for years since the coverage radius crosses state line. Oh yeah, Bishop’s hometown is in south Alabama so he knows the panhandle of FLA.
I think it is important of make Team Romney campaign in safe Red states. Romney, Ryan, Austin Scott, Johnny Isakson and other non-crazy Republicans should say something when the crazy section of their team open their crazy mouths and the crazies are requiring crazy talk. Come on and keep scaring Dems to the polls. Look, there are many legitimate issues on the table; so, why say wild things you’ll know aren’t true. Obama should be looking at Bishop’s style and Romney should be looking at Austin’s.
Hey, Bishop could help President Obama surprisingly win Georgia and the White House might upgrade him into the cabinet. Then, the GOP can find a cool brother or sista to run in the 2nd rather than a Tea Party type. But, that situation would be too much like right.
At church today, the guest pastor told a story about two guys in a day long woodcutting contest and how one guy kept taking breaks all day. At the end of the day, the guy who chopped continuously didn’t win because the other fellow wasn’t just taking breaks—he was sharpening his axe. I love it.
When I web-searched the tale, several versions came up and the follow quote from Abraham Lincoln: Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
The pastor’s point was that we need to rest our minds sometimes and we need to work smart as well as work hard. In my community, single mothers are often the hardest working people because they are making up for early life decisions. When I worked in a job training program with these women, they would often say that life would have been much better if they listened to their parents and the folks at school and church.
My politically moderate friends and I think that who the president is secondary to who you are. In other words, most of our problems boil down to CDC—choices, decisions and consequences. Sharpening the axe involves preparing with education in the classroom and preparing for life by respectfully listening to those who have travelled the road you are about to take.
Today, young people in my community would rather listen to those who glamorize the thug life in song. As the White House and Congress cuts federal spending, I think that a good balance would be telling the American people honestly that many of their wounds are self-inflicted. I need Rep. Sanford Bishop, Rep. Austin Scott, the Obamas and even rich Mitt Romney to speak more about their successes that resulted from listening to their parents, studying hard in school and slowly growing their careers. Yes, Romney was born into money but there are great life lessons in the missionary work of his church. Sharpen the axe.
Working smart for families on my block also includes helping their children understand that the conspicuous consumption of designer gear isn’t need for back to school. These kids should sit down in class, learn the information and do their homework. Period. But, we (the people who look like me) get caught up with keeping up the Joneses—that’s why Johnny can’t read. So, parents are working overtime to purchase $200 sneakers for kids who most play sports on video games that also cost upward of $200. Really?
Finally, we can’t say enough about sharpening the axe by hanging with positive, reasonable people. I will get in trouble for saying it but I am amazed by the girls from good homes who have kids too early with unprepared guys. Kids should graduate from high school then go to technical college, four year college, the military or start climbing the work ladder. But, these young people should wait until the 23 to 26 years old range to get married and start families because before that they don’t know who they are nor do they know what they need in a mate.
I want to hear Obama, Romney or some candidate go off on America about Lincoln’s principle of sharpening the axe.
Weasels are hard at work planning to win the November elections with voter apathy and non-voter confusion. As we say in my neighborhood, “you didn’t have that to do.” Nixon would have won anyway back in the day if he left well enough alone but dark forces on his side got some bright ideas and he didn’t stop them.
Romney is a good guy according to one of my best friends who worked with him in Salt Lake City but he should say more against the sinister strategies of diabolical nerds. We remember that John McCain took the microphone from that lady at his rally who said Obama was an Arab—she did even get the part of the world right as she was being wrong. The same John McCain recently stood up against conservative witch-hunters who are sullying the names of Huma Abedin (Hillary Clinton’s right hand) and other federal public servants because their family members might have known someone who knew someone decades ago. Romney is silent on this Muslim related matter but my friend who worked with him has always been quickly to point out positive aspects Romney’s faith.
If the witch-hunters logic is correct, I must confess that I broke bread at many a congressional receptions in the 90s with Senator Strom Thurmond and others who were segregationists in the 60s. Clearly, these fine southerner gentlemen were once associated with Klansmen and Citizen Council members.
Oh, I have finally discovered why I can get employment in the federal bureaucracy. It’s because I talked about neckties with the senior senator from South Carolina back in the day and said hello once or twice a week to Rep G.V. Sonny Montgomery of Mississippi in the cafeteria at breakfast. Montgomery, as in the Montgomery G.I. Bill, was avoiding the member’s dining room because it was fully of members and he was friendlier to lowly staffers that most of the Congressional Black Caucus was.
I am not writing about voter suppression because one must be registered to be a voter and these weasel-like efforts are based on people not registering because the process takes a little enough and time. Someone recently changed the driver’s license process in Georgia to require four or five forms of identification—weasels at work with voting in mind. To combat a weasel or other pest, we must think like them. These weasels are the same people who privately joke that if you want to hide something from “certain people” you put it in a book. I am sure they are thinking that a more involved registration process will turn away millions (I can see those naughty nerds smirking and rubbing their hands together.)
The weasels know that the same young people who will stand in line to get in the club will not spend half that time to register and vote. Look here, rich folks will be fine if Obama or Romney wins but regular people feel presidential and congressional decisions harder. When I voted Friday in the primary election, a young poll worker looked over my shoulder the whole time. I wanted to tell the brother that I was voting years before he was born but he was well-intended. My mind turned to the hip hop group Third Base and the line from their classic “Pop Goes the Weasel” that goes “I have got a strong mind.. it dosen’t have to be spoon-fed…I can read, it doesn’t have to be read.” These rap purists who dreamed about beating up M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice, who they saw as sellouts for commercializing rap.
Well, we shouldn’t beat-up the weasels who are playing games with the important right to vote because they can only do what weak people allow them to do. The margin of victory for McCain over Obama in 2008 in many states could have been erased easily by young people. So, the real weasels included those who acknowledge Obama’s effort yet won’t get their facebook friends to vote.
Finally, registering to vote isn’t about Romney and Obama; voting is a long-term powerful action. If the GOP will be running the South for the rest of our live, we should (at times) select a one of their candidates who is the better or best among their field. As we can see from the witch hunters, we could do worse than Georgia’s two GOP senators and my new congressman (Austin Scott.) I can’t help but believe that these three guys privately are telling the nutty elements on their team to cut it out and dial it down.
It’s madness to do the same things year after year and expect difference results. So, I decide to acknowledge the brilliance of the guy who started the Khan Academy to reform education. But first, I would like to invite anyone to join our ESPN NCAA basketball groups for the men and women tournaments. The group names are “Jawja Hoops” in both contests. Let the basketball and rethink ranting begin.
Rethink Education: Clearly, our education system needs retooling and Salman Khan has a fresh approach. In my community, I simply wish parents would start with using better grammar 24/7 to stop contradicting what is taught at school.
Rethink College Basketball: College basketball shouldn’t be a stepping stone for the NBA and we should have a farm system in smaller cities (similar to baseball) for those who want to be pros. Student athletes should be just that. In other words, the NBA D-League should be developed.
Rethink Politics and Religion: In America, we have the freedom to select our faith and politicians’ faith walks should be the foundation of their character. They shouldn’t attempt to force their particular church on the population as a whole. So, Mitt Romney should put the nutty factions in his party in their places about his church and any other faiths that they find “different.”
Rethink Political Leaders: The next crop of political leaders should be much better than the current ones. On the Right, conservatives should get back to being pro-business and smaller government rather than the promoters of the next Civil War. On the Left, liberals are actually limiting personal development with their socialist policies. We need leaders who will speak to the people (straight, no chaser) about the limited role of government and importance personal responsibility.
Rethink Campaign Finance: My new congressman is Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia and he was a true campaign finance rebel as a candidate for governor. He spoke wisely of limiting the amount of contributions and that got me thinking. Everyone knows that money runs campaigns and that those who gave money will later want something from officeholders. If I designed a congressional candidate from the ground up or from day one, I would tell my guy to take the average income in the area, add a few zeros and that would be the total amount raised for the campaign. (For example, 32K in average income = 320,000 funding limited.) If elected, that person would belong to the people and wouldn’t spend time kissing up to lobbyists.
Rethink Black Conservatives: Peace to my brothers and sisters on the political Right…I feel you…I really do. To me, your side is right (pun intended) more often than not; but the ugly ways and methods of the far Right make the GOP unacceptable for most Blacks. There is no place for less bitter, moderate Americans in that party. If Jon Huntsman won the GOP nomination, I would have strongly considered voting for him in November but you cats gave cool people the boot.
Rethink Black Liberals: At some point, it’s not about “the man” holding us down. It’s about us holding us down. We must return to the driven African-Americans who beat Jim Crow; the people who knew who they were and whose they were. The next generation of CBC members must honestly inform the community that improves start in your house…not the U.S. House.
Rethink Hip Hop: Most of current hip hop stinks out loud. The music glorifies the worst elements of our community and I can’t tell college students from thugs and strippers. I know artists are free to express themselves but come on now.
I am sick and tired of national folks taking political jabs at my south Georgia congressional delegation. The fellows need to jab back. My rural south agenda focuses on agriculture, education/jobs, military/veterans and transportation. If they take care of those areas, other stuff is secondary because all politics is local.
My Georgia is the area south of a line from Columbus to Macon to Savannah. “JABS” could be Jack, Austin, Bishop and Saxby as in Rep. Jack Kingston, Rep. Austin Scott, Rep. Sanford Bishop and Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Of course, Senator Johnny Isakson is the coolest of the cool and we appreciate his ATL-based service as well. Party politics requires these guys to publicly act combative with each other but we know that JABS circle the wagon when Georgia issues are on the table.
Sen. Chambliss catches heat from the far Right when he negotiates with Democratic senators but kuckleheads should know that negotiating is what leaders do. Jack Kingston can throw policy jabs with the best of them but coastal Democrats will admit that Jack will go anywhere to explain his rationale and many African American conservatives have worked in his D.C. and district offices; the same can’t be said about most GOP congressmen.
The Austin Scott and Sanford Bishop areas of south Georgia are interesting because the recent changes to the congressional map made Bishop’s district more Dem-friendly and Austin’s area more GOP friendly. Does this mean Bishop is going to become more liberal? No. Actually, Bishop, as an appropriator, has become more of a fiscal educator during his Georgia visits. Of course, he isn’t as fiscally conservative as Austin Scott but considering SDB’s district he does more than expected and hears it from real liberals.
The new map will move my hometown from Bishop’s district to Austin’s district but that is fine with me because interests don’t stop on political lines. Kingston has always protected Naval Air Station Jacksonville because many employees from that base live in southeast Georgia and a similar situation exist between the 8th district and the 2nd district. People live in rural towns but work, dine and shop in Albany, Columbus and Macon. So, the conditions in both areas are contingent or mutual.
I am keeping my eyes on JABS and would love to see them use the basketball fundamental technique called the jab step to get the national haters off them. In basketball, this moved is used to create space from the opposition before executing one’s next scoring move. Jack, Austin, Bishop and Saxby deliver or score for south Georgia but I need them to be more vocal about their achievements. And if an occasional misstep occurs, Georgians can weigh the good vs. the nots-so-good and decide. For example, we heard a lot of drama about candidate Nathan Deal but he has been a decent governor who is about to overhaul the expensive criminal justice system in this state. We spend too much money on criminals and change starts with education.
Look, people have agendas and you can detest folks for working their hustle. But, national groups can’t tell me that JABS are wrong; those guys are fellow Georgians and we will make that determination on our own. As a matter of fact, regular Georgians should use the web and public events like our unlikelyalliesproject.com meetups to discuss our elected officials.
If I could wave a magic wand on New Year’s Eve, the notations I would place in southern voters’ minds as we enter the election year would involve understanding. Kandi from the Real Housewives of Atlanta was in a hip hop group with T.I.’s lady Tiny back in the day and they had a hit called “Understanding.”
Xcape’s “Understanding” had a line that said, “You don’t really know me… you just want’a do what you want’a do… that’s not the way it is baby…you gotta listen to me.” That line applies to elections, politics and policy because the South has a history of leaders and parties who arrogantly want to make desicisions for everyone without input from or understanding of everyone else.
I am an American who is concerned that the so-called developing world could blow past our nation in this century because those hungry people are driven liked we once were. Simply put, we might get out hustled by Latin America, South America, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia because their young people aren’t playing when it comes to education and training while too many of our youth are soft whiners. We must understand that the entire nation must be striving collectively.
Anyway, the following points are the ideas I would put in voters’ heads:
1.President Obama can’t improve your life alone. He can only foster an environment conducive for your personal development. That’s what he said from the moment he stepped onto the national stage but folks don’t know how to listen.
2. Newt Gingrich as president could actually be good for my community. While we never know which version of Newt will show up, Speaker Gingrich from the Clinton era was a great ideas person who sincerely wanted to change the cultural mindset of Americans in a positive way. Look: the government doesn’t now nor has it ever cared about the average person. With Newt as president we would know that fact without a doubt and get about the business of personal responsibility.
3. Jon Huntsman is the most Obama-like Republican and moderate Democrats should vote for him to encourage the GOP nominee to make him their VP candidate. As quiet as it is kept, Obama respects Huntsman more than he does most of the Congressional Black Caucus. If the GOP takes the White House, moderates will wish level-headed Huntsman was at the table.
4. A small percentage of Democrats could sway the GOP presidential primary. “Ted, is right..we should vote for Huntsman just in case Obama doesn’t win or Newt to help Obama win.” Of course, no one understands my points until after the fact.
5. In South Georgia, running someone against Sanford Bishop will crank up Bishop’s campaign apparatus and organize Democrat GOTV efforts in Albany, Columbus and Macon. If President Obama wins reelection by a slim margin and by surprisingly winning Georgia, Bishop’s opponents can be thanked. By the same logic, Democrats can’t beat Austin Scott so we shouldn’t run anyone against him. That energy would be better spent developing a functional relationship with the young lawmaker.
Bottomline: Using the “Understanding” song in a blog post is recycling a past post. Another past post is my notes from “The Art of War.” That Chinese warfare manual is like a blueprint for politics and modern business. A central theme in the book is respect for and understanding of the other side. If the GOP understood Democrats, they would select Huntsman as their nom but the hardheaded never learn. If the Dems understood the Tea Party, they would vote for Huntsman in the GOP primaries in droves to keep them out of the White House. But, we are more concerned about the NFL playoffs.
Georgia’s proposed congressional map is out and I feel just fine. President Obama once said don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. I would have liked my hometown to remain in Rep. Sanford Bishop’s district but we took one for the team.
Since my county is GOP-dominated, it’s better for Bishop that we bounce into the 8th congressional district and Rep. Austin Scott is much more open to debate and discussion than the average southern Republican. The guy can go toe to toe while keeping the punches above the belt.
Being comfortable in a conservative congressional district was prepped by having two conservative U.S. senators and surprisingly by the moderate service of Blue Dogs like Sanford Bishop and former Rep. Jim Marshall.
We must ask ourselves if GOP congressmen are more influenced by the energetic Tea Party Movement or the sizeable moderate sections of their areas. To be honest, Democrats and Black folks need to build a functional relationship with whoever serves them because elected officials sometimes look at election results and get punitive.
If this map stands, it would be a waste of time and energy running candidates against Bishop and Scott. The battleground is the new 12th district and my good friend Helen Blocker Adams might be kingmaker over there because she knows Augusta like the back of her hand and real people trust her.
Man, I wish Bishop and Scott could take the time they would spend (waste) fundraising and campaign and use that energy to find a common ground.
If crystal balls were real, I would look into one and tell Georgia what will happen with congress reapportionment and the 2012 elections (no need to state the obvious in safe seats.)
Georgia 2nd District: Macon, Columbus and Albany will again be in this district and it will be Dem for the next ten years. If Rep. Bishop decides to move into a position with the next administration (Obama or some GOP POTUS), the GOP should start grooming a likable African American candidate who is less bitter (a Black Scott Brown.) If Bishop is unbeatable in 2012, wise guys in the GOP should discourage anyone from running just to be running because Bishop’s campaign apparatus serves as the S.W. Georgia foundation of Obama 2012.
Georgia 8th District: This district becomes unwinnable for a Democrat with the exit of the Dem. sections of Macon. As in the 2nd, energy and resources spent running a candidate could be better spent in truly contested congressional districts or charitable contributions. If we free up members from raising money, they would have more time to seek solutions and would be less beholden big money donors.
Georgia 1st District: While members don’t own districts, Rep. Jack Kingston is one conservative who doesn’t deserve token Dem. opposition. Kingston has built a strong relationship in the Black community with his work on regional interests, frequent visits to “Democratic” events and his long history of hiring minority staffers. He covers southeast Georgia like the dew or that funny smell from the paper mills.
Georgia 12th District: With the exit of Savannah to the 1st, this congressional race will be hotter than fish grease. A few GOP members of the state legislature will run because it’s their turn but they should dust off Michael Steele’s old diversity plans and find a woman, a minority or a minority woman. From the political center, I will say that the GOP doesn’t understand how easy it would be for women and minorities to support a less bitter conservative who adds range to the old boys club. Rep. Barrow could switch to the GOP now and be safer; but he will likely stay Dem and count on the GOP producing a primary winner with little appeal to the center.
Georgia New District: Hall County based…safely conservative.
Summary: Georgia is the biggest state east of the Mississippi River and President Obama needs to win it to have a second term. Half of Georgia lives in metro Atlanta and there are a dozen different types of Black folks and a dozen different types of White folks in the peach state. While urban Blacks are real liberals, rural Blacks could support certain conservatives in certain situations. In this crystal ball, I see President Obama leaving office in 2013 or 2017 (hard to make out) but the aftermath is rough on the Black community. We put all of our political eggs in one basket and an elephant is kicking that basket across the South.
With secondary concern with presidential politics, our community should build a functional relationship with conservatives—at least the Black ones. My dear brother Obama thought he would find a few conservatives interested in dialog and compromise but hell no. If I could see into the conservative strategy meetings, it seems that the plan is to beat up on the president so much that we would say, “come home, man, before the stress beats you down.” He said he was tough (which means the ablilty to take punishment like the only Black kid in a whole school.) But to lead in this times, he needs to be rough also (like elbows on the basketball court.)
Okay, I finally get the House Tea Party Caucus. From jump street, these members stated that they were there to address the spending and that they didn’t care about being long-term members of congress. The Progressive Caucus on the far left and the T.P. Caucus on the far right aren’t team players and love that fact—rebels, renegades, revolutionaries.
It took me awhile to realize that many members of the state legislators were balling so hard in private life that being a U.S. Congress member would be a pay cut or take them from their families too much. The state house and senate isn’t the minor leagues to congress. With that in mind, some ballers feel that it might be cool being a congressman for a quick minute so they run, win and roll into D.C. with a creep-type attitude. They think they know everything but the job is complex and complicated.
Speaking of jobs, I think hard hitters on both sides have realized that congress and/or a presidential bid is a quick ticket to a lucrative gigs on T.V., radio or the speaking circuit. My friends from the Hill joke that the average Congressional Black Caucus member makes more money as a MOC than they did before congress and than they will after congress. Oh, other southern members and their staffs know how to “parlay” a few years at the congress into big money as K Street lobbyists or governmental affairs consultants in industries they monitored as committee members. “Do I know the Farm Bill…hell, I wrote the darn thing.”
Senator John McCain is a guy about order. As a POW, he had an opportunity to bounce out of captivity but didn’t out of respect for his fellow prisoners. Recently, he gave the Tea Party Caucus his behind to kiss because protest and governing is two different things. Speaker Tom Foley use to say that a jackass could kick down a barn but it took a carpenter to build one. Tea Party have provided some useful protest but legislating requires compromise and negotiations.
We should hand-out cool points to young members of congress like Rep. Tom Graves and Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia who (while really conservative) didn’t let the tide push them into the Tea Party Caucus. Sen. Saxby Chambliss gets cool points for his work with the Gang of Six and yes, that will get him a Tea Party primary opponent. As conservatives go, some are ”less worst” than others and this moderate still can’t understand why the Tea Party movement hates centrists like Rep. Sanford Bishop who is with conservatives a surprising percentage of the time. McCain did what Bishop should have.
It’s one thing to be a congressional creep but relishing the status just isn’t cool. (Okay, this post was simply an excuse to rock Radiohead on my blog beause I thought about the Tea Party Caucus when dude sang, “I don’t belong here.”)
Political district lines on a map don’t reflect the reality of how people live. Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston supports the naval mission in Jacksonville, Florida, because some employees at the base live in southeast Georgia. The same statement can be made about Augusta, Savannah and Columbus. suburbanites often work, eat, shop, heal, pray and play in other congressional districts.
Georgia’s cities serve as regional hubs and elected officials know they should work together. Because I grew up Black in the South, the scariest thing to me are groups who want decisions made with little or no input from all involved segments of the community. It’s not rocket science: officials should maintain a line of communication and/or grow a network with everyone. From Rep. Sanford Bishop meeting with sons of the confederacy to Rep. Jack Kingston explaining fiscal conservatism at Savannah State University, decent people respect listeners and reasonable folks understand that others live in the area.
During the last election season, naïve activists constantly complained that swing district congressmen didn’t do what the activists commanded. Hello. What about the majority (albeit thin) that support what the members of congress are doing. We are in the redistricting process in Georgia and there is a strong possibility that my county will move in a GOP district. Will my head explode? No. The Blue Dog Democrats of today are similar, in my opinion, to the traditional GOP establishment of old. Their moderation prepped us for certain conservative elements.
Rep. Austin Scott defeated Blue Dog Jim Marshall but Marshall was so conservative that some Dems can’t tell the difference. If a congressman stays away from the craziest parts of his side and takes care of regional interests, I am fine. Black moderates should be breaking bread with Black conservatives as we team up to explain to the community that it isn’t about elected officials. It’s mostly about personal choices, decisions and consequences.
The worst case scenario would be my community being 100% blue and the next election being a red landside. In big cities, we have real liberals but rural Blacks are moderate to conservative. If a Republican wins an election, you better hope he or she isn’t far, far right. Someone should light a fire under groups Democrats help. Al Gore knows that Democrats help people who don’t bother voting.
To diversify our political portfolio, we should grow a new hybrid southern Black conservative. We need a bro with a goatee who was radical in college and knows all the Public Enemy lyrics or a sista with a natural who knows that we are going cuturally backwards. Oh snap, the new southern Black conservatism could simply be based on people who remember how we once “carried ourselves” and that community once meant something. It’s a shame that smart –sses on the right demonized Black nationalism because those cats’ primary thoughts was self-reliance and don’t depend on the government.
Gladys and the Pips said we got to use our imagination to “keep on keeping on.” Dominique Wilkins played well with the Georgia Bulldogs but the year after his departure for the N.B.A., the Dawgs went to the Final Four. They had spent all of their effort trying to get Wilkins the ball. UGA made the “best of a bad situation” and rural moderates should do the same. Hell, rural Blacks might have more status in districts without big cities and those GOP congressmen should know that a third of the Black electorate could mean they never face opposition and won’t need to dial for dollars–think about it. If they need a model, they can look at Rep. Bishop and Rep. Kingston.
The Pips said, “You’re too strong not to keep on keeping on.”
Congressional redistricting should embrace split counties in some situations as the logical reflection of the divisions between people. We know the cigar-chomping leaders will make the decisions behind closed doors and spin their maps as “the best interest of all Americans.” But, a case can be made for putting like-minded people in the same districts because some of us are weary after a lifetime of constant fighting.
Democrats and Republicans don’t understand each other and rarely communicate peacefully. Heaven only knows how many people in south Georgia only have friends away from work who are just like them and that’s cool in a free society. The problem is leaders of one party might make decisions that involved the entire area with limited input or knowledge of others. From home schooling/private school to church, the only Blacks some people know are on Tyler Perry T.V. shows. Have mercy.
During Georgia’s redistricting hearings, the usual suspects bounced up to the microphones to declare that this county or that county shouldn’t be divided because of the tremendous amounts of love and happiness inside those county or city lines. Child, please. Railroad tracks and highways divide most rural southern areas—east is east and west is west and never say they meet. Oh, the Chamber of Commerce types will have you think that all is well and bless their hearts, all is well insider their worlds.
In southwest Georgia, I wouldn’t mind seeing all strong Democrat population pockets placed in the 2nd Congressional district. Yes, the neighboring 3rd, 8th and 1st districts would be even more GOP and that’s fine because they are “balling” down here or as the kids say, they are like “butter” because you know they are on a roll.
In Worth and Tift counties, U.S. Highway 82 neatly divides the GOP northern section from Blue areas in the south. Some would also argue that the Red areas of Lee County deserve placement in the conservative 8th. While I am a cosmopolitan guy with a wide variety of friends and associates across God’s green earth, it sincerely hurt my heart to hear that so many conservatives felt the centrist Democrat congressman in the 2nd didn’t listen to them at all…zero…zilch. Really? I know for a fact that said congressman breaks his neck to hear from everyone and while his final votes reflect the majority of his district, he tries to hear from the other side more that 99% of the southern GOP members of Congress try to hear from the Dem side. When Georgia’s GOP senators dialog with Democrats, instant talk of primary challengers starts.
The fact that Georgia has two GOP senators is a game-changer for me anyway. Here is the logic: everyone has two senators and one House member representing them in Washington. Georgia’s senators are legislatively similar and also similar to most GOP House members. If you are a non-conservative Georgian, you should hope like crazy that you have a Democrat House member to hear your concerns. For me, that’s representation is more important that being connected with the other half of my county.
At the redistricting hearing in Albany, Georgia, Brad Hughes, a promising young public servant from Early County, Georgia, stated that having two members of the state house serving his area was like the best of both worlds. Well, the same logic could apply to congress for the next ten years. Keith MacCants at Peanut Politics asked recently on his blog who should run against Rep. Bishop in 2012 since Mike Keown has decided to seek other office. Hughes, who ran against Bishop in the past, would be better than most conservatives at bridging the political divide. Can he win? No. But he can position himself to be appointed congressman by the governor if Bishop is selected by a president to be a cabinet secretary or maybe the historic next ambassador to ag nation Cuba. You heard it here first and remember that a GOP president also would like a cool Dem or two on his team and despite the noise from last year, Bishop is one of the best peacemakers.
I am uniquely qualified to write about peace between parties because I am a Democrat who supports Georgia’s GOP U.S. senators but please don’t tell anyone or the guys will get primary opposition. If conservatives want out of my 2nd congressional district, I say good riddance and I hope you have the time of your life chilling with like-minded people somewhere else. You should “get” while the getting is good because if Keown couldn’t turn the 2nd red in 2010, it can’t be done anytime soon. Green Day had it right with Good Riddance and Bill Joe was a big Obama support in 2008.
If you ask asked the people south of Hwy. 82 down here if they want to be in a Dem congressional district for the next ten years, they would look at you like you were crazy. Heck yes, they want into the second congressional district and heck yes, the GOP people north of the Hwy. 82 would like to have a safer conservative in the 8th district for the same period of time.
Cynthia Tucker’s recent column on race and redistricting is so correct. She wrote:
If black covers think they have made substantial gains simply by having more black representatives in Congress, they’re wrong. They’d have more influence if they were spread through several legislative districts, forcing more candidates to court them.
My county is divided between Congressmen Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott and both are likable and intelligent men fully prepare to serve a cross-section of Georgians. But, as Ms. Tucker wrote, corralling most Blacks into a few districts make the contiguous districts areas ultra White. Voters in ultra White districts equate congressional time spent with Blacks to time spent with liberals because they don’t understand that most rural southern Blacks are actually moderate to conservative in their mindsets on issues. If not for the vitriol created by ultra conservative media, Michael Steele could have drawn 25% of the Black vote into a moderate section of the Right–even Bishop would have likely switched.
Thoughts of brother Steele brings me to another Tucker point: hyper Black districts and therefore hyper White districts discourage moderation. For more on the importance of moderate, one can read almost every previous post on this blog.
I started work at the U.S. Congress when Rep. John Lewis was the only Black member of the Georgia delegation and most southern congress members spent a third of their time in the Black community. Oh, Bishop and the Blue Dogs will serve conservatives on a fair level but will conservatives give an equal ear to the center and the left. An interesting but forgotten fact is that Newt Gingrich had a Black female chief of staff in his personal office back in the day. Ms. Tucker should have an intern count the number of Black staffers in White southern congressional offices and the number of White staffers in Black members’ offices. As they say in sports, we can’t win for losing.
There is a controversial painting of all American presidents that includes President Obama standing on the U.S. Constitution. The guy was president of the Harvard Law Review and a University of Chicago constitutional law professor but he doesn’t respect the Constitution. Really?
I saw the painting hanging in the district office of U.S. Rep. Austin Scott. Readers of this blog know I appreciated GOPer Scott removing Rep. Jim Marshall because Marshall, a law scholar himself, decided that Speaker Pelosi and the White House wasn’t his cup of tea. The two Georgia U.S. Senators, Scott and Rep. Jack Kingston are the most bearable Republicans in Georgia because they are good guys in person. But, the ultra conservatives are busy and seemingly require that the GOP leaders limit input from Democrats. Kingston has a well-earned reputation for going to policy-hostile events and breaking down his voting record. That’s how you do it and Bishop, Barrow and even Marshall did the same.
If the picture is in Scott’s office, it is there because Scott feels that the White House’s policy contradict the framers intend; Scott is on a fiscal correction mission. When Rep. Sanford Bishop was a freshman, his Washington office initially didn’t have Georgia flag outside the front door. In an interesting twist, Bishop got the old flag (stars and bars included) but state legislator Austin Scott was (I think) the only GOPer who support changing that flag and he caught hell for it.
The artist who created “The Forgotten Man” said he knew the work was a little strong and I personally think it is too strong. I always respect President George W. Bush and argued with those who thought he wasn’t bright—dumb people rarely graduate from Yale. The birther junk and whatever comes next are insults and thank you to those of the other side who want to stick to the issues. I saw the facebook video statement of Rep. Scott regarding the killing of Bin Laden and yes, he was of the few conservatives who gave President Obama credit.
Democrats have always allowed Bishop, Barrow, Marshall and other Blue Dogs flexibility to included conservative elements in their actions because conservatives are Georgians too. I am concerned that the far Right will not allow the same leeway to any GOP members of congress. Of course, the views of real liberals fall on death’s ear but even moderates and centrists should keep an eye on redistricting and hope that they end up in moderate districts.
When Jon Stewart said that Bill O’Reilly was the “thinnest kid at fat camp,” he meant that O’Reilly was the best person at Fox News and one might say the same about Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Gang of Six) and Austin Scott.
Jon McNaughton’s The Forgotten Man is art and art is designed (like Spike Lee’s and Tyler Perry’s work) to provoke thought. You be the judge.
I have a new theory about campaigns and elections. Of course, my new theory could be fact that everyone other than me already knows. My theory is that for some people the business of campaigning is more important than actually governing ( i.e. Sarah Palin). Could prepping for campaigns and campaigning be where the money is?
Roy Barnes raised and spent over $28 million dollars running for governor of Georgia but didn’t win. Much of that money went to media buys like T.V. and radio ads. Old school people like me just assumed a sizable old fashion Get Out the Vote effort was coming and that rallies with sweet smelling Georgia barbecue would be held from one end of the state to the other end. It never really happened because the fancy Buckhead type consultants (who aren’t cheap themselves) pushed ads, ads and more ads. I have never been so tired of political ads and many of the spots were negative against Nathan Deal which was nonsense because everyone knew that Barnes and Deal basically liked each other.
Few noticed that former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones was in Nathan Deal’s corner and was standing right there during the victory party. Good for Jones because the same fancy Democrat Buckhead crowd didn’t want him running for U.S. Senate against Saxby Chambliss. Sure, Vernon has some history but hey cast the first stone and he would have done better than Jim Martin (I voted for Saxby for regional reasons.) But, the real winners of that election were the fancy fundraisers and political operatives who got candidates who could raise money and pay them.
We remember when Austin Scott was running for governor with the idea of raising smaller amounts of money and keeping it a people’s campaign based on his ideas and policy facts. On the other side of the fancy streets in Buckhead, the GOP types have even fancier offices that require much money to maintain. I think they look past the bright young man with good ideas and toward the four or five candidates who could put big money on the barrel head. Nathan Deal is the new governor and Scott is heading to congress.
Fairness requires that I acknowledge the effort put forward by Rep. Sanford Bishop’s opponent’s team. They hustled hard and made that thing too close—they were a well-oiled machine. I was ticked with the Barnes campaign and the state Democrat party because they were spending money on those freaking ads when people weren’t rallying in person, face to face like the other side was. When we did get together, it was so cool.
The first rule of politics is save yourself and Bishop got old school with his last Get Out The Vote push. He won that election with little help from the top of the ticket and because the people woke up at the eleventh hour.
Looming on the horizon is the 2012 presidential election year. While the presidential race outcome is unclear, you can bet that my community will be there for President Obama in huge numbers. An old theory of mine is that conservative candidates could fair well during that Obama wave if they could swim. My old friend Karen Bogans in Savannah is the only hope the GOP has in winning the 12th District race; she is smart, direct and has the political and professional credentials. Could an African American conservative get out of the GOP primary is the question but her campaign would be hard on the Obama White House yet surprisingly usefully to the Obama presidency at the same time. Hey, she criticizes me all the time and I would be upset if her comments weren’t true and didn’t need to be said.
I told Bogans that she could get a sizeable amount of the Black vote and win a congressional seat without raising and spending much money. She said those fancy folks in Buckhead must get their business/coin or they will push someone else up. I have concluded that the process of campaigning and prepping are likely more lucrative than actually serving in office. Sarah Palin gets $800K for one speech while President Obama gets half that amount as an annual salary. If you are going to be in the game, you must know the rules and the new golden rule is “he who has the gold..rules.”
It’s 5:15 a.m. on Day Lights Saving Time Sunday morning and my clock just fell back. In American politics, it feels like we are falling back in time also. Are we near a cultural Civil war and isn’t “civil” war the ultimate oxymoron. The one thing that is sure is that we need to have a better understanding of other’s points of view and the governmental process under which we function and live.
The Tea Party is a good place to start. By Tea Party, I mean the original Boston Tea Party. We have conveniently forgotten that the British taxes at the center of the debate were to recoup funds spent on the colonies’ defense during the French and Indian War. War and defense cost money. The Boston Tea Party wasn’t a protest inside the current form of government; it was an effort to overthrown the current form of government and some current protest today have the same thing in mind.
President Obama and most reasonable Americans know that the fundamental concerns of the Tea Party Movement are valid: federal spending and debt; size and role of government; and grow of entitlements. The nation would be better if all America “carried themselves” with a moral compass and a sense of shame as we did in the past. The government currently addresses problems that shouldn’t be problems at all. However, extremists on both ends of the political spectrum would ignore the U.S. Constitution and the foundation of this great nation.
It would be socialism if the government provided a nice house for every American. The government should provide a fair climate where every American has an opportunity to grow and prospers but if that doesn’t happen, you deal with the cards resulting from your actions or inactions. On the other hands, extremists on the far Right would interweave church and government for better moral fiber. Would America be better if we all followed a faith? Yes. But, the question becomes should the government mandate this faith and which one? As much as we respect them, the founding fathers at times goofed. Slavery is one obvious time and some believe that Christianity should have been the official faith with tolerance for other faiths.
We shouldn’t play with the intent of the founders or the foundation of this country. We are in a mini Civil War in the South base largely on energy policy and health care policy. President Carter was correct in the 1970s: we need a comprehensive energy policy to end our dependence on foreign oil. The Cap and Trade provision of the energy legislation passed by the U.S. House fueled the Tea Party protest. New York Time columnist Thomas Friedman has written several great books on our energy futures and we must make tough decisions and changes. Of course, the agriculture community gets my deference because we all must eat the food they grow but we must figure out farming methods that use less energy. The last Farm Bill promotes research on producing renewable energy.
I must be half asleep because I am about to type: the problem with President Obama. Okay Tea Party people here it is: We Obama supporters and President Obama himself know that some things could have been done better or differently. The same could be said about Bush 43 who I actually liked on some level. President Obama is real…straight real…too real. We elected him to implement big changes but the adoring crowds weren’t listening to the guy. He constantly said, “It won’t be easy…It’s won’t happen overnight….I can’t do it alone…we must do the hard part.”
As quiet as it is kept, Michelle Robinson Obama was raised in the model conservative family environment and if she starts speaking freely and sternly about how we are “carrying ourselves,” her importance in history might overshadow her husband. The residual benefit Sanford Bishop’s congressional service was always his positive image for the all kids. The Huxtables on the Cosby Show and the Obamas in the White House have the same benefit. The Georgia GOP botched the opportunity to have Dr. Deborah Honeycutt in Congress as a conservative example from a southern family but Mario Rubio and Austin Scott will be there to provide a fact-base form of conservatism that moves the nation forward with dialog rather than fear.
Obama’s The Audacity of Hope outlined problems and solutions with healthcare. He pointed out that preventive care that comes with having every American seeing a doctor regularly could save billions and fund changes. Obama was half right because what was also needed was far Right teeth. I don’t mean a dental plan; I mean public policy with teeth, bite or strong consequences. The kids in my family love their Uncle Teddy and their uninsured Uncle Teddy has made diet and exercise adjustments to stay under 240 pounds. A doctor would tell me that 260, 280 or 300 pounds would trigger health problems that require expensive treatment.
Wait a second; if the doctor and the healthcare plan told Uncle Teddy that buffets could lead to a certain point where expensive treatment would be self-funded or not administered, I basically dug my own grave and they should spend that money on a nice fat double-breasted suit for my funeral. It sounds cold but that is the reality of avoiding taxing or charging some people to pay for life choices of other. While we are working out on the tennis courts, cats drop by with triple cheese burgers in hand. “What’s up, man.” What’s up?…your cholesterol levels and your blood pressure…that’s what’s up.
These mini Civil Wars could be avoided if good conservatives worked with moderates sincerely. In the South, we often find those individuals who feel they are more American than others for some reason. I am proud that I had a dorm assignment at UGA and briefly attended grad school at UF (Go Gators) but I knew that I want to be at my HCBU to study from people who reminded us that we helped built this great nation for free while not free. We actually toiled in southern fields for over a hundred years before America was America in 1776. How difference is “go back to Africa” from “I want my country back.” President Obama likely thinks that we can all join hands and sing “This land is your land…this land is my land” but he did grow up in my dirty South so he doesn’t know that no one is giving up or shares money and power without a struggle.
Oops, I am flashing back to those revolutionary days of youth when radicals hit us with too much “knowledge and wisdom.” That stuff could come in measured dosages. From the Boston Tea Party to John Brown to George Wallace to the Black Panthers to the current Tea Party, Americans must remember that our opinions and plans must be coordinated within our framework of government and among all Americans. If the people decide to move slowly, not at all or in another direction, we must respect the process.
After the ballot drama Bush v. Gore, Democrats acknowledged President Bush as leader of this nation. When President Bush decided that military actions in Iraq rather than Afghanistan only was the course, I respected that jacked-up decision (Cheney lied to 43). Oh, but don’t let regular people elected Obama; folks start talking about second amendment remedies and secession.
Big corporations, unions and lobbyists are fueling these civil wars…pitting Americans against Americans. It is shame that some politicians on both sides think the objective for the next two years is winning the White House in 2012. The clear objective is to reduce federal spending while growing the economy and creating the climate for job creation while keeping us safe.
New members of the congress should put the best interest of the nation above partisan politics because the people in this fast internet age have no problem tossing those guys out every two years…work together.
I need to go because it is communion Sunday at church. Yes, Democrats and moderates go to church and try to practice what is preached during the rest of the week. During my lifetime, overhyped people killed folks while they were worshipping in church…be careful with that fun rhetoric because civil wars are nothing with which to play.
