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Jeb Nostradamus Bush’s Face: The Miseducation of America

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on May 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Jeb Bush saw this Trump situation coming like Nostradamus and so did I.  First of all, it’s not about Trump nor is it Trump’s fault.  Donald Trump thought it would be fun building his brand by running for president.  As he said last week, Hillary was supposed to win.

Could enough Americans be so twisted that the least qualified candidate in history gets elected over the most qualified?  Evidently, yes.  The Bushes are basically decent people—notice how Bill Clinton has become an extra son to 41.  Jeb repeatedly said he wouldn’t be president if he had to be a dirty, misinformation candidate to win and the Republican primary voters said take your behind home.  Trump was like “I will.”

In politics and policy, what you want to say to achieve a result and the truth are often two different things.  A noble person would always try to tell the truth and sometimes the truth hurts.  An opportunistic person like Trump thinks “win and get paid” first then deal with whatever later.

People should have a functioning Crap meter to determine when someone is bringing it by the truckload.  At some point, some conservatives determined that the ends justify the means.  Honestly, many of their hopes for America make sense but you can’t get there with dirty methods nor force people to do what they maybe should do.

At some point, Fox News stopped pretending to be unbiased journalism and started saying sensational nonsense that drove ratings up and made money.  It’s misinformation at it’s finest.

A segment of the far Right profits from pitting Americans against each other– flirting with Civil War rather than seeking solutions.  A segment of the far Left wants anarchy.  In his marketing brilliance, Trump saw the opportunity to ride the misinformation wave straight into the White House.  You can see in his eyes that it’s not the fun job he thought it would be.  Hillary was elected president by the popular vote; Trump, by the Electoral College, was elected King.  In our system of government, one person can’t run the nation by the seat of his pants.  Trump might need to let Pence have it before forensic analysis of his businesses leads to real drama for his folks.

All is not lost.  We must reeducate America.  My community needs to understand the importance of voting and keeping up with public policy.  The progressives are hot in the Democratic Party these days and peace to them.  However, the moderate, centrist Blue Dog seats at the table must remain.  I still think we should have a frank discussion about what government can’t/shouldn’t do.  The 1960s Blacks would be appalled by the current lack of voting, desire for assistance and importance of the hip hop culture.  Oh, the thug mentality of some hip hop is holding us down more than Trump.

In 2017, the Democrat Team should be field testing concepts, approaches and issues to find what resonates with my non-urban South.  The Black community is the backbone of the Blue Team.  You don’t need to be Nostradamus to see continued struggle if we don’t do things differently.

 

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Georgia Governor Race: 3 Queens and a Trump Card

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on May 4, 2017| 1 Comment »

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The Georgia Governor’s race is a long shot for Democrats but it could be a win if they play their cards right.   A win can come only if a great candidate with tons of personality builds a statewide coalition.  The required buzz words are platform, energy, message, network, freshness and resourcefulness.

I like the fact that the early mentioned names are women: former interim U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, State House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams and Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson.  All candidates should commit now to stealing a play from Trump’s playbook rather than Bernie Sanders.  “I, state your name, agree to 100% back the winner of the primary and to encourage my team and financial supporters to do the same…so, help me God…really, help me God.”

How many Georgia Republicans wanted Trump to be the nominee?  They knew most of the folks on that stage would be a better president but after he stole that nom, they fell in line.  Hats off to the Republicans who never did and still haven’t to this day.

At first glance, what one key thing comes to mind from the abovementioned candidates?  Yates stood up to Trump like a boss regarding the legality of his travel ban and that fact could net millions in campaign contributions from sea to shining sea.

Democrats have been losing statewide elections for the last twenty years because they wouldn’t use my formula: G.R.= .25% MM   Ok, that’s not a real formula and I have been watching the Einstein based Nat Geo show Genius.  But to me, Grassroots should be 25% of the media money because pouring T.V. ads on the people doesn’t help anyone except the people who sell ad buys.

Leader Abrams seems to be about grassroots and getting all Georgians engaged in the public policy process.  If you noticed, I didn’t say “voting” alone because it involves being a well-informed citizen who watches local, state and national policy and politics constantly…as if your life depended on it.  Look, your life depends on it because it’s a network that stops in the White House.

Mayors, City Council members, School board members and County Commissioners are the building blocks for state legislators.  State legislators are the building blocks for congressmen, who are the building blocks for Governors, U.S. Senators and other statewide races.  Those statewide winners are the building blocks for the Presidency.  As they say at Albany State University, you can’t bulid a chimney from the top.

Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson’s key thing is positive energy.  Various groups in that city just like her; she is a coalition builder and to me, she seems to bring that Obama, Bill Clinton, Sanford Bishop “You can’t dislike me” vibe.  That vibe could go a long way in bringing disenchanted citizens to the polls and presenting Georgia as a state ready to do business.

If Obama and Clinton couldn’t win Georgia, how can someone else?  One word: Trump.  Every Republican candidate will be required to explain why they feel Trump is right for America and Georgia.  Every election in November 2018 will be a referendum on Trump and his supporters.  It’s about who wants to bring people together to find real solutions or who wins by dividing people with fear and ugliness.  Look, my conservative friends are generally good people; my liberal friends are good as well.  But, the sensible center should stand up and take our seat at the table.

In the rural South, the far Right conservatives and the far Left progressives both ignore rural Black moderates.  You can’t win Georgia without rural Black voters in 20 areas south of a line from Columbus to Augusta.  Team Hillary blew us off and did the same in Florida and North Carolina.

Readers of this blog know I hedged by bets by being a Democrat who voted in the Republican presidential primary for Ohio governor John Kasich.  Yes, I wanted Hillary but just in case…  To my friends, I am Nostradamus because I told them so like Chicken Little…”the polls are falling….the polls are falling.”  If they knew Trump could have actually won, they would have helped somebody…ok, anybody.. else be the GOP nom to hedge their bets.

Rural moderates have had it with being ignored by the state and national Democrats.  Remember, rural Blacks are the southern Dem base… act like you know that when you spend all of your energy begging Dixiecrats to come back.  Dixiecrats can be replaced at the Democrat table by reasonable suburbanites and rural Blacks who don’t vote.  My friends and I can light a fire under those disinterested voters; people who voted for Obama and nothing else.

We need to spend the next 12 months building a rural network based on proven local trendsetters.  Also, we need “real” congressional candidates in every district under and on that Columbus to Augusta line…building blocks.  Finally, take it to the people like Sanders did.  The old leaders are primarily interested in keeping power but who can rock a mic like Obama, who is next?

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Georgia’s Democrat Future: Jon Ossoff and/or Moderates

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on April 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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The Democrats’ future in Georgia and the South centers on building a coalition that energizes everyone.  While the congressional runoff in Georgia’s 6th district is important, a portion of those millions should be directed to cultivating congressional districts with more Democrats—the 8th, 10th and 12th.

Jon Ossoff is the future of the party in suburban Atlanta and we all wish him well.  But, we shouldn’t forget that every area south of I-20 could flip from red to blue in local, state, and federal elections if the Dems could market to our community as well as Trump and the Tea Party hits his base.

Hillary Clinton won the two coasts but left too much on the table in the rest of the nation.  It was like picking peaches in Fort Valley, Georgia, by only getting the low hanging fruit…hell, reach down and get the fallen fruit (infrequent Dem voters) rather than reaching for fruit at the top of the tree (former Dixiecrat voters.)

We need a voter education project with some teeth.  The community should be hit hard with cold, hard facts—take off the kid gloves.  It shouldn’t be on Ossoff’s young shoulders alone and it shouldn’t have been on Hillary’s alone.  Dumb Dumbs, you don’t ask people to vote for someone..you asked them to vote for themselves by supporting these candidates.

The sleeping giant has always been regular folks helped by Democrats’ efforts.  The same regular folks that don’t bother voting… say what?  Oh, the youth are too cool to vote.  You know what else is cool: being drafted to fight in North Korea because Kim and Trump are trying to one up each other.  Why are you on public assistance but won’t vote?  Oh, we need to have a heart to heart in my community.

These young parents are about to see the crafty re-segregation of the public school systems but they only come on campus for sporting events…we need to talk.

Finally, the moderate wing of the Democrat Party needs to take our seat at the table, the old Clinton/Gore Blue Dogs.  See, the new progressive movement fails to acknowledge the moderate to conservative Blacks in the rural South.  We are talking about Blacks who are clean-cut, work the same jobs for years, served in the military and active in church.

The liberals in the national DNC seem more interested in the roughest element of the community.  Look here, many of those people chose that rough life.  Frederick Douglass said it is easier to build strong children than repair broken men.  The thug/street life glamorized by hip hop is negatively impacting our community more than the Klan.  Yea, we really need to talk about what we can do to help ourselves without governmental involvement.

Let’s get the old band back together.  With a few dollars (50k), the moderate movement in the Dem Party could dust off the Blue Dog ideals in 20 rural areas in Georgia.  The platform should be created now while the nation is eager to fund Trump-push back operations; let’s field test concepts and methods.  If something hot emerges, it could be used everywhere.

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America Could End!

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on March 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

American-decline-statue-of-liberty

America could end.  Really?  This great republic might go the way of Ancient Rome if we are not careful.  We know that the nation stands on a shaky foundation( stolen land, stolen Africans) but it’s still the best country in history.

We should remember the line from President Lincoln’s first inaugural address regarding the “better angels of our nature.”  I could go back to Paul who wrote in his first letter to the church at Corinth ”Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you: but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement.”

Oh, there are crazy divisions in America today: Republicans vs. Democrats, Voters vs. Non Voters, the Haves vs. the Have Nots, the two coasts vs. the everywhere else, Black vs. White, Brown vs. Whomever, Christians vs. Those Who Are Wrong (ok, the last one was just fun.)

In the Democrat Party, we have a division of Real Liberals/Progressives vs. Black Rural Clean Cut Southerners.  First of all, this writer thinks of the Dem Party as the party of inclusion while the GOP is the party of exclusion/marginalization.  My Republican friends generally feel they know what is best for everyone—with limited input from everyone else.  I grew up in the Dem Party that included New England and West coasts liberals, Blacks, working class union members, and White Dixiecrats.  Those Dixiecrats were still mad that Republican Lincoln reluctantly freed the slaves.

Hillary Clinton lost the election because the Dems didn’t court Black southerners or working class rural Whites.  Remember, Blacks are the back bone of the Dem Party from Virginia to Texas.  But, the D.N.C. spent most of their time trying to get undocumented Latinos citizenship so they could vote in bloc for the blue.

The DNC is about the business of convincing the heartland to agree with liberal policies rather than listening to our brand of moderation; that moderation is the only hope of getting back the working class White vote.  To Trump’s credit, he was all ears for blue collar voters who are struggling because Trump’s corporate buddies shipped their jobs overseas.

Dilemma: The southern Black rural agenda isn’t important to either major political party.  The national Dems are siding with Socialist Bernie Sanders.  While dude is a cool guy, give me, give me, give me isn’t the answer for Black America.

I will give you what you need and it won’t’ cost a penny in federal spending.  You need to carry yourself in a way that doesn’t depend on who is in the White House or governor’s mansion.  This self-reliant  mentality is rooted in Black nationalism from Marcus Garvey to Malcom X to surprisingly Justice Clarence Thomas.

In the 2018 elections, the Dem will be D.O.A. if they don’t come up with something fresh for my community.  We need to build a network of trendsetters who ensure that the message is clear and plain and that we know the importance of voting.  Of course, this bloggers thinks it starts with ideas and concepts outlined in https://bestinterestsinitiative.wordpress.com/long-term-bii/ .

It took a series of missteps and errors for the Dems to drop the White House with a quality candidate like Hillary Clinton.  If the Dems Team doesn’t appreciate the rural moderates and centrists, we might need to explore swaying elections in the Republican primaries because their candidate selection process seems to be based on arrogance and superiority.  When there is no action in the Dem primaries, I vote in the GOP primaries to assist their more reasonable candidates.  Remember, the Black voting power in the South could sway most elections.

Yes, America could end if we aren’t careful and the fall will started when too many Americans feeling the nation isn’t fair for them.

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Democrat Leadership: Bad Fruit

Posted in politics on March 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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President Trump can’t be blame for the collapse of the Democrat Party over the last twenty years.  If the people Dems support and stand with would simply vote, the situation would be different.  We shouldn’t play the victim role; it’s not a good look.

As fingers are pointed and circular firing squads formed, my moderate/centrist friends and I are watching the drama.  Of course, the liberal/progressive section of the party had little use for country bumpkins from rural areas.  Newsflash: Democrats in Red areas could have tipped the balance in Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and North Florida.

Without Democrats in Republican congressional districts, the Dems might be dead for the next 20 years.  We begged for a seat at the table and they said “we got this.”  What they got was a shellacking and everyone who had a part in ignoring the rural areas shouldn’t be part of any solutions.   By my calculations, rural Black voters in the South could sway many elections from GOP to Dem if motivated or self-motivated.

That motivation should come from the new found freedom of the tongue of those on the far Right—I want my stolen nation back.

Matthew 7:17-20

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

 

On every level, the Dem so-called leadership team that didn’t want moderates, Blue Dogs or dare I say conservative Democrats were important should be cast into the fire…not literally.  Since the early 1990s, they haven’t produced good fruit.

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“Dead, See Trolls”: Rural Politics post-Obama and pre-Trump

Posted in African Americans, politics, tagged , , , , , on January 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Blogging can be a huge waste of time if nobody reads your stuff.  It’s the modern version of the adage in my community that goes “If you want to hide something from a “blank” put it in a book.”  After I have moved on to selling aluminum roofing in Thomasville, someone might discover these 700 some odd blog post like the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Bedouin shepherds discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946 in a cave in the current troubled West Bank area between Israel and Jordan.  People read blogs that include funny hooks so consider Damon Wayans knowledge deep prisoner character Oswald Bates from In Living Color.  “So, my dear brother, the Dead Sea Scrolls were like some missing extra parts of religious text found…follow this…between Is Real because we need what is real and Jordan because our community spends too much money on Jordan sneakers that don’t take us anywhere but to the poor house.”

President-Elect Trump entering the White House was foretold by some of us in and around the political arena for decades but nobody would listen.  To me, it started when public policy stop being designed by political scientists and the people and became crafted by Madison Avenue marketing experts.  Dr. Frank Luntz has a PhD in polly sci from Penn but he is the consultant/pollster who created the art of running focus groups to gauge the public and designing a few talking points that hit like bullet points.  In the 90s, he was the mastermind Newt Gingrich use to create the Contract With America.

Project Logic GA as a blog is like the Dead Sea Scrolls but rather than putting flashdrives in Mason jars and placing them in Georgia red clay next to the Flint River, these smart ideas might die in cyberspace with the plans of Michael Steele, Jon Huntsman, and Elizabeth Warren.  In those cyber Mason jars, scholars might one day find the “Dead, See Trolls.”

The Dem Party is dead…trolls, see what your mistakes have done.

Yes, there are those who sought hard to save this republic with logic and positive developments.  Public policy should start with helping the people understand the limited role of government in their lives—balance to between compassion for the needy and a desire to end poverty.  On his best days, Speaker Newt Gingrich would explain that America should be the land of equal opportunity for all…with emphasis being placed on opportunity.  If every kid has a fair shot at success, we have it right.  However, if said kid squanders those opportunities by not focusing on development, being lazy or committing crimes, he gets to live in the reality he created. We are usually our own worst enemies.

Mr. Trump becoming president started when campaign experts learn to tell the people what they wanted to hear rather than what they needed to hear.  Republicans wanted to hear in the 1990s that they were the chosen ruling class who could make decisions affecting everyone without input from anyone else. For example, the 1990s Crime Bill cost billions but crime kept growing—who got paid, their friends who owned prisons.  Since LBJ’s effort to end poverty the Democrats wanted to be the party that poured more money into efforts to help the needy.  However, some of that money should have been spent encouraging the future generations to not be “the needy.”

It’s rough when a kid never had a chance because plans for success never came their way.  Actually, the life portrayed by the Cosby Show did so much for some in my generation and the Obamas in real life have done the same.  Oh, the post White House Obamas will be so very beneficial because they can say what they really want to say to my community….hint: moderation is the key.

Could the current toxic political climate have been avoided?  Of course, you should read the “Dead, See Trolls” because reasonable people like me begged to be at the table.  Moderates can communicate with the Left and the Right and over the last two decades it was often Republican friends who saw the importance of crafting a new southern moderate movement.  The elbow-throwing Tea Party put an end to that goodwill.  The southern Democrat Party is a mess because urban liberals in Atlanta want to push a progressive agenda that doesn’t cotton well with rural conservative Blacks…we can’t win elections in cities alone…ask Hillary about that.

We  tried to tell those latte-sipping liberals from Buckhead that the D.C.-designed Democrat platform was almost as alien to us as the vitriol spewed by those who hijacked the Republican Party. But, those of us who drink sweet tea and occasionally coldbeer from Mason jars in the rural Black community were ignored in November 2016…and that’s after we saved Hillary from Bernie Sanders in the primary.  A rising rural star on the national stage is Rep. Tim Ryan from Youngstown, Ohio.  This guy says the Democrats need people who shower before work and people who shower after work.  I love it.

A troll is a mythical, cave dwelling being having an ugly appearance.  I hope the trolls in the Democratic Party find these Mason jars filled with ideas because their team is dead, see.  I tried to tell them that Trump was a marketing genius who was simply playing dead to win the election.  I spent a year writing/crafting a “Contract With America-like” moderate action plan called the Best Interest Initiative.

The B.I.I. is all about what our community can do to help ourselves with limited government involvement.  Remember, candidate Obama always said that the government often isn’t the answer…often it’s you.  The B.I.I. is based on JFK’s statement “ask not what this country can do for you…ask what you can do for this country.”  What you can do is start being a better you…stop being a knucklehead.  Yes, I said knucklehead.  We talk like that inside my community; we say that with love to those who would destroy our area for some money.

The trolls who run the Democratic Party spent a billion dollars on t.v. ads but rarely sought the existing networks of influence in our community.  In other words, the rich boys got their friends richer but never hit the barbers and funeral home directors.  The trolls thought they had the community because the preachers got white envelopes with Get Out The Vote Cash.  Newsflash, church folks vote anyway—that’s preaching to the choir.  The barbers, coaches and those “pay party tossing” kids are the ones who can move the crowd.

When Trump won that election, the Democrats and Republicans lost the White House because neither wanted him.  The Black community has the numbers to sway most elections in the South.  My friends and I mentioned a plan to Democrats to cultivate the Obamacrats outside Georgia’s biggest cities and they blew it off…the same likely happened in North Carolina, Florida and across the Rust Belt.

Oh, Trump was out there in the sticks.  He told them what they wanted to hear—if he can or should deliver that stuff is another subject.  The Dems trolls should learn from Trump that policy should be bottom up and not top down…it’s called grassroots.

To be honest, I am backing away from constantly watching CNN’s political coverage.  We should spend the next few years listening to the people and teaching cultural moderation to the kids.  A better DNC needs to emerge from the ashes because ignoring rural southerners will get us ghost.

I wanted to put some of my favorite blog posts in this cyber Mason jar for the trolls to find.  If they wanted to talk now, I will be waiting on my front porch with sweet tea…bring white envelopes.

https://bestinterestsinitiative.wordpress.com/

https://projectlogicga.com/2009/12/10/cease-corps/

https://projectlogicga.com/2016/07/27/southside-of-the-tracks-us-vs-them/

https://projectlogicga.com/2016/12/19/southern-rural-democrats-astroturf-vs-sod-grassroots/

https://projectlogicga.com/2016/11/21/ongoing-civil-wars-failure-to-communicatea-new-great-triumvirate/

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Southern Rural Democrats: AstroTurf vs. Sod Grassroots

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , , on December 19, 2016| 1 Comment »

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If politics and public policy are like grass, the Democratic Party is all about AstroTurf.  Yes, the fake grass design for the inside of ballparks is a fitting comparison for the fake grassroots of the Blue Team and one of the primary reasons we have been hammered in elections for the last 20 years.

20 years ago, most rural whites in the Dem Party decided to bounce for the GOP. The remaining Dems lived on the two coasts and in big cities.   To me, a winning national political party has a big tent that is tolerant of diverse views.  The current GOP seeks to be a ruling class that makes decisions for everyone without everyone being at the decision-making table.  The Democrats aren’t much better because they make elitist policy directives in headquarters then spend the election season trying to convince their so-called base to fall in line.

For what it is worth, marketing expert Donald Trump listened to the people and told them he would give them what they wanted—if he can or will is another question.  At the end of the day, it’s about jobs, the economy and federal spending.

Grass is like the community in so many ways.  If you think about it, grass is one of the most common organisms on earth.  In addition to being ornamental, grass secures the top soil.  My brother and I cut an acre of lawn grass with a push mower as kids for years.  Today, I have to convince the lawn care professional with his 5K zero-turn riding mower that grass should be 3 inches.  Long grass has deep roots that stores water and blades that protect roots from the southern sun.

Southern Democrats aren’t cultivating deep, strong roots.  Strong grass will fight weeds by consuming nutrients first.  Oh, you shouldn’t think your lawn will be nice because you have a fence.  Weeds from your neighbors’ yard quickly blow into yours.  In other words, we build strong communities together; trash down the street will be your problem if not addressed.

In south Georgia, lawns are plagued by a tall “V” weed with black seeds at the top.  Newsflash: that’s not a weed.  It’s a grass from Brazil called Bahiagrass that farmers brought to the U.S. for cattle feed.  You must know Bahia to fight it and the Southern Democrats must know the community to improve it.  As the Bible says, you reap what you sow.

What shall we do?  My community should get back to basics; we must reembrace the self-determination of the 1950s.  At the end of the day, the government can’t save you from you.  In the age of Trump, we should cultivate the community with positive personal actions rather than waiting for the government (local, state or federal) to correct problems of our creation.

We should spend the next year focusing on listening to the people and having frank discussions about the limited role of government.  Oh, the liberal elites in the Democratic Party don’t want to hear that.  The DNC and those who wanted a different president-elect spent over a billion dollars and got waxed.  Van Jones pointed out that most of that money went to rich Ivy League types for media buys and T.V. ads while regular folks were expected to do grassroots for pennies or for free.

The Democrats should be cultivating sod right now.  Sod is the rolled top level of grass grown on specialist farms.  It’s often genetically engineered for that region to be pest resistant and to spread eventually.  If you paid for sod and let your grass grow tall and deep, you spent less money on grass cutting.  While strong grass might need cutting ever three weeks, weeds will popup overnight.  If you fall on Astroturf, you will get burnt because it’s not natural…not organic.  You can ask Hillary Clinton about that.  That Donald Trump had a message tailor-made for every area and his people ate it up.  You can’t design southern Democrat grassroots if you grew up in the city—the concrete jungle.   You must ask the people who they are and what they need…if you have a solution, tell them.  If you don’t have a solution, tell them.  If their actions are the root of their problems, tell them…carefully.

My organic friends and I have a southern grassroots sod crafted for over a decade and every two years the Dem elite say “no thanks…we got this.”  No, what you have is a trash-filled yard over-taken by weeds.  They put astro-turf over that mess every other November and wonder why that doesn’t work.  They shouldn’t be surprised if ignored rural Moderates start looking elsewhere.

Our sod (less government solutions) can be found at  https://bestinterestsinitiative.wordpress.com/long-term-bii/

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Ongoing Civil Wars: Failure To Communicate/A new Great Triumvirate

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , , on November 21, 2016| 1 Comment »

cool_hand_luke

Cool Hand Luke

On Thanksgiving 2016, the Civil War is heavy on my mind.  You might ask “which civil war” and that would be a good question.  The purpose of this writing is to propose a new Great Triumvirate similar to the original one formed by statesman Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina.

clay

Do we even have any statesmen around the current messy political/policy system?  Possible new triumvirate members include Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Governor John Kaisch, Senator Bernie Sanders, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Secretary Colin Powell, Michelle Obama, Secretary Condi Rice and Governor Jon Huntsman.   Personally, I feel these people love righteousness and compromise more than political parties and one-upsmanship.

When you live in a place with extremely opposing opinions, you need a Henry Clay, the Great Compromiser, who would seek reasonable solutions and avoid taking the nation over the cliff.  Yes, some folks have a “my way or the highway” mentality and actually love bickering, conflict and war.  Remember, Clay brokered compromises that settled disputes between free states and slave states…putting off the coming civil war.

With all of this current talk about people leaving the country, we should remember that Clay was president of the movement that created Liberia, an African colony for free American Blacks, because he was a slaveholder who knew the institution would be a problem for a young nation.  Dr. Condi Rice says today that racism is America’s birth defect.  I say we will learn to work together as brothers or perish as fools.

We can’t just say “Civil War” anymore because there are several in my mind.  The Civil War of 1864 still simmers in the blood of many southerners.  Those confederates wish the South won the war and wish Blacks were still slaves, all dead or sent back to Africa.  Arguing with them is a fool’s errand but make no mistakes about it…that war goes on today in hearts and minds.

In the Black community, we have an ongoing civil war over the role of government.  On one side, we have people who think the government will protect and promote them…government is my daddy.  If you think government cares about you, you should grow up and that liberal mentality stops us from becoming who we really should be.  On the other side, you have my friends who think Black improvement in this nation always started with a well-designed and well executed personal life which leads to economic power similar to the visions of Marcus Garvey and Malcom X.

Another serious civil war in my life is the cultural battle between traditionalists and the hip hop culture.  As I often write, hip hop is doing more inadvertently to destroy the Black community than the Klan.  While I support artistic freedom of expression, the glamorization of thugs, crime and street life is a cancer on the minds of our youth….it’s the inmates running the asylum.

Inside the Democrat Party, we see a battle between the real liberals who supported Bernie Sanders and the southern old school Blacks.  Remember, the South’s support of Hillary Clinton is the only reason she didn’t fall to Sanders in the primary.  I wonder who is left in the Dem Party since Dixiecrats are long gone, Rust Belt blue collar Whites just left and church-attending Black southerners are uncomfortable with some social issues.

The Republican Party is also in a civil war because the country club establishment has been overtaken by the fiery “my way or the highway” people.  Some of these people think the recent election results were the start of a second actual civil war.

I wish I knew what Henry Clay would say about our nation today.  For the record, some of those free Blacks who when to Liberia ended up oppressing the Africans they found there…the hell you say.

In 1991, the rock band Guns N’ Roses had a song called “Civil War” that started with a sound snippet from the movie Cool Hand Luke “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don’t like it any more than you men.”

We don’t have statesmen anymore.  The people who I think should be in a new Triumvirate should function outside of government because as President Reagan said “government is the problem.”  Failure to communicate has some Americans thinking they are more American than others, has some people thinking government has a blank check to support their weak behinds and has working people thinking that voting isn’t important.

Hell, America almost feels like Luke rolling down the hill in that movie.  But, America always gets back up.  Adversity made this great nation and we are still a work in progress.

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Presidents Aren’t Jesus/I Want My Southern Black Country Back

Posted in politics on November 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

On the bright side, I hope southern Blacks living outside big cities realize once and for all that neither major political party cares what we think. There was zero political activity in my community because Democrat leadership in D.C. and Atlanta have always wanted to “run up the numbers” in the city to counterbalance the rural areas.  Well, the Empire struck back.

On “End of the Innocence,” Don Henley sang about “when happily ever after fails…we have been poisoned by these fairy tales”  and “O’ beautiful, for spacious skies..but now those skies are threatening.  They’re beating plowshares into swords..For this tired old man that we elected king.”  “Armchair warriors often fail.”

You know what, I didn’t want to hear her being blame for everything in the world for four  years…go listen to Henley’s Dirty Laundry…”Kick ‘em when they are up…kick ‘em when they are down.”  He did that one at the MTV Bill Clinton Inaugural Ball.

So, can we agree that who the mayor, governor or president is isn’t as important as how you carry yourself.  Oh, moderate Blacks have always thought that but the liberal elites running the Blue Team didn’t want to hear that.  It’s about C.D.C.: Choices, Decisions and Consequences. Newsflash: that’s how the Obamas got to be so sharp and together.  You keep your nose clean, do your school work, avoid fools, pay attention in church and honor your family.

If we can accept Bush over Gore, we can live with this election.  The Blue Team helps people who don’t in turn vote.  Bottomline.  Those non-voters can feel the wrath. ..let me stop with the drama.  Candidate Obama always said that one person can’t fix what is wrong in your life.  That is up to you.  Presidents aren’t Jesus.

Actually, this election could be a heaven-sent blessing.  You know now that the government doesn’t care about you so you need to get yourself together.  We need to step away from constantly considering politics because it’s a dirty game.  Politics is the art of controlling elections while governing is the science of better functioning government.  Those people spent billions saying bad things about each other; billions that could have been better spent.

For me personally, I am done with the current Blue Team and Red Team.  Mr. Trump is really a one man gang…he took it by his dam self.  The Blue Team is about gay folks, progressive folks, Latino folks and urban folks.  They never listen to my country Black -ss so peace.

We should spend the next year in a southern Black family conversation about getting our Southern Black country back from elements on the far right, far left and hip hop thugs.   As quiet as it is kept, upright Black folks never really depended on the government.  As a kid, we knew who we were and we knew whose we were.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Liberals have created a climate of entitlement with people and surprisingly those people don’t vote.

So, the end of that Henley song is about heaven.  I didn’t know that Bruce Hornsby wrote those lyrics—you remember his “that’s just the way it is…somethings will never change.”

“Who knows how long this will last

Now we’ve come so far, so fast

But, somewhere back there in the dust

That same small town in each of us.

And let me take a long last look

Before we say good bye

Just lay your head back on ground

And let your hair fall all around me

Offer up your best defense

But this is the end

This is the end of the innocence.

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Hillary vs. Trump: Wife vs. Bride

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on November 6, 2016| 1 Comment »

hillary-clinton-donald-trump

I want to summarize this crazy election year.  Hillary Clinton is a great person who should be president.  Donald Trump is one of the best marketing experts in global history; the guy is a genius.

There is a difference between being a bride and a wife.  A bride is a woman who does an outstanding job of putting on a wedding or getting someone/everyone to marry her.  A bride looks good in a fancy dress and is stunningly graceful on her wedding day.  A wife is a lady built to be part of a healthy union until death does them part.  Wife material is built for the long haul rather than one day.

Some of the best brides don’t stay married long; the relationship was based on the big day only.  She just wanted to be princess for the weekend.  Some of the best marriages involved good husbands and wives who went to the courthouse.

It’s not about Clinton and Trump; it’s about us.  Bride Trump sold himself to the Republican base better than all of those people on the primary stage.  Jeb Bush, John Kasich and maybe Marco Rubio would have been good presidents/”wives” but they couldn’t get to the chapel pass Trump.

Democrat rock stars (the Obamas, Bill Clinton, Al Gore) shouldn’t have to beg and cajole Black people to the polls.  Oh, if Blacks alone would vote in the South and Midwest, this election would be over.  Hell, Al Gore never should have had a hard time with George Bush after the wonderful state of the union created by Bill Clinton.

If Black America doesn’t think it’s important to protect Obama’s legacy by electing a brilliant proven leader like Hillary Clinton, we deserve to go back to the future with Mr. Trump and those who want their country stolen from the Indians back.

Yesterday, I learned the saying “you can’t teach what you don’t know…you can’t lead where you won’t go.” Hearing the childhood story of Hillary Clinton’s mom broke my heart; they left her alone in an apartment for weeks.  Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney use to say soldiers don’t get medals..they get scars.

Hillary can teach what she knows because she has scars…she knows the plight of working people much better than Mr. Trump.  We shouldn’t hate on Trump for never being poor but he is ill-suited to govern.  House Speaker Tom Foley use to say “any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a carpenter to build one.”

After this election is over, both parties will consider their futures.  The two billion dollars spent being ugly could have done some much good.  The GOP knows they must court minorities while pulling back from the far right.  The Democrats know the Bernie Sanders socialist segment is growing. At the end of the day, Black should conduct our lives in a manner that doesn’t directly involve who the local, state and federal leaders are because they are busy being brides rather than wives.

 

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I Voted: Uppity Peach Point

Posted in politics on October 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

peach

At this pivotal point in our political history, we should all vote and get everyone else to do the same.  For the time we spend on brain candy (App games, social media, waterskiing squirrel videos), how can we as Georgians not take 15 minutes to vote.

People fought hard to keep some of us from voting and I can’t honor my ancestors by blowing off voting but I can sit in a high school football game for hours.  Really?

We spent the last year talking about social justice—no justice no peace. Well, voting selects the local, state and federal leaders who make policies regarding those matters.  This blog calls it “the Squeaky Wheel gets the grease.”

After voting in Georgia, we should take a picture pointing at our peach sticker…put that on facebook and the gram.  Georgia is like a peach—it can be sweet and nourishing if ripe…it can be rotten at times.  If you get at the peach wrong, you could break a tooth on it’s core.  The seed at the core could provide the start of a tree which feeds many.

In the Fort Valley area, they use to plan the school year around the peach harvest.  Of course, kids who looked like me didn’t need much education because the fields or the kitchen was to be their only work options for life.  Voting, blood, sweat and tears changed that for the better.  Vote early and take Ray Ray with you.

I voted within the first hour I could..like that adds emphasis or something.  I still think state law requiring i.d. feels like being in a Soweto township in South Africa.  So, I produce my “papers” in the form of my passport just to be uppity.

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For Granted: Post-Obama and Black Trump Supporters

Posted in politics on October 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

sew

When this messy election is over and Brother Obama prepares to exit the White House, Black Southerners should ponder what is in our best interest moving forward.  To me, both major parties have been hijacked by their far extremes.  Reasonable moderates and centrists are being ignored.

Someone emailed me a deep article from the Atlantic about Black Trump supporters.  It’s a must read. Mr. Trump seems to think all Black folks live in an intercity ghetto while Democratic liberals ignore rural Blacks.  The DNC wants to win elections in cities and seem surprised to learn that rural Blacks are rather conservative.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently said that the percentage of the U.S. population living in rural areas is roughly equal to the percentage of African Americans.  While I am part of both demographics, America can never disrespect the heartland because farming feeds the world and everyone wants to eat.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/trump-black-supporters/502502/

I am concern how close Trump came to being president.  Black America needs representation at every policy table.  I appreciate my Black conservative friends’ efforts to make the GOP less hostile and I think they appreciate our struggle in the Dem Party to focus more on personal achievement and less on what the government can give you.

The sewer nature of this election season has me weary; let’s get this over quickly.

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Appreciation for Candidate Trump, the Georgia Opportunity School Board Amendment and Path to the Black Middle Class

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on October 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

trump

We will work together as brothers or perish as fools.  Lawd, I evidently have a wide array of friends and this election season has created a civil war on my facebook page.  As Rodney King famously said, “Can’t we all just get along.”  Hell nawl  .

This country was built on a shaky foundation—stolen from the Natives, stolen labor from Africa, women were second class citizens.  At some point, there would be a correction or reconciliation.  Of course, those who benefited would be reluctant to change.

Donald P. Trump didn’t create the current climate.  Hell, Trump is a professional personality—more P.T. Barnum than anything.  The guy is an opportunist who recognized the anger of a certain part of the population…a part of the population that really has nothing to do with him.

I appreciate Donald Trump for saying out loud what others are thinking.  Basically, they want their country back—the country they stole fair and square.  The country that affords certain privileges based on skin color.  (Oh, don’t act like African Americans didn’t do the same thing inside our race…running behind redbones, so-called good hair etc….cast the first stone, my brother.)

Malcolm X often taught that progress starts with putting your true feelings on the table—even if you are considered wrong by others.  If he was with us today, he would hate Trump’s views of Islam but appreciate him saying what was really in his twisted head.

To me, the biggest supporter of Hillary Clinton for president is Donald Trump with a properly functioning microphone.  Mr. Trump, please continue to speak your mind.  If Trump becomes president, those who Democrats seek to help deserve whatever the blank happens to them because they didn’t vote.  I don’t like being separated from my brothers but my brothers vote.

I also appreciate the debate surrounding the Georgia amendment that would give the governor’s office the right to privatize or closed under performing schools.  First, many of these schools are in our communities and kids should have good educations.  However, this horrible amendment is a Trojan Horse; a hidden effort to open up school choice.  Again, Malcolm X acknowledged men and women who spoke their minds rather than those who had undisclosed agendas.

Actually, school choice is a debate we can have because parents should have the options of moving their kids to private schools with a little of their money or teaching them at home.  Personally, I think homeschool kids are too sheltered but that is just me.

Our community must vote because leaders make decisions involving everyone based on what they hear from the few who vote and speak up.  The same people seeking to get their nation back with Trump are also trying to figure out a way to keep their kids away from certain kids and certain teachers.  It’s the resegregation of the school systems.

Let me say something rough: many schools are jacked up for real.  However, I am the only one who will honestly say that poor schools start with poorly prepared kids and parents.  Oh, the school is a lovely building and the teachers well-trained but rotten, half-raised kids will deflate the spirit of teachers and poison the educational process for the majority of youth.

Some kids are raised by the streets and crime-oriented sexy music videos.  They don’t know how to focus in school because video games have spoiled their minds.  Of course, we could focus at school because we learned how to pay attention at church.

We should consider the path Blacks have taken into the middle class. If you think about it, the surest way into the middle class for many Blacks was government work: the military, civil service, nursing and most of all teaching.  This election is an attack on that path because a Trump White House would make the military risky for everyone, the state governments want to privatize civil jobs and the Opportunity School Board Amendment would lead to private companies running schools.  Those companies would replace experienced teachers with new educators who cost less.

 

Bottomline: Good communities, schools and nations don’t happen without honest debate, focused people and hard work.

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Town Hall “Party With A Purpose”: Hear from Everyone

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , , on September 27, 2016| 1 Comment »

grown

We can disagree without being disagreeable.  I swear my friends are all over the place politically and culturally; life would be boring otherwise.  It is wise to listen to everyone (even if you know they are dead wrong, lying or trying the wreak havoc.

During the Civil Rights Movement, Atlanta was proud to be the city to busy doing business to hate.  It’s my understanding that BMW didn’t want to locate a plant in the Savannah area because they were concerned with racial drama among the workforce.  While some are acting silly, others are addressing issues as part of a reasonable community and moving forward financially.

Atlanta is the best Black city in the world and Georgia is the best Black state in the union.  We should manufacture everything here and ship it all to the world on the interstate system and the Port of Savannah.  Of course, industrial attraction starts with a quality schools and livable communities.  Those who like to “wreak havoc” recreationally are killing the golden goose.

If I had a little funding, my blog would host ten or so Town Hall meetups around south Georgia—like a good old fashion political stump.  We should create events so all sides can make their points to someone other than those like them, the proverbial preaching to the choir.  In modern times, the political stump presentation is beamed around the world instantly with social media.

The key effort here is to get people voting and speaking up.  If you don’t vote, decisions don’t reflect a cross-section of the community.  Personally, I am a moderate Democrat who doesn’t care for the Opportunity School Board Amendment or the Republican candidate for president.  However, I would have a coke and slice of pizza with my friends who feel differently just to fairly hear them out.  Actually, you formulate better responses to them when you hear them and at the end of the day, that respectful dialog is what grown folks do.

Now, to get 50 or so trendsetter members of a community into a venue, the “party with a purpose” approach is cool with me.  We could pick a café and pack the place with people leaving a high school football game.  It would take much to identify a local host or two that everyone follows to the hippest functions…and it’s free too.  Finally, we would be creating a network of people linked by social media.

Will this find funding in a few weeks?  It would take the right supporters but it’s better than pouring money into those same old, same old T.V. ads.

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Trump, Clinton, Kaepernick and Condoleezza: A More Perfect Union

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , on September 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

It’s not about Trump or Clinton at the end of the day.  It’s about you…me…us.  Those two rich people will be just fine.  Americans need to decide what they want from our government relative to what our government can or should provide.

As strange as it may sound, my community might improve after having Trump in the White House because every family will officially know that the government is operated by people who won’t be doing much for you.  We all know parents who did so much for their kids that the children grew up soft and dependent—give me, give me, give me.  On the other hand, other kids come from families who struggled to put food on the table.  These kids started grinding the second they became adults and never looked back.

The fundamental question about the government safety net programs is this: is it fair to tax those hard working Americans to help those who are too “cute” to do entry level work.  So, you are too cool to pick fruit or flip burgers but you have no problem having other people feed your little kids.

At the end of the day, improving your life starts with you…not Trump or Clinton.  My friends come from across the political spectrum.  We must work together to write the next chapter in American history.  America isn’t perfect…the only perfect anything ever on this earth was Jesus in my opinion. But, we still strive to “form a more perfect union.”  This nation was constructed on a shaky foundation because all men here were not created equally.

I will always love my southern homegirl Dr. Condoleezza Rice.  Dr. Rice rightfully said that racism is America’s birth defect.  Oh, that “blank” was deep.  So, quarterback Colin Kaepernick started a national debate that should help some people understand that something to you might be something completely different to others.  At the same time, the glorification of crime and guns in some hip hop hurts my community more than the current Klan…real talk.

Let’s do this before the election: we should have a cool forum series around a conference table on what we should do in the Black community moving forward.  Clinton and Trump will spend billions getting at each other but see if my friends and I can fund this project.

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2011/12/condi-rice-racism-is-a-birth-defect-we-will-never-be-free-of-do-you-agree/

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Hillary Wins Georgia If the Grassroots Are Real…Fingers Crossed

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , on August 23, 2016| 2 Comments »

grass

Black grassroots

In Georgia, the Democrats don’t seem to care about Democrats outside the cities…Atlanta, Augusta, Albany, Macon, Columbus and Savannah.  No candidate can win Georgia statewide without cultivating some rural areas—keep it close in the country and go over the top in the cities.

However, the Dem elite in D.C. and Atlanta only see metro Atlanta as the big prize.  Then, these geniuses meager efforts outside Atlanta consist of running radio ads produced in Atlanta.  If not for the far Right being nutty, the GOP could have capitalized on Dems ignoring rural southerners.  They want statewide candidates who can self-fund so their fancy Buckhead cohorts can get paid consulting fees and media buy fees.

The area from Warner Robins to Thomasville to Brunswick to Statesboro produced some nice numbers for Obama twice but there is little buzz here now…no fire.  If Hillary Clinton wants to win Georgia and if someone else wants to be a Democrat Governor or Senator, it starts with not ignoring big sections of the state this year.  My friends and I are never called but we have been in the middle of the grassroots mix for years.  A recent Washington Post article states that Atlanta again would be the target of Dem campaign monies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-campaign-to-devote-more-money-workers-to-arizona-georgia/2016/08/09/46150062-5e2e-11e6-8e45-477372e89d78_story.html

 

The question becomes this: how long will southern rural moderate Democrats be ignored before we start exploring other options.  Hey, if Dems can’t win in my region, shouldn’t I consider the less crazy of GOP candidates during primaries.  Why do you think this Democrat voted in the Republican GOP primary for John Kasich….to avoid this: President Trump.  If all of Georgia and the nation doesn’t vote, the President Trump nightmare might become reality.

If not for Blacks in the South, Bernie Sanders would be the Democrat nominee.  Donald P. Trump might still be president because his side is about to release two months of hell on Hillary Clinton.  Some of that mud could turn off Clinton Dust Belt voters but southern Blacks will be down with the Clintons and Obamas.  However, we don’t need a zillion dollars in T.V. ads…half a zillion will do.  The other half zillion needs to be used in good old Get Out The Vote with a social media twist….party with a purpose.

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Thank you Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed: Don’t Support Candidates Who Support Trump

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , on August 16, 2016| 1 Comment »

kasim

Mayor Kasim Reed

Is it inappropriate to ask a mayoral candidate who he supports for governor or president?  If it is, I humbly apologize to my mayor because I did just that.  See, local officials are the foundation of state candidates and state candidates are the same to presidential, senatorial and congressional candidates.

Of course, smart local officials dance around those questions because voters might like them but hate presidential candidates.  On the other hand, mayors and city council members seek federally funded and state administered funding.  While those grants are supposed to be merit-base, friends or foes in certain places could be “huge.”

Everyone knows the Democrats in Georgia are being too nice in the arena; they love to make nice with the other side.  But, how many times will the other side play hard ball before we start throwing some elbows also.

Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed has good elbows and he is dumbfounded by Democrats supporting GOP Senator Johnny Isakson.  While Isakson is the coolest Republican since Saxby Chambliss left, he can’t be that cool to support Donald Trump.  Every member of the Senate and most of the House are more presidential material than Trump but party members feel compelled to back him.  Then, the weak Democrats allow major party figures the option of supporting Isakson.  From middle school algebra, we remember “a=b and b=c then a=c.”  In other words, birds of a feather flock together.

http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/08/15/kasim-reed-rips-into-georgia-republicans-who-fail-to-denounce-donald-trump/

No sir, you’ll aren’t going to scapegoat Donald Trump after the elections.  Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Trump drives out huge numbers while driving away huge numbers.  We know some sneaky Americans have a reputation of using people then wondering why they are around..i.e. slavery.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the smartest Americans but when ask about slavery he said it was like having a tiger by the tail.  I think he knew that slaves were people but he liked staying paid.

My conservative friends are generally decent people but their party will try to win by any means necessary.  That “win at all cost” mentality started when Donald Trump was still a Democrat.  No, no, no, Trump isn’t Hitler but his use of nonsense propaganda to whip the people into a rage or a frenzy is rather Nazi-like.

Then after one of the ugliest periods in human history, the German people tried to act like they didn’t know what Hitler was doing.  B.S.

The GOP has already started to distance themselves from Trump but not so fast.  We will remember who supported this farce candidacy when you run in the future and as the demographics of our state change.  While a Republican might still get an office, it might be GOPers who closer to the center and away from the far Right people who selected Trump over much better candidates.

Because Trump used fire to win the nomination, Democrats should use nice fire to get the base out and that doesn’t start with our so-called leaders siding with candidates who side with Trump.  Hillary Clinton’s official campaign, the DNC and the state Democratic Party are too nice to get at them on an Art of War style but we can get it done and win the state.

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Georgia Dems Need Unity To Stop B.S. Artist Trump

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on August 9, 2016| 1 Comment »

kramer_cosmo

Where is the fire and energy the Democrats need to win in November in Georgia?  From an organizational standpoint, Georgia Democrats aren’t there for Hillary or Obama.  Rep. David Scott decides to endorse Senator Johnny Isakson while former Senator Sam Nunn and former Governor Roy Barnes are giving money to the senior senator.

I have voted for Senator Isakson in the past but he doesn’t get this Dems vote after getting behind Donald Trump for president.  With some party unity, Jim Barksdale could beat Isakson and help the Dems take the Senate back.

Trump didn’t create the nasty environment on the far Right; that ugliness has been brewing for decades.  He just decided to become the leader of it because he is the quintessential B.S. artist.  CNN Fareed Zakaria explained Trump’s B.S. skills recently.

We should acknowledge the conservatives that put country over party by saying they wouldn’t vote to make Trump leader of the free world.  Jeb Bush said from the beginning that he wouldn’t get in the mud to win the nomination and you see where he is now.  Trump called him “low energy Jeb” but that was actually presidential coolness.

Birds of a feather flock together.  If you insist on riding with Trump, you consign his B.S.  Like it or not, your party has been high-jacked by radicals.  Yes, we are looking at the radicalization of the far Right just like segments of Islam is radicalized as well as segments of Christianity.  While we can have strong beliefs, Trump is fueling a movement that views America as a country belonging to certain people for certain reasons—they stole it from the Indians fair and square.  Talk radio and Fox News produce the best hateful rhetoric.

But, Democrats sit around trying to be nice and begging those former Dixiecrats to come back.  We remember when the radicalized Tea Party tried to get Rep. Sanford Bishop out of office.  The same rural folks Bishop had tirelessly served for years sat idly as ugliness and con artist silliness was hurled.  Check this: your friends don’t stand around while B.S. like this is happening.  But, the Georgia Democrat leadership blow it off and want to make nice.

Donald Trump was the leader of that birther B.S.  He came for the most elegant American since JFK and POTUS still weathered the storm.  Hell, I have a million reasons to vote for Hillary Clinton, the most qualified presidential candidate ever, but I could vote for her as a protest against Trump or as a thank you to Obama.

Trump is a B.S. expert like a professional wrestler or Kramer on Seinfeld. But, he could easily B.S. his way into the White House if everyone doesn’t vote.  Reasonable Republicans denounce his candidacy but those who don’t should have their fitness questioned.  To be fair, I question the Far Left’s “give everyone everything for free” mentality as much as I question the Far Right.

What shall we do to stop Trump?  With secondary regard to the too nice Georgia Democrat leadership, we need to rally the Obama base with hot fire and pure energy. Oh yea, shall we mention that the Democrat leadership are the same people who select and support statewide candidates who can raise millions for T.V. ads.  While ads buys are essential, my community likes good ole Get Out the Vote rallies…perhaps driven my social media.  Campaigns don’t hit your mailbox today because they hit your email box.

Finally, all of Georgia doesn’t live in metro Atlanta.  Sanford Bishop came to Washington after helping Bill Clinton win Georgia.  One of the crowning jewels of his service would be helping Hillary Clinton win Georgia by turning out Columbus, Macon and Albany.  We consider him the leader of Georgia Democrats outside Atlanta so he should also help in areas without much Democrat leadership.

Because the stakes are so high, we really need a grassroots effort to get out all of the Obama voters.  This effort needs to be bold and edgy because we must fight fire with fire.  The Democrat voters need to know what cards Trump played from the bottom of the deck to win the GOP nom. The guy is a good business man but simply not presidential material.

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Must Vote Total Ballot: Local, State and Federal

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on August 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I am blown away by people who don’t vote.  My friends tell me to be nice but forget that.  You can sit in the cold to watch high school football but not vote.  You can play Call of Duty the video game but not vote for or against the guys who decide when, where and how long real troops serve.

Let me, oh let me mention Gore vs. Bush.  So, the Democrats on Capitol Hill helped President Bill Clinton put the nation in good shape but the working people Dems fight for fail to vote.  Al Gore falls to George Bush by a margin that could be one south Florida housing project.  Oh, the conservatives would say how dare you give short-term public assistance to poor people who refuse to pick these citrus crops and maybe they have a point but vote and let your concerns be heard.  Some say the farm workers’ wages are too low…then vote.  Hey, you can protest on the streets but voting and attending city council and school board meetings get stuff changed legally.

Why Vote:

Obama Legacy: If you appreciate the service of President Obama and how First Lady Michelle Obama carries herself, vote to stop Trump from moving into the White House and reversing everything on day one. As President Obama said recently, Hillary Clinton would be the most qualified person to enter the Oval but you know how it is for women in a man’s world. She will put her personal style of diplomacy on the office and that style is similar to Clinton and Obama.

Healthcare: Trump can’t wait to dismantle Obamacare on the federal level but don’t sleep on the governors like Deal in Georgia who won’t expand Medicaid for all. The insured use the emergency room as a doctor’s office and at that point the illness is costly. If everyone had a minimum level of healthcare coverage, early detection of health problems could save trillions but that would be too much like right. Prevention and wellness would be even better; the doctor tells you to get that weight down and if you don’t, you dug your own grave.  You can’t save people from themselves. Politicians get campaign donations from hospital, drug and insurance lobbyists so maybe it’s true that they want people to remain sick. Vote!

National Defense: Have mercy, are we going to let hothead Trump have the nuclear codes? Everyone has friends and family who joined the military to serve and because the uniform has job security. They see the world, stay paid and learn valuable leadership skills. We should watch who is in the White House and Congress because our best and brightest shouldn’t die because leaders want to act macho.  If the bombing starts, leaders are in that famous “undisclosed location” while my cousin is on the front line.  We must vote if we carry about the troops and their families.

We know big business makes billions when America goes to war; some people think corporate interest want war so they can supply the troops.  Big business does business in a nasty way around the world and when the people get weary of their leaders allowing this exploitation, Wall Street wants the Pentagon to get the situation back to normal.  Our interest in the Middle East is rooted in our thirst for oil.  The next president should have a comprehensive plan to make us energy smarter while being more respectful on the global stage….that John Wayne cowboy stuff doesn’t work anymore.

Jobs/Wages: My hourly wage from UPS in 1983 is still a desired wage today but the cost of everything has gone up. Trump-type CEOs are only interested in the bottom line profits. Mr. Trump rightfully says we don’t make anything in America anymore…and he should know because he is a major exporter of jobs.  Young people must keep their bills low as they train for high tech careers in the new global economy.  Today’s jobs require fewer people so we must elect leaders who create the proper climate for industrial attraction.  The future workers must be sober, focus and attentive because the developing world is enthusiastic about doing better and taking out our position on top.  America IS great today but we must work hard and smart to keep it that way.

Schools: We must elect local, state and federal officeholders who are committed to a good education for all kids. To be honest, the conservatives seem more interested in providing vouchers so their kids can get into private schools or homeschools…just get them away from poor folks. Georgia has a constitutional amendment on the ballot this year that seems to improve underperforming schools but the real purpose is to close or privatize those schools.  You see what they do when you don’t vote.

Better schools start with involved parents who speak proper English 24/7, require reading, reduce T.V. and video games, attend teacher conferences, check homework and vote.

The effort to privatize public schools is an attack on the teaching profession; teaching and the military has traditionally been an opportunity for families to move into the middle class.  The next generation of teachers will also serves as role models and cheerleaders for kids.  We should elect leaders who recognize this reality.

Crime/Freedom: The elected City Council selects a city manager who often selects the police chief who sets the police mentality. The police have always been my friends and if I am wrong, I am wrong.  But, I don’t need police who seem to be overseers of the public. President Bill Clinton got Congress to pass a Crime Bill that included an emphasis on community policing—get out of the car, get to know the people, connect with the youth, honor the seniors and people will appreciate enforcement when it happens.

My community is too busy playing Grand Theft Auto to vote; therefore, real GTA is happening on the streets.  Yes, friends quietly mention that we are killing each other more than the police are killing us.  We must vote for elected officials with compassion; leaders who rightfully encourage all citizens to be cool when dealing with the police and insist that the officers do the same.  Prison is like modern day slavery so all Americans should avoid those places.  State representatives and senators spent decades with that “lock ‘em and toss the key” mindset before realizing that corrections cost more than college.

While we were voting state officials created junk laws and policies like “stop and frisk” in New York and “stand your ground” in the South.  In high crime areas, the police frisk random people but you don’t need to frisk me in Harlem if a crime hasn’t been committed by someone who looks like me.

How, how, how did we let those fools pass Stand Your Ground.  Let me understand this mess: if I feel like I am in danger (not real danger, just I feel endanger) I can start shooting rather than walking away. It’s the cowboy mentality and mind you, I think all of those hip hop youth are dangerous thugs.  Stand Your Ground is open season on people who don’t look like you. i.e. college students in timberland boots, White guys with tattoos. Wow.

 

Six reasons to vote but check this: the last six times I voted early, it didn’t take 10 minutes.  A football halftime show last longer but this isn’t a game…the stakes are too high.  Washington and Atlanta officials whisper that poor people don’t vote and stats say they are right.  I say we all should vote in every election for every ballot item.

Finally, there is something to be said about association.  The conservatives who openly denounce the farce candidacy of Donald Trump should be commended.  The same can be said about the vast majority of Muslims who abhor terrorism and regular citizens who would never advocate gun attacks on the police. Reasonable people who are quietly standing around as the GOP is being hijacked by far right zealots should be ashamed.  It wasn’t the Klan doing all the nasty stuff during Jim Crow.  State, local and federal elected officials were doing the same things because we weren’t allowed to vote.  Vote or we are going back to the future.  In the spring, Trump said he was going to “act” presidential after the primary.  After winning the White House, I think he would act like himself…like a dangerous tyrant.

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Southside of the Tracks: Us vs Them

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on July 27, 2016| 1 Comment »

Wilson's Chapel UMC Rural Setting

Us vs. Them and this side vs. that side has me weary.  I am on the side of right.  But, we should consider the plight of the southside today…southside of town, of the state and of the nation.  Oh, it’s an issue because the governor wants to control schools on the southside, Atlanta feels it’s carrying South Georgia at times, and the America South doesn’t get the respect it deserves.

Traditionally, southern towns were divided by railroad tracks and my community was on the southside.  Some of us wax nostalgic for Black businesses, Black schools, and Black neighborhoods.  Was integration a two edged-sword?  The November ballot includes a constitutional amendment to create a so-called Opportunity School District.  The OSD would be a statewide district and the governor’s appointee could closed an underperforming school or privatize it.

In many cases, the schools on the list are the last neighborhood schools on the southside of their towns.  Schools, hospitals and governmental buildings often serve as institutional anchors of an area.

In many Georgia towns, the battle isn’t northside vs. southside; it’s city vs. county.  Let’s be real, southern White people love owning land; I like that myself.  If you have several acres in the country, it seems like your own kingdom or estate.  Fox News and conservative talk radio have those people retreating to their forts…guns in hand.

If you notice, the new schools are in the county or on the outskirts of town because the White exodus left a Black center.  “Wait a minute I might live in the county but my tax dollars pay for too much…federal, state and local. I should still control the city.”  If you are a millionaire in the county, Kesha who works at the plant has more pull in town than you…if she would only vote.  The money-having White minority who live in town controlling everything would be American apartheid.

On the state level, Georgia’s governmental power struggle is between Metro Atlanta and North Georgia.  The governor and a disproportionate number of leaders are from North Georgia. The reason why is simple…they vote every time up there.  South Georgia seems like an afterthought.  Newsflash, every dadgum body can’t live in the Atlanta….and that statement comes from people living in Atlanta.

Nationally, the South has it’s own vibe/favor.  I am going to scream if I continue to hear and read “urban” as a synonym for “Black” in the news and on BET.  Blacks who live in the country want to be in the country.  We should be approached differently than our cousins in the city.  If not for racism and lack of employment, many of those city Blacks would love being back in the piney woods.  If they sold their ATL McMansions and got acres in the county, where would current county folks flee to next?

There is a growing sentiment that the Democrat establishment cares more about the LBGTQ community and the undocumented Latino community than southern Blacks.  Bernie Sanders would have beaten Hillary Clinton if not for Blacks in the South.  I don’t agree with my friends that think all Blacks wanted from the election of Obama was for him to be Black….that’s bull.  We appreciate President Obama’s service…period.

In summary, we must vote, speak up and stay vocal because the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you don’t vote, you have zero right to complain about President Trump’s view of the southside…typing President Trump was difficult.

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