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Posts Tagged ‘democrats’

Sociology: Not Politics

sociology_wordle

Sociology and not politics should be the discussion topic first.  With secondary consideration for elected officeholders on all levels, how we function as a society and or as a culture is much more significant.  Sociology is the study of the development, structure and functioning of human society.

America is a free society and you can make several puns from that statement.  Yes, a citizen is free to select a line of work and decide when and with whom to have children.  However, the consequences of those decisions can affect employability and employability affects the ability to care for children…innocent children.  When blue-collar workers go on break, lazy rascals who are too cool to work for minimum wage is a popular topic of discussion. “….and we get taxed to feed their kids while they sit around smoking and playing video games….looking for a free check.”

In my subculture, you want to help someone who listens, is cautious and doing their best to help themselves.  Democrats support policies that provide opportunities (leveling the playing field) for working class families and that is cool.  But, those who are shady, who love struggling and who don’t even vote are getting less sympathy from me.

We can’t continue as a society that constantly looks to mayors, governors and presidents to dramatically fix what we broke in our lives.  Congressmen and senators didn’t force you to be silly in school while others applied themselves.  The police didn’t persuade you to live a life of crime.

I am a moderate/centrist Democrat who would love to hear a candidate say that officeholders are limited in their roles and missions.  The political system is broken because our society is broken.  Everyone is a victim but the real culprit is in the mirror.  We need to spend this year listening to innovative social scientists and brace ourselves for their solutions because the truth hurts.

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sod1

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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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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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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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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trojan-horse-in-troy-city

The November election in Georgia is important because the Governor is trying to slip an education Trojan horse into every school system.   The Opportunity School District constitutional amendment sounds harmless or helpful: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?”

Intervene.  Intervene how?  The Governor’s Office, not the state department of education, would take over certain schools with the option to declare them charter schools and privatize these schools.  “Oh, you went to a school so bad that the state took it over…what a stigma…do you know what stigma means?”

First, my concerns aren’t about Democrats and Republicans.  When Governor Deal was a congressman from the northern section of Georgia, he did a fine job representing the people of that region.  However, Georgia is a big and diverse state with different regions.  Muhammed Ali once said that the problem with Atlanta is that it is surrounded by Georgia.  Come on, champ, some of us prefer the rest of Georgia.

My point is that the conservative region above Atlanta doesn’t understand that schools fail for various reasons and only bloggers will admit that the primary reasons might be home life—little Johnny can’t focus at school if home is rough.  Of course, we all want kids to be ready to learn, focused and prepared to concentrate like we were…and we were because we grew up focusing from the front pew of church.

Wait a second, my conservative friends have been fighting against federal or state control of local governmental matters for 40 years.  Generally, they would hate a state officer telling them what to do with their local schools.

History

Some ultra conservatives have been trying to resegregate schools since Brown vs. the Board of Education.  Paying property taxes to fund a school full of kids whose parents don’t pay property taxes burns them up.  The situation is exacerbated by the notion that “those kids” at times are the discipline problems that make the public schools unacceptable.  So, Mr. Property Owner must go deeper into his pockets to pay for private school.  For the record, everyone should cheer for the academic success of every child because you want to have an intelligent labor force to attract well-paying industries.  If you don’t pay for school, you will pay in time in prison cost…Georgia State University or Georgia State Penitentiary.

Ultimate Real Deal

The Opportunity School District is a Trojan horse that would open the door to privatizing public schools and taking control of schools from local leaders and citizens.  I bet you will find some corporations that run schools at the center of this idea.  Remember, they tried the same thing with privatizing prisons—built the prisons and they got rich off mass incarceration.  Orange is the New Black is based on facts.

This deal is even cuter. This plan goes down like this: Rather than cherry-picking the best students and putting them into charter schools or magnet schools, you open the door to cherry-picking the worst schools or students, turn them over to private companies and the remaining students will be better off.

Yes, something must be done about under-preforming schools and the effort will require an honest analysis of all factors…including students, parents and environment.  But, the governor’s office taking over schools is not the answer.

Hillary Clinton Smiling

You know that Democrat voters in Georgia are experiencing an enthusiasm problem.  They aren’t necessarily hyped about voting for president because the national media keeps saying that Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida are the only swing states this side of the Mississippi River.  Clinton will win those states and with the help of Republicans running from Donald Trump, Georgia and North Carolina are on the toss-up list.

Clinton should be smiling because this crazy Opportunity School Board mess would light a fire under unlikely registered voters.  If presented to the people correctly, OSB could be a game changer.  Wait, it gets better.  Real money is flowing around the state to stop this ill-conceived amendment.  Traditionally, Dems raise money in Atlanta to spend in say Florida but this year, Hillary and maybe the U.S. Senate candidate Jim Barksdale might win by riding the coattails of the anti-Opportunity  School Board movement.

Bloggers are ready to stop OSB with rallies, cookouts, tailgates, receptions and radio spots.  Georgia Dems can be elitists at times—elbowing each other for glory.  We don’t have time for that crap this time because the stakes are too high…what’s in the balance is the future of our kids.  We won’t let them recreate a second class school system based on race, region, or income. I think they want rural school systems to have a city kids school and county kids school but that is really county kids getting new schools and town kids keeping the old, current schools.

Plan

The plan to stop OSB centers on early voting and educating voters about voting the total ballot.  President Obama recently said at Howard University’s graduation that he would have had a different congress if voters who voted for him would have voted for congress and other ballot items. We must get the word out and it needs to come from trusted members of the community…like me.  They need to put that money on the street…old school style, Maze and Motown playing at rallies, family reunion style.  Oh, I would put a Trojan horse with OSB on him on 3,000 t-shirts in one month.

Citizens should consider their use of time in support of the communities’ youth.  So, you can sit in a high school football game for three hours to support the players, cheerleaders and band but you won’t take 10 minutes to early vote for good candidates and against junk like OSB.  You use your smartphone to play Angry Birds but won’t get angry about conservative politicians trying to quietly take over our schools; we are talking about the same conservatives who constantly called for the end of the state and federal departments of education.  As projectlogicaga.com’s Best Interest Initiative states, everyone has an agenda.

My agenda is to use social media to mobilize and energize every voter this year.

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Turning-Blue-Red-Map

To be frank, Democrats in Dixie carry little weight for either major party.  The Republicans know Democrats aren’t for them.  National liberal Democrats tolerate moderate southern Dems unenthusiastically.

In a presidential general election, the Democrats concede the South and save their ammo for the so-called battleground states.  Dems also put up little fight in southern governors, U.S. Senators, and state legislatures contests.  However, the D.N.C. will hit up southern cities like Atlanta for fancy fundraising.

Nutshell:

Republicans win White House = Dam those rural Dems

Democrats win White House = rural hick Dems didn’t help worth a dam

Not so fast: Southern rural Democrats who are moderate to conservative can support Hillary Clinton in the primaries.  Real city liberals on the two coasts (wine-sipping, tofu-eating, NPR listening) are feeling that Bernie Sanders socialism rhetoric.  Black southern moderates know “give me, give me, give me” is the last thing Blacks in the struggle need to hear at this pivotal time.  Deep inside, President Obama was a “lift yourself up” moderate raised by corn-fed Midwesterners.  The Clintons were Democrat Leadership Council moderates before getting “citified.”

Moderate Democrats should spend the next few months standing up for the center and convincing young Southerners that Sanders playing Santa Claus isn’t the move.

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sleeeppppp

Is it fair to ask a candidate how they voted for another office?  Should you ask them if they are Republican or Democrat if they are running in a non-partisan election?

Personally, I say yes.  Local elected officials are representatives to state and federal governments and officials; they tell other officials what the people are saying.  Unfortunately, the Republican Party has been commandeered by the far Right Tea Party Movement and the first thing they tell their officials is “you don’t need to speak with those who oppose us.”

Wait a second, once candidates become elected officials, they should communicate with everyone to explain their decisions and opinions.  Democrats generally do it.

So, people hate President Obama, say ugly thinks about him and his wife then dare local elected officials to do business with the Obama Administration.  Some mayors and city councilmen don’t want federal grant money because it’s from Obama or was from the Clinton Administration.   They need to get ready for another Clinton Administration.

Folks laugh about questioning Obama’s birthplace and even his religion and local elected officials stand there and smile.  That’s wrong.  I am Democrat but I am quick to walk away from a liberal nut who thinks President Bush had prior knowledge of the September 11 attacks.

Check this: former Representative Jack Kingston got cool points for taking questions in forums at Savannah State University from liberal students.  However, Jack playfully laughed when asked if candidate Obama was from the U.S.A.   Later, Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed was the Georgia point person for getting federal funds to deepen the Port of Savannah, a project that meant countless jobs to our region.  I think Reed took the lead because Obama staffers didn’t want to hear from Savannah congressman Kingston after the birther mess.

Today, Speaker John Boehner announced his resignation.  Yesterday, he was meeting with the Pope and today he is gone.  Boehner is a real dude and must have been overwhelmed by the love of the Holy See.  Mr. Speaker must have told himself that he wanted no more of the Tea Party’s ugly influence on the Republican Party.

So, Rep. Sanford Bishop has done right by American farmers since day one because agriculture is Georgia’s number one industry.  When the Tea Party came for Bishop with lies and made-up silliness, many local elected officials and ag leaders stood by smirking.  We are talking about the same people who were constantly asking Bishop for this and that.

Speaker Boehner came to Albany, Georgia, and had a private meeting at Doublegate Country Club.  You know Boehner tried to tell those knuckleheads that they could beat Bishop fair and square on fiscal issues but attacking a good man’s character was messed up.  The Republican establishment doesn’t control the Tea Party, Fox News or talk radio.  Those nasty attacks made us circle the wagons around Bishop and he won that election by the thinness of margins.

So, for stake of full disclosure, I have voted for Obama twice, Rep. Bishop every time after he beat Charles Hatcher, and a couple of Republicans in the GOP primary because there are no Dem primaries anymore.

Also, like many Black Democrats in Atlanta, I often vote for Senator Isakson because he is a good Georgian.  Sometimes, we need reasonable members on the other team telling fools to shut up.

When these local candidates come around smiling, asked them if they voted for Obama, Bishop, Scott, Romney, Mccain or whoever.  It’s funny how they get votes from Obama supporters but later hang with people who would like to see the worst happen to the president.  I never wanted anything horrible to happen to a president and those who do are sick.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20.

Matthew 7:15-20

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?  17 So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit.  18 A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  20 Thus you will know them by their fruits.

sleep

Look, I am not saying some candidates are evil but they are sometimes around questionable people and say nothing.  Senator John McCain was campaigning for president and an old lady got the mic and said Obama was a Arab.  She didn’t even get the right part of the world.  McCain took the mic back from her and said no madam, no madam…I don’t agree with him on issues but he is a good man.

What about asking candidates how they feel about the Black Lives Matter Movement?  I think that could have been called Black Lives Matter Also.

Questions in general about the confederate flag seem unfair but questions about displaying that flag on city grounds are fair in my opinion.

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150818162003-hillary-clinton-black-lives-matter-meeting-large-169

Secretary Hillary Clinton recommended that Black Lives Matter activists get a more formal plan that involves solutions—good for her; good for them.  One of the biggest question marks about Clinton’s path into the Oval Office is can she get most of the Obama voters back to the polls in November of 2016. If she does, she would be president because she will (in my opinion) receive a surprising percentage of suburban women who voted for McCain and Romney.

Some say bloggers have delusions of grandeur.  Does Obamacare cover the treatment of this condition?  Well, I want to make a few points that will hopefully (unlikely) reach important ears through the six degrees of separation.

Black Lives Matter: While I can appreciate civil disobedience to a certain degree, this bum-rushing the stage stuff would be dangerous in the gun-loving South.  Also, they shouldn’t try that at a Minister Farrakhan speech because there would be more punches than at the last Ronda Rousey fight.

Because Black southerners are more moderate, Black Lives Matter might be surprised that many Blacks here think that equal outrage should be focused on Black on Black violence.

Judge Willie Lockette: Yes, he is grandfather of the football player from the Super Bowl but Lockette’s wisdom in Albany, Georgia, could save more people nationally than the number of fans in that stadium.  I took Administrative Law class from him in grad school so I know his logic is like Thurgood Marshall meets Andy Griffin.   While speaking to a fraternity’s youth group, Lockette broke down his recommendations for encounters with the police.

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2015/jun/10/albany-state-university-holds-justice-while-black/

Lockette, who had a meeting with Simmons and some youth earlier this week to discuss the topic, talked about how young blacks should survive an encounter with police officers.

 “We came up with a list of four Do’s and four Don’ts,” Lockette said. Things not to do include don’t react, don’t reach, don’t run and don’t resist. Running is a major no-no, Lockett said.

 

Lockette’s list of things to do:

 

“Do respect the police even if you think they are wrong; do use restraint; do record everything. You have a cell phone, use it; and do report any problems you might have.

“And always remember, you could be right, but you could also be dead right.”

Candidate Clinton: Winning elections involves three things: getting people to vote for you, getting people to vote against the other person/people and who stays home.  Candidates have big egos and want people to vote for them because they are wonderful.  But, consider the people who won office because people were voting against the other person (it’s like rebound kisses.)  For example, Sonny Perdue became governor of Georgia because people were voting against then Governor Roy Barnes’ changes to the state flag and some changes to the educational system.  Hell, some voters couldn’t pick Perdue out of a line up but he rode that wave.

The “stay home” factor is a two-edged sword for Clinton.  The bad edge involves infrequent voters who voted for Obama because he was such a wonderful person (like Bill Clinton and some think Ronald Reagan) but who would blow off the next election.

The good edge for Clinton will be the fact many conservative voters are so particular about their issues and candidates than the might blow off the GOP nominee because that candidate knocked out their guy/gal or isn’t hardcore enough on a few issues.  From the grave, Reagan is saying take the most electable conservative and from Atlanta reasonable Republican Charlie Harper of Peach Pundit is telling his fellow conservatives that Donald Trump will make Hillary Clinton president for sure.

Solutions: While Black Lives Matters is grabbing mics like Run/DMC, the southern effort to help our communities starts with listening to Judge Lockette’s wisdom about being right and dead.

Secondly, since Clinton called for solutions and an organized plan, someone from her camp (and every political camp) should spend an hour reading Project Logic Ga’s Best Interests Initiative.  BII isn’t actually about what elected leaders can do for the people, it’s about the people functioning smarter after acknowledging that we must do for self first and that there isn’t always a governmental solution to every personal and community problem.  Yeah, I must have some serious delusions of grandeur jumping off because I think those nine blog posts could/should heal the divide in this country.

To Democrats, BII is a starting point to secure moderates and maybe restart the conservative section of the Blue Team.  To Republicans, BII is how you’ll should approach others with conservatism but don’t.

https://projectlogicga.com/best-interests-initiative/

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Secretary Hillary Clinton becoming president could come down to getting out the Democrat base in November 2016 and that won’t be easy because something fresh and different must be crafted.  Yes, she is a thousand times better for our community than most of the GOP candidates but that isn’t enough.  Democrats must frame their approach to our community post-Obama.

History will remember Barrack as a great president—one of my three favorites of all times.  We remember that candidate Obama said he wasn’t running to be the president of Black America and he was correct; he is the president of the all of America.  With that said, Blacks can finally see that who is in high office is secondary to what we do for self.  John F. Kennedy said “ask not what this country can do for you….ask what you can do for this country.”  What you can do is stop messing up and stop waiting for the government to fix your life.

At church yesterday, the head of the Stewards Board made a brief speech that centered on our community now being free but stated that with freedom has come a freedom to rob, kill, steal and do other detrimental things.

I have been saying for years that we are our own worst enemies.  In the post-Obama era, we need an honest and frank discussion about how we carry ourselves.   Hillary Clinton’s campaign could go the way of Al Gore’s if the Black community doesn’t feel that voting is important.  After everything the Clinton/Gore White House did for regular people, these same people didn’t feel the need to vote for Al Gore…unbelievable.

So, the zillions of dollars that will be in the elect Hillary movement should be used in part to explain to our community that Democrats are about us more than the GOP.  No, Blacks won’t vote for the Republican nominee because the crazy part of their party keeps us away but Blacks might stay home.

Surprisingly, Rachel Dolezal and Louis Farrakhan could tilt the balance of power in a way similar to Elian Gonzalez and Al Gore.  Remember, the Cuban boy who was sent back to Cuba by the Clinton Administration.  I knew right then that this issue would determine who would be president and the election came down to south Florida, pregnant chads and all that drama.

Rachel Dolezal is a White civil rights activist who decided at some point to self-identify as Black.  There have always been White Americans doing serious work for the advancement of racial equality; their efforts and achievements exceed those of most Black people.  But, she should have said I am White technically but Black culturally.

The presidential campaign problem is this: Dolezal felt the need to become Black because she likely knew that Blacks are weary of non-Blacks telling us how to feel, think and action.  You know we all loved Bill Clinton as the first socially Black president until we actually had a Black presidential candidate.  Remember, all hell broke loose when the Clintons tried to tell their long-time Black friends that being with Hillary was the thing to do.  But, we (yes, me included) said Obama is special…not because he is Black but because he is just special….Washington, Lincoln, JFK, special.  Oh, Bill Clinton is one of my favorite presidents of all-time but he couldn’t get me away from Barack.

In the South, Blacks now make up most of the Democrat Party because most rural Whites (former Dixiecrats) bounced for the GOP.  However, the leadership of the Dem Party is still rich White people.  In Georgia, I call them the Buckhead crew.  The old saying goes “real power is who is at the table when the money is counted….not who is on the stage during the speeches.”  The Buckhead crew eats and Blacks get the crumbs afterwards…just like the plantations of old.  It’s based on color and that color is money green.

The Buckhead crew and the national DNC try to win in Georgia by getting out the vote in Atlanta.  But Atlanta Blacks are too liberal to vote for moderate Dems like the recent U.S. Senate and governor candidates.  That energy should have been spent getting out moderate to conservative Black voters in areas that support Rep. Sanford Bishop and former Rep. John Barrow.  Hillary could win Georgia with non-Atlanta Blacks, White suburban moms and the ATL base.  Rachel Dolezal has us thinking about who is at the top and that’s thinking that Hillary doesn’t need.

Minister Louis Farrakhan drives the Buckhead crew crazy because he could plant a seed of doubt with Blacks about Democrat leadership.  First, Farrakhan’s views on Middle East and religion aren’t on the table in this blog post.  Peace to all three Abrahamic faiths from this Black Methodist.  I will say that Psalms 82 makes the Dems seem more in tune with Biblical teachings regarding the needy than the GOP.

Psalms 82

82 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

 

In the post Obama era, we remember that Farrakhan and Black nationalists have been encouraging Blacks to do for self, eschew governmental assistance and getting ourselves together for over half a century.  Psalms 82 could play out today like this: help those who might become poor not become poor in the first place.  Paul wrote that those who don’t work shouldn’t eat.  Some feel that Democrats handouts since LBJ have limited Black growth. Farrakhan recently did a radio interview in preparation for another massive Washington rally and everyone on Hillary’s team should listen to the whole thing.

In the future, the conservative movement will realize that Farrakhan’s message to our community is similar to their message.  Hillary Clinton has time to craft the next phase of our community’s relationship with the Democrat Party.  The approach should be more about self-determination than assistance.

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Will the Black vote baton be passed from Obama to Hillary, will it be intercepted by an innovative elephant like Rand Paul (unlikely) or will it fall to the dirt?  With so much time before the presidential primaries, candidates have time to test and research new projects to reach all voters—run it up the flag pole and see who salutes.

Of course, all campaigns should be reading Project Logic Ga’s Best Interest Initiate because I have personally crafted a unique budget-friendly approach to many southern concerns.

https://projectlogicga.com/best-interests-initiative/

Recently, the Hillary Clinton campaign announced the hiring of LaDavia Drane, former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, as outreach director and point person for the Black community.  Ms. Drane seems really bright and hopefully she will acknowledge the diversity of the Black community across this great nation.  To me, the CBC and BET has a thing about being “urban” this and “urban” than; like the Black community in Georgia is only the A-T-L.

Well, a quick look at last year’s elections would indicate that Atlanta Blacks didn’t care for Democrat candidates for governor and U.S. Senate who spent more time bragging about connections to old Dixiecrats and current Republicans than embracing the Democrat in the Oval Office.  Some of the time and energy spent trying to get the Atlanta vote out should have been spent on the rest of Georgia where Black voters are more moderate to conservative.  But, people sitting in strategy rooms in the DNC see Atlanta as a big juicy peach and the rest of Georgia as a pit.

Hillary Clinton could win Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia with ease if the suburban soccer moms support her.  It could be a national landslide for Clinton if that demographic was paired with most of the Obama voters but the uncertain segment of the Obama coalition is called Cousin Pookie.

President Obama coined the term Cousin Pookie for inconsistent voters.  Pookie would be the guy who voted for Obama during the presidential elections but didn’t vote for any other candidates on the ballot (i.e. the Congress that Obama needed).  Pookie doesn’t vote in midterm elections that often.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Starting tomorrow, you can vote too. You’ve got to grab your friends. You’ve got to grab your co-workers. You know, don’t just get the folks you know are going to vote. You’ve got to find Cousin Pookie, he’s sitting on the couch right now watching football, hasn’t voted in the last 5 elections, you’ve got to grab him and tell him to go vote.        

 

That Leader of the Free World Obama really cracks me up; he was so right.  But peep this: Democrats and Republicans should sit down on the couch with Cousin Pookie and ask him why he doesn’t feel the need to vote.  Wait a second, Pookie is over his mom’s house; a house purchased under a USDA first time homebuyers program.   He has countless friends who used military service as a ticket to a secure and better life.  Of course, Pok should be watching CNN during half-time of the football game because the wrong President could send those homeboys and homegirls in uniform into harm’s way for questionable reasons.

What would happen if Pookie was looking for CNN and came across Sen. Rand Paul, a GOP presidential candidate with some interesting views on prison cost and weed.  Paul is making a real effort at outreach.

In Georgia, Cousin Pookie might live in Hotlanta but he has folks from rural areas and the five or six smaller cities.  That would be Cousin Ray Ray.  Ray Ray served in the military after graduating from high school; he has never been in trouble with the law in his life.  When Ray watches the Democrats on T.V., he see a bunch of liberals who are breaking their necks to give free stuff to folks who have never show any personal initiative.  Actually, Ray Ray and his co-workers at the plant are pissed that their tax dollars are being used for more handouts than handups.

Cousin Ray Ray agrees with some of the conservative messages from talk radio in his F-150 or Ram with a Hemi but the next thing you know the talk about the President turns ugly and mean-spirited.

With so much time before next year’s election, the Dems and GOPers have time to listen to Pookie and Ray Ray.  Someone needs to come up with a fresh approach; something that’s about solutions and answers.  In the South, many Whites who voted for Bill Clinton are deep, deep into the conservative movement.  They are going, going, gone like a Braves home run.  To win, Hillary must replace them with suburban voters and rural Obamacrats.

I personally think the conservative movement has been hijacked by the most radical element but the Republican presidential nominee won’t need to say “they are sitting on their tailgates…listening to NASCAR.”  Oh, conservatives vote without encouragement and one voting conservative carries more weight than 1,000 non-voting Cousin Pookies.

There are those who think that listening to positive Cousin Ray Ray’s personal history and opinions will get Ray Ray voting and that Cousin Pookie should be listening to Fox News’ coverage of the GOP primary season.  If Fox doesn’t scare him off the couch, he isn’t coming off and Dems should let him feel the wrath of the Tea Party.

Naw, that wouldn’t be right.  I was reading about Esther in the Bible today and she said in Esther 8:6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction  of my kindred?   While the GOP isn’t exactly evil, some of them can be quite naughty.

Zora Neale-Hurston said “All my skinfolks ain’t my kinfolks.”  At some point, my community might need to spend more time and energy on the positive segments and less on Cousin Pookie.  In time, Pookie will get the message and decide to become Paul, Jr., an American voter.

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Blacks and Whites are in a world of trouble politically in the South; I don’t care what the election results say.  We are a house divided and it’s never healthy having political parties of one color. Never.

Steve and Cokie Roberts breakdown some amazing numbers and facts in their column recently but the essence is that Whites have left the Democrat Party in the South for the GOP and therefore the Dems are mostly Black.  The GOP in the South control most governorships and state houses but as of January, there won’t be a White Democrat in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate from the South.

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2014/dec/11/steve-and-cokie-roberts-the-decline-of-the/?opinion

To me, elections could have been won if the people that the Clinton White House and the Obama White House sought to help would have simply voted and if the GOP far right wasn’t a well-oiled fear machine.

But, the reality is this: everyone better figuring out what is in our best interests and function accordingly.  It’s not in our best interests as southerners if GOP leaders win elections and the far right dares them to dialog with the rest of the population.  Perhaps, those people who Dems help who don’t vote will be forced into living differently when they realize that the people winning elections aren’t baby-sitting them. Hey, tough love or tough hate could get things moving.

Let me make it plain: the Black community needs to have a relationship with whoever is sworn into office.  Secondly, we need to have a frank discussion about living better without government being at the center of our universe.  Lastly, it might be time to sub-divide the interests of our community because we are spending too much time, energy and resources on a certain segment— a segment that needs everything but won’t vote.

Hillary Clinton would be a great president but the Dem Team better come up with a plan of substance.  If not, the door could be open for Senator Rand Paul or Governor Jeb Bush to secure the most productive selection of our community by finding something new and by telling the crazies on the Red Team to chill.  I hate to say it but our community might need to show numbers in the GOP primaries to select Republicans who are less nutty because that’s where the decisions are being made.

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The Democrats failed in the mid-term elections for reasons that were clear to most—except them.  I knew a year ago (no five years ago) that I would be writing these points today.

Money: Dems in Georgia raised and spent enough money for Nunn and Carter to win but they spent it in the wrong places.  Most voters are unaware of the cottage industry surrounding elections, an industry that centers on Buckhead in Atlanta.  First, you find a candidate who can raise tons of dollars with our friends then you hire our other friends to run the campaigns and still other friends to produce and do media buys for a zillion TV ads. How many people didn’t vote because they were weary from campaign ads?

The people inside this cottage industry won the election a year ago when they secured legacy candidates like Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter, rich fellows like David Perdue and sitting congressmen like Jack Kingston and a few others.  They had the money makers.

Better Money: If Nunn and Carter listened to seasoned cats like Sanford Bishop, they would have cut the media buy money by a third and put that money on old school street teams outside of Atlanta.  When the original Carter and Nunn were winning in the 1970s, the Dems knew to secure the support of old ball coaches, funeral directors, barbers, pastors and other community leaders.  These community leaders would put together teams of workers who made a few dollars.  Grandmothers would be so proud that their family members were involved and leading rallies.

I knew Michelle Nunn would make a great senator but her work history involving volunteerism concerned me from the start.  Black folks aren’t volunteering when they can see that you spent millions on T.V. ads.  They should have spent those millions on rally D.J.s and those free hot dog trucks.  Food and old school music will get the crowd out and that’s when you hook them with warmth.

Learning from Florida: There are two important lessons we can learn this election season from our neighbors to the south.  First, Gwen Graham won a U.S. House in North Florida by striking a correct balance between T.V. ads and community events.  Of course, she is from a famous political family but she rolled up her sleeves and pressed pressed pressed the flesh at dozens of free food events.  Hey, we like free food and Frankie Beverly music.  Graham took it home last week with a free Jimmy Buffet show…nice.

Secondly, Governor Rick Scott narrowly won reelection by running up the numbers in rural areas to counterbalance big Dem numbers in the Florida cities.  In Georgia, we have city Blacks in Atlanta, Blacks in the next five cities (Columbus, Albany, Macon, Savannah and Augusta) and rural Blacks.  Obviously, the plan was to get metro Atlanta to balance the GOP’s rural base.  But, those Blacks in Atlanta are real liberals who weren’t going to get pumped up to help Michelle Nunn while she ran from President Obama and ran to Governor/Senator Zell Miller.  Yes, Miller was a great Georgian back when but he spoke at the GOP national convention for Obama’s opponent. Black folks have memories.  On the other hand, rural Blacks are more conservative and more likely to support moderates like Sanford Bishop.  The Democrat efforts should have started by listening to Bishop.

Second guessing: The Democrat Party in Georgia spent the last year trying to get White Republicans to switch back…newsflash “They are gone.”  The party spent less energy getting the Obama base out.

Future: Michelle Nunn is still a big winner because she is position to be the Dem Senate candidate when Senator Isakson retires.  Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed would be the natural candidate but you know the cottage industry mentioned above must eat and they eat exceptionally well.  Again, getting money is more important than winning.

Black diversity: This blog started years ago as an effort to convince our community to take a better look at the details of politics and policymaking.  Both major political parties have incorrect approaches to us.  We need to take a hard look at the role political hope plans in how we carry ourselves because the parties and the government are indirectly hurting us.

Hillary 2016: Not so fast, we need to talk.

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heston

Heston at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C with Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte.

My daily devotion today covered 1 Peter 2: 13-14.  “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.  For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”

Would someone kindly explain to me how some southerners ignored federal laws since the end of the Civil War whenever they pleased?  It continues in some form to this day.  Gangbangers and thugs are un-American to me and these southerners are also.  I could put them in the same category as the Klan, the Taliban, ISIS, and the mafia.  Okay, that’s being a little dramatic but I am rightfully ticked off at these folks.

“Charlton Heston is my president” read the bumper sticker in the 1990s.  Really?  Bill Clinton was the president and you fools are pissed because he won the elections fair and square.  Of course, Heston was leader of the NRA at the time and back in the day he earned cool points for being in the civil rights fight with MLK and company.  But, the NRA crowd should play like that; it’s borderline treason while being protected free speech.

George Bush “became” president over Al Gore in a questionable election—the most questionable in history.  But, Bush was still my president because I respect the democratic process.  Barrack Obama wins two elections yet the Right uses every dirty trick in the book to undermine him and his supposedly Kenyan White House.  The cherry on top is the effort the suppress voting by these people who evidently shouldn’t be voting.  Again, we are talking about un-American activities and I think limiting people’s right to vote fits in that category.

So, what’s the best reaction to these actions?  Voting and standing up for yourself.  You know, President Obama is such a nice guy; he might actually be too nice.  As he says, he is a thin guy but he is tough.  Well, the tough guy has some supporters who are rough in a good way.  Without dancing around with floury talk, we need to speak to the regular folks about what the Right does and says when they think no one is watching.  It would be so sweet to see the look on their faces when they realize that “unlikely voters” voted.  President Obama might be bracing for two years of hell if the Republicans take the U.S. Senate but we aren’t going to let that happen.  You don’t get to humiliate his gentleman because those who put him in office didn’t follow-up by voting for the House and Senate.

Not so fast!  The far Left is a zany as the far Right.  Once and for all, the government cannot provide housing and food for everyone forever—that would be socialism, not democracy.  The government should hopefully working toward the fair opportunity for every American to achieve a nice life but (as Prince sang in “Pop Life”) everyone can’t be on top.  The nice life goes to those who put in the work and kept it clean.

In my community, we are always talking about the ongoing plantation in America.  Yet, some people dream about a second Civil War that will get us back to pre-1865—do you really think private ownership of military weapons is for home protection and hunting.  Oh, those weapons for hunting all right but not whitetail deer (I better stop writing here.)

But, the Democratic Party feels like a plantation also in a different way.  How Black is that party in Dixie but the decisions and power rest with the few in the big house.  The old saying goes “who is in the room when the money is counted.”  I love it; not who was on the stage or who holds office.  Mr. Charlie is still running the South at the end of the day so let’s hope he is pleasant.

We should end this blog post by continuing with 1 Peter Chapter 2.

1As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.

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Some Americans actually feel that they are more American than others.  When those other Americans get wind of that notion, they often blow off being productive, engaged members of society and live as part of a sub or counter culture.  In these subcultures, the people are at war with the government and particular the police.  Really?  You hate local, state and federal government as the enemy.  Some of that distrust fuels what we are seeing in Ferguson, Missouri.

First, we must still teach young Black men to “come home to night and wake up in the morning.”  Yes, you have the right to not be attacked unlawful by the police or a Stand Your Ground zealot.  But, you should consider defusing the situation while mentally recording the injustice so big lawsuits can be filed in the future.

I am going to ask a risky question: how does someone who is benefiting from “temporary” government assistance not voting?  They should be the first people to vote. Secondly, voting out the elected officials who make bad laws and oversee the police is one of the best forms of protest—mess with their power and paychecks.

Conservatives have some good points about the limited role of government but they turnoff everyday people by allowing the nuttiest in their ranks to run the show.  The worst method of the far Right involves discouraging elected officials’ dialog with the other side.

While we are in this election season, we should watch the Democrats botch the opportunity to get our community voting and engaged.  If they listened to (and funded) my political friends and me, the face of the electorate would change for the better and more Americans would be at the discussion table.

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David Perdue, Jack Kingston

Georgia primary voters should think long and hard before next month’s runoff election.  I give myself credit for being a moderate Democrat who voted in the Republican primary because that’s where the action was in this generally red state.  So, I get to vote in the runoff and important questions must be addressed.  For the record, my interests focus on improving our state more that supporting either major political party because parties are mostly interested in power and control.

  1. Will Jack Kingston explain his comments about school kids working for free lunch?  Readers of this blog know I like Jack but that was some dirty dirty design to secure the nut vote.  Shall we humiliates children who were born into families of modest means?   Does the same apply to summer lunch programs?  Is that for high school and middle school only are will 7 year olds be mopping also?  I will say that Democrat leaders on the national level want Kingston in November because that one comment could tip the election by driving young voters to the polls.  “He wants my little sister to clean food trays!?”

 

  1. Are Michelle Nunn and David Perdue Obama-like in their newness?  I am about to hit you with a new angle on the Senate race: because Nunn and Perdue are new to the political arena they don’t have a record of statements and actions like Jack Kingston now and the Clintons in 2008.  Hillary Clinton might have made a better president (to some) in 2008 but we would have never known because the conservatives would have rallied behind Romney to keep the Clintons out of the White House.  Smart Republicans know that Perdue would be safer.

 

  1. How do we want the world to see our state?  I have a problem with President Obama.  While he is still my guy, he speaks of the USA that should be rather than the USA that is.  He see a fair, positive colorfree nation and that simply isn’t reality.  Ole Jack Kingston is similar to the average Georgian and me but doesn’t attract new industry.  David Perdue is a corporate baller who can represent an international city like Atlanta.  Chambliss and Isakson are balanced gentleman and Perdue seems senatorial like them.  Kingston has done a fine job representing southeast Georgia but we should remember that Port of Savannah funding might have been delayed because Jack couldn’t or wouldn’t get the crazies on the far Right to dial down the anti-Obama vitriol.  Perdue’s handlers are messing up because they should be spinning his time at Dollar General as a job creator in my community.  Oh, we love those baby Wal-marts on every corner in forgotten neigborhoods.

 

  1. Is Hillary Clinton reading Nunn’s putt?  In golf, players watch their playing partner’s putts to judge the greens and the line.  I think Team Hillary is watching the 2014 performance of moderate Democrat women candidates to craft their 2016 approach to the South and to gauge which states are winnable.  A Michelle Nunn win puts Georgia on the table for Hillary because some GOP women put gender over party—that’s why they should have selected Karen Handel.

 

  1.  Would the Democrats prefer Kingston or Perdue in November?  I think Dems want Kingston for the school lunch thing and the southern drawl.  Yes, I am country my dam self but Jack pours that southern twang on like Karo syrup to the delight of rural voters.  But, when Dem voters in Georgia six biggest cities pay attention in the fall,  it will be on and popping because he sounds like an overseer on Roots.

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You can’t think about public policy for the needy in the South without coming across several related Bible verses.  2 Thessalonians 3:10 says “For even when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

But, we should also consider Psalm 82:2-4 “How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?  Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.  Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.”

Look, no one thinks of themselves as wicked and I am not calling anyone wicked.  However, some good people in politics and policy will do some somewhat devious things to win the battle and hopefully the war.

Everyone hates seeing hungry people and particularly hungry children.  Reasonable folks fairly state that those people got themselves into their circumstances with questionable life choices and personal responsibility.  It burns a taxpayer up to get into an old truck to leave a shift at a plant after standing 12 hours in steel-toed shoes then past grown fathers standing on the corner—guys who are too proud or crazy to do manual labor, pick crops or flip burgers.

The radio in that old pickup is blasting far Right talk radio in that worker’s ear.  “Your tax dollars provided those assistance checks, food stamps and free school lunches…you are sweating over a drill press while that bum plays video games all day in government assisted housing and sips malt liquor that was purchased with money intended for hungry kids.”  Dam, I am writing this stuff too easily…have I been watching Fox News.

We live in a free society; this isn’t North Korea or China.  Dictating better living isn’t legal.  So, children are born into struggling situations but Jesus wouldn’t want us to let them starve because their parents made bad choices.

The Farm Bill is the law that directs USDA programs and therefore seriously impacts the South.  Back when members of congress talked across the aisle, the farm bill supported commodity programs (which helped farm families) and provide food assistance programs (which helped farm families by creating  additional markets.)  Today, the far Right wanted to end most food assistance to force needy people to work and stop having kids they can’t afford.  Social media was a buzzed this week with the story of a seedy woman with 15 kids who upset that the government wasn’t doing more to help her.  Say what? I watch the news video about this family but paused it to say a little pray for those kids.

http://nation.foxnews.com/homelessness/2011/12/01/homeless-lady-15-kids-somebody-needs-pay-all-my-children

 

The school lunch/breakfast program ensures that needy kids have two meals a day five days a week during the school year.  Without those meals, the hospitals would be packed with malnourished kids and that cost would be astronomical.  Of course, hungry kids can’t focus on classwork so the labor force would be untrained and looking for ways to make fast money.  Fast money leads to prison at a cost of $35,000 a year.

U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston is the best House Republican from the Georgia but as a Senate candidate even Jack started tripping.  Kingston has represented chocolate city Savannah for 20 years, he was worked in chocolate city D.C. for the same 20 years and he has served during that time on the House Ag Committee and/or the Appropriations Sub-Committee on Agriculture.  Jack is UDSA food programs like the back of his hand.

If Kingston really said that needy kids should work at the school to pay off their free lunch, he was saying that to get Senate primary votes.  He knows that would never happen nor would he want that to happen.  So, poor people, people who grew up poor (Black, White and Brown) and those of us with compassion for the poor make up a bloc of voters who some in the GOP are simple writing off.

I watched the GOP Senate primary like a hawk and waited to see how much campaign would be done in the Black community.  Karen Handel had a wealth of supporters in the ATL and Jack has always shown the flag in every community in his district.  I never heard these two candidates making overtures to the Black community because there are few primary voters there.   For the record, I am a moderate Dem who voted in the GOP primary because that was where the action was.

Surprisingly, former Dollar General executive David Perdue was the only GOP senate candidate that my Black GOP friends said reached out to the non GOP Black community; he supposedly met with 32 Black pastors in the Albany area.  I like that right there.

I told those same GOP friends that they can mark my word:  the school lunch comment by Kingston would drive out thousands of occasional voters—it’s a hornet’s nest.  Voters sometimes vote for candidates and sometimes vote against candidates.  Remember, the confederate flag drama drove some people to vote against then Governor Roy Barnes….hell, some of them didn’t know David Perdue’s cousin Sonny at the time.

People who live off checks provide to assist kids are seedy.  Blue Dog Democrats supported Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich’s welfare reform that included work or training requirements.  As Justice Clarence grandfather taught him, public assistance makes people weak and dependent.

However, Democrat blood will boil when the T.V. ads run next fall featuring kids mopping schools as their friends laugh.  I think control of the U.S. Senate for the last two years of Obama presidency hang on that school lunch comment.  Oh, it’s going to be on and popping when child nutrition supporter Michelle Obama and Orpah see that YouTube video.   School lunch programs also teach kids about healthy food choice and that education leads to better eating as adults.

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demotivation.us_Scientists-Discovered-the-Formula-to-understand-women

As President Nixon would say, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: Nunns and Carters can’t win in Georgia in 2014 without Obamas and Clintons.  Jason Carter is running for governor and Michelle Nunn seeks an open U.S. Senate seat.

The exodus of the Georgia Whites from the Democrats to the Republicans was completed when Congressman Jim Marshall was defeated by Austin Scott.  Marshall tried to paint himself as a non-Democrat Democrat by running from Barrack Obama and then Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  He basically tried to become Sam Nunn.  Sir, I staffed in the Georgia congressional delegation that was led by Sam Nunn…I met Sam Nunn during my high school years…we went to countless Hill receptions with Senator Nunn.. you, Jim Marshall, was no Sam Nunn.  You don’t run from Obama and expect my communities support.

Like it or hate it, the formula for November 2014 Dem success in Georgia is:

(n + ca)/(o x cl)=w         or (Nunns + Carters) / (Obamas x Clintons) = wins

 

First, Jason Carter and Michelle Nunn are good and decent candidates on their own.  However, Georgia is a Red State because the Democrat base is so very shaky.  The four pillars of strength that support the Dem foundation nationally are two Obamas and two Clintons.  To be honest, Michelle needs to be a flying Nunn crisscrossing the peach state with Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama or both.  As Bernie Mack would say, “you don’t understand”…. Michelle Obama still has rock star status with Dem voters; she could pack a college football stadium with only three days notice.

The reality is this: rural Whites are a lock for the GOP but suburban voters of all colors are on the table if the Dems come out with a moderate agenda focused on job creation.  Who can deny that Bill Clinton’s economy plan left the nation in great shape.  On Meet The Press this past weekend, the question was “would Hillary run as a continuation of the Obama years or restart of the Clinton years?”  I say it would be the beginning of the Hillary years.

The far Right should stop tripping on Hillary Clinton’s age because she would take office at the same age as President Reagan and a few years younger than John McCain would have been if he won.

Michelle Nunn is on that chill style like her father and that won’t get out the bloc of voters that almost won Georgia for Obama.  That’s okay because unlikely voters have a lot to think about this year….the motivation is there.  They just need a little knowledge and wisdom from the blogosphere; we call it “that fire.”  Don’t sleep: Nunn’s senate race will be studied by Team Hillary as they plan to take parts of suburbia back from the GOP.

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This election year promises to be crazy and we should list some of the craziest aspects.   The two major political parties would be crazy not to seek two groups in the South.  Democrats need rural Whites and Republicans need a 5 to 10% of the Black vote.

The GOP seems more like an elitist club than a national party but changing demographics indicate that they should seek some minority support.  It’s crazy if the GOP future plans center around suppressing Black votes or hoping people of color stay home on election day.

Democrats would be crazy to think anything is happening in the South without considerable White involvement.  Georgia Senate candidate Michelle Nunn is the great White hope for the Dems and congressional candidate Vivian Childs should be the great Black hope for the GOP.

I don’t think southern legislatures fully realize how crazy upset people are with “Stand Your Ground’ laws.  Poor people would be crazy not to realize that Dems are trying to give healthcare to everyone.  You know that people without any health insurance simply use the emergency room as a doctor’s office and that is more expensive in the long run.

I am a southern gentleman and politics should never compromise southern gentility.  The way the GOP is starting to attack Hillary Clinton makes me cringe.  While I don’t care for the politics of Sarah Palin, I never said crazy things about her.  Can my friends on the right say the same thing about the Obamas and Clintons.

Georgia is one of the best place in the world for Blacks.  Only crazy politicians run for office here without seek support from Blacks and Whites.  The statements candidates make in the primary could serve as motivation for the other side in November.  If you don’t think Hillary Clinton can get enough women voters to win several Southern states, you must be crazy.  If you don’t think that Blacks won’t vote when Obama isn’t on the ballot, crazy should be your middle name.

Finally, you must be crazy to think that I am a Republican because I am voting in the GOP primary tomorrow.  I vote every time and want my vote to have the maximum impact.  In my area, the primary action is on the GOP side.  Plus,  Blacks shouldn’t pull all of our eggs in one basket or allow anyone to take us for granted.

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On Mother’s Day, I acknowledge that being a mom to successful children is the best aspect of Vivian Childs’ campaign.  Rep. Sanford Bishop is as polished and urbane as President Barrack Obama but not being a parent left him with a third person view a parenting (can you believe all the idiots who breed like rabbits but quality DNA like Bishop, Oprah and me doesn’t continue.)

Since I last worked for Bishop, he has become a grandparent by marriage and a radiance comes over him when he speaks of his granddaughter—he sincerely wants a better nation for her.

Al Gore ran for president in 1988 to focus national attention on climate change.  In 2008, Rep. Tom Tancredo sought the Republican nomination for president primarily to put illegal immigration on the national stage.  I think that Vivian Childs should use her campaign to emphasis issue regarding America’s children and it should start with school choice.

For most of my life, I personally felt that private schools in the South were created so White kids could avoid attending school with Black kids.  You know, I might have preferred a properly funded all Black school in the 1970s during a transition phase but that didn’t happen.  In the last few years, I have been following a young man from our summer program as he play private school sports all around south Georgia.  Surprisingly, many of the current private schools are based on faith and class size rather than race.

Parents should have the option of using a school voucher to select the best learning environment for their kids.  However, I do draw the line with vouchers for home schooling because I still think that attending school is a chance to monitor the home treatment of young people.

Actually, most public schools are nice places with well-prepared teachers and staff.  I will say what elected officials won’t: the problem is poor parenting.  Some people are having kids before they are prepared for that awesome responsibility.  I see babies pushing baby carriages—children who should be somewhere playing with an Easy-bake oven.  Why do people put Air Jordans on babies who can’t walk yet?  Really?  And you need public assistance?  Child please.  (I bet you want hear Vivian Childs or Sanford Bishop pumping up a crowd with that type real talk and getting the crowd to respond “child please.”)  Today, teachers are also parental figures.  Secondly, education starts at home: speak proper English 24/7, turnoff the video games, engage in intelligent discussions nightly at the dinner table and push reading.

There is too much testosterone in the Georgia congressional delegation.  In the last 50 years, only two women have represented Georgia in congress—Cynthia McKinney and Denise Majette.  Vivian Childs’ candidacy will encourage more women to seek high office and future public policy will have more motherly sensibility.

You can’t seek to replace Rep. Sanford Bishop if you aren’t prepared to fight with your party when they are wrong.  Bishop doesn’t get enough credit for those battles.  Case in point: the GOP needs to provide a real alternative to Obamacare and that plan should address pregnancy prevention (which is different from abortion.)  Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama emphasis that a way to reduce abortion is to reduce unwanted pregnancies in the first place.  Conservatives feel that providing birth control encouraging premarital sex.  While I don’t have all the answers, I do know that half-raised kids are messing up the community, messing up the schools and filling the jails.  Do you know that it cost more to put a person in federal prison for a year than it cost to pay a teacher?

Democrats say that Republicans aren’t pro-life; they are pro-birth.  Once a child is born into poverty, GOP cuts in the nutrition programs in the Farm Bill would have kids go hungry.  Correction, they can eat at school if they clean the cafeteria later.  Child Please.  You know Bishop isn’t sweating this election because he welcomes the opportunity to debate anybody on his legislative decisions.   The debate this summer and fall is going to be good and if the GOP voters in the second congressional district fail to select Childs as the nominee, it would just another reason for Hillary Clinton to court moderate women voters in Georgia.

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