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

Posted in politics, tagged Bill Clinton, Civil War, colin powell, Condoleeezza, history, Jon Huntsman, Michelle Obama, Obama on November 21, 2016| 1 Comment »

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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Best Interests Initiative: Health/Wellness

Posted in politics, tagged food, healthcare, Michelle Obama, Newt Gingrich, Obama on May 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Health/Wellness: Diet and Exercise; Wise Food Choices, Moderation; “Own Grave”, Understanding Wellness/Health Care Industry

Health/Wellness is an area of public policy that really hits home because we are talking life and death. Would someone in the government or a recently retired congressman just drink some truth serum and tell the God’s honest truth. The average American is personally responsible for their health problems due to bad diet and infrequent exercise. While some ailments occur naturally, fast food and sugary drinks are the roots of too many issues.

If Beretta don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time, a similar saying should be “don’t eat everything and anything if you don’t want to do hospital and early grave time.” Are some foods literally “to die for?” I had a chubby buddy who was told he was a diabetic but he simply said no…maybe later but for now no. He learned everything about diabetes and dropped most of his body fat in six months by exercising and eating right. While he is still a diabetic technically, he doesn’t take medication because he fought the good fight.

The good fight makes me think about Paul’s biblical statement in 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. So, you have all these obese church folks up in the buffet spot on Sunday afternoon polluting the temple of the Lord.

Wise food choices are so easy for Americans because the stores are plentiful with variety and T.V. shows tell us what to prepare and why. We jokingly say that modern-day soul brothers are using low-fat fatback. Right On. I decided to walk away from pork and beef until I get my 230 pounds weight under 210. That was two years ago and I really miss hamburger but pork is likely gone for good.

People drink a surprisingly large number of calories. Is Mountain Dew worth the health trouble…it’s basically syrup. High fructose corn syrup and salt kill more people than bullets. I want to declare my respect for the First Lady Michelle Obama and really all first ladies of my lifetime. Even Betty Ford turned pill issues into a noble cause.

I have friends who have issues with (hate) Flotus Obama for championing the food choice issues. From the public policy standpoint, it seems Orwellian that the government and the non-elected first lady would tell (advise) kids on eating habits or work to remove unhealthful foods from schools. The eating habits of kids led to a lifetime (sometimes a shorten lifetime) of medical problems. Oh, health concerns are no problems…give ‘em pills for this and pills for that.

Yes, some people actually take the cholesterol drug Lipitor in Golden Corral before eating a fried chicken…not some fried chicken… a whole fried chicken. Too often, that person with long-term bad eating habits is the same uninsured person that cost the government over $200,000 as doctors try to save them…from themselves.

There is a difference between what Mrs. Obama wants us to eat and what the government can force or compel us to eat. At the same time, should medical ethics draw treatment lines when someone dug their own grave?

When Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House, he considered changes to the health care system that would reward those who ate right and exercised. His plan was similar to the auto insurance plans with vanishing deductibles today. If a person didn’t have a major health care expense in say five years, that person’s premium would be zero until there was a big expense.

Another aspect to consider would be the food kids receive free and reduced as part of the school lunch program. Should the government have a right to dictate the healthfulness of that food because the taxpayers are buying it? What about food stamps for veggies only? Of course, the beef, corn and pork lobbyists aren’t having it.

Moderation: The motto of the great state of Georgia is “justice, wisdom and moderation.” Friends in the health care profession tell me that I didn’t need to abandon beef and pork totally; I should have moderated my consumption of all foods. The smart First Lady Obama promotes the USDA change from the food pyramid of old to the new food plate which calls for wise amounts of fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains and dairy. Like Columbus discovering a place with millions of inhabitants, Americans are discovering what the Greeks and Japanese have known for centuries. You put a lot of veggies on the plate and add a little protein for seasoning.

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/about.html

As we get older, we apply moderation to many parts of life: one glass of wine, an occasional cigar, ribs on the Fourth of July only. The workout process starts with moderation because you have to crawl before you ball….it starts with walking.

Healthy choices also involve “relations.” Like with food, alcohol and drugs, don’t do it if you aren’t prepared to live with the possible consequences. Relations are likely better for most people without latex but I don’t want to hear a dam word of complaining if the worst results happen. You knew the risk factors and you made your choice.

Healthcare Industry: Again, everyone has an agenda and it usually involves staying paid. When I was a kid, you went to the doctor and he tried to figure out what was wrong with you. Today, the doctors want to give you medications to stop your body from sending pain messages to your brain. You don’t need pills long-term; you need to correct what is wrong.

The whole Obamacare debate was a political football being kicked around by two political parties with donors from all sides of the private sector. The reality is this: uninsured people use the emergency room as a doctor’s office and go to the doctor far too late.

If I had my own island nation, we would have universal health care coverage with an annual doctor’s examination. My doctors would catch a little bump that was going to be cancerous and remove it for a few bucks. In America, that person would receive half a million dollars in government-funded indigent care before dying. Dam. The annual exam on my island would give doctors the opportunity to say “you are 100 pounds overweight from poor eating habits and zero exercise. If you don’t get those 100 pounds off you in two years, the state will not pay for fat-related treatments. We will, however, pay your gym fees.”

While the last paragraph was mostly humor, there is nothing funny about the insurance industry making decisions about coverage for insured people. I didn’t say doctors making decisions. We are talking about insurance company employees in call centers somewhere. So, do you want to know why I eat wiser and limit Budweiser? It’s because I don’t like those people making life decisions about me. Yes, illness is part of life but it’s a part I avoid by fighting the good fight.

Big Pharma is the nickname for the pharmaceutical industry and they sell drugs. To me, helpful drugs are gifts from heaven but we shouldn’t seek a big pharma solution to a problem that can be addressed naturally..ie. diet and exercise.

Mrs. Obama must be dumbfounded when she thinks that we give bad free foods to poor kids and those kids become adults with horrible eating habits who again cost 500k for healthcare coverage. We are the greatest nation in human history because the best third of the population makes things happen but the worst third needs to step their game up …with no more excuses. And yes, the first lady and the government should discuss eating habits carefully because the taxpayers often fund medical care resulting from bad choices.

Mental/Emotional Health: People with emotional and mental health issues often self-medicate with alcohol, illegal drugs and wrongful usage of legal drugs. We should be mindful that emotional eating leads to health problems. Chris Rock says Black folks only go to counseling when it’s court ordered but with all kidding aside, all people need to check their mental health with the care they give their precious cars.

Peace, rest and happiness are good medicines; the soul needs wellness. Some people go from childhood to the grave stuck on angry – mad at the world for spinning. You don’t need experts to tell you that constantly boiling blood isn’t good for the mind, body or soul.

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U.S Senate Race and Public Assistance: Help the Needy vs. Help the Seedy

Posted in politics, tagged agriculture, Blacks, Congress, Conservatives, David Perdue, democrats, Georgia, GOP, Jack Kingston, Michelle Obama, Newt Gingrich, Obama, politics on May 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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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Nunns, Carters, Obamas and Clintons: The formula

Posted in politics, tagged Blacks, Congress, democrats, Georgia, GOP, hillary, Michelle Obama, moderates, Nunn, Obama, republicans on May 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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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National Questions for Local Election Candidates

Posted in politics, tagged Blacks, blue dogs, Conservatives, Georgia, GOP, Michelle Obama, Obama, republicans, sanford bishop, tea party, youth on September 14, 2013| 1 Comment »

Local elections have statewide and national consequences because they echo the word on the street to the statehouse and the White House. To me, we are experiencing a disconnect in Georgia because the conservatives who run state government do so with little input from rural Blacks. Yea, Atlanta and the other cities have urban legislators run down the urban agenda but who speaks for the relatively moderate to conservative rural Blacks who conservative lawmakers are forced to ignore by that far Right (Tea Party) segment of the Republican Party.

It’s good seeing young Black conservative Democrat (not an oxymoron) blogger Keith McCants running for local office in middle Georgia. Folks like Keith because he is down to earth and to me improving our community will start when leaders like him explain the limit role of government in a compassionate way to the people. His blog Peanut Politics is a must read and Keith has the right ideas for bringing some of the rural South back to the Democrat Party. Hell, southern moderates should come back since they have been ceremoniously kicked out of the GOP by the Tea Party/”purity test” crowd. For those who don’t know the GOP has a recent history of creating a list of 10 or so questions for their faithful and if you aren’t with them on a few, don’t let the door knob hit you….

http://www.peanutpolitics-keith.blogspot.com/

Don’t sleep, Saxby is “retiring” from the U.S. Senate because he doesn’t like the constant threats for dialoging with Obama and the Democrats. The next target is on Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. I am convinced that former Senator Bob Dole was right when he said that President Ronald Reagan and he wouldn’t pass the current GOP purity test.

What do good people do when crazy people in their organization start going off? They get up and leave because sitting quietly is condoning the ugliness. Keith has bunch of old political pictures and posters on his blog and I give him a hard time because we know that every pre-Jimmy Carter elected official in our state was basically a segregationist.

Today, we have the new segregationists who divide the South based on political parties. But, I am puzzled by Democrats in general and Black Dems in particular who don’t question local officials about the outlandish spitefulness coming from their supporters on the other side of town. See, a servant can’t have two masters.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke

While looking for that quote, I came across someone’s Bible references to it. http://www.padfield.com/1997/goodmen.html

Voters should ask candidates for local offices the following questions during the campaign season.

When they said Barrack Obama was born in Kenya, what did you think and what did you say?
When they falsely label Rep. Sanford Bishop as a crook, what did you say or think since you have dealt with him for years and know him to be good people?
Do you think Georgia’s version of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” laws should be repealed? Was George Zimmerman profiling Trayvon Martin?
Is “Stop and Frisk” a good police procedure?
Is Michelle Obama a great role model?
Were you against your area receiving stimulus money from the federal government?
Are you bold enough to tell citizens that the government isn’t their daddy?
Do you support the Tea Party movement? Do you support the Occupy movement?

Wow, writing those questions was fun in a naughty way because some issues involve one level of government primarily. But, I get a little squeamish when hanging with people from the far left or far right. I love being cool with people from the entire political spectrum because dialog and communication are vital.

You know what, we are talking about a double standard because moderate Democrats support conservative lawmakers regarding important regional issues but conservative voters rarely give love to Blue Dog Democrats. Be like that and maybe your Dems friends will be ghost when you need them on the legislative floor.

In my local elections, we have some quality candidates but I need to know what they did or didn’t when those around them privately were saying horrible things. That s— isn’t cool because people had gotten so pumped up that they were talking about hurting the president’s family. You never never go there…I don’t care who the president is or was. Yea, ugliness echoes and good people can’t sit idly by.

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Public Servants/Unofficial Duties

Posted in politics, tagged African Americans, Blacks, Congress, Conservatives, democrats, Georgia, GOP, hillary, Huntsman, Michelle Obama, sanford bishop, tea party on September 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Elected officials and public employees have official responsibilities and also have unofficial duties. These duties aren’t on paper but are sometimes as important as the items on the official job descriptions. For example, Hillary Clinton would have been and still will be a fine president; she knows presidential stuff as well as Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama and the second George Bush did on the day they were sworn into office.

But, there was something special about Obama becoming president; something related to healing. Also, my community needed to have someone who looks like them in office so he could once and for all tell them that a person who is like you isn’t going to give you everything. Obama said that from the first day of his campaign and people get it now.

Those unofficial duties therefore explaining the limited role of government to hardhead people who only listen to people from their circle. In my hometown, we recently had an issue with flooding. A city councilman was on the local T.V. news broadcast saying that the city government wasn’t the problem with certain flooding. Water wasn’t flowing properly because locals were tossing bottles and trash into ditches and that debris clogged the pipes. I love it; dude basically said, “The problem is you.” We need more of that.

While it might sound racial, I want more Black clean cut guys in lower grades teaching positions because some kids don’t see positive brothers during their development. Non-Black students need to see that also because they’re formulating their opinions of us on rap videos and the fools on the Maury Povich Show. If I had Oprah/Bill Gates type money, I would give a grant or supplement to Black male teachers in lower grades. Hey, two students at my black college told me that Senator Saxby Chambliss’ wife was one of the sweetest and most loving people in their lives. Seeing her at school was the high point of their day and a positive light in an otherwise tough childhood.

Hillary Clinton is going to be president and little girls can be proud of the fact that women make the world go around. If I had my choice, I would still like to see Republican Jon Huntsman in the White House one day because part of his unofficial duties would be being a conservative who isn’t angry and dismissive. He drives the far right crazies more crazy with his cool approach. I am uniquely qualified to say vote for the right person in the right situation because I am a moderate Democrat who has voted for both of Georgia’s current U.S. Senators a few times. I voted for them because they support the economic engines of this region: agriculture and the military.

Of course, it’s not cool for reasonable members of a group to remain quiet as other members of that group say ugly things about others. I wouldn’t be quiet if someone was talking about all White people being this or that when I know that isn’t true. That would be ugly by association. What about those rich kids who had “the help” as second mothers but who grow up to say the ugliness things about all of “those people.”

I tell you what, I am not voting for anyone who doesn’t have a comfort level and functioning relationship with people in every community. Coni Rice, Jon Huntsman, Colin Powell, Rep. Sanford Bishop and Rep, Jack Kingston come to mind as public servants who can dialog with anyone—disagree without being disagreeable. The most important unofficial duty might be the ability to reasonably explain public policy to those who disagree with you.

America is at it’s worst when supporters of a public official dare him or her to talk with the other side. People who don’t make much money and people who have had it rough (by their own creation) are still Americans. Any person, political parties or group that wants to suppress their voting are un-American to me. This whole blog post isn’t race-based because the last time I checked most of the people in my community have as much affection for the presidential service of Bill Clinton as for Barrack Obama. As quiet as it is kept, that southerner White dude knows more about these piney woods in Georgia than any president other than James Earl Carter.

With unofficial duties in mind, Michelle Nunn and Karen Handel get a certain amount of consideration for U.S. Senate because they have that lady logic working. Yes, the Georgia congressional delegation needs a woman’s touch and I would look seriously at a sista from the GOP running for the U.S. House. Sisters in my community are now and have always been relatively conservative and they know that our community has become too reliant on the government. It’s a shame that the Tea Party will force Handel to act hardcore to win their primary. Rep. Jack Kingston is in that senate primary and that cat will talk with anyone anywhere because that is part of his official duties.

Unofficial duties include telling it like it “tiz.” If you don’t know that that adage, you might not be ready to represent both sides of the tracks down here.

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My Annual Rambling Rant: Fat on Food Stamps

Posted in politics, tagged African Americans, Bible, Blacks, Conservatives, democrats, Food Stamps, Fox News, hillary, Michelle Obama, republicans, Travon, Zimmerman on August 12, 2013| 3 Comments »

It’s time for my annual “consider yourselves told” blog post for southern conservatives. For years now, I have been patiently waiting for someone or some group on the right to ask how to do better in my community. My simply solutions would start with an overview of “The Art of War” because the first rule should be to study and learn the ways of the other side. Anyway, I have been writing the same points for years and should have gotten paid from my insight but that’s life. For the record, this discourse is the 2013 version of the same old same old.

Acknowledgement: America would be a better place if people would live the way conservatives wanted. A Bible based clean life would be perfect: no kids until three years into a marriage, zero cocktails, no sagging pants, do any legal employment to provide for self and family.

Problem: In a free society, people have the right to do as they please. It would be grand if all Americans follow their doctor’s recommendations on diet and exercise but that isn’t happening nor are people listening to sound life advice in other aspects of life.
Resulting Problem: So, a person is free to live anyway he or she chooses but if problems result from life choices, they gently fall in the governmental safety net. While that seems fair, we are finding more people who dive in the net from jump street and working people get the bill.

When Liberals are so wrong: Yea, a nation that ensures that all of her citizens have decent homes and decent meals sounds great. But, that would be socialism. In a democracy, the state creates a climate or situation where everyone has an opportunity to work hard, focus, plan and thrive. If your plan doesn’t work, you must keep trying while admitting that you made your lumpy bed.

Conservative Force vs. Moderate Compel: My conservative friends often see everyone else as child who must be told what to do. Say what? They make public policy decisions without general input and their source of knowledge comes from those in their inner circles. Some people have termed this the “donor class” because it’s the conservatives who donate to candidates and causes—in a bubble. They wanted to force their Solomon type decisions on the nation as a whole and regular folks simply laugh. (Remember, some of their approaches make perfect sense but their delivery techniques are appalling.)

On the other hand, moderates take the views of all sides into consideration before crafting logical policy. For example, the “lockem up” crime policies of the past produced macho campaign ads but the astronomical cost of the criminal justice system made even conservatives go back to the drawing board. Some of that money should have been used for education and training to put young people on the right path. Hell, I still think Newt Gingrich’s 1990s idea of giving clean living 21 year olds a $5,000 check was interesting because thug activities cost seven times that amount at least.

Bible Based: There must be a special hot pit in hell for those who twist the Bible to justify whatever provides them increase. I could list a zillion parts of the Bible that the Right uses and another zillion that the Left uses. But, I personally think Jesus of the Beatitudes speech wouldn’t want to see hungry people.

However, First Timothy 5: 8 says “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” Translation: A good dad would take that job flipping burgers.

Proverbs 12:11 He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. Translation: Thank a farmer and a rancher in your dinner prayer tonight.

Second Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. Translation: The work requirement provisions of the Food Stamp selection of the Farm Bill weren’t written by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky but by Paul who use to be Saul of Tarsus.

Fat On Food Stamps: First, food stamps or temporary food assistance helps needy families and helps American farmers by providing additional markets. The “let them starve” mentality doesn’t seem as compassionate as President Reagan or the second President Bush. While starving, the health care cost would be billions and where were these folks when people were trying to fund programs that taught family planning and control. One conservative guy in Florida said that birth control was a grapefruit between the knees—keep those legs closed.

Conservatives don’t know that working Americans are also ticked off by the idea that their tax dollars are paying for someone to get fat on a futon while playing Madden all day or watching Maury Povich. Then, folks use the emergency room as a doctors’ office. My farm bill would provide temporary healthy food aid—no greasy foods . Healthcare reform should have provided a doctor for everyone and the doctor should state clear goals, objectives and consequences. “Sir, you are 100 pounds overweight and you have one year to get under 200 pounds. After that year, there will be no more free health assistance for chubby you. You will thank me in a few years or your family will be picking out hymns for your service.”

Nasty, Just Plain Old Nasty: In the above mention “donor class” of conservatives, you have people who love the vitriol of Fox News and talk radio. I should mention the young staffers and politicos who were sheltered as kids—home schooled, far Right Church, detest everyone and anyone not like them. Again, they are not very Jesus-like and they should stop demonizing folks who have fallen on hard times….there but for the grace of God…..

When the ugliest parts of the conservative movement say things design to fire up their ranks, reasonable conservatives shouldn’t remain quiet. Moderates aren’t quiet when that junk comes from the far Left or far Right.

Voter Suppression: The new nasty is a rehashing of the old nasty: let’s make voting hard. That’s not funny and shame on every conservative who supporters efforts to limit Americans from voting. The voter fraud junk is hogwash and they grin about it behind closed doors. If you can’t win an election fair and square, you shouldn’t resort to shady options. In June, I jumped though so many hoops to renew my driver’s license before I realized that the ultimate goal of conservatives in the state capitol was discouraging me to vote.
Joseph from the Bible: That guy Joseph was done dirty by his brothers but in Genesis 50, 20-21 it says “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.”

We are all southern brothers at the end of the day. I can’t understand voter suppression from the far Right nor can I understand the glamorization of thug living in my community. If anyone thinks the answer is governing the South without input from every section of the community, they have another thought coming. Some people voted for Obama while others voted against ugliness.

The struggle will continue after President Obama exits for Hawaii and candidate Clinton is my kind of tough lady. Yea, the voter turnout won’t be what it was in the past. I actually think it could be higher because people are getting hip to the dirty game.

Zimmerman: When Travon Martin was shot in Florida, George Zimmerman seemed surprised by all the heat coming down on him. He was right in being dumbfounded because he was functioning in a manner sanctioned by Florida state law. People across the country should be mad at themselves for not keeping at better eye on local, state and federal governments. Under the Stand Your Ground Laws, I could fire on a bald White kid running toward me in the parking lot at the store because I have a little concern about skinheads that I occasionally saw in D.C. But, that kid could just be someone with a cheap haircut (like mine) or an actual skinhead jogging to his car. I still don’t want to kill him.

The bottomline is that every American adult should try to vote so that the state legislature will be populated with officials who listen to everyone and who make well-thought out laws. Election results indicate that many Americans voted for President Obama then walked out of the polling booth. We must vote in every contest-from President to dog catcher in Ty, Ty, Georgia.

And we should vote smart. If the GOP is running your region, vote in the Republican primary for the candidate most like you. That action would be the cool move and it would make the far Right crazy mad.

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Hillary Clinton: Clear the Field

Posted in politics, tagged Conservatives, democrats, Michelle Obama, Obama, republicans, tea party on December 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

That Hillary Clinton is sitting in the catbird seat. She will be serving the nation in or out of office— directly or indirectly. We know that she has first dibs on the next Democratic nomination because she is overqualified to be president and took one for the team by being gracious in defeat. Secondly, the juggernaut of two Clintons and two Obamas will be a campaign force of epic proportions.

But check this out: the Dem Team will “clear the field” for her. In other words, no other candidates enter the primary and she saves the energy and resources that might be used. The 2012 GOP presidential results might have been different if Romney didn’t stand on the stage with that cast of characters and didn’t have to fight for the far right vote during the primary—so thanks. If the GOP cleared the field for hipper congressional candidates, they would have a foothold with the Middle. But, they let Tea Party cats win primaries and those guys are D.O.A. in November.

On Meet the Press this weekend, they said that polls indicate that Clinton would get 62% of the Republican women vote—“ouch”, game, set, match. My conservative friends call it identity politics but Hillary and Obama are super without regard to that stuff. Yes, I would have voted for the Colin Powell or Condi Rice for president.

I see the indirect benefit of Hillary 2016 as this: if the GOP has any hope, they must court the middle and/or the rest of America. They policies must reflect the interest of the nation wider and not just their circle. And for that, Hillary will be helping the game while chilling, doing daily zumba and not lifting a finger. How many times have we told the right that they need to create and cultivate a division similar to the Dem’s Blue Dogs. But, the hardheaded never learn. Hillary is going the beat them like a drum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_politics

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Michelle Obama, Darius Rucker and Lynrd Skynrd: Simple Life Is Alright

Posted in politics, tagged agriculture, country music, faith, Georgia, Michelle Obama, Mitt Romney, Obama, Rucker, youth on November 17, 2012| 2 Comments »

I could do more for the future of young Americans with this blog post than Obama and Romney combined. The central concept is live a simple life. With secondary regard for whom is or isn’t president, folks need to develop their faith, eat right and exercise, grow their career and minimize lust for material things.

Obama is the key—Michelle Obama. The first lady’s personal history is the story of a Chi-town girl who got her homework, focused in class and honored her parents with her actions. As we would say back in the day, I like how she “carried herself.” We spend billions of state, local and federal governmental dollars addressing personal problems that some Americans went out of their way to create. They should have been living the simple life.

Last week, a country song came on the truck radio called “Alright” and it was all about enjoying a basic existence. I don’t want to get side tracked about how country music is really blue-eyed blues, and rock and roll is blue-eyed soul which was stolen.

Anyway, I searched the net for the song and it is actually by Darius Rucker, the brother who turned to country after fronting the pop/rock group Hottie and the Blowfish. Peace, love and happiness to Brother Rucker and his song is similar to the rural vibe of many tunes in that genre. As quiet as it is kept, my favorite cd of all time is Lynrd Skynyrd greatest hit compilation called “Gold and Platinum.” Rucker’s song feels like Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” and both songs seem to be based on what you tell kids at home and at church.

On that same cd is the mellow cut “Comin Home.” It’s all about missing being at home. While cities are nice to visit, living 10 to 15 miles from an urban area is cool to me. As more rural Americans move away from direct involvement with agriculture, opportunities persist in food inspection, processing and distribution. When people grow weary of the congested North and the struggling Rust Belt, they should consider Georgia other than Atlanta (someone needs to pick up that city and shake it until some of those people fall out.)

Bottonline: if you live a simple life, you can limit drama, stress and strain.

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Legit: Michael Steele and Rep. John Barrow

Posted in politics, tagged Blacks, blue dogs, Congress, Conservatives, Michelle Obama, moderates on October 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

President Obama’s presidency would have been better if he had a congress interested in dialog and compromise. Without doubt, we are looking at one of the worst congresses in modern history. Obama plan to have a healthy line of communication with the House and Senate and central to that plan was talks with conservatives like current GOP VP selection Paul Ryan.

The ugly part of the conservative movement wouldn’t let Ryan or any GOP members of Congress debate issues and seek solutions with the president. Oh yeah, the ugly part has grown in the body of that party like a cancer. As a party, Democrats are weak in the South but well-intended while Republicans are strong but hell-bent on running the nation without input from anyone outside their shrinking tent.

If they had listened to former RNC chairman Michael Steele, things would be different. Steele and reasonable conservatives (who were moderate in their temperament) wanted to court those of us in the political center. However, the Tea Party’s nature took them in another direction. Understand, all conservatives share the same fiscal and size of government views but temperament is the key.

The temperament of most southern conservatives will not allow them to select congressional candidates in primaries who will appeal to moderates in the general election. Representative John Barrow of Augusta, Georgia, is the last White Democrat in the House of Representatives from the deep South. The GOP has been after him for years and to be honest, a moderate conservative Black candidate would have taken that seat. Oh, I forgot that there are no GOP moderates since the Tea Party purge their ranks.

Rep. John Barrow listening

In the 12^th congressional district primary, businessman Rick Allen lost to state Rep. Lee Anderson. Allen has civic and social connections with non-Republicans in the Augusta area but that meant nothing to primary voters. They wanted someone just like them and they got a candidate who refuses to debate Harvard-educated Barrow. Democrats in Georgia that are looking for some action should get involved in the Barrow campaign because we can’t become a one race party in the South; we would be bogus. Okay, I tossed in “bogus” because I was listened to MC Hammer yesterday and thought politics when he said “your party is bogus..yo, it ain’t legit” on the rap classic “Let’s Get It Started.” Hammer could have been talking about Romney and the post Michael Steele RNC with their 47% nonsense.

Let’s Get It Started had a sample from Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” and that is what is going to happen to GOP congressional candidates until they develop a moderate wing. Hammer can be in a blog post about Augusta politics because brother James Brown is from that area and Hammer clearly bites from the Godfather of Soul’s beats and dance moves. When America was on fire after the MLK assassination, Brown cooled things down.

We should get “Get Out The Vote” started for Barrow and Obama in that part of Georgia. Barrow and the Blue Dogs bring moderate to conservative views to the Democrat table.

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Romney and Prince’s “Pop Life”

Posted in politics, tagged austin scott, Michael Steele, Michelle Obama, Mitt Romney, NBA, Obama, Prince on September 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Candidate Romney should have listened to the song “Pop Life” by Prince before making his 47% statement last spring. He could have spent two days in south Georgia listening to Rep. Austin Scott and two more days learning from me on the front porch—but more about that later.

“What’s the matter with your life…is proverty bringing you down.” Prince is actually a rather conservative music star and his patriotism and logic comes out in his lyrics. In “Pop Life,” Prince sang, “everybody can’t be on top…life, it ain’t real funky unless it’s got that pop.” There it is; that is what I have been waiting to hear from some leader for three decades. America doesn’t guarantee a great life to everyone but (as Newt Gingrich said when he was Speaker of the House) everyone should have the opportunity to learn in a quality school, train as an adult and build wealth overtime through hard work and smart living. Yes, we should have temporary help but don’t plan on life-long government assistance.

Everyone can’t be middle class and those who find themselves in a lower-income bracket likely arrived there because of personal decisions, playing in school and simply being out hustled by the real go-getters. I am not a real go-getter and most classmates from 16 years of formal education drove harder for the good life– congrats to them on their success. I know who to blame for my thin wallet—the guy in the mirror. Attending a high school football game today is difficult for me because I am concern with the fact that some of the kids in the crowd are prepping for the state penn rather than Penn State. Their music doesn’t have the substance of Prince or early rappers.

My wallet would be crazy fat if conservatives asked me how to create a segment in their movement that would attract the sensible center but they are too busy loving on the angry far-Right. During then congressional candidate Austin Scott’s effort to unseat Blue Dog Dem Jim Marshall, I saw Scott and RNC chair Michael Steele get off a bus together. I knew that the Dems would be in trouble if the Scott, Steele, Jon Huntsman, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and similar minds crafted a message high on issues and solutions and low on name calling and fear tactics. That development never happened and President Obama has the lion share of us in the middle.

Yeah, my man Prince wrote the daylights out of Pop Life with lines like “..is the Mailman jerking you around…did he put your million dollar check in someone else’s box.” While Prince was talking about the sweepstakes, people in my community put too much hope in the lottery and wishing that their sons will make the NBA. Once and for all, if your son spent as much time and effort in school work as he does bouncing a ball, he could be so rich that he had money offshore like Romney. Plus, most former NBA players are destitute six years after leaving the league.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1153364/index.htm

Austin Scott seems like Barack Obama during his first congressional bid. He played the smooth role and stayed fiscal in his concerns about Democrats–avoiding the birther nonsense. Do you think the GOP spent much time studying his blueprint for defeating a moderate Democrat? Nope.

Well, I am not one to want anyone to wallow in ignorance. When they get ready to learn how to approach reasonable people reasonably, my flat wallet and I will be right here.

Pop Life By Prince

What’s the matter with your life
Is the poverty bringing u down?
Is the mailman jerking u round?
Did he put your million dollar check
In someone elses box?

Tell me, what’s the matter with your world
Was it a boy when u wanted a girl? (boy when u wanted a girl)
Don’t u know straight hair aint got no curl (no curl)
Life it aint real funky
Unless it’s got that pop
Dig it

Pop life
Everybody needs a thrill
Pop life
We all got a space 2 fill
Pop life
Everybody can’t be on top
But life it aint real funky
Unless it’s got that pop
Dig it

Tell me, what’s that underneath your hair?
Is there anybody living there? (anybody living there)
U can’t get over, if u say u just don’t care (don’t care)
Show me a boy who stays in school
And I’ll show u a boy aware!
Dig it

Pop life
Everybody needs a thrill
Pop life
We all got a space 2 fill
Pop life
Everybody can’t be on top
But life it aint real funky
Unless it’s got that pop
Dig it

What u putting in your nose?
Is that where all your money goes (is that where your money goes)
The river of addiction flows
U think it’s hot, but there wont be no water
When the fire blows
Dig it

Pop life
Everybody needs a thrill
Pop life
We all got a space 2 fill
Pop life
Everybody wants to be on top
But life it aint real funky
Unless it’s got that pop
Dig it

Pop life
Everybody needs a thrill
Pop life
We all got a space 2 fill
Pop life
Everybody can’t be on top
But life it aint real funky
Unless it’s got that pop
Dig it

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Campaign 2012: Put the South on the Table

Posted in politics, tagged African Americans, Blacks, Booker Rising, Conservatives, democrats, Georgia, GOP, Michelle Obama, Mitt Romney, moderates, sanford bishop, tea party on July 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Team Obama and Team Romney need to understand that we simply refuse to have this election decided without more input and involvement from the South. Yes, North Carolina and Florida are swing states but most of the South is being bypassed because Dixie is supposedly solid red. It seems that our donations to fund swing state campaign ads are more important that our votes—hell “haw.”

Let’s do this: keep our campaign money here in the rural areas and use that money to get out the vote (GOTV). These two campaigns might spend two billion dollars on TV ad wars and the real winners will be the professional campaign industry. President Obama once sat weekly in Congressional Black Caucus meetings with Georgia Congressman Sanford Bishop and I think that seeing SDB’s approach to moderate service benefited candidate Obama in 2008. In 2010, Bishop had a formable GOP opponent and they went toe to toe in a media war; I watched cable TV the last few weeks because I was sick of slick campaign ads. In the end, Bishop won because national conservatives and the Tea Party hit so hard that we got defensive and resorted old school GOTV methods to help the incumbent. If the Tea Party and the bitter national groups had stayed out of that election, the GOP would have taken that seat so thanks.

Looking at that 2008 congressional race would help Obama and Romney prep for rural battles. Clearly, the current plan is to have both official presidential campaigns be nice and above the fray while outside groups do any dirty work. The positive dirty work would be a door to door, house to house, hood to hood effort to get everyone properly prepared to vote. It is a low down dirty shame that some on the Right want to limited voter participation—you’ll are better than that. We should counter by making sure that everyone knows the deadlines, rules and regulations for registration and voting.

To be honest, the GOP can never reach a point where 100% of the Black vote in the South is assumed Democrats. If they do, their attitude and policies would be even more punitive. Peace and blessing to brothers and sistas on the conservative side because 25% or more of Black southerners are actually conservatives but won’t join a party with a section that is dam near confederate. The black conservative blog Booker Rising has a nice questionnaire in it’s margins and if my family members took it they would discover that they are more moderate than liberal. Of course, the rural south GOP allows talk radio to work them into a mean frenzy so their gatherings are more salt than pepper.

We should start now and maximize our voter participation. If we put 10% of the time and interest we put into football into getting everyone voting, we will ensure that our voice are heard. Hey, we could combine the two; GOTV rallies in the form of old school parties after high school and college football games. Yeah, we need to say among ourselves what the national campaigns can’t or won’t say and young Dem conservative Keith McCants from Peanut Politics should be leading the effort.

http://www.bookerrising.net/2004/08/booker-rising-quiz-are-you-black.html

http://www.bookerrising.net/2004/08/booker-rising-quiz-are-you-black_20.html

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Democrats for Newt Gingrich….Really

Posted in politics, tagged Conservatives, democrats, Michelle Obama, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Obama, republicans on January 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I am voting for President Obama in November and Newt Gingrich in March. Obama supporters in conservative states with open primaries should know that giving the president Newt as a target is as important as their general election vote. Every Mitt Romney associated super PAC T.V. ad regarding Newt’s negatives actually reinforces my contentions. The reasons Democrats should vote for Newt jump out at you:

Clean cut Romney: That Mitt Romney reminds me of a guy from a soap opera star. He actually is a nice person with a super family so there is little motivation to vote against him for personal reasons while Newt gets our blood boiling. “Obama is a food stamp president.” “Poor kids should work at school.” A longer GOP primary gives Newt time to rough up Romney.

Plan B: While we want to see a second Obama term, we must explore options. To me, Romney is pro-big business but Gingrich would inadvertently improve regular folks’ lives. The government doesn’t really care about babying grown people nor should it. With Newt in the White House, everyone would be compelled to step their game up because the safety net would be thin. Plus, I am tired of watching Obama fight the good fight alone.

Michelle vs. Callista: Quick, name five Black women who are more important that Michelle Obama in the history of this nation. Better yet, name five women of any color. The sista is special and I can’t imagine replacing her with Mrs. Gingrich. Mrs. Obama vs. Mrs. Gingrich would drive millions to the polls for Obama.

Homeboy Newt: Newt knows the South. If someone other than Obama must be president it should be a Georgian. As quiet as it is kept, Newt has a great record of supporting African American conservatives. When I worked on the Hill, a sista was Newt’s Chief of Staff and Newt is constantly cultivating the next generation of Black conservatives.

Tick off the GOP: The Republicans are purists that only want conservatives voting in their primaries (except Ron Paul.) Democrats voting in their primary would drive them crazy and distort their statistical analysis. Actually, open primary better reflect a cross section of the electorate.

Summary: we need to educate voters on their options. If you live in an open primary state, voting for Newt is something to consider.

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Obama vs. Cain, the Black Women with White Men List and Other Insults

Posted in politics, tagged African Americans, Bill Clinton, Black college, Black women, Blacks, Congress, Fox News, Georgia, GOP, Herman Cain, hip hop, Michelle Obama, Obama, youth on November 2, 2011| 1 Comment »

People get and give insults in the South all day every day. If you have thin skin, you should move. These insults come to mind.

The Michael Basiden Show’s list “8 Reasons Black Women Should Date White Men: First, Black Women should date whoever makes them happy and treats them well. But, the list from Basiden’s show ticked me off because I don’t think the desired traits are rare among my friends. I did like the list’s view on our community’s glorification of thug life.

http://madamenoire.com/22660/8-reasons-to-date-a-white-man-30188/

Obama vs. Cain: I once worked at the U.S. Congress across the hall from Rep. John Conyers’s office and he had a young bright chief of staff named Julian Epstein. At my Black college homecoming last weekend, many old classmates asked my opinion of the Herman Cain presidential candidacy and I told them that Obama vs. Cain was great for several different reasons from several different angles. I am insulted by Black people who think the Black electorate isn’t intelligent and crafty enough to vote for Cain in the open primary states if they want to see him faceoff with Obama.

While watching Fox News yesterday (yes, I watch Fox News sometimes), Julian Epstein let the cat out of the bag by saying that Democrats aren’t behind the recent Cain drama because smart Democrats want Cain to be the G.O.P nominee. Epstein then seriously said that Democrats would donate to Cain’s campaign. As we say in the South, Julian should “hush” because he is telling family business in the streets but he is so right.

Cain is to Obama as LBJ was to Kennedy: Yes, I can insult my political friends by stating that crass LBJ passed bills that smooth Kennedy didn’t get to before his tragic departure. Those Kennedy boys were no match for the Dixiecrats but old Lyndon knew how to fight fire with fire. LBJ said that he was insulted when a lifelong Black employee of his family would drive from Texas to the White House and if she need to use the bathroom in route, she had to squat in the woods.

Obama is my favorite president but possibly too nice to turn the nation around. He is too nice with the loyal opposition and he is too nice with his base regarding personal responsibility. If you read the 8 reasons Black women should date White men, you will see that the president and the first lady could say more about their development and growth relative to teaching the next generation of all colors. If Obama won’t get brass, Cain certainly would and that might be the answer.

Herman Cain, Bill Clinton and Thomas Gipson: I worked at Albany State University with old school southern gentleman Thomas Gipson..God rest his soul. Mr. Gipson, like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, had knowledge and wisdom for you everyday but he got a pass or was grandfathered on political correctness. Gip said that the university’s harassment policies were nonsense and that he would never stop complimenting lovely women.

Bill Clinton, one of my three favorite presidents, insulted me with that whole Monica mess as did Bush 43 with weapons of mass destruction. If I gave Clinton and Bush passes, Herman Cain gets one also. If people from Albany, Georgia, want to know what Cain likely said, they should remember Thomas Gipson and know that what was once tradition is now litigation.

In summary, “yes we can.” We can reelect President Obama. We can elect a Georgian as president if not Obama. We can better position ourselves to enhance the lives of Black women. We can understand if said women find happiness elsewhere. We can understand that no candidate is perfect and neither are we. We can use insults as positive dialog starters.

We can put on that Sade’s remake of Timmy Thomas’s 1972 classic “Why Can’t We Live Together,” sit back and explain to Cain’s supporters why they are alienating the massive political center. You can’t win the White House without the center.

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Cain/Huntsman 2012?

Posted in politics, tagged Blacks, Herman Cain, Huntsman, Michelle Obama, Obama on October 8, 2011| 2 Comments »

When looking at presidential possibilities, two questions should come to a voter’s mind: who do you want to be president and who ensures that the other team’s guy isn’t president. As a centrist Democrat, I want Obama and if someone from the other side became president with a snap of my fingers, it would be Jon Huntsman. Note: I don’t have magic fingers.

From my standpoint, the nuttiest GOP candidate would help make Obama a second term president and hardhead far Right conservatives are careening down that path. Thanks. Gov. Mitt Romney is presidential and decent enough to centrists and that is the reason the GOP doesn’t want to pick him.

The GOP candidates who could easily take the White House are Jon Huntsman and Herman Cain. Really. Huntsman is a GOP version of President Obama and therefore is polling two points above Ron Artest and me.

If Herman Cain gets all of the conservative voters in November 2012, he goes over the top with your mamma’s vote. Some older Blacks quietly feel that President Obama, a wonderful person, isn’t scarred and hard enough to hang in the rough and tumble world of politics. It’s painful from them to see such a nice young man get punched day in and day out. “Lord, get that fellow out of there before his heart grows dark like Jimmy Carter.” Others feel that the nation doesn’t deserve Obama and I understand their point.

If we look at Herman Cain, we see someone who is self-made, older and rich—old rich dudes can cut loose because they are already paid. Cain is a southerner and a Morehouse product. He can say anything he wants but down inside Cain is a Baptist brother from the dirty South. Obama was raised in nice places by nice people but Cain and every Black son of the old South is seasoned and hard on some level. I can’t believe that Cain recently said that he is American first, Black second and conservative third.

If Cain adjusted his message a bit by getting Shay and some of the other Black moderates and conservatives who write on the Booker Rising blog in his ear, he should secure 20% of the Black vote—half from those who want him in the White House and half from those who want Obama bashing to end. Hell, the First Lady might vote for Cain because she is tired of folks dumping on her man.

How do you balance a Cain ticket with Obama-like smoothness, public executive experience and international knowledge? Cain/Huntsman sounds mighty interesting. Black Georgians should vote in the GOP primary with this post in mind.

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Uncle Sam and Rev. Wright

Posted in politics, tagged African Americans, Conservatives, Herman Cain, Michelle Obama, Obama, youth on September 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

For me, being an uncle is an important role and we should all know our roles. Avuncular is an adjective that means “of or pertaining to an uncle.” Uncles and aunts serve as part-time parents like the Parents Reserves—one weekend a month and two weeks per year.

A kid may hangout with good old uncle Teddy for a short period of time and then it’s back to the parents because Sports Center or Jeopardy is on the box.

History buffs know that the term Uncle Sam came from meat-producer Samuel Wilson who provided barrels of processed meat to our troops during the War of 1812. That aid is the source of the term pork barrel spending.

An uncle shouldn’t take the place of parents and young people should never have kids with plans for mama, daddy, uncle, aunt or Uncle Sam to provide long-term support.

Readers of this blog know that Uncle Teddy welcomed the Obama campaign and presidency in part to hear the Obamas/Robinsons cut loose on their methods for family success: education, hard work, hose to the grin stone, eyes on the prize, and avoiding toxic people. I am still waiting for them to speak frankly but I can tell that the First Lady is going to write one important book on the subject after they exit the White House. She is going to tell us what is really wrong with us in her opinion and she will be so very right.

Uncle Sam isn’t your daddy. Uncles can help create nurturing environments but uncles and aunts cannot do for you what you must do for yourself. The late, great Bernie Mack took in his sister’s kids but that guy was rich. Most uncles and aunts aren’t rich and neither is Uncle Sam.

The Obama Administration (the current Uncle Sam) should explain the national debt to regular Americans and employ the JFK statement about “what you can do for your country.” You should have kids after age 25 with someone with a proven income who is emotionally-developed. You should focus on a career path in school. You should honor the fight for freedom by staying out of jail.

I might be eccentric Uncle Teddy in my family because “there is no-telling what Uncle Teddy might say next.” But time will tell that “unc” or auntie say what the parents didn’t or wouldn’t.

To me, Rev. Jeremiah Wright was Obama’s uncle and the White House’s message would be better if he was around. Yes, the old guy said some wild things but all old guys do that—they earned the right as combat vets. When the old guys who drink coffee at McDonald’s ask me if I am my father’s “boy,” there is no need to trip.

But, Rev. Wright’s directives to Black America are rooted in the self-determination mentality that existed before the welfare state. Rev. Wright is actually as conservative as Rev. Herman Cain and could sit and listen to a discussion between them for hours.

Uncles will praise your accomplishments but we will grind you up when you mess up. It will take the uncles and aunts in my community “reading” the youth if our futures are going to be better. Man, my Aunt Della could get you told for “old and new” with a quickness. I am keeping the family tradition.

Aunt Della

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Black Elite: HistoryMakers and Who’s Next

Posted in politics, tagged African Americans, Blacks, Boehner, Michelle Obama, Newt Gingrich, sanford bishop, zell on March 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The HistoryMakers oral history videos on Rep. Sanford Bishop and Howard University Medical School professor Dr. LaSalle Leffall reminded me of the road Black America has travelled. This history series, which chronicles the “struggle,” provides useful insight on those shoulders we are standing. A young person watching these stories should feel guilt-ridden if they aren’t striving for great things.

http://www.idvl.org/thehistorymakers/iCoreClient.html#/&s=6&args=2218

The leaders of the past often came from Black elite families that stress education and achievement. Dr. LaSalle’s librarian mother in Quincy, Florida, encouraged a kid to become a doctor and that kid is currently Dr. Willie Adams, the mayor of Albany, Georgia.

Where do we go next in Black leadership? I personally want to see more leaders with less than perfect upbrings like Barrack Obama because the traditional Black elite might actually be detached from the average American working families. While former congressman Harold Ford, Jr. is a glaring exception, we need an emergence of Black and White leaders with hardscrabble pasts like Senator Scott Brown or Speaker John Boehner or entrepreneurial skills like Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed. Reed is confronting the city’s budget situation in a manner rarely seen in Democrat politicians during the past few decades. President Obama met with Reed and other mayors to tell them that federal money for cities would be less and Reed went to work on budgetary hard choices.

Some people can’t understand that the Black community in America turned to the federal government when state and local governments treated us anyway they wanted…badly. We must now realize that the next step in the struggle starts with simply remembering the drive, purpose, determination and achievement of the history makers. It always seemed that Dr. King wanted each individual to stride individually rather than waiting for a leader who could be cut down—one way or another.

I was always taught to respect my elders and those who have done so much in the past; I put their many good deeds on the scale. With that in mind, we transitioning from Zell Miller and Sanford Bishop to the next phase of southern leadership. In his oral statements for HistoryMakers, Bishop said that Miller often talked about a turtle being on a fence post and that one thing was certain—he didn’t get there on his own. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a history professor, pushed for an America where every child has an opportunity to achieve. If that child squandered that opportunity, that’s life and the government can’t ensure a certain quality of life for everyone. We are in a democratic and not a socialist state. Dr. Bill Cosby says the same thing.

Every American community would be better if leaders talked plain and told regular folks what the real deal is. The next generation of history makers will contain polished children of the Black elite but also regular folks who are sick and tired of being sick and tired; folks who have always known that your success or failure ultimately being and ends with you. At the same time, we must have compassion for suffering children. The 60 Minutes segment on homeless kids broke my heart.

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GOP Candidate Barrack Obama: Child Please

Posted in politics, tagged Conservatives, Michelle Obama, Newt Gingrich, Obama, republicans on January 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

If you watch CBS’s Sunday Morning this week, you might have caught Ben Stein tripping about Barrack Obama running for president in 2012…as a Republican. Barrack Obama, Ernest Hemingway and Arthur Ashe are the coolest cats ever in my opinion but watching the president catch all this heat is rough.

Stein was joking but readers of this blog know that I have always thought that Obama raised moderate to conservative as was the First Lady. He didn’t get really liberal until college or maybe Chi-town. If he ran as a Republican, I would have voted for him and the same can be said about presidential candidates Condi Rice and Colin Powell. I want an Obama second term but if a GOPer became the next president it would be cool to have Georgian Newt Gingrich so he could make me head of the National Endowment for the Arts for the two months before he cut their funding.

Bill Clinton has been such a great former president with his global initiative and I hope that President Obama does the same with domestic issues and social understanding for his presidency. I don’t want to hear from my conservative friends who would say that sounds great and could start in two years rather than six years. I can wait.

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President Obama, Hill Harper and Bill Cosby On Family and Full Grown Men

Posted in politics, tagged African Americans, Blacks, family, Michelle Obama, Obama, parenting, youth on January 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

Solving the pressing family crisis in our community could start with some simple solutions. President Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope, Hill Harper’s books “Letters to a Young Brother” and “Letters to a Young Sister,” and Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint’s “Come On People” all contain a central theme on the family. To me, the theme was be careful when and with whom you start a family.

President Obama and Hill Harper were classmates at Harvard Law and both seem to emphasize waiting until the early twenties at least before making huge life decisions—like 23 years old. Of course, young people start college, training at technical schools, serving in the military and building careers before that age. But, I wish they would train, study and work by day and worship, chill and enjoy life at night and on the weekends while being very deliberate about life-altering actions like parenthood and crime.

The difference between 16 years old and 23 years ago is vast. While working in a community service program with young mothers, I quickly learned that most of the moms wished they would have waited to better know themselves and the guys with whom they were dealing before having a child. Most of my students later discovered that the dudes themselves didn’t really know who they were at the time. If you like to party, you should get partying out of your system before dramatically affecting you life and those around you.

My friends and I are constantly puzzled by young people who were raised under difficult conditions who put themselves in the same conditions. Of course, that young person’s parents often shoulder the burden of caring for the teen mom’s baby at a time when grandmothers should be enjoying relief after struggling for almost two decades and getting their money straight.

We know that medical science, diet and exercise could give young people today the opportunity to live 20 years longer than their grandparents. So, what is the rush to be a parent? Hill Harper wrote that many young women are looking for love from guys or want a baby to love. But, careful life-planning and love for the unborn child should have them delay parenthood until conditions are better—never perfect but better.

Governmental resources are scarce and taxpayers are understandably ticked about entitlement spending. While some loved the general idea of an Obama presidency, I was crazy about Obama speaking to young people about being careful with life choices in a manner similar to the decision-making of President Barrack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Cosby, Hill Harper and countless others who could teach these life skills and back them with proven actions.

I say young people should study, work and have fun while they are maturing and please listen to older people around you—they have been where you are heading and you can learn from their personal histories.

The Audacity of Hope: Barrack Obama

p. 255 In other words, African American understand that culture matters but that culture is shaped by circumstance. We know that many in the inner city are trapped by their own self destructive behaviors but those behaviors are not innate. And because of that knowledge, the black community remains convinced that of America finds its will to do so, then circumstance for those trapped in the inner city can be changed, individuals attitudes among the poor will change in kind, and the damage can gradually be undone, if not for this generation then at least for the next.

Such wisdom might help us move beyond ideological bickering and serve as the basis of a renewed effort to tackle the problem of inner city poverty. We could begin by acknowledging that perhaps the single biggest thing we could do to reduce such poverty is to encourage teenage girls to finish high school and avoid having children out of wedlock. In this effort, school and community based programs that have a proven track record of reducing teen pregnancy need to be expanded, but parents, clergy and community leaders also need to speak out more consistently on this issue.

p. 245 Then there’s the collapse of the two-parent black household, a phenomenon that is occurring at such an alarming rate when compared to the rest of American society that what was once a difference in degree has become a difference in kind. A phenomenon that reflects casualness toward sex and child rearing among black men that renders black children more vulnerable – and for which there is simply no excuse.

p. 347 I didn’t have a prepared text, but I took as my theme “what it takes to be a full-growth man.” I suggested that it was time that men in general and black men in particular put away their excuses for not being there for their families. I reminded the men in the audience that being a father meant more than bearing a child; that even those of us who were physically present in the home are often emotionally absent; that precisely because many of us didn’t have fathers in the house we have to redouble our efforts to break the cycle; and that if we want to pass on high expectations to our children, we have to have higher expectations for ourselves.

My notes from the Cosby Book: Come On People

https://projectlogicga.com/2009/06/26/come-on-people-the-cosby-book/

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Better Days: FLOTUS Michelle Obama and Essence Magazine

Posted in politics, tagged African Americans, Essence, Michelle Obama, Obama on December 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The last few weeks of a year are times for reflection and preparation. I am personally battle-weary from politics and yearning for a 2011 that focuses more on positive public policy and better leadership. Our southern heritage should push us toward a mindset based on personal choices, decisions and consequences rather than waiting for the government to solve our problems and issues. We need fewer self-generated problems and issues.

I want to hear more from Obama next year…FLOTUS Michelle Obama. Mrs. Obama wrote a wonderful letter to Black women in September’s issue of Essence Magazine (okay I was too busy watching college football to read Essence cover to cover like normal until now.) The First Lady might be the most moderate person in the president’s inner circle and if working families modeled themselves after families of old like hers, we would be much better as a nation. Those Robinsons were clearly determined people who were going to have something in this life and who watched how they “carried themselves.”

In another part of the same Essence issue, a quote from the First Lady’s speech at a D.C. high school graduation stated, “If you want a life free from drama, then you can’t hang out with people who thrive on drama.” I generally admire all the first ladies of my adult life but this one has the opportunity to reduce federal spending if the hardheaded would take heed to what she should be saying.

A great Christmas gift is a subscription to Essence magazine for our youth—boys and girls. If a guy spends time reading about these type women and their vibe, he would have a more rounded development. Hey, you can give Essence via the net using your airline rewards programs with a few clicks of the mouse. We could be better in the future or actually reverse past gains. The Chinese are fully focused while many American kids are getting softer by the day. It’s time for frank, wise people to step up and tell the needed yet painful truth.

Hey, it’s Christmas and the homies are returning from the war zone in good health; which is all I want for Christmas. I hope young people spend time during the holidays listening to positive family members like military veterans, sage uncles/aunts and the treasured seniors. We could have better days if we worked at it.

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Project Logic Ga

Southern Moderate African American Issues

Posts Tagged ‘Michelle Obama’

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

Best Interests Initiative: Health/Wellness

U.S Senate Race and Public Assistance: Help the Needy vs. Help the Seedy

Nunns, Carters, Obamas and Clintons: The formula

National Questions for Local Election Candidates

Public Servants/Unofficial Duties

My Annual Rambling Rant: Fat on Food Stamps

Hillary Clinton: Clear the Field

Michelle Obama, Darius Rucker and Lynrd Skynrd: Simple Life Is Alright

Legit: Michael Steele and Rep. John Barrow

Romney and Prince’s “Pop Life”

Campaign 2012: Put the South on the Table

Democrats for Newt Gingrich….Really

Obama vs. Cain, the Black Women with White Men List and Other Insults

Cain/Huntsman 2012?

Uncle Sam and Rev. Wright

Black Elite: HistoryMakers and Who’s Next

GOP Candidate Barrack Obama: Child Please

President Obama, Hill Harper and Bill Cosby On Family and Full Grown Men

Better Days: FLOTUS Michelle Obama and Essence Magazine

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