I HAVE A NEW HERO

Every now-and-then I get excited when I see, hear or read about someone, just anyone that stands up and say, "I'm not taking your &$#@ anymore!" A person that gives it back righteously and no matter how big, how powerful or entitled their aggressor is, that one person casts a shadow over them and puts fear and shame to them. Do that, just once, and you are my HERO OF THE DAY.

Well today, Dylan Ratigan, you got your official hero gear, cape and all. You did what I want all other News casters to do on the hair. You weren't commercially interrupted, no one dared to challenge you, you got your point across and you didn't care. Even with the Peanut Gallery you sat across from. You even gave it to the watching audience and every political pundit and pseudo-analyst out there collecting a BS paycheck for pushing the same weak agenda day-after-day, week-after-week, year-after-year, decade for decade.  Dylan didn't give the choice of a "blue pill or red pill", he straight up just said, "Open up and take it!" He didn't want to hear a comment back once he said what he did. He didn't want applauds or adulation and you didn't dare. It was the tongue thrashing one would get for braking the lamp in the living room after being told "no ball playing in the house". To even try to defend yourself would have been suicide. Even more so, you'd come off the idiot because you wouldn't know where to start with justifying MADNESS. Simply said, you had no choice but to say, "You are right Dylan." The facts were on the table, in your face, names were named and dates drawn on calendars. Clearly Dylan said, "You are busted and it's broadcasted live, now come for me."

Of course MSNBC will have some kind of follow up for stepping "OUT OF LINE". From the top brass, there will be some lecture or proposal for a time-out session and the executive corner. Maybe a warning for his OVERTLY PASSIONATE or ALMOST OVERTLY AGGRESSIVE manner. Maybe make note how the people working in the background couldn't do their work (a matter which is somewhat dumb because the idea of doing a live show in an open office setting is bizarre and trifle) or even better, "Dylan, you intimated the two female pundits and that constituted sexual harassment."  You know something is going to jump off. You just can't expose the under belly of the dragon showing its weak spot; that missing scale which exposes its heart. But regardless of the end results, Dylan put it out there and it was GOOD!!

You are my hero and I don't have a problem with how much damage you needed to do to get the job done because damage is what this system needs. Its not functional and you told us the who, whats, when, where and hows about the villains and masterminds behind the plan to take over the World. Now all we need is a Justice League or at least The Avengers once its all said to be done.

OBAMA'S BLACK FACE MOMENT

I am going to keep this entry short, and you all know I am not short for words about serious ISSUE to concern ME but this one I had just put out there for Blogger Opinion.

I was mid-way with a New Blog posting with my take on Rev. Jeremiah Wrights speech during the past weekend's NAACP affair and his Press Questioning and Answer Session when I saw on television the HOT OFF THE PRESS AND BREAKING NEWS that Barak Obama condemns his Pastor. He is quoted as suggesting that Rev. Wright’s “performance” was an OUTRAGE and his "comments were not only divisive and destructive”.

Was he talking about Rev. Jeremiah Wright or Flava Flav?

"I’m outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday." I find these comments appalling. It contradicts everything that I’m about and who I am. They offend me, they rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced. That’s what I am doing very clearly and unequivocally here today." – Barak Obama

I know we are talking about Obama's denouncing of his pastor as all Politics but in rejecting Rev. Wright, not only does he reject his own Spiritual Compass, but the Black Church, Black History and a larger body of Black folk and their connection to America through the Church and him.

“In the past, we were taught to see others who are different as somehow being deficient. Christians saw Jews as being deficient. Catholics saw Protestants as being deficient. Presbyterians saw Pentecostals as being deficient.

Folks who like to holler in worship saw folk who like to be quiet as deficient. And vice versa. Whites saw black as being deficient. It was none other than Rudyard Kipling who saw the "White Man's Burden" as a mandate to lift brown, black, yellow people up to the level of white people as if whites were the norm and black, brown and yellow people were abnormal subspecies on a lower level or deficient.” - Rev Jeremiah Wright

Barak Obama is an American so it's hard for me to accept and or see why he has to continue to prove to be American to everyone else when he only has to just BE. The one issue I have always had with those following Obama and love him as their candidate is that the see him as ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. The one thing about those that are ALL THINGS is that they often fail ALL THE TIME TO ALL PEOPLE. Obama is a MAN and like Men he is flawed which is why he has FAITH and in his FAITH, he worships DIFFERENTLY. And in the words of Rev. Wright, Different isn't Deficient.

I don't feel sorry for Barak Obama in regards to his rejection to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, I feel "sadden" for for HIM.

When you are diminished by YOUR Nation, pressured, manipulated away from your Spiritual Compass, that one person also being your "father figure", a Nation that has you denounce your Spiritual Leader, a leader that has connected you to your CHURCH and your Spiritual FAMILY and have you reject this before the WORLD, if you are willingly or even reluctantly, IN MY OPINION it shows a weakness in Character for one's FAITH. One should not have sympathy from AMERICA (the very Nation whom invented the concept of Freedom of Speech, Expression, and Religion) or Black Christians on this subject because both did not bother to question and allowed this treatment to fall upon a citizen, let alone Barak Obama. And to chock this up to those that are Christians and proudly speak within their “Faith” say, "He had to say this for "Political Reasons", speaks volumes to their hypocrisy comparing them to those who do not like the Clinton's and express that they "will do anything to win". This Black Face Moment now becomes Obama's “Anything To Win" moment”.

I can't see how a MAN, guided by his Faith can dismiss his beliefs for MAN'S LAW unless his Faith was a means to an Opportunity. For those that do not know, Trinity is a VERY powerful and influential CHURCH in Chicago and in the Midwest just as Ebenezer is in the South and Abyssinian is in the North. When you become a member of these Churches you are a standing member in a LONG STANDING HISTORY of Social, Political and Economic Change in America. To reject that, you do more than distancing, you begin to open eyes, ears and hearts to a HUGE SUPPORT NETWORK.

Rev. Wright stated that he is a Man of Faith and that his service is to that of GOD where as Obama is a Politician who must speak to the people and has to say whatever it takes to be a Politician.

I agree with Rev. Wright on this point, and thus Obama's dilemma for Being All Things To All People is careening into a Brick Wall. The thing about Being All Things to All People is that you eventual FAIL ALL PEOPLE IN ALL THINGS.

Obama should have stayed on message. HE HAD ADDRESS TO AMERICA HIS VIEWS AND HIS PURPOSE. He has published Books, did Interviews, made Speeches, has had 21 Debates, presented his Tax Records, presented his DNA and Family Tree so now he has to GET RID OF HIS MORAL COMPASS in order to walk straight? BULLSHYT!!!

"He continues his commentary about Rev. Jeremiah Wright: "As I see it, if a strong, controversial black man in America is not kissing the asses of cynics and aggressively-patriotic white America or submissively acquiescing himself as 'Toby' like Kunta Kinte in Roots, he is ostracized and electronically lynched. It is unfortunate that when sad truths are revealed about America - despite all of the good she has done in the world – people cannot see the truth because they are ridiculously and blindly patriotic. They are in deep denial. In my opinion, Reverend Wright has been vilified and 'caricatured' because he has spoken the truth about America not being utopia. It’s time for Americans to take the blinders off." -- Shay Posted on Booker Raising 4/30/2008

SHARPE JAMES OF NEWARK GUILTY, DIRTY AND KNOWINGLY CORRUPT

OK lets get this thing started, I use to live in Newark, New Jersey just over the Hudson River and have had family and friends there as well. I even worked there for a short time so my experience with the city is personal and professional. As a citizen of the city I made it my responsibility to KNOW the city, its history, its economics, the politics and its people. Much like New York City, it is composed with many ethnic and cultural groups but UNLIKE New York, it is an extremely segregated city. My experience there not only had a major impact on my life but its current make up not only prompted me to turn away from becoming a part of the World of Politics but on the other side of reporting it and or exposing the underbelly of it. The atrocities in Newark, New Jersey also was institutional in gaining me recognition as a Poet in winning my first Writing Award for a piece called OPPORTUNITY, detailing in verse, how the City of Newark had destroyed generations of its youth over the years. If Denzel Washington portraying an American Gangster, Sharpe James is America's Pimp.

Blacks over there, Latinos of here, Whites on the outskirts way over there, the poor in the center in the Projects and Portuguese, Asians and Italians beyond the underpass past the trains and the west Indians on the boarders on the extreme opposite side of town, Newark is a social experiment on How To Not Run An Ethically Diverse City. With it’s Lightning Rod History and Controversy, Newark still maintains a “fear” mongering form of policing where patrols on the boarders of the city keep those people that might be from the city, from crossing over into their own. What I always experienced while living and working there was as close as Newark was to New York City, specifically Manhattan; it was more Southern in style than Northeastern. Newark, New Jersey; the major hub for transportation, shipping, manufacturing, economic advancement, education and music was more like Chicago IL., Baltimore Md., Charlotte NC., Atlanta Ga. than a Brooklyn NY, Boston Mass., or Hartford Ct. Even with Newark’s history as being a city built by Immigrants, it also has had a long account of being corrupt in its politics. What always amazed me was that in its downtown area, at any given time, you could not find a movie theater (unless you wanted to choose between two Porn Theaters), no Ice Cream Shops or Bakeries, no places to get simple Computer supplies or Electronics, no Bookstores, very few Restaurants, no Hardware and Home Supplies shops and I can go on with a listing of "have-nots" that any small town would have but not the largest city in the state of New Jersey. This lack of Private and Public investment for the past 40 years is what tittered Newark on the brink of being a ghost town way before the Bush Administration's Big Score. The state of the city existed in this type of limbo through several presidents; Ford, Cater, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and only until recently has the cycle broken with the aid of Newark’s present Mayor Cory Booker. For all accounts, Newark was a Ghetto City and that was what it existed as under the combined leadership of two mayors and 40 years.

So why was this? There are many reasons which date back since the later 1960's. Some would argue the White Flight into the suburbs, others would argue the lack of know how by Black Leadership that filled in the void of those that left. Still others would argue the unstable economy that had befallen the City but residents of the City of Newark will tell you that the perpetuation of the city’s misery to be with two men selling and carving out the spoils than an entire Federal and State economy; former mayors Kenneth Gibson and Sharpe James. I would blame it on Black Loyalty at its worst.

I had recently posted on my blog the concerns I had about Black Loyalty (THE FATE OF BLACK LOYALTY). In this posting I discussed the pitfalls of Black Americans voting for political candidates just because they look like them and or use all the words of Hope and Change layered in Sermon and Gospel while wearing the Cloth of a Politician. As part of this analysis I used the current state of Newark as a grand example as to what happens when Black Politicians go BAD and Newark, New Jersey has had some BAD Politicians.

Concentrating on the TOP thrones of political responsibility, the mayor is always the figurehead that ultimately gets the hardest look. Looking at almost 20 years of non-transparent management under Sharpe James’ rule, the state of the city had grind down to almost a complete halt with its high crime statistics, corruptions, government abuse, misappropriation of funds, personal and family favors, money laundering, document and witness tampering and the list continue. What more, as the city continued to descend into near bankruptcy, the city was facilitating no-bid contracts, property sales, tax abatements and pushing Imminent Domain upon the city home owners while raising taxes to offset the cheap land that Developers where receiving without challenge. You had Councilmen and women with budgets that would just disappear into thin air without question. Newark was the place to learn, live, profit and love “Dirty Politics”.

What makes this act so shocking is that one would deem this to be the actions under a Republican Administration (President to Governor down to the Mayor) and yet these actions were all from a Black Democratic Mayor whom had won over a previous Black Democratic Mayor, Kenneth Gibson, who did the very some thing for nearly as longs as James. In essence, one mayor past the baton of corruption to the next to continue the raping, robbing and pillaging of the life force and livelihood of a city with the majority being the Black population. A city, which fought in the late 60’s to remove the gangster-type politics that segregated and oppressed a people to only replace it with another (with the help of corporate, special interest and ex-Newark officials whom had moved up in the Private and Public sectors and still had an investment in gutting out the new GAME that was to be Newark Politics). Think clearly then, you enter into a city where the evidence of riots still remain in public sight, where you allow fortune 500 corporations to exist at the center of your city and are allow to practice a "no-hire" practice for the residence within your city, where you allow (under the guise of Imminent Domain) State and County Universities and Colleges, Catholic Organizations, New Jersey Port Authority, State Hospitals and Manufacturing and Pharmaceuticals and Private Developers to expand into the city maintaining a "no-hire" status for its citizens while gifted with the prize of Pay No Taxes. And as each group gutted out the City of Newark, you heard the rallying call of Sharpe James calling these changes THE NEWARK RENAISSANCE.

I made this statement publicly and in writing, which had gotten me in some hot water, not because I was being a racial or radical, but because my words went out and also included Barak Obama:

"I am a skeptic in all things POLITICAL. For Obama, my concerns are his UNKNOWNS. There are many Blacks in politics that are doing great things and there are many that use their positions to line their pockets. Initially they (Black Politicians) all are inspirational and agents of CHANGE. As Black people, we end up on the loosing end when BLACK politicians go BAD or CAN'T do right by Black people due to political promises and pre-conditioned obligations.” – Shazza Nakim from the Blog: Field Negro

My words were not anti-Obama or anti-Black Democrat (as Obamaholics see the World, the statement read between the lines as being Pro-Clinton) the words spoke from a simple truth of past evidence and repeated examples of mismanaged government, not only of Black Politicians, but all Politicians globally. The politics of Newark, New Jersey isn’t unique to just that city but is does show a pattern in many predominately Black cities with Black Politicians at the helm. We can make claim to the same argument that those surrounding Mayor James and Gibson did this but reality the people's lack of the truth, their lack of ownership, false loyalty, lack of transparency, active participation, human nature and a Politician's bid to be like other political officials. The direction one needed to deal with Black Cities (and YES I will make the claim that a predominately populated city IS a BLACK CITY when the majority residents are BLACK) in a uniquely different way than non-Black Cities. Sharpe James has only done what other politicians have done and like those that were TOO greedy, felt they were TOO powerful and got TOO sloppy, he walks out in MUCH SHAME AND RIDICULE.

So what is the end result, does the City of Newark get back its Billions of lost revenue and government funding dedicated to rebuilding it back to its past luster? Do the children reclaim the loss of broken schools; poor education, undo their drop-out status, get off the streets and back into the classroom of the schools that were either closed or condemned, decrease the incarceration numbers because the after-school programs and summer work programs will be re-financed? Do people get to reclaim their homes lost in the vicious cycle of TAXATION? Do you mandate that those people who purposely set fire to their homes and businesses for Insurance in order to leave the city and add to the decay? Do you make accountable the Corporations that had systematically denied employment to Newark residents for generations thus keeping the unemployment rates consistent and steady? Do the city now balance the budget by cashing in all the Planes, Trains, Yachts, Cars, Private Mansions, Manors and Vacation Homes paid for by the tax payers? Do the people of Newark get back the KICK BACKS the Mayors signed off and granted to Developers for years? How about the subsidized resources given to businesses outside Newark with no return back from where it came from? A person can scream to Heaven, “MY GOD” with the type of abuse that had gone on unfettered all because of Black Loyalty in the City of Newark.

I do not like to wish Bad Luck and Ill Will on anyone and yet like Al Capone, the notorious Gangster of Chicago, if the best the FBI can get on Sharpe James is his hooking up his Side Piece on  with STEALING MONEY AND OPPORTUNITIES from the citizens of Newark, just like generations of other corrupt Black and Brown politicians were doing under his watch, THAN I AM SATISFIED WITH IT. My soul isn’t full with the justice but I think the people of Newark will have a sense that some HIGHER POWER is reminding them that "Not All Devils Go Unnoticed".

NOTE TO POLITICIANS: STOP HAVING SEX

It was only a matter to time. What? Less than 24 Hours before the digging into the background of NEW Governor David Peterson and already we know that he has had Sex. Not only with his wife, Michelle Peterson (the first Black First Lady of the State of New York) but BE DAMNED with another woman.

There are some events were I can be swept up into the wave of excitement and then there are others that are just too good to be true. David Peterson was one of them and for the most part, the People in Harlem gave off that same energy. Black folk were patiently waiting for that other shoe to drop. Call it a deeply rooted suspicion, call it a tie to Black History, maybe a residual effect of a Conspiracy Theory that the downfall of Eliot Spitzer was an inside job from his Republican rivals but regardless the source of the communities foreboding, there was a time period on calm before the storm and in record time it reared its NASTY HEAD, the next day. After David Peterson received a stand ovation from his acceptance speech, a gracious introduction of both sides of the aisle, his call for working together, his focus in fixing the economy of the State of New York, his inclusion of Black, Latino, Asian, White, Men, Women, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Northern New York, Southern New York, the Wealthy and the Homeless, his message was clear and direct, as a Republic, as a State within the Union, New York’s States challenges can no longer be about ego but solutions because if it is not NOW, it will be NEVER. Peterson’s healing song were the words, "There's trust that needs to be restored." In all relationships, this is the last and binding step for healing and moving forward.

What Peterson forgot to do with let the people know that he is having Sex. Although he alluded to it when he introduced his WIFE and CHILDREN to the State Congress. He let the entire State know this because he had a variety of guests such as three past New York City Mayors (Ed Kotch, David Dinkins and Michael Bloomberg), two State Senators (Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer) and ex-Governor Pataki. His State representative list was a Who’s Who of delegates and Super delegates. A party that Obama’s teams would loose sends over and yet with all the players at the PARTY, they all were witnesses that at some point, their REPLACEMENT Governor was having Sex in some shape or form.

So now that we know he’s having it in his immediate family structure, it up to the media’s to have a purposeful intention to look for any hookers, prostitutes, girlfriends on the side, past affairs, gay, bisexual, sex toys, porn, nude or semi-nude pictures, Internet memberships, rapes, blowjobs, STD’s, illegitimate children, aborted children, previous husbands, previous wives, past groups sex offers, tattoos, medicines to improve Sex and or breast enlargements for that the PEOPLE should know. You figure, if you can get one New York Governor why not try and get TWO for the price of ONE.

I posted in just the past few days Blog entries on the issues of how SEX takes too much of the forefront in our conscious thought on matters that are not important (American Dirty Girl, Spitzer's Shame Blame and a Woman's Fame). How sex and the United States puritan views for pretending the actions does not exist, how in our actions to make it hidden, SEX actually becomes the very nature of American's obsession, especially in Politics. I am not diminishing the bizarre aspects of what some have done, like playing footsy in Public bathrooms, but the private matters of sex in modern families should not be exploited as a weakness in one's political character here or in the World.

The positive fallout about this story is, most New Yorkers don’t even care. If anything, they are frustrated that it is even an ISSUE so soon after the Peterson’s Inauguration. I mean it was less than 24 hours ago. Looking at written reactions to this hit on the public, I read the following responses from The New York Times, March 18, 2008:

“What is the problem in New York that there should be such a shortage of saints available for public office?” – Posted by Nat

“WHO CARES?” – posted by Jennifer

“Do we really need to know this? I sure don’t. What’s next? A "mia culpa" of impure thoughts? Spitzer didn’t have an affair - he broke the law by buying sex and laundering money to cover up his illegal transaction. An old affair in the ancient history of a long marriage is no one’s business but theirs.” – Posted by Amanda, New York

“Well THAT was a short honeymoon . . . .” – Posted by Bettye Underwood

Then again, the "Affair" happened years prior to David and Michelle Peterson being part of State Government, which like many Married Couples, they decided to work in their resources, a way into a solution, which made the Peterson Family stronger.

“This was a marriage that appeared to be going sour at one point, but I went to counseling and we decided we wanted to make it work. Michelle is well aware of what went on.

We have a marriage like many Americans, maybe even many of you. And the fact is that we work through our marriage and want our children to see that we could make a difficult situation work. We’re very much in love with each other when we got married, we’re very much in love with each other now. I was in love with Michelle even when I knew the marriage was in grave danger. The fact is, for my own actions, I was angry, I was jealous and I exercised poor judgment. One day I realized it and I just decided I would go to counseling and have tried to work through these problems with Michelle and …you are seeing the real relationship, the day when we got married, the one we have now, maybe, maybe even a little bit enhanced by much better communication.” -David Peterson

Only those addicted to finding scandal or just have issues with Peterson will enjoy this titillation for Political Dirt. Some would even see this release of information as a positive PR event. Much like an Obama, we get all the dirt out in the open first and then exhaust any possible conflicts for the future. I just might agree with this tactic but HONESTLY, I rather not have known at all. That was and still is a private matter for David Peterson and his family.

What is in our best interest? Well, I guess there should be a check list of things a Politician can and can not do or have done before running for any position, call it an honor code if you like. The interesting thing about it is that to do this, would eliminate practically all the World Leaders all over. American’s need for the perfect Politician has never existed. Including American’s first President, George Washington. Sex isn’t an illegal act. Affairs are moral issues which depending on the circumstances (like a Spitzer/Prostitution felony inquiry case), aren’t areas the PEOPLE need to be involved in or need to regulate a person or a person political. I read in a Blog entry where someone asking if the People in Harlem were dancing in the streets knowing that one of its own, David Peterson, was going to be Governor of New York. Well, I can actually answer that question now. NO we weren’t. We are watching from the sidelines for any illegal plays from the aisles, the referees, the rules committees, the coaches, advertisers, cheerleaders and the media covering the GAME. It would appear, the MEDIA has made it's first move.

RUSH LIMBAUGH HAD NO POWER IN TEXAS

I think people have given Rush Limbaugh too much credit. Based upon Exit Polls and media coverage of the people in the rural areas of Texas, neither Rush nor his Talk Radio Show was a major or even deciding factor of the election result. Contrary to the “Volunteer”, Robert Swann , whom worked for the Hillary Clinton Texas Campaign, there is this deep belief that a small percentage of Republican banded together, to throw the State’s election as a direct protest against John McCain, the Republican front-runner then and now Presidential Nominee. The truth is the matter us what made the difference in Texas was the last Debate between Sen. Barak Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, the small but significant scandal with Obama and the Revko case which took center stage in Chicago that same week (where the media's perception of Obama was that of his avoiding answering questions of his direct connection to the case) and the fact that Texas is a Pro-War, Military and Veteran State which worked in Clinton's favor especially since she has a Liberal-Conservative viewpoint to War, Clinton’s 3 AM Political Ad and lastly, Obama’s complacency in campaigning in Texas. This meaning that although Texans like all things BIG, when it come to their politics, a “flesh to palm” and door-to-door works better that the star, stage and stadium approach. The populations of older voters do not turn on and turn out to the types of campaigning that Young Voters gravitate to.

Contrary to all assumptions, the issue with Race, Religion and Ads played very little into the whole voting issue since the deciding factor for Hillary's victory was that Obama did not cut ENOUGH into the Latino Vote. He did get a fair number of the Latin Youth vote but he was an estimated 3200 votes shy of their projections. With 83% of the Black vote, Obama needed 40% of the Latin Vote to even command a 50 plus 1% overall. Rush Limbaugh could not affect that many people (within the Democratic party) even on his BEST DAY. To consider that Ultra-Conservatives would vote for Hillary Clinton as a political stratagem to give Obama “FALSE HOPE” is almost laughable, more so it ranks up there with the Best of … The Texan Conspiracy Theories. There is no evidence and to be honest, no one is even researching all that hard to find out.

Another thing, the Religious Vote (Catholics) came out strong. Catholics voted more for Clinton in Texas than all her other State victories. For Obama, his projections were even with Clinton prior to Tuesday. Obama hit all his Urban Areas, the Middle-class and Wealthy, College age and Black Americans but his exception were those OLDER LATIN VOTER, which consistently keep missing. His camp made the same MAJOR MISTAKE in Ohio as well. It was in Obama’s campaign complacency and lack of presence in those Southern Texan districts, the people saw his lack of interest and in that black hole, Hillary’s campaign took charge. Those people watch TELAMUNDO; they saw a significant amount of that Clinton Ad. Like it or not, THE AD WORKED on the right people.

There was also this point as well, TEXAS did not have a record turn out in "Registered" Republican votes which would kind of make the Rush Limbaugh argument suspect. There was no major turnout of Republicans or Independents voting for Hillary Clinton. If anything, those borderline Independents and Republican Independents went Obama but in small numbers.

Looking at the MATH, it was going to be a tie from the start, especially since Texas began it’s voting early. It is always recognized that when a large number of votes are recorded early, there is a tendency for those voting late to stay home. We see this in National voting when the WEST COAST watched how the EAST COAST is voting which in some cases effect the whole election.

Lastly, THIS IS POLITICS not American Idol or Big Brother House. You have to be just as hard on the Media. Obama is the FRONT-RUNNER and every single stumble he makes (and OBAMA did stumble by not running a STRONG campaign in Texas among other things) you can't blame the "CLINTONS" nor can you point to Rush Limbaugh as a "serious" contributing factor. That is the easy and most Obvious thing to do when one does not understand the dynamics of running a campaign. My Political insight into campaigning is this for Obama, he needs to aggressively reach out to OLDER AMERICANS and to the Latinos and MILITARY Veterans that he keeps ignoring. This is what each group talk about, the idea that OBAMA isn't speaking to them and only the BLACKS and the Young Folks. Those groups are the SWING votes that are either voting for Clinton or John McCain. He also needs to make an appeal to Catholic Voters whom bring in Big Numbers to Clinton.

Instead of Preaching he has GOOD or BETTER Judgment, Obama needs to start talking about Current International Issues in detail and what He Will Do once he becomes President. Neither Clinton nor Obama has ENOUGH individual Foreign Policy experience BUT if you start talking about Foreign Policy in terms of THE PEOPLE , America will know that Obama at least know the NAMES of the major players. Obama needs to have more of his Foreign Policy Advisers come forward and begin schooling him in speaking PUBLICLY about World Events. That is why Coni Rice was brought on board for George Bush in his race for President and partly how he won. Same thing must happen with Obama, those on the fence do not feel he knows the World enough to speak to it. That is WHY and HOW he lost Texas, Ohio and RI, NOT because Clinton is Racist or a Fear Monger; all she did was play to Obama's weaknesses and exploited his campaign's complacency.

As much as I dislike Rush Limbaugh, I will always be convinced that people gave him too much credit, especially with his assumed affluence with Texan politics. This is a Man identified by his own Republican party as a "Man who does not debate in Reality", a shotgun Political Pundit which every mainstream Republican distances themselves from. Looking at the numbers after the fact, you will see, especially when you can go to the CNN exit poll for all the statistics, that what was proposed by Rush was and is incorrect.

THE MISDIRECTION OF BLACK FOLK

I preach a personal point , and not just due to this year's Pre-Presidential Race (because that is what it is, this is just the preliminaries, the actual race hasn’t even begun) but a point of Politics that has frustrated me for years.

Before I even get to what it is that I am most frustrated about, I need to inform you where this ENERGY comes from. I am a Political Scientist. I am also an International Studies person. I gravitate to all things that make up the World’s International community, its languages, its history, dress, its relationships etc. My specialty in International studies specifically; Political Boarders. This is the study of how Nations carve out boundaries based upon Geography, Ideology, Treaties and Social Agreements, Wars and Economics. As part of my background I have worked with Mayors, Governors, Congressmen in the House and the Senate, eventually got disenchanted with the politics of it all and began to turn to writing and activism (while working for the MAN because Brotha ain’t feeling the starving artist gig). Don’t get it twisted, I will sacrifice for a Cause even in the face of knowing that I will not have many bodies to catch my back when I am knock back or fall. That is the life of a leader, of an activist and person with Social Vision. So my point that I preach and is deeply rooted in my frustration with the American people especially Black Folk is WHY DO PEOPLE FEEL THAT POLITICAL POSITIONS ARE CAREER JOBS?

I responded to a recent Blog that was ranting about how BLACK FOLK got their eye on Black Super Delegates who don’t vote for Obama (mind you, we aren’t even NEAR the point of considering whether we need to look to a Super Delegate to vote).

This was my response"

"This speaks loudly of MISDIRECTED ENERGY.

The fact that this representative is serving in his 11th term speaks of the laziness, ignorance and lack of oversight of your community. You mean that it took an issue of a Black Man running for President to wake Black Folk up to get involved in your community's POLITICS? Every time I read a Blog with this PUNISH BLACK DELEGATES topic I laugh.

The issue isn't with John Lewis; the issue is with you for allowing him 11 terms in office. And if his service is/was so GREAT that it merit him being in OFFICE that long ... WHY WOULD YOU SABOTAGE his good efforts because YOU WANT A PRESIDENT THAT IS BLACK? It makes no sense.

Come check out on my Blogspot: THE PUNISHING OF BLACK FOLK, THE FATE OF BLACK LOYALTY pts 1,2 , I'M GONNA KICK YOUR HILLARY LOVIN ASS.

.... because the issue isn't WHAT BLACK DELEGATES SHOULD DO but more about WHAT BLACK FOLK NEGLECTED TO DO."

You pretty much get the jest of my point and whom I was referring to. As a child growing up in an Activist family, I often wondered why so many Politicians were in office for so long. As a child I also remembered in both my Civic and History classes that there was something called "TERM LIMITS" that were placed upon the President of the United States. This was to avoid the United States Government from becoming much like that of England, which was a Monarchy. I know that in New York City, its mayor has term limits and in many other offices in various States, you only get 2 or 3 shots at getting the job done. So when I see politicians in office for what, 11 terms, we are talking about, in some Congressional offices, a service time anywhere from 22 to 44 years in the same title. I don't know too many private and or corporate positions that last that long without question and definitely without ACCOUNTABILITY.

There is currently a Senator, Robert Byrd, serving since 1956, pushing 90 plus years old. Not knocking the Man, because anyone that can live to 90 years old is blessed BUT the the Senator can barely stand without a walker and his VOICE gives off body vibration that makes him look like his personal screws are coming loose and the body parts fall to the ground. I personally think that the people who keep electing him should be charged with Elderly ABUSE. I mean, he just fell and he's most likely shopping for a NEW HIP. Come on people, you mean there is no one in the whole state, Democrat, Republican, Independent, ALIEN that can be elected to office? Whenever I hear, while watching C-SPAN or my Sunday Morning Political Talk Shows how whomever Representative is on at the moment has 10, 20, 35 40 years in the Congress, I immediately fault the community that elected him or her, NOT the Representative.

My point is, when Political officials repeat their roles in Congress, it isn’t their fault that they work the way they do, it is the PEOPLE’S FAULT for their contentment and ignorance for the way things work. It speaks to more than an accountability issue, it speaks to the role of the Politician and the definition of a Civic Position that anyone can turn a short term contribution to the American fabric for service and tool it into a permanent career with perks and benefits. To be a politician is suppose to be a "privilege" and not a RIGHT and once in, you do not have the RIGHT to be there until you RETIRE even more so, pass the position to family.

If you take out your wallet full with your life’s savings and you set it on a park bench and fall asleep, how can you possibly blame the World or even the thief for ripping you off? This is what Americans have been doing for years and keeping it even closer to HOME, Black folk have been doing this for years and complaining about it without action. This very argument is what fuels Black Conservative to associate with the Republican Party (Lord knows they never have an answer for me when I asks, why Republican when you could consider being an Independent?) because in that complacency within Black communities they see the Democratic Party capitalizing on it and profiting as well.

My experience working in Politics, my Representative and organizations would do everything but give away free money to get people involved or even INFORMED. Millions of dollars spent to inform American citizens on the comings and going, the defeats and wins of their local politicians cannot be calculated and yet Americans argue that they don’t know anything about their local officials. I won’t even diverge into my issues and reasons why people decide to NOT vote but whatever the reasons, it never makes sense. As a local activist, in order to get people to pay attention to what ails the community, one needs to spend thousands of dollars for a local radio station or park convention, free give-always, celebrities and sometimes a mini concert to inform them that, “YOUR HOUSE WILL BE KNOCKED DOWN TOMORROW AND WE NEED YOU TO HELP US KEEP YOU IN IT!!!” At which point shock, blame and anger ensues and a rush to replace Black Leaders as being incompetent, uppity, con-artist and self-serving or the Thanks but No Thanks for not getting their attention earlier.

Now I will fess up, there are some really trifling Politicians and community leaders out there BUT for the most part, they usually work within the limited resources that they have which would be a Community that is so disconnected with the WORK that the Politician has no choice but to uses their best judgment to make the HARD CHOICES. Which brings me to my next point, Black Folk have had a HANDS OFF treatment with their Politicians for YEARS and now that there is this rush to make a difference in this election of CHANGE (mind you it was an election of CHANGE in 2000 and 2004 when the same people today who are voting, pretty much haphazardly participated then) are demanding from their REPRESENTATIVES to do as "I SAY". There is this "I am in the Driver’s Seat" voter mentality when for years Black Folk rode like Mrs. Daisy. complaining all the way to the Service Entrance of the White House. Then there is the LACK OF KNOWLEDGE of what a Super Delegate is, their role, and their individual RIGHTS and limitations as an INDEPENDENT VOTER, which are not bound by the DEMANDS of the Community.

So now we have a dilemma since the multiple term Politician was giving free reign to make policy (regardless if it was good or bad for the community) and is now FORCED almost threaten, to give up their FREE RIGHT to vote as their JUDGEMENT would be for the demands of the people he represent. One would argue, that for years free of NO OVERSIGHT, to do this one thing for the community is a good trade off and yet it is still a violation of the rules and standards of the democratic process, especially since he or she has done their job as well as any politician could accomplish with the resources, or lack there of, for years.

My understanding of this all is this; a Political Position is NOT a Career. These are Civic roles people play for a short period of time and anyone in office more than 2 terms should be questioned and anything more than 4 terms should be suspect. No matter how well a job the Politician does, an American Man or Woman should not hold that type of Power that long. To add, any community that allows this to happen in their community should be suspect and held accountable for corrupting the Democratic system.

Black folk are only at the crest of understanding this but they are getting there. Unfortunately they may get there with a lot of Political Blood being shed. Those that make up the National Black Caucus do need a good cleansing, possible DRY CLEANING with extra starch and pressing BUT we also need to look at the labels and see if the fabric of who they are REQUIRE that type of treatment or just a good home grown HAND WASHING. I have my opinions on a few but like I said, I can only do my part locally.

I think it is too late to TEACH Black folk as a whole how putting Super Delegates on a WATCH isn’t the answer before the Presidential election, considering that there are over 700 Super Delegates and Blacks make up less than 90. Subtract the Latino, Native America, Asian and Women and you are left with WHITE MALES in huge numbers. If the Super Delegate voting is of major concern, I THINK YOU NEED TO PUT SOME WHITE FACES UP ON THAT LIST. The light from the Watchtower (not to be confused with the Jehovah’s Witnesses conversion material) shines on EVERYONE. If Black folk are willing to BEAT UP on the Black Delegates then they need to get MIKE TYSON on the others as well.

BAPTIZM BY RAIN

I get up and begin to do my thing. I have several choices, the celebration for the Superbowl winning Giants down in the Canyon of Champions or as the media puts it, Canyon of Giants, spend a day on the phone calling family and friends or spend a day walking about the town taking pictures and voting. Since I haven’t done the walking thing in a while, I decided to exercise. I decided to gear up in my Neo-Soul look and head outside when I look to the sky and see that it’s a mess. It’s cloudy, slight wind and raining. Rain coming down in a steady flow in an amazing SPRING in WINTER day. (I swear the World is coming to and end.) Not too heavy but a constant light fall. I initially was going to head back up for an umbrella and travel by train or bus but there is something about walking in the rain that is cleansing. The notion of Baptizing oneself was what I think I needed today. So I decided with the need to clear my mind and offer it for the day to fill it with ideas for creating something new, I begin my journey by foot. I picked up my camera and began to hoof in for the day.

I took my time and looked at all the new construction in the area. I made a conscious thought to look each and every person I pass, in the eyes. I know in some circles, this would be only unsettling and a bit of a challenge, even crazy but it also spills their story out to those open enough to catch them. It only takes a quick moment. A bit of shyness, a fragment of fear, a second of sadness, a smidgen of hope and you can see it in-between the whites of the eyes. People have stories that they want to tell and sometimes you have to snatch it out from a glance. OK, that’s the poet it me talking, I don’t really be stanching shyt, BUT I am in tuned to people through body language and the first place to look are the eyes.

Around town you see nothing but the signs of expansion. New housing and streets being torn up for more wiring and gas lines, I see more express trucks rolling through now than ever before (a product of online shopping no doubt) and street cleanings. Police officers are now walking in small groups as oppose to single and double file, and where there were once street signs to dictate when and where you can and can’t park, I see meter maids placing tickets on cars that have over stayed their allowed time where parking meters line residential streets. Yes ladies and gentleman, this Tuesday seemed more like a Monday after failing to hold back the sun.

Now I soon find out that my Polling area where I normally vote has changed. So instead of voting at an area that was once close, I now had to go a little further out. I think under any other circumstance it would have bothered me but I was being BAPTIZED along my journey so nothing was bothering me today. I walked along Broadway to my new voting location and noticed, another store front shop has gone out of business. I can only guess who he's NOT voting for today. As I walk I recall a poem I wrote several years back. The poem, ELECTION DAY, was inspired by hearing stories of how BLACKS, as early as my parent’s generation, were denied the right to vote. The social and political GAMES both Northern and Southern Whites played to manipulate Blacks, using threats and even murder to bar them from the Right to Vote. How the Klan and White Supremist would lynch Blacks that would even talk about participating in voting. The idea of creating Poll Taxes, Freedom Papers, Land Ownership, Birth Certificates and other “legal documents” have evolved out of that time into new forms. Today the new ploys are NATIONAL ID’s, Citizenship Verification, Chads and Computerized Voting Booths (knowing damn well that the average person can barely work an ATM machine) and a host of other radical changes. The very fact that my polling location was changed without my advanced notice is a little suspect but, I am being baptized by the rains so I move along without tension.

I am snapped into reality and see that many of the people I am passing on the street, aren’t even attempting to vote or registered to vote. I wonder what percentage CAN’T vote due to legal wrangling? Still, as I walk up Broadway, how many of my Brown Brothers and Sisters can’t vote because they are not legal citizens. YES I dare say it, there are a lot of ILLEGAL ALIENS walking the streets of Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood and even more true, they cannot vote. As deep as these thoughts would be normally, I am being baptized today by the rains and I move on to my destination without a care. I get to my new spot. IRONICLY, the location is at Boricua College, an institution dedicated to the education of Spanish Speaking college students, and get this, the campus is the old site of the Native American Museum of New York which was closed down and moved to LORD KNOWS WHERE NOW. Talk about an AMERICAN DREAM.

As I walk into the building, it was very quite. Let me repeat, as I walked in, it was VERY QUIET. This isn’t normal for polling locations. I have lived in several places around the United States and I normally see people out front handing out flyers, waving banners, a few news and newspaper reporters asking your typical “exit polling” questions and today, all I got was, “This way” and “Where do you live sir?”

After I answered I was pointed in the direction I was suppose to go. As I enter into the room, I am surprised that there wasn’t a line. I simply walked up to my designated table and gave my name, showed ID and was pointed to THE BOOTH. As the curtains closed behind me, giving me the shadowed privacy I needed, I looked up that the five names before me. Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and a few dozen other names that were the delegates connected to each candidate. I looked for a place to do a write-in candidate. I figured I could throw my name on the ballot as the “None of the Above” candidate. I didn’t see it. So like the good citizen I am, I made a choice. (LIKE I’M GOING TO TELL YOU WHO I VOTED FOR).

I throw back the lever and the light of the World came back. It was over, in less than 30 seconds. The weight of the World has faded and I did what thousands of BLACK people have died and even more have sacrificed to do. And to show for it, I exited into a room of silence. As I walk toward the door, I thank the woman who processed my paper work for voting as she replied back, “I wish more young men like you voted.” I don’t know what made me more distinguished, the fact that she thanked me for exercising my RIGHT to vote or the fact she called me YOUNG. I’ll take them both.

I looked toward the streets of Harlem knowing that in the next few months, I’ll be here again but under different circumstances. Over the past eight years, my journey has lead me to great disappointments because like the people on the streets I passed, I get a sense that there is no urgency in participating in a government that will again DICTATE their existence, possibly for the next 8 years.

I take the long way back and cut through the park. In photographer mode I see a few compositional shots and decide to break out the camera. I see a few people near the exit of the park and I make my way toward them. I pass a woman and child. The child is wolfing down a pastry like no tomorrow while the woman is staring into the distance. The closer I get I can tell that neither one is even paying attention to me. I can also tell that in her blank expression, there is a sense of abandonment going on. She can be anything from a woman homeless and in a shelter, unemployed or abused. In her eyes she’s was searching and as much as I wanted to capture it on film, I decided to leave this family in their moment of privacy within the park. I continued along my way to two women further ahead. Both holding shopping bags and just standing in what looked like a friendly yet serious exchange of words. As I get closer I over hear their conversation.

“If Obama is an agent of change, what change has he done in say, CHICAGO that would make me feel guilty for voting for Hillary Clinton? Tell me because I use to live in Chicago on the Southside and is worst now than ever before. But that Northside is doing well you know.”

Now I lived in Chicago for a few years and to be fair to my experience and in my time there, all I observed in the politics of the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois was a lot of corruption. I didn't see much CHANGE happening except more BLACK getting the poor, arrested, killed, harassed, marginalized to the far outskirts of the city while the cities expanded with businesses, homes and foreign investors. JUST MY OBSERVATION.

The other woman responds back, “He is only one man and he has done a lot from what I heard. Maybe for him to do more he needs to be in a higher position to make a CHANGE."

“You still ain't said nothing solid.” Said the first woman.

“I’m not just voting just for Barak Obama, I’m voting for the World. The whole World wants Obama to be President”, the second woman tell her.

Now as I continue to pass by I am working my body in one direction while dragging my ear behind to get the end of this JUICY DEBATE.

The second woman goes on to say, “People in Africa are jumping for joy knowing that one of theirs will be President of the United States?"

OK, maybe I missed something during the campaign. I don’t understand how Africans think Obama is their President and how is he going to make their lives better? Now I do know that as part of the Trinity United Church of Christ, the church Obama belongs to, their 4th tenet is, "A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA", does this mean that on DAY ONE, the Africa agenda will take precedent over all other World concerns? If so, does that mean Africans see Obama as being more African than American and who will tell Americans about this? Do Africans see their freedoms from oppression usurping Blacks in the rural South or urban North? Will this be the beginning to the long delayed Marcus Garvey movement BLACK TO AFRICA? Does this mean that AFRICANS see themselves as different and apart from BLACKS in America? (I’m departmentalizing that theory for another Blog for another time.)

“It’s in the Bible, Obama will make things right in the world”, the second woman continues.

I think to myself, “ONE OF THEIRS? OBAMA IN THE BIBLE?” She said this as if Obama’s THE MASSIAH. That disturbed me big time. It disturbed me more because I recall not too long ago, the Evangelicals said the same thing about George W. Bush Jr. and reasoned it as to why the United States was in Iraq. This too was written in the Bible. Since when do each President of the United States start being part of the dogmatic fiber of the Good Book? I must have missed this in Bible Study. My fear is that all the condemning of the Evangelicals will soon be replaced by fear of the BAPTIST.

I walk about a dozen or more blocks and pass another polling station in Harlem as I move down toward 135th Street and Convent Avenue when I hear, “OBAMA!OBAMA! OBAMA!”, chanting outside the polling area with this little short WHITE guy slipping me a polling advertisement detailing Barak Obama and the delegates connected to him before of I would go in. I think to myself, “Now this is what I was expecting.” But then it dawned on me. Where I had voted was a majority Latino community and here is all Black with a few gentrified Whites. Hummmmm? I finallyget it. This is that Barak Obama comes to the Apollo crowd. So I watched a little as the BLACK folk danced, rapped and shouted the name Barak Obama like an Elder Chief of the African Plains. I couldn’t help but recall just how the very same people danced and twirled for Bill Clinton 8 years ago.

Then this tall older Black Man stood next to me as I was taking pictures. He asked if I worked for the press. I told him not, that I was just walking around taking pictures. We chatted a little as I told him my story as to where I had to go to vote. He responded back, in a Conspiracy Theory type way, “You know Obama is a Republican in Clintonian Clothing.”

I stopped with the camera then looked at this man in PURE astonishment. I said to myself, "OK NOW LET ME HEAR THIS ONE OUT." Now let me tell you this, I love a good Conspiracy Theory, its like going to the movies to see a good Sci-Fi or Horror. You know going in that everything you see is pure fantasy, BUT you just might get caught up in some of the reality aspects which would make the whole experience worth your while. Then you can walk up into a movie that is so REAL, that once you leave, YOU START KEEPING LIGHTS ON IN THE HOUSE.

He goes on to say, “He may act the part of a Democrat but his intentions are that of a Republican. Not like the Bushes, He’s more reserved than that. He’s pure Business, more like a Corporate Lawyer. Everything he does has an agenda for profit and moving it to the right hands. The thing is he needed to be polished enough to talk the talk and walk the walk that is why he has a lot of ex-Clinton people working around him. Trust me, Obama is a Republican and in a few years, you’ll see it. Just like these people didn’t see Bill Clinton's coming when he moved up here in Harlem, they will see that he’s not as BLACK as they are praising him to be.”

All I could say after that was, “Wow, now that's food for thought”. I told himit was nice talking to him but I had to leave, and I hurried out of there just in case their were SNIPPERS on the roof aiming for his BLACK ASS. I mean I have heard what the Bush Administration does with people with arab names and WATER, I can only imagine what other GOTHIC practices they had in store for someone like the TALL MAN.

The rains had stopped and my baptism was now over, I knew this because I was getting tired sooner than I thought and the Holden Caulfield in me was starting to come out. I walked on a little further and then decided to cut my journey short. I wanted to know what was going on in the world of my friends and family, which was a good balance I needed after a day of mental passivity.