The Revolution Will Be Taught, Part I

The importance of teaching accurate history cannot be overemphasized. It gives children a proper sense of their selves and their communities. What Texas, and Arizona by the way, did to the textbook standards of their soft subjects in racist, egregious, and just plain wrong. Texas's partisan state board of education put forth standards propograting a racist and inaccurate history. I found that insulting as well as disappointing.

So hearing that the NAACP and LULAC are joining forces against Texas’s SBOE gave me incredible pleasure. (h/t Joe @ racismreview):

The Texas NAACP, Texas LULAC and Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education (TABPHE) are holding a press conference, with partnering groups to announce the filing of a request for a proactive review by the U.S. Department of Education and its Civil rights division. The request addresses many aspects of discrimination against minority public school students in Texas, including recent changes to history and educational standards in social studies. Texas State NAACP President and National Board Member Gary Bledsoe said, “Education remains the most critical element in the long term economic and social interests of all American citizens. Reasonable people of good will must guarantee that all students, regardless of race or economic circumstances, be given the tools needed to become successful in a rapidly changing global economy. We must also be held to a high standard of accuracy in conveying historical events to students who will use this information to compete for educational access not only in Texas, but increasingly around the country and world. We must not allow the use of our compulsory education system to misinform and negatively impact the academic capacity of our most important natural resource – our children. Our action today seeks on objective review of the partisan attack on the public education system in the State of Texas.”

State LULAC President Joey Cardenas said, “We were shocked at the actions by the State Board of Education in emasculating our history. It is necessary for our own well-being and that of the people of our State that we do all that we can to ensure that what they have done does not end up being a reality. Our State and nation will suffer from what they have done and emotionally and psychologically it will greatly harm our young people. Dr. Rod Fluker of TABPHE said that one of the things we are most worried about is how this will impact teachers and the kinds of attitudes it will bring to our next generation of young people to move into this field. This is a serious problem.” Bledsoe said that one thing we are looking for is to invalidate the standards so that they do not become a reality. “This is like a criminal assault. The message is that you have no worth. We cannot let this become official policy.” Cardenas added that “we have engaged the State in litigation before and will do so again if necessary.

“In challenging the Standards, the Texas NAACP wishes to applaud State Board of Education Members Lawrence Allen and Mavis Knight for supporting us in this initiative. Dr. Felicia Scott of TABPHE said that it is important to note that the most offensive items were opposed by all 5 minority Board members who voted as a block, “that really says something about how offensive these matters are, and this is from a purely academic and humanistic perspective with no injection of politics.” 

I'll share more of my thoughts later. For now, Professor Kevin Michael Foster, a graduate faculty member in the Departments of African and African Diaspora Studies, Curriculum and Instruction, and Educational Administration, says this (email reprinted with his permission):

Subject Line: Supplemental strategies in light of noxious social studies standards




Greetings all,
On the tail of the complaint [by the NAACP and LULAC] to the Dept of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, I can’t help but again express my thorough frustration with the social studies knowledge (and dispositions) among the Texas-taught undergraduate students I work with at UT Austin. Encouraged by Board Member Knight’s interest in what is taught elsewhere, I’d also like to think about multiple strategies — a program of activities — to see to the good sense education of Texas school children regardless of the “standards” that we end up with.


Joe Feagin alluded to a reality that several of us experience on the collegiate level. My general experience is that the miseducation of high achieving students in Texas is thorough — not simply that they have been undereducated, but that they have been and are systematically miseducated in the sense used by Carter G. Woodson.  Black and non-black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic, huge numbers across demographic groups doubt the intelligence and worth of non-whites as students as UT. It is especially painful to see Black and Brown kids who finished in the top ten percent of their high school classes yet come to UT with doubts about their own intelligence and worth. They have been taught the glories of The Alamo and Texas Independence with no context to bring out (for instance) the historic role of the slavery issue in the region. In defiance of the historical record and decades of historical analyses, they are taught that the Civil War was about “state’s rights” and not really about slavery (as if in this context those two were separable). They are taught that Affirmative Action is among the greatest unfairnesses today — a red herring of the first order — especially for settings like UT, where the only meaningful affirmative action that takes place is for student athletes (and in a context where even there it is not done with adherence to the spirit of the original concept).


By contrast, and to Board member Knight’s query, in my youth I was required to read Souls of Black Folk (Du Bois), Up From Slavery (BTW), The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Why We Can’t Wait (MLK), The Autobiography of Ms. Jane Pittman (Gaines), Mules and Men (Zora Hurston), large chunks of The New Negro (Alain Locke, ed) and other texts. During most of those years I lived on Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue and was expected to know who this important and great woman was as well.  Much of my reading was required in school. That which was not required by the school was required by my father and nurtured by my (former schoolteacher & guidance counselor) grandmother. Today we still need both forces — what the approved curriculum standards require and what we as a community require in addition.


As I raise my 10 year old son and 8 year old daughter, I perceive a profound need for a war on multiple fronts. One front is that of the specific Texas Curriculum Standards. And even here, while there is a need for straight on attack (e.g. “complaints” to OCR), there is also space for battle on the flanks (for instance cataloging and publicly rebutting the problems with the standards and providing parents with talking points for conversations with teachers and principals as they ensure that their children aren’t fully subject to the brainwash education).


Another space for action is to actively create and disseminate a supplemental curriculum, one specifically aimed at correcting for the anticipated (and realized) negative consequences of students (of all backgrounds) being taught histories that validate the indefensible, that force classroom discussion into ridiculous directions, and that undermine true knowledge of self and history among African American students, Latino students and others who find their well-informed understandings (or even nascent yet accurate understandings) of themselves and their world under assault. To take just one example,what if students were expected to read and consider Uncle Tom’s Cabin, easily one of the most important books in U.S. History, gigantically influential in its time, for the longest time second in sales only to the Bible, and a text that raises the paradox of having emancipatory goals while simultaneously cementing damaging stereotypes. There is so much to work with in this highly readable text — for history, for literature, for critical thinking — and yet most students have not read it.


In this sad state of affairs I am sure of at least two things: 1) We must act to alter inaccurate standards; and 2) we must in the meantime produce and disseminate viable supplements to counter the damage that the inaccurate standards are doing in the meantime. For those whose official capacities allow it, proaction should not be seen as an option but rather as a responsibility.


With apologies for the rant, but a deep commitment to not stand idly by, I hope that all have a happy season.


-Kevin


Kevin Michael Foster, Ph.D.


Executive Director, ICUSP Phase II
http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/icusp/


Graduate Faculty Member,
Departments of African and African Diaspora Studies, Curriculum and Instruction, and Educational Administration
University of Texas at Austin

Another Issue I Have with Tea Pots!

It just accord to me, so I gotta share it now before I forget. I'm sure someone has probably addressed this somewhere else, but another problem I have is that there's not policy behind the rhetoric.

They're concerned about government spending. Okay, what programs do you really wanna cut? I saw a few thousand or so amening Glenn Beck's assertion that in order to get the country back to where it's supposed to be, they may have to sacrifice their own social security and medicare benefits. Are they willing to do that?

A commenter named Teila made an interesting point in response to the open question post (not the page): government should only do for people what they can't do for themselves. So you know what? I'm going to list some of the things President Obama, but more generally and importantly progressives, want to see government do:

The Right is "Taking Back" the Civil Rights Movement, Remember?

Black Power's Gonna Get You Sucka:
Right-Wing Paranoia and the Rhetoric of Modern Racism
By Tim Wise

July 10, 2010

Prominent white conservatives are angry about racism.

Forget all that talk about a post-racial society. They know better than to believe in such a thing, and they’re hopping mad.

What the Haiti?! 2: Some 'Orphan Rescue' Children May Have Parents

The orphanage where the children were later taken said some of the kids have living parents, who were apparently told the children were going on a holiday from the post-quake misery.

I can't think of the words I want to say about these folks. No, actually I can, but what I really want to say isn't holy. So I'm just going to quote more of the best of the article with new information.

"I'm Not a Racist, But . . .

. . . yes, I'm comparing our first black president to a anti-semitic mass murderer even though at no point in US history have black Americans systematically murdered and terrorized white people."

Meanwhile, just today I talked to the lady behind the counter at Subway. We actually started joking about the "$5-Footlong" song. Then, in the course of our conversation, I learned that she and her husband have 5 boys between them, he just lost his job, she only works part-time, and so they have no healthcare.

Hardworking, white, Americans. No healthcare. They make too much to qualify for medicaid, for now at least, but not enough to afford private insurance. 5 boys. 5. No health insurance.

So let me know when you're ready, all of you afraid of losing your country, for a serious discussion about all of us looking out for each other; not just ourselves or the ultra-rich.

Just a Quick Thought, Re: Obama, Healthcare, Hitler

Sorry I haven't written much. There're a few reasons. One is that I had a back and forth going on another blog with this racism-denier named Darin Johnson. I think I must have "won" the debate because he hasn't challenged anything I've said in about a week. In his last couple of posts, he tried to act as though he and I were on the same side all along - equal opportunity for everyone. But, we weren't.

The other reason is that I've had so many thoughts about the townhalls and healthcare reform, or now, health insurance reform, that it's been hard to keep everything straight. Lastly, and ironically, I haven't been feeling well as of late.

But with all the (white) idiots comparing Hitler to Obama even though it's not accurate and makes no sense, I think it's important to point out that Hitler was a WHITE SUPREMACIST! Obama is half-white!

Hello, you redneck idiot. Er, duhr!

Who in Hell Left the Gates Open?! [Updated}

Update: This is the most recent info I could find. Now. There are several out there who feel the whole ordeal was Gates's fault, that had he just complied with the police and been polite, he wouldn't have been arrested - police don't like to be shown up no matter what the other person's race is. All that junk, you'll have to google on your own.


Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit) - Michael Jackson

Me? I hope this finally convinces those individuals who believe that it's not about race as much as class that race does indeed trump class. I personally don't believe the police account that Gates became combative and accused the police of racial bias - mostly because Gates doesn't believe in the overarching construct and impact of racism. But assuming Gates did become belligerent, do the cops really arrest every person who becomes belligerent. Are there no white people who became belligerent with cops and didn't get arrested? I know that's not the case because I've already read a few personal accounts to the contrary.

And it's widely documented that white people accept more disrespect or combativeness from other white people than from people of color. It's also widely known, amongst black people at least, that any sign of resistance will be met with a billy-club and handcuffs. Like I said, I can hardly imagine Gates being belligerent. And the plain truth is he could've done everything the police asked and been as perfectly polite as Emily Post instructs, that does not mean that a request for the cops name and badge would not be met with handcuffs. Or maybe, considering all the cases of police brutality that I've seen and heard, I just think a black person has to give 110% effort at demonstrating their cooperation and respect for the police. Including but not limited to keeping your hands visible at all times. I mean for real. I know of a 19-year-old black guy who was the passenger in a car driven by a white person, and the black guy ends up dead. I'm not even sure the white driver was arrested. I know of a situation where a woman was in some kind of state of medical emergency, I can't remember if she had overdosed on some drug or was in a diabetic shock, but she was shot several times by the police and killed even though, and the police say because, from start to finish she did not move.

The other issue that convinces me this was about race is the neighbor. I mean, why was it necessary to describe the possible thieves as "black?" Whatever it may be and whatever the race of the neighbor, there are racial implications and reason for describing a suspect as "black." Maybe you didn't know you had any black neighbors and you're using the descriptor to indicate the people you're calling about don't belong there. Or, maybe you know that saying "dangerous black male" will get a quicker response. And just who is this neighbor and how long has she been living there? Maybe it's because I've lived in the same neighborhood all my life, or because my eyes are wonderfully healthy, but I'd be able to recognize my neighbors across the street even if it were just by their silhouette.

But there's another issue to address, and this no matter how racism-deniers (You know, like holocaust-deniers? My term, my term.) respond to this, is what it says to black kids and maybe even all kids of color. White people don't know it, but within the black community, adults do stress the importance of education. Work hard, go to college, be the best "you" you can be. We tell our young people that the sky is the limit, they can become whatever they want to become, racism is an obstacle but it has been, can and will be, overcome. In fact, I go as far as to say one of the many strategies of assault on racism is to use education to learn how the "system" works and be able to manipulate it, whether from the inside as a lawmaker criminalizing racial profiling or from the outside as a community activist. But here's the hard-hitting truth, the part of Pres. Obama recent speech to the NAACP that mainstream media ignores: at the end of the day, no amount of education or success can shield you from racism. And especially if it's coming from US senators during your confirmation hearing on your nomination to the Supreme Court and you're a wise Latina woman.
_________________________________________________________________
I just heard about this. Just heard about this. Here's what racismreview has to say . . . my thoughts, and a Michael Jackson song, later.

Racism in Cambridge: Harvard Prof. Gates Arrested
Posted by admin on Jul 21st, 2009 2009
Jul 21Arriving home after a recent trip to China and struggling to get into his own home in Cambridge because of a jammed door, esteemed scholar of African American Studies and Harvard Professor, Henry Louis (”Skip”) Gates, Jr., was arrested by police. According to one report (h/t @BlackInformant for a couple of these links), this incident began when someone alerted police:

A witness, 40-year-old Lucia Whalen of Malden, had alerted the cops that a man was “wedging his shoulder into the front door” at Gates’ house “as to pry the door open,” police reported.

None of the reports I’ve read online describe Ms. Whalen’s race, or why someone from Malden was doing calling the cops about a man entering his own home in Cambridge, but apparently it was her call that began this series of events. Here’s what happened next, according to several reports, this one from HuffingtonPost:

By the time police arrived, Gates was already inside. Police say he refused to come outside to speak with an officer, who told him he was investigating a report of a break-in.

“Why, because I’m a black man in America?” Gates said, according to a police report written by Sgt. James Crowley. The Cambridge police refused to comment on the arrest Monday.

Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him,” the officer wrote.

Gates said he turned over his driver’s license and Harvard ID – both with his photos – and repeatedly asked for the name and badge number of the officer, who refused. He said he then followed the officer as he left his house onto his front porch, where he was handcuffed in front of other officers, Gates said in a statement released by his attorney, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, on a Web site Gates oversees, TheRoot.com.

As this story has begun to get out on the web in the last 12-24 hours, it seems to be touching off a tsunami of outrage at the persistence of racial inequality in the U.S., even for one of the most well-known and accomplished scholars. If this could happen to Skip Gates, at his home in Cambridge, Mass., it does not speak well for the state of racial progress in the country as a whole. As Rev. Al Sharpton said, “If this can happen at Harvard, what does it say about the rest of the country?”

But, make no mistake, this outrage is not universally shared. Almost as soon as this story broke, the undertow of white backlash to the reality of racism began to counter the outrage. For example, Bruce Maiman, writing at The Examiner, contends that the Cambridge police were just doing their job, responding to a call about a break-in to a home, and that Prof. Gates escalated the situation. Here’s Maiman:

So I ask you: Who’s the person who caused this encounter? Professor Gates is now being represented by another distinguished law professor from Harvard, Charles Ogletree, and they’re going to claim that this cop was racist and mishandled this situation because the fact that a black male was involved.

I don’t see any racism, do you? Tell me where? No names were called. Nobody was hassled or pushed around. Legitimate requests were made and cooperation was not forthcoming from a man, Henry Louis Gates, who know better than most people on this planet what happens when you escalate a confrontation with the police. But he does it anyway.

Is there racial profiling in America? Sure there is. But if you justify the behavior of Henry Louis Gates because other black men have been hassled by other police officers unfairly and thus you assume every black man has a right to a chip on his shoulder every time he meets a cop, you are asking for trouble.

This doesn’t appear to be racism. It sounds to me like a colossal case of extraordinarily bad judgment on the part of a distinguished African American historian who happens to teach at Harvard, and who certainly should’ve known better.

Here, Maiman’s interpretation of these events is completely steeped in the white racial frame. He says, “I don’t see any racism” and, of course, he can’t from the WRF. He only sees a black man “with a chip on his shoulder,” not the racist behavior of the cop. Maiman further diminishes Gates by referring to him as someone “who happens to teach at Harvard” and questions his judgment because he “certainly should’ve known better.” Known better than to what, try and enter his own home? Maiman is simply wrong on the facts here, and wrong on his interpretation of the events. Maiman is like other whites, as philosopher Charles W. Mills writes, “unable to see the world he has created,” unable to see how his not-seeing-racism contributes to the problem of racial inequality.

The research on the racial inequality in policing, arrest, and incarceration in the U.S. is starkly clear (as we’ve recounted on this blog hundreds of times): those who are black or brown, particularly men, are much more likely to be stopped, frisked, harrassed, arrested and convicted than whites. And, this inequality in criminal ‘justice’ is part of a larger pattern of racial inequality that operates systematically throughout U.S. institutions. The irony, for those that have followed Gates’ scholarship closely, is that he has tended to downplay the significance of institutional racism in the contemporary U.S. Reports are that Gates’ is “shaken” by this experience, as anyone would be. This is a horrifying, and yet all too common, experience for black men in this country. Perhaps Gates’ next volume will be called “Harvard Professor, Still a Suspect.”

More good sociological analysis on this case (and others) from City College Prof. Dumi Lewis, here.
________________________________________________

As a history student, and nerd, I know Gates and hold him in fairly high regard. However, I've always been disappointed in his views, or maybe his lack of outspokenness, on systemic racism. I wonder if this will do anything to change his thinking. Though, regardless, whatever it matters and to the extent that I can, I got his back like black.

Here's a Thought: Section 5 Should Apply to All States Equally

Here's an article on slate.com summarizing the arguments, from both the principle parties and the justicies, in the most recent challenge to protecting minority voting rights. Here's a NY Times op-ed explaining things.

When Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, they wrote Section 5 of the act which singled out Southern states for special federal oversight. Now, conservatives, including the conservative justices, are arguing that it should maybe overturned for unfairly attacking states' rights. Even though Congress just recently reauthorized Section 5 in 2006, and according to conservatives it's not the job of judges to "legislate from the bench," if proponents of voting rights can't sway Justice Kennedy to their perspective, Section 5 just might be overturned. What makes Section 5 particularly insulting to Dixie is that there're are northern states who track much worse than they do. (I have to add here that that's an odd, historical argument - that Dixie should not be judged because there are places in the north that are much more virulently racist.) At least, that's how I understand it.

I have a suggestion. Why not place all 50 states under Section 5?

"Nation of Cowards"

Sorry I haven't written as prolifically as I had for a few days. I haven't been feeling well. But I've been paying attention to what's going on in our world and am up for any conversation you'd like to have.

But I wanna talk about this whole "nation of cowards" brouhaha. I just watched Dr. Michael Eric Dyson discuss the issue with Pat Buchanan, who I feel is a fervent racist.

I agree with Attorney General Eric Holder that America is a nation of cowards when it comes to race. There is a minority of African Americans who are ashamed of our past. Why, I don't know. And there're also an overwhelming majority of white Americans who are, frankly, delusional about our past. It's hard to find a white person willing to accept the truth.

That's the first thing I want to say. Here's the second: a discussion of race should concern institutional/structural racism. It should concern the interactions between the races, not within them. It should be interracial, as it were, not intraracial.

See. There are some white Americans, like Pat Buchanan, who I feel is a fervent racist, who wanna start talking about things that happen within the black community. They wanna talk about teenage pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births within the black community. "White people aren't responsible for that!" is their argument. Now, there are a number of problems with that argument. First off, in an indirect way, it's wrong. Once you study the numbers, crime, teenage pregnancy, etc and so on, our numbers break down along economic lines and are no worse than white America. Poverty leads to crime and teenage pregnancy. The black community is disproportionately poor. This poverty is historical. Therefore, the issue is has little to do with personal responsibility. With the exception of out-of-wedlock births, our numbers are the same. Oh! There is also the exception of fathers who are not in the home but remain very active in their child(ren)'s life. In that regard, black fathers do better than white fathers. Though, to listen to the shtick about the black community, you'd never know.

I for one refuse to demand more "personal responsibility" of the black community than is demanded by other communities. That's an old racist trick that's been played on "Negroes" since slavery. Enslavement was good for us because it gave is religion, morals, a work ethic, etc and so on. As if in Africa, people just lay about doing nothing all day. After slavery, we were denied the full rights of citizenship because so many of us were illiterate. Slavery, of course, caused that. Every step along the way, white/mainstream America has declared its treatment of African Americans is better than anywhere else and any maltreatment was the fault of African Americans. It's this same line of argument that Pat Buchanan is using and why I feel he's a fervent racist.

What's real funny is that Pat Buchanan, who I feel is a fervent racist, argued that leaders within the black community should stop focusing on what white people are doing to black people and hold the black community accountable for what we're doing to ourselves. I think the argument is empty and demonstrative of race relations in the country in that we do talk about personal responsibility! We talk about it every Sunday at church. News flash: just because you didn't see/hear it, white people, doesn't it mean it didn't happen! I mean my goodness! You're worse than Columbus thinking he "discovered" America, despite the millions of people already living here.

Now. Back to my point. The discussion should concern interaction between the races. The inherent racism in our school systems and curriculum. People like Pat Buchanan, who I feel is a fervent racist, like to argue that white people aren't responsible for the crime within the black community. But he forgets the lack of equal funding for education. The lack of job opporunities. All that is ignored. But another news flash: no job prospects and little education leads to crime.

Take also the income and employment disparity. Are black people responsible for that? How about the fact that on average, African Americans pay more for mortgages - and I'm talking when you hold for income and down payment and loan amount. How about the inequality in the judicial system? From the fact that African Americans are targetted to the fact that the average juror, regardless of race, is predisposed to see black people as more criminal. Less human. Something like a . . . oh, I don't know . . . a chimp.

See, Pat Buchanan, who I feel is a fervent racist, is right in that white people can't control what goes on in the black community. So, to my point, why talk about it? Why talk about the issues within the black community, as though we're the only ones with any issues - I mean, of all the big banking CEOs that went before Congress, I don't remember a black face? That's besides the point. Especially when America is made up of Asians and Latin and other ethnicities. Right?

So. In summary, Eric Holder is right. Pat Buchanan, who I feel is a fervent racist, is wrong. We are a "nation of cowards" when it comes to discussing race, but I ain't scared. So bring it on. Pat Buchanan-type racists and all!

Here's a Good One

Gotta be honest, I do laugh until it goes to far. Especially when it's evident that the person of color being used as the "prop" is becoming offended by the "joke."

Now, part of the reason I'm posting this is because it occurred to me that I hadn't addressed race in America in a while. I just thought it was time to continue the discussion. I have my own ideas, but haven't completely thought them out. Why I feel compelled to stick to a discussion of race, I don't know. I just do.~ No1KState

So, hat tip to Macon D of stuff white people do

act like a racist in order to demonstrate that you're not a racist
What is "hipster racism"?

I'm not sure of the origin of the phrase, but it sure is useful these days. In a discussion of the notorious New Yorker cover that featured the Obamas dressed up as terrorists as an example of hipster racism, AJ Plaid attributes the term to Carmen Van Kerckhove, and defines the phenomenon as "ideas, speech, and action meant to denigrate [another person's] race or ethnicity under the guise of being urbane, witty (meaning 'ironic' nowadays), educated, liberal, and/or trendy."

Plaid's definition fits a lot of hip, sardonic, or otherwise supposedly witty approaches to race, but I think it can be refined. For one thing, while most white practitioners of hipster racism do mean on the surface to denigrate another's race or ethnicity, their ultimate, ironic intent is to show that they don't really mean it, and thus, that they themselves are anything but racist. This seems to be how the upcoming Pauly Shore movie that I wrote about recently works, and as the clip below illustrates, it's sometimes how "The Daily Show" works.

The following skit, with John Oliver "traveling" to Kenya, is a good example. The segment begins as a trip meant to inform ignorant American viewers about the country that helped produce Barack Obama. When Oliver sits down with Zachary Muburi-Muita, the Kenyan Ambassador to the United Nations, the skit devolves instead into a sad instance of hipster racism, with Oliver playing a British moron who has no sense of what was wrong with England's racist colonial rule of Kenya.

As you watch, notice how at one point, when Muburi-Muita tells him that what's he's saying is "not funny," Oliver keeps going. In effect, a non-white voice of protest goes ignored and disrespected. Viewers hear Muburi-Muita's protest, but in the context of the skit, they're invited to laugh at it, and thus disrespect the person delivering it--"He can't even see that Oliver's joking! Look how far Oliver is willing to push this joke!"

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Oliver's Travels - Kenya

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

As with other forms of satire, this type of humor goes wrong when it goes too far. In terms of race, one way that hipster humorists can go too far is by using people of color, who may or may not be in on the joke, as mere props in their own performance. By pretending to ignore the Kenyan ambassador's indignant response to a mock colonialist attitude, John Oliver demonstrates this failure. Whether the ambassador is in on the joke or not, the skit invites viewers to disregard and laugh at his perspective. That perspective is also trivialized because it's being used in a skit that's all about the performance of the white person at the center.

Self-reflecting irony of this sort is a crucial element of the hipster attitude, and as I understand it, hipster racism often arises in attempts at ironic humor. As Oliver demonstrates, this type of humor consists of acting like some sort of clueless, offensive bigot--be it a racist, a sexist, or a homophobe--for an audience that's supposed to know that you yourself are not really a bigot. You tell racist jokes or say and do racist things, but you're really making fun of bigots, so the humor is a supposedly legitimate form of satire.

White hipster humor about race is often meant to point out racism, but not in order to fight against it; the goal instead is ultimately narcissistic. The performance is an effort to get laughs, but it's also the comedians' self-centered effort to show that underneath it all, they themselves are not racists. This form of humor thus does little to dislodge the obstinate centrality of whiteness, because again, it's really all about the supposedly non-racist white performer, and not about the abuses endured by the targets of racism.

White people have a long history of defining themselves in opposition to the supposed inherent qualities of other races. When white people defined non-white people as savages, or as hypersexual, unintelligent or enslaved, they also defined themselves as the superior opposite--as civilized, restrained, intelligent, and free. In the same way, many white interactions with non-white people continue to be narcissistic, because they use non-white people to reflect back in a self-defining way on themselves.

When white hipster humorists perform a racial identity that involves interaction with non-white people, it's often all about the white person at the center. Using people of color so that you can pretend to be a racist in order to get laughs because you're mocking racists is not a genuinely respectful and anti-racist form of racial interaction. Instead, it's a way of acting in an ultimately racist manner, by using overt racism to suggest covertly, but falsely, that you yourself would never do anything racist. And since it's all really about you, and you're just using people of color for your own self-defining purposes, it amounts to little more than white self-centeredness all over again.

McCain's View Are Racist

I'll take time to explain. Not to give any hype or pub to the guy who published these two videos on youtube.com, but it's the material I need.

Here's the thing to keep in mind when considering wealth redistribution and the Black Freedom Movement. A form of slavery, on author Douglass Blackmon calls neo-slavery, continued well into the 1950s. That's not to take into account the how little money was spent on black education, the educational pursuits blacks were prevented from attempting, the unequal pay for more work given to blacks and so forth. Not to mention the redlining, the FHA loans and GI Bills that benefited and grew predominantly the white middle class. Let's not pretend that the "ghettos" just popped out of nowhere and consider the money spent on highways to help the new white middle class along with new jobs move to suburbs.

Yes, we're starting to talking about reparations. Barack Obama is correct in saying that's something the BFM missed out on. In fact, if you remember, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was in Memphis marching with striking black union workers for better pay when he died. There are many companies and businesses even now that at some point was involved in slavery and neo-slavery.

And there is no doubt that while the income gap had been closing, the wealth accumulation gap has been increasing.

See, what you have to consider is a number of things. First of all, slaves were never given in reparations and after maybe a sip of freedom, found themselves again drowning under white male control. Thousands of black men were lynched. Probably thousands, if not tens of thousands, of black women and children were raped. No reparations. Finally, the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s were passed, and no reparations were paid.

And before open housing laws even passed, white Chicagoans were demanding the right to sell their homes to whomever they chose.

So, let's then add the discrimination and inequality that occurs today. The poor schools in poor majority black neighborhoods. The job discrimination, pay discrimination, the discrimination in the justice, so forth and so on, McCain's views, are in short, either ignorant, racist, or both.

John McCain 10/27



Now, let's walk through this. If your parents own their home and have more money to help with college or buying your own home, as most whites did and do by comparison to most African Americans - then you don't have to take out as high a college loan, if you have to take one out at all. You have help with a mortgage down payment. In short, you have a head start in accumulating your own wealth.

And while those who propagate racist ideas and notions would lead you to believe that blacks are fiscally irresponsible, facts show that blacks are as responsible if not more than white Americans. One large difference is that blacks do spend more money trying to help out more family, but that again points out to a gap in wealth accumulation that started decades and centuries earlier.

The radio interview.


So McCain and the guy who posted this videos need to learn more about American history. And McCain cannot be trust to stand up for equal rights for all. Period.

And we haven't even gotten into the discrimination in health care or sub-prime lending. Or even all the, "Kill him!" cheers and neo-nazi plans of assassination, or the fact that I guess McCain remains proud of all his supporters.

Oh, and by the way racially resentful white person who believes affirmative action is reverse-racism - black people don't have your money; rich white people do. (That's why Rev. Jeremiah Wright wasn't talking about all of you and is not an anti-white racist.)

Socialism from a Person Who Knows More About It Than Me

"Socialist" Is Not an Epithet

John Nichols

The Nation October 20, 2008
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/373974

"There is always a charge that socialism does not fit
human nature. We've encountered that for a long time.
Maybe that's true. But can't people be educated? Can't
people learn to cooperate with each other? Surely that
must be our goal, because the alternative is redolent
with war and poverty and all the ills of the world." --
Frank Zeidler

John McCain hopes to revive his campaign by suggesting
that Barack Obama is some kind of socialist.

The Republican nominee for president says that his
Democratic rival's plan for stimulating the economy
sounds "a lot like socialism."

"At least in Europe, the socialist leaders who so
admire my opponent are up front about their objectives.
They use real numbers and honest language. And we
should demand equal candor from Senator Obama," the
Arizona senator claimed over the weekend.

Asked if he thinks Obama is a socialist, McCain offers
an insinuating raised eyebrow and a shrug non-response:
"I don't know."

McCain is not really concerned about socialism. He is
trying to suggest that Obama is somehow un- American.

Obama's no socialist.

But, as a Wisconsinite, I can't buy the basic premise
of McCain's argument.

I grew up in a state where socialism was as American as
my friend Frank Zeidler.

Zeidler, an old-school American socialist who served
three terms as the mayor of Milwaukee from 1948 to
1960, died two year ago at age 93. His passing was
mourned by Democrats and Republicans, liberals and
conservatives, who recognized the gentle radical as one
of the most honorable men ever to cross the American
political landscape.

Zeidler actually ran for president in 1976 as the
nominee of the American Socialist Party. In fairness,
it was more an educational campaign than a serious bid
for an office that the former mayor never really
coveted. Like so many of the great civic gestures he
engaged in over eight decades of activism, Zeidler's
1976 campaign promoted the notion that: "There's
nothing un-American about socialism."

Campaigning on a platform that promised a shift of
national priorities from bloated defense spending to
fighting poverty, rebuilding cities and creating a
national health care program, Zeidler won only a
portion of the respect that was due this kind and
decent man and the values to which he has devoted a
lifetime.

Had Zeidler been born in another land -- perhaps
Germany, where the roots of his family tree were firmly
planted -- his Socialist Party run would have been a
much bigger deal. Indeed, he might well have been
elected.

In most of the world, the social-democratic values that
Zeidler advanced throughout his long life hold great
sway. Latin America has been experiencing a revival of
socialist fervor in recent years. And virtually every
European country has elected a socialist government in
the past decade. Indeed, the current leaders of Britain
and Spain head political parties that are associated
with the Socialist International, of which Zeidler's
Socialist Party was a U.S. affiliate. In the recent
Canadian elections, the socialist New Democratic Party
experienced a substantial boost in its parliamentary
delegation.

In Zeidler's youth, America's Socialist Party was a
contender. During the 1920s, there were more Socialists
in the Wisconsin legislature than Democrats, and a
Wisconsin Socialist, Victor Berger, represented
Milwaukee in the US House. When Norman Thomas sought
the presidency as a Socialist in 1932, he received
almost a million votes, and well into the 1950s
Socialists ran municipal governments in Reading,
Pennsylvania; Bridgeport, Connecticut and other
quintessentially American cities - including Zeidler's
Milwaukee.

For millions of American voters in the past century,
socialism was never so frightening as John McCain would
have us believe. Rather, it was a politics of principle
that added ideas and nuance to a stilted economic and
political discourse.

For the most part, Zeidler and his compatriots
campaigned along the periphery of presidential
politics, especially as the Cold War took hold.

But they earned respect in communities such as
Milwaukee, where voters kept casting ballots for
Socialist candidates even as Joe McCarthy was promoting
his "red-scare" witch hunt.

Years after he left the mayor's office, Zeidler's
contribution -- a humane, duty-driven, fiscally
responsible version of socialism that is reflective of
the man as much as the philosophy -- was always
recognized by Wisconsinites as a very American
expression of a legitimate and honorable international
ideal.

Zeidler was the repository of a Milwaukee Socialist
tradition with a remarkable record of accomplishment --
grand parks along that city's lakefront, nationally
recognized public health programs, pioneering open
housing initiatives, and an unrivaled reputation for
clean government -- that to his death filled the
circumspect former mayor with an uncharacteristic
measure of pride.

Because of its emphasis on providing quality services,
the politics that Zeidler practiced was sometimes
referred to as "sewer socialism." But, to the mayor, it
was much more than that. The Milwaukee Socialists, who
governed the city for much of the 20th century, led a
remarkably successful experiment in human nature rooted
in their faith that cooperation could deliver more than
competition.

"Socialism as we attempted to practice it here believes
that people working together for a common good can
produce a greater benefit both for society and for the
individual than can a society in which everyone is
shrewdly seeking their own self-interest," Zeidler told
me in an interview several years ago. "And I think our
record remains one of many more successes than
failures."

Would that John McCain - and, frankly, Barack Obama --
had the intellectual honesty to assess those successes,
and the ideals that underpinned them. The candidates
would not, necessarily embrace socialism. But they
would recognize the absurdity of tossing the "S" word
around as an epithet.

* Copyright (c) 2008 The Nation

_____________________________________________

Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.

Democratic Socialism

I wanted to write a post about what socialist, especially democrat socialism is and how it could benefit our country. In fact, if you ask me, the Constitution's preamble indicates some sort of socialism is, in fact, the essence of America.

But I seem to be coming down with a cold. And that on top of CFIDS is . . . let's just say it's like being in the body a 90 year-old woman who has a cold.

And more about the charge that Powell is just supporting Obama because they're both black.

If that we're the case, to hold standards the same - something you should know I don't believe in. Symmetry doesn't mean equality - wouldn't that make Joe Lieberman one of the bigger, public racist? Just short of the Buchanans.

And by the way, contrary to Joe Scarborough, we're not a 51%-49% country. We are more 60%-40%. In fact, I'd argue, if so many people weren't so ignorant and filled with false hopes and selfishness, we'd be more 75%-25%.

Iraq and Some Help for the Tax Illiterate

Iraq's PM slams top US soldier over Iran comments
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 59 mins ago

BAGHDAD – Iraq's prime minister said in remarks aired Friday that the top U.S. commander in Iraq "risked his position" by alleging Iran was trying to bribe lawmakers to vote against the proposed security agreement with the United States.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki briefed top political leaders Friday about the draft agreement, which includes a timeline for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011and a compromise giving Iraq authority to try U.S. contractors and soldiers for major crimes committed off-duty and off-base.

A government statement said the same group — including President Jalal Talabani, the two vice presidents and leaders of parliament — would meet again in a few days, suggesting some people raised objections.

One lawmaker who attended the meeting said there were discussions for and against the draft and that two Shiite parties boycotted the session. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were confidential.

"There were thorough and important comments," presidential spokesman Nasser al-Ani said. "To the political and national blocs, the agreement remains in the phase of analysis and study."

Yeah, we're doing such a wonderful job in Iraq. - No1KState

McCain criticizes Obama's promise of tax cuts
By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

MIAMI – Republican John McCain told crowds in this battleground state Friday to "hold onto your wallet" because his Democratic presidential rival, Barack Obama, has talked of spreading the wealth around. McCain suggested voters could not rely on Obama's promise of tax cuts while returning once more to the story of Joe the Plumber, a regular part of McCain's speeches since the Arizona senator first mentioned the tax concerns of Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher in Wednesday's presidential debate.

Florida was McCain's first stop on a two-day tour through states, including North Carolina and Virginia, where he has surrendered his lead in polls during the past month despite their history of supporting Republican presidential candidates.

Last Sunday as Obama walked through Wurzelbacher's Holland, Ohio, neighborhood, Wurzelbacher asked him whether his plan to increase taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year would impede his ability to buy the plumbing company where he works. Obama replied that those making over $250,000 would be taxed more but that money would be returned to the middle-class through tax cuts. "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody," Obama said.

The McCain campaign seized on that remark.

"When politicians talk about taking your money and spreading it around, you'd better hold onto your wallet," McCain told a Miami rally crowd. "Sen. Obama claims that he want to give a tax break to the middle class, but not only did he vote for higher taxes for the middle class in the Senate, his plan gives away your tax dollars to those who don't pay taxes. That's not a tax cut; that's welfare."

McCain, who bestowed the nickname "Joe the Plumber" on Wurzelbacher during the debate, claimed Friday that "the response from Sen. Obama and his campaign yesterday was to attack Joe."

In fact, Obama, his running mate Joe Biden and their campaign have barely mentioned Wurzelbacher. Obama and Biden both attacked McCain for portraying Wurzelbacher as representative of most blue-collar workers, asking how many plumbers make $250,000 a year.

Nonetheless, McCain elicited boos from a fired-up crowd when he said of Wurzelbacher, "People are digging through his personal life and he has TV crews camped out in front of his house. He didn't ask Sen. Obama to come to his house. He wasn't recruited or prompted by our campaign. He just asked a question. And Americans ought to be able to ask Sen. Obama tough questions without being smeared and targeted with political attacks."

You read it for yourself. McCain seems to have lot all sense of integrity. And let's make something clear again, for the past 8 years, wealth has been redistributed up to the rich. So, yes, it's time to "spread the wealth" around. We all participate in making it. We should all get our fair share. That's not socialism. That preventing a socialist movement. -No1KState

Quick Question

Democrats, and now especially Barack Obama, are accused of being "anti-American." Though, the truth is simply that there are many of us, including myself, who believes America needs to start doing better. We're the ones who were for regulation and would've put a stop to the sub-prime lending fraud. We're the ones who want people to a pay check that's worth their work. But, because we see flaws in America, speak about the flaws and try to call attention to these flaws, we're anti-American.

Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, are anti-government. Anti-regulation. Law taxes especially for the rich so the wealth is redistributed up. They're the ones who press for trade laws that short change the American worker, and that has to be anti-American, right?

But anyway, as I intended, a quick question - what's the functional difference between being anti-American and anti-government.

Cause let's start talking honestly. Bill Ayers was anti-war, not anti-American. And the people who died were fellows members of Weathermen Underground.

And right now as I'm listening to Hardball with Chris Matthews, and Chris is there tonight, and as I listen to Pat Buchanan's racism and Katrina vanden Heuvel's thoughtfulness, I lean all the more to the left.

Also, bombing in the name of anti-war and peace and bombing in the name of racial oppression aren't the same thing.

Lastly, the Rev. Wright is not an Afro-racist. He doesn't hate white people. As I've explained before, he and many, many others African Americans hate the system to privileges white Americans to our disadvantage.

And Chris just finally said some truth. Pat had better be careful because his true instincts were coming. If MSNBC knows Pat's a racist, and how can they not? I know he is, they need to fire him.

And let me explain again for Pat

I Think I'm in Love!!

No, dear, not with you.

But in my recent meeting and chatting with new people, I discovered what I thought was an odd mix: skateboarding and Christ.

No! Nothing's wrong with that. It's just that I'm from a small, Black, rural town in the South. Not much skateboarding around here. And with the media portrayal of "skateboarding," I just never considered Jesus on a half-pipe.

So anyway, I am in love. I'm in love with the idea what Jesus on a half-pipe, doing a 460.

What my new chat friend told me about church he was familiar with is that they outreach to everybody. Drug addicts. Pimps. Hos (whores).

* political break*
3 announcements
1 - Most small business will not see a tax increase under Barack Obama's plan. And if you're a small business owner making over $250K, it's only American, or, rather, fair, that you "spread the wealth," and give someone the opportunity someone else gave you. And think heard about it, someone gave you the opportunity. You didn't get where you are on your own blood, sweat, or tears.
2 - The Supreme Court has decided with Ohio against the Republicans to maintain voter fairness.
3 - The Republican National Committee is taking responsibility for the anti-Obama robo-calls that spread lies on Obama.

Okay, but to my love. Oh, and take a moment to thank my aunt for talking me into watching politics so I can keep her informed while she works. See, she's a nurse. And at first, all the nurse were allowed to watch CNN, MSNBC, you know politics. But I think an actual fist fight broke out between Obama supporters and McCain supporters or at the very least, there was a loud argument and patients weren't receiving the care they're supposed to. So, my aunt's supervisor has now forbidden any conversation concerning politics.

Thanks, Auntie!

Okay, back to my love of Jesus and skateboarding, which is not to say I don't love my aunt. True, I'm watching MSNBC cause I'm a little afraid of her, but I love her, too. She's always looked out for me.

Now, for real, back to Jesus and skateboarding. What I love so much of the description my new chat friend shared with me. Like I said, the church group he's involved in and his friends, whose website Steelroots I just added to my side bar, reach out to everyone. The so-called, "real sinners." People who're coming off drug addictions and just recently getting out of jail. I love it because those are the people Jesus would've reached out to.

Jesus wouldn't shun the gay. He'd show them the same love he shows everyone else. He wouldn't shun women who are considering or who have already had abortions. He'd reach out to them. The decision to have an abortion is never easy, and it's not one women take lightly, contrary to conservative opinion. Either Jesus would be there for the woman to help care for the child or there assure her her sins are completely forgiven, and that he still longs for her and wants the best for her.

That's what the Gospel is about. The Gospel is supposed to be Good News. It's not supposed to be about deciding whose in and whose out. We, as Christians, are to be like the farmer in one of Jesus parables, we're supposed to spread the word everywhere, regardless of what we think may happen. I haven't gotten my MDiv yet, but I would even suggest it's up to Christians to help turn bad soil into good soil. You never know what's happened in someone's life that may have hardened their heart to the Gospel. But, as you show people the love of God, his unconditional, no strings attached love, maybe you can help turn some bad soil into some good soil.

And for those of you who just ain't trying to hear the Gospel. First, let me inform you the God is asexual. You could call God Mother just as much as most folks normally call God Father. Sometimes, I even pray to Mother God. So, there that. Elohim, one of the names for God, is plural female Hebrew.

And, God loves you regardless of how you feel about God. I know most of my posts aren't that "loving," but that's because justice is also what God's about. But have no doubt, there is a God, and no matter who you are or what you've done or are doing, S/He loves you. God thinks the world of you, that's why God came down to earth to die for all our mess ups and mishaps and worse, so that we could enjoy the relationship with God that we were created to have.

Oh, Yeah. Joe the Plumber's (or not) Taxes (not the ones he already owes)

Here's what Obama was trying to explain to Joe and the rest of us.

When Joe was working so hard, 10-12 hours a day, years ago, he needed tax relief. But all the tax relief was going to the top 1%. Now that he's in that 1%, if indeed he does make over a quarter of million a year, he should help out the next guy. It's kinda like the Priest tells Edmond Dontez in Count of Monte Cristo, don't be found guilty of the crime was committed against you.

And, no, it's not "class warfare." It's not the redistribution of wealth. It's justice. The past 8 years have seen the greatest redistribution of wealth upwards to the top 1%. Is that "American?" And if you wanna call this "class warfare," let's keep in mind that the top 5% or so of Americans have been kicking our tails. And if you're not bitter about that, than you're either dumb or dead.

Here's the deal. If you earn less than $250K, you won't be taxed. If you make more than $250K, and you pay taxes, chances are, you'll still be bringing home more than $250K. And, yes, it's patriotic to help other Americans make it to the place where you are. To do otherwise is selfish and quite unChristian.

And listening to Lou Dobbs (my father is watching), I heard Joe the Plumber say something quiet intelligent. He said in our country, politicians are the nobles and the rest of us are the serf. With such insight, it's stunning that he votes Republican.

Obama Knew It Was Coming All Along

Obama wasn't the only one who knew this was coming! - No1KState



I actually have more I want to blog about, like Elisabeth Hasselbeck's racism towards Sherri Shepherd - telling her to calm down. You know, the ol' racist nation that white people can remain calm and collected while nonwhites often become overly emotional, that's what Elisabeth was acting out with Sherri.


It come as about 2:15. I mean, not that Sherri wasn't upset. But after all the whining Elisabeth has done, she's calling someone out about being overly emotional, making it personal? Which reminds me of another racist notion white folks have, "Beware the angry black woman."

Well, okay. You actually should be afraid of an angry black woman. Just as you should be careful around anyone who's angry. But, let's kill the lie that "angry" black woman are just "angry" for some unknown, amorphours reason. Maybe she's had a bad day at work. Maybe her kids have just defied her. Or, and this one is just really crazy, some white person has done or said something racist to her, like, oh, I don't know, "Rev. Wright is a hate-mongerer."

Yeah, more on that - the racist lie that Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a hate-mongerer - later.

So Much To Talk About

First of all, Tucker Bounds, spokesperson for the McCain campaign, is despicable, I think.

Secondly, PAYING HIGHER TAXES IS PATRIOTIC. Let's talk about who'll be paying higher taxes - people who make a quarter of a million or more. The hedge fund managers who've made millions in the midst of this financial crisis that's required a government bailout. And seeing as how the military is made up overwhelmingly of young people from the working class, it wouldn't kill the chicken hawks to pay more in taxes so that people in the working class have more options than joining the military.

What else has happened in my life?

Oh. I've finally reconnected with a friend I haven't spoken to in a couple of years. Though, we probably won't be as close as we once were, the whole thing is kinda odd. There was a time when I needed her friendship just to maintain my own sanity. And now, two years later, I'm fairly sure I'm sane. Pretty sure.

It's just odd how much can happen in a couple of years. There are many ways in which I've grown and matured. And there're other ways in which I'll probably never change. For example, I now know I need to open myself and my heart to new people and experiences. On the other hand, my crooked way of view the world and expressing what I see hasn't changed. Another friend actually prayed that in that vane, I don't change. Which makes me wonder, is there something I actually should consider changing . . . I wonder but make no effort in that vane. I'm cool.

Then there's just life itself. Since I last talked to this friend, my brother has gotten married. I've gotten over my college crush. For a few months, I thought I had found the man I would marry. And I know all the reasons why I felt that way. This person not only met every standard I have, he added one! To me, that's amazing.

And I'm living the life I want to live, my health notwithstanding. I couldn't say that two years ago. Then, as now, I wanted to bring intellectual stability to the Black church. But now, I have a greater sense of how to do that.

I'm meeting people from around the world. I'm imagining a life beyond America. Two years ago, I couldn't imagine life beyond my house and the aunts and uncles up and down the road from me. Today, I can imagine life years from now. Two years ago, I couldn't imagine life much beyond any particular day.

Which is odd. Cause two years ago, it killed me that I couldn't imagine life not hardly a year out. But today, I enjoy each day on its own merits. And because I'm receiving better treatments, I can start to imagine years out. But, it wouldn't bother me if I was just marking from one day to the next.

Two years ago, the stock market was at all time highs! Do you remember that? Do you remember when the Dow Jones kept brushing up and down 14,000? At this moment, it's at 9,556. And even two years ago, it was apparent that prosperity wasn't trickling down.

And here's why I've had to take a break from American politics. See, I have a low tolerance for shear stupidity. Now, despite the mess conservative philosophy has made of the economy, people are still considering voting for McCain/Palin. Is that not shear stupidity? This whole, supply-side theory has never worked! We've always had to borrow money to make up for the loss of revenue from lowering taxes on the rich.

It's the conservative philosophy that has us in this energy crisis. If we had followed President Jimmy Carter's advice 30 years ago, the cost of gas wouldn't matter that much. And people are still considering voting for McCain/Palin. Isn't that shear stupidity?

Neo-conservatives have gotten us into Iraq. The conservative policy of privatizing everything gave us the Katrina disaster. Conservatives want to "drill, baby, drill." Meanwhile, it's just becoming clear the environmental damage the previous hurricane has had, including oil spills and damage to oil rigs in the gulf. And not only are there people who are considering voting for McCain/Palin, there are some idiots who will vote for McCain/Palin. They're buying this idea that Barack Obama gets "touchy" when his record is questioned and that that should make them question Obama. I mean, do they not recall how indignant McCain gets anytime someone questions his record. And this whole Rev. Wright issue only serves to prove how racist mainstream America is.

And the McCain campaign has decided to turn the page from talking about the economy to bringing up guilt by association issues with Obama. And there are some idiots who will go for it!

Shear stupidity.

So, that's my post for today. More of less stream of consciousness. I tried to find some theme so my post would make sense to you, the reader. But . . .

Oh, yeah! That reminds me. The most ironic thing about this particular friendship is that she graduated with a BA in biology. I majored in history and minored in creative writing. Now, I use my writing skills mostly for the blog and recently for writing essays for grant applications. And she has a website advertising her professional writing skills! Everything from poems to technical writing. I haven't touched fiction in at least a year. It's amazing to me. Then again, it could be my crooked way of viewing the world that I should or shouldn't work on changing.

And let me give a "shout out" to my 22nd rank UNC football Tarheels! You better do it, boys!