Also, Via ColorofChange.org

Tell John McCain and Sarah Palin to Reject the Politics of Division

The Republican nominees are increasingly relying on a strategy of race-baiting and fear-mongering to win this election. It's completely unacceptable and it has to stop.
— Click here to see the email we sent to our members. —



Watch the video from Brave New Films showing the McCain/Palin campaign and its supporters in action. Then, please sign the open letter demanding that they reject the politics of division and fear. We'll publicize the letter and make the sure the McCain campaign has to respond.

When you're done, please pass the video and the letter on to your friends and family and ask them to do the same.

Case Study: Thailand

To be honest, I'm a little confused about what's going on in Thailand.

The former Prime Minister Thaksin is in England in self-exile. There was a military coup because PM Thaksin was accused of corruption. Charges included selling his family's controlling stake in telecommunications company Shin Corp. to Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings for a tax-free $1.9 billion. Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and complain a key national asset is now in foreign hands.

Thaksin also has been accused of stifling the media and mishandling a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand that flared under his rule.

Here's the thing. People’s Alliance for Democracy, the coalition of businessmen, academics and activists, has accused the new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of being a political proxy for Thaksin, his brother-in-law. The PAD is now going for broke, according to many political analysts. The arrest of two of PAD leaders, Chaiwat Sinsuwong and Chamlong Srimuang, who were detained on treason charges in for their roles in the anti-government group's late August raids on government buildings, signals a renewed campaign to attempt to topple the government. Many believe Chamlong orchestrated his own capture to fire up the PAD protestors, whose enthusiasm for the battle has waned in recent weeks.

But, the Thai who live in the large rural sections of the country love Thaksin. Villagers point to the homes they built during Thaksin's tenure from 2001 to 2006, the refrigerators they bought, the general store they opened - all a result of the low-interest loans his government offered.

"Thaksin was the savior of the poor," said Kamcham Pokasang, 68, a farmer from Kok Loi in the northeastern province of Buriram, where lush green paddies of jasmine rice stretch to the horizon. "Before Thaksin we had nothing, only rice fields. Thanks to Thaksin, my family now has everything."

What's most sad is that the political crisis is a tug-of-war between Thaksin's supporters in the countryside, where two-thirds of Thailand's 65 million people live, and an educated middle class who feels threatened by the rural majority's growing political clout.

This isn't to say there hasn't been corruption and that Thaksin's opponents don't care for the poor - like our Republicans. They, unlike our Republicans, Thaksin's critics want to jettison his policies promoting privatization, free trade agreements and CEO-style administration.

There is more to be read about this story here, from BBC News Asia-Pacific, which leads with the fact that you know something ain't right when doctors break their hypocratic oath and refuse to treat injured policement. Also here, Bangkok Post General News details more Thaksin legal troubles.

Admittedly, I came upon this story because my mom has some thing about no one in the house changing the internet homepage, and the story popped up as soon as I opened the web browser. I caught glance of it just before I began to type in the web address to my email account. But, I think there's something here for us Americans to glean. And it does have to do with the difference between socialism and democratic socialism.

First of all, wow! I mean really politicians, do enter politics because you're corrupt? or is it that you were led astray?

Second of all, another wow! at how Asian countries deal with their corrupt politicians. Can you imagine what America would be like if we got rid of our corrupt politicians? And it's not even like Thaksin illegal invaded and sovereign nation or anything like that, and he's had to leave the country!

Third of all and actually most important, all kidding aside, I'm concerned that 1/3 of Thai people think they know what's best for the other 2/3. I'm concerned because maybe the 2/3 were bought off with the new houses and help entering modernity. I'm concerned because maybe the 1/3 are being so legalistic, they see the forest for the trees.

All said, I'm concerned that these groups can't come together and about the swirl of rumors of lies which are believed no matter how sensationalized or ridiculous. Sound familiar.

Listen, Americans. You can't make political decisions based on what you think is best for you as an individual. I mean, you can, I just question the wisdom of such thinking. And you certainly can't make a decision based solely on what the politicians are saying. Get informed. Find out what happens when. And especially, don't believe what one guy (McCain) is saying about the other guy (Obama, for whom I just voted!).

And you can't vote based on "scary" words like "socialism" or "spreading the wealth." Especially if you don't have any wealth, then, dumb- , er, I mean dear voter, you're gonna get some help from the government, which you probably deserve.

And you know what, I just can't figure out how we've gotten to this notion that a person worth is based solely on their paycheck. That if you don't make much, it's your fault, not the fault of the CEO who's milking your labor for all it's worth.

You gotta understand, in a capitalist society, labor is a form of capital. And many of us are allowing a labor to be undervalued. Whether it's because we're believing lies labor unions hurting rather than helping workers. Or, whether it's because you actually believe affirmative action puts whites, especially white men at a grave disadvantage. Or, maybe it's because you think we're being "invaded from the South of the border." Your labor is being undervalued and it's you're own fault. You don't keep yourself informed. You don't read all the different points of views about an issue. And Lord knows it seems like you can hardly read the truth about an issue, Mr and Mrs "I can't trust Obama because he's an Arab."

So, let's do some informing.

socialism: 1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. 2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory. 3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

democratic socialism: a form of socialism with a democratic government; the ownership and control of the means of production, capital, land, property, etc., by the community as a whole -- combined with a democratic government

Now, am I saying that we should move to a completely socialist society where everybody makes the same no matter what work they do or how hard they work? No, no quite. What I'm saying is we shouldn't privatize corporate profit and then nationalize corporate losses. What I'm saying is that instead of being a proud know-nothing, maybe you should find sometime to learn what's really going on. And, trust me, when it comes to telling the truth, NY Times laps anything owned by Ruport Murdoch. (And by the by, am I the only who thinks it's funny the truth always happens to be "liberal.")

And while I encourage everyone to vote, especially for Obama, for the love of all that's good and holy, don't vote for a fellow proud six-pack know-nothing, which amounts to a drunk idiot. And yes, that's a shot a Sarah Palin, I'm sure you couldn't tell.

You Gotta Be Kidding Me!

But of course, McCain's not kidding.

Here he is declining to condemn the comments of a GOP leader in Virginia who said Obama and bin Laden are the same because the both have friends who've bombed the Pentagon. Not even close to being the same or even factually accurate. He kinda ignores the question by accusing US Rep. John Lewis of equating him with the then racist and segregationist George Wallace. What Rep. Lewis said is that McCain, like Wallace, in fomenting an atmosphere of hate, one that's all the more dangerous due to the many assassinations that have occurred in the past. Rep. Lewis didn't say McCain is racist like Wallace was, he said they're doing the same thing. And they are. It's only recently that McCain made a small gesture towards tamping down the hate and surprise that an "uppity, smooth-talking, empty-suited, revenged-minded, nigger" might actually become president.

The fact that he either doesn't understand the different or is willing to ignore the difference doesn't speak well for him.




And this is worse.

Now, being a Christian myself, this sort of "God-off" isn't unfamiliar to me. There's a story in the Bible of the Prophet Elijah challenging prophets of Baal to a sort of God-off on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18:16-40.

But that's entirely different from what this guy is doing. First of all, Obama is a Christian. Second of all, lots of Christians, including myself, are praying that Barack win. And lastly, his not-so-covert implication that others praying to "Allah" want Obama to win for some nefarious reasons is racist, hateful, and ignorant.

Lord, I 'clare! These white Evangelicals and/or Fundamentalists are just giving the rest of us a bad name. All I should really say is, "Forgive them, Lord. They know not what they do. . . And while you're at, please let Barack Obama win. Abortions go down under Democratic administrations. More people prosper and less fall into poverty under Democratic administrations. And also, Lord, maybe supporting democratically elected regimes in other countries, and sending aid in the form of food and education instead of guns and weapons will help ease the hate against us. Maybe leaving Iraq will take away some of bin Laden's propaganda against us. Cause Lord, we know we fight not against flesh and blood, but against ideas and spiritual forces. This I pray in Jesus name, Amen."

And what I'll add, to you and not in prayer, is that McCain/Palin are lying about how we ended up in this mortgage crisis. I hope you read my previous post, "This Time, I'm Adding My View."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I said I was going to avoid American politics. But all the lies coming from McCain/Palin are just repulsive.

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.

How Dare the Republicans Suggest They Love America

Cause the truth is, the love power. Cause power gets them money. And if the result of their de-regulated greed is millions of homes being foreclosed on and millions of people having no place to live, so be it.

But that's not enough for the. Oh, no. They dare not waste this opportunity to keep people from voting. I haven't looked at McCain's plan, but I don't trust his plan as anything more than an election gimmick. I don't trust Republicans, and most especially when they claim to care for the disadvantaged. If McCain wanted to do something about this, he could have been prevented even before Obama entered Congress*. But McCain is a de-regulator. Period. He's part of the problem. He is not the solution. He can take a look at his website and see how he plans to do American taxpayer's dirt, but of course, I won't.

But I digress. Back to the spineless and abhorrent Republicans. John Conyers is demanding they stop. Good for him. And what's even sweeter to my poo' little soul is that a sheriff in Illinois's Cook County has refused to throw any more people out of their homes. He's refusing to the these multi-billion dollar banks dirty work for them and kudos to him!

And let's top this whole voting, or not, debacle off with a report now showing that at least 6 states have illegally purged eligible voters from their roles. Right now, there seems to be no one and no particular party at fault. But . . . I mean really. We are the US of A. We are a country that has the audacity to topple democratically elected officials of other countries . . . you know, come to think of it, forget that thought. It makes since that the US would have trouble letting people vote.

Now, about blaming this whole mess on Democrats pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into subprime loans. First of all, the idea was to help more people get into homes. But since it's essentially banks who transact the loans, not Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, who, by the way, I had heard of before all this, no one knew what the banks were doing. AlterNet.org lists at least racist lies Republicans are telling about this whole mess. And I'll add the continuing and continual racial inequality in income and wealth accumulation.

There's more. Many people saw this coming years ago. The discrimination of offering people of color subprime loans even when the qualified for prime loans was found as early as 2002. Over 50% of subprime loans somehow just ended up in the black community, income and credit rating notwithstanding.

And just in case it's lost upon you, African Americans and other people of color have the most to lose with this whole ignorant crisis.

With billions of taxpayer dollars being used to bail out banks and big
corporations, the public must focus on the question, What do the people get from
the investment of our tax money into these bailouts? They must be included in
the benefits. Two-thirds of US economic activity is driven by consumers.
When working Americans suffer, everyone suffers.

How did we get here? Borrowers were steered into predatory mortgage loans
with grossly escalating interest rates that they could not afford. They still
can't. The pain of homeowners has now spread throughout the economy.

We must challenge plans that bail out the rich, put out the poor and
put down the middle class. We can't just bail out Wall Street and ignore Main
Street. The bailout must be bottom up, not just top down. The poor--the
unemployed poor, the working poor and the fixed-income poor--must benefit from
the investment of their tax dollars. Any "solution" or remedy must be judged by
how it affects "the least of these."

Like that? That's the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.

And to top all that off, Sarah Palin has the unmitigated audacity to suggest that after 8 years of W, Obama would diminish “the prestige of the United States presidency.”

See why I'm trying to avoid politics? But, I guess I better stay informed. For my own sake.

* I haven't read the entire article, but the first page underlies my point.

This Time, I'm Adding My View

The ladies were at it again. I meant to actually get up and watch, but I overslept.

Here's the thing. McCain is losing. So he and his supporters, including Elizabeth Hasselbeck, are resorting to smear, fear, and racist tactics. Neither of them, and no one else I know, has completely "all-America" association. So this whole thing is completely repulsive. They claim Obama isn't being "completely honest." But what more does the electorate need to know? And what difference does it make anyway?

Hasselbeck is also accusing the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr of hating his country. Even though he voluntarily joined the marines during Vietnam. She's basically jumping from his finding fault with the country to him hating the country. And let's just be clear. There are plenty of faults to found with America, even discluding racism.

And for the record, as a black person, probably an overwhelming majority of us have mixed feelings about this country. We can look past the faults of this country, especially it's anti-black bias, to get to the affectionate "love" most conservatives think everyone should be. What's more, the overwhelming majority of us are adults. We understand that a country, even the one of our citizenship, isn't something to be "loved."

Also, I have to deal with this right-wing lie that the Democrats are at fault for our economic crisis. Let's get one thing straight. Our country's economic decisions have been made for the past 8 years or more from a conservative standpoint. Supply-side, lower taxes, deregulation, that's what has gotten us into the trouble we're in now. No one forced banks to do millions of "sub-prime" lending, aimed primarily at people of color. What Democrats and African Americans wanted was an end to the red-lining that was keeping African Americans from getting loans that rightly qualified for.

And once you look at the numbers, millions of people of color were given sub-prime loans even though they qualified for prime loans. Which, I should point out, is why the overwhelming majority of African Americans don't "love" this country. "Whitey" screws everybody, us especially, and then turns and blames it on us black folk. It had right after the Civil War when crime dramatically increased in the South, and even though 90% of the crime was committed by whites, including ex-Confederate soldiers, somehow, the entire increase was blamed on recently freedmen and women. So, we're used to this song and dance, and it is why essays and articles that Barack Obama's meteoric rise proves the end of "black politics" and racism fall on . . . well, I wouldn't say deaf ears to the extent that we do hear what's being said. Perhaps uncaring ears because we know you're lying to yourself and just aren't willing to accept your lies for ourselves.

So, the system remains racist. And blaming black people and other racial minorities for this crisis when just about every CEO and COO and CFO of the failing companies are white is racist as well.

But anyway, voter. Be smart. Be wise. If this is all McCain has, then he doesn't have anything positive to say about himself. And also, take note that he makes these accusations at rallies, not at the debates. He preaches to the choir. He makes these comments where no one can respond.

And as far as the mandate on parents to place health care coverage on their children - parents will have government assistance available to them. This ain't about the parent. It's about the child.

Kindergarten Sex

Yes, I'm still tired of politics. But this is egregious.

McCain/Palin are now accusing Obama of wanting to teach 5 and 6 year olds about sex before they even learn their letters.

Well, guess what. I had sex ed when I was a kindergarten, and I can wrap up that days lesson in about a paragraph.

"No one gets to touch you unless you say it's okay. And any part if your body that covered by underclothing, no one at all except your parents or someone your parents tell you is safe should touch you there. And even if your parent touch you there, if it feels uncomfortable, tell a grown up. You can tell me." "Me" was Mrs. Dorsey, my kindergarten teacher.

So, just be advised, if you vote for McCain/Palin, you're voting to leave your children vulnerable to sexual molestation. Just so you know.