Good Riddance

Today, Orenthal James Simpson was sentenced to 15 years in prison for various charges including...well, let's not kid ourselves here folks, the is really just a revenge sentence that many people (white people) feel that O.J. dodged back in 95' for the murder of his wife and her "friend".

I for one will not be missing O.J. I was one of many, many a black folks that did a proverbial back flip when O.J. got that not guilty verdict. Like many have stated, this was a kick in the ass to the system that had manipulated evidence and sent thousands of innocent black men to prison. I don't think that anyone cared about O.J. Simpson, per say, but he went from football hero/Hertz spokesman to a representation of black justice.

So what did O.J. do after his release? Did he go to inner-city schools to educate the youth on the value of getting an education? Did he reach out to up and coming athletes to school them on how the NFL and NBA manipulate young men just like them to fill arena seats? Did he do anything whatsoever to contribute to the community that threw their support behind him after he'd spent the bulk of his career ignoring them, and trading his black wife in for paler, blonder model? NOPE. He went back to the golf courses and the country clubs. He did manage to learn one lesson though...this time, he made sure that his replacement white girlfriend was a brunette and not a blond.

So to the Uncle Tommin', suitcase jumping, white woman loving, If I Did It writing buffoon known as O.J. Simpson: au revoir, and don't drop the soap.

You Should Be Watching This

The Game is a television show that airs on the CW network on Friday nights at 8:30/7:30c. It features a diverse cast, and is centered around professional football players and their relationships with the business, their family, and significant others.

Yes, I know, it’s a black cast and it's about sports, and it's also from the bastard child of the networks that brought us The Wayans Bros., The Parkers, and other step n fetchit shows, but don’t let that deter you. The Game was spun off from Girlfriends, the other brain child of creator and writer, Mara Brock Alil, who in my opinion, has definitely stepped her game up with this series, no pun intended. It’s been given a death sentence by being moved to Friday nights, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that it will survive a little while longer.

Here are a few reasons why you should be watching The Game:

1. They aren’t glamorizing athletes or their lifestyles- It is apparent from watching this show that the main characters are all wealthy, perhaps too wealthy, but unlike The Real Housewives of Atlanta, this show is not about glorifying greed, but presenting the real issues that athletes live with. Love, loss, misogyny, infidelity and failure are all constant themes in this series. Wealth and materialism remain in the background, while realistic characterization remains in the foreground.

2. The cast can act- I don’t know where they found some of these actors at, but they do an amazing job. Some of the faces are familiar, like the one half of Sister/Sister, or Regina from The Steve Harvey Show, but others are relatively unknown.

Now, be forewarned that the women steal the show, but the male actors are quite impressive as well. They manage to maintain their athletic frames while being able to convey the emotions of living through such situations as steroid addiction, becoming a baby daddy, and bearing the weight that “NFL” owners put on their players.

I’d like to give a special nod to Tia Mowry-Hardwick. I’m not sure what she was doing in that off-time in between Sister/Sister and this, but she knocks it out of the park on a weekly basis. Between me and you, I think she has been taking some pointers from Tracee Ellis Ross. Hell, they’re even able to make the impossible, possible by pulling a solid performance out of Robin Givens.

I know this may sound ridiculous, but this cast blows the cast of Friends out the water. If this were an all-white cast, Mowry would be considered as the next Jennifer Anniston.

3. It’s real- From the black athlete with the white wife who can’t figure out how to do her mulatto child’s hair, to the over-bearing mother that is the first to pop a neck roll if she feels like someone is trying to take advantage of her “baby”, all of the typical sports personalities are here and accounted for. While the story arcs are multifaceted, this show has managed to put a twist on all of the stereotypes.

4. Wendy Raquel Robinson- She must be on the same stuff that Vanessa Williams is on. I remember Robinson from when I was in high school and she was the playing the role of the stiff but sexy principal on The Steve Harvey Show. That show went off the air in 2002 after 6 seasons, and Robinson looks better now than she did back then. Women like her, Angela Bassett, and Jaleesa from A Different World are definitely proving that theory that “black don’t crack”.

5. Mara Brock Alil- This woman is a terrific writer. While Girlfriends was a bit overdramatic at times, and their weave budget was apparently larger than it should’ve been, it was a pretty good show. Now that Alil has added this wonderful show to her resume, I wonder why she hasn’t blown up like Tyler Perry. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t always have a need to give her projects a religious overtone, or there’s no one parading around in drag, but Perry could learn a thing or two from Ms. Alil. Whatever it is that you’re doing, Alil, please keep it up.

The Game has a season pass on my DVR, and as long as they keep writing realistic and interesting storylines, it’s going to stay there. I’m just hoping that the CW doesn’t cancel them in order to show reruns of Gossip Girl, or worse, replace it with another version “Hey Professor Oglevee!”

White Is Right!

This week, Britney Spears released her 6th album, Circus. The “singer” has faced various forms of controversy and criticism, and like a phoenix, has arisen from her self-imposed ashes.

Ever since her infamous performance at the VMA’s where she fumbled and bumbled all over the stage with a look on her face that said “I just left Walgreens with Mariah Carey’s prescriptions”, the media and her fans have been anxiously awaiting the return of Brit-Brit.

Now I’m first to admit, the media and the tabloids savaged Britney. I would go crazy too if I had a dozens of cameras in my face every time I left my house or ate a bag of chips. The problem I have with Ms. Spears is what she represents: the precious flower of white womanhood that is allowed to fall, but by all means, must be allowed the opportunity to return to their rightfully deserved thrones.

If you question my theory, let me ask you a few questions. What do you think would happen to Rhianna’s career if she was photographed getting out of a car sans panties, with her legs spread, and then followed it up by celebrating her birthday at a club while lifting up her skirt and smashing her ass against the window? What do you think would happen to Beyonce’s career if she, instead of marrying a successful rapper/entrepreneur, married one of her back-up dancers (whom she stole from his pregnant wife)? What do you think would happen to Mary J. Blige’s career if she had children and fed them Kool-Aid instead of Similac, took them to her dentist to get their teeth whitened, and then lost custody of them? We all know that Mariah is crazy, but what would happen to her career if she actually shaved her head bald, and was photographed stabbing an SUV with an umbrella? Well here’s the answer: Rhianna would be labeled as a “slut”, Beyonce would be labeled as a “home wrecker”, and Mary would be labeled as “ghetto mama”. All five of their careers would cease to exist as we know them, and we would no longer have the opportunity to see Mary wailing in furs, Rhianna lip synching at awards shows, or Beyonce and Mariah’s weaves being fanned while they belt out power ballads. There would only be abandonment, embarrassment, and public humiliation.

Ever since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, the white woman has been heralded as the purest, most desired and most beautiful species on the planet. Wars have been waged because of them, men have died simply for glancing at them, and multiple businesses have been created for other women to look like them (I’m looking at you Lee’s Beauty Supply). Because of this mentality, white women have been given the subconscious theory that if you no longer want your kids, you can simply drive them in a river and say that a black man did it, or if a crime has been committed, and you’re unsure about the perpetrator, just say “he was tall, kinda stocky, and dark complexioned.”

We can simply look at the affect of society’s view of the white woman by looking at the NFL and NBA. White women are “NBA/NFL wives” while black women have been relegated to the roles of “baby mommas” that stay in the judicial system fighting for black athletes to take care of their own children.

In retrospect, can we really blame Britney for this? She is simply following in the footsteps of her idol, Madonna, who has been able to retain the title of “Queen of Pop” after spending most of the 90’s participating in videotaped orgies and entering public sexcapades with rappers and athletes. Let this be a lesson to you Beyonce, Condoleezza Rice, and Penelope Cruz; don’t slip up, because unlike the Lindsay Lohans, Sarah Palins, and Pamela Andersons of the world, you’re not as worthy of a second chance as our Anglo-Saxon princesses.

Please Go Away

After a very short hiatus, Justin Timberlake has decided to reemerge and grace us with his presence. Like Beyonce, he just cannot stay out of the limelight.

I certainly had my fill of JT after he ripped Janet Jackson’s breast out of her costume during the infamous Super Bowl 38 Halftime Show, and followed it up by throwing her to the wolves. Never mind the Michael Jackson rip-off that was his first album, or that incredibly annoying falsetto that he, along with other white male artists feel compelled to use when they want to show that they “got soul”; exposing the pop icon in front of the world and then placing the blame solely on her was simply unforgiveable.

A couple of years have passed and my levels of disdain for Mr. Timberlake have slowly subsided. I thought his performance in Alpha Dog was not half bad, his comedic timing during his hosting gig on Saturday Night Live was pretty spot on, especially the infamous “Dick In a Box” sketch, and after hating myself for it, I feel in love with “Sexy Back”. I was willing to forgive his overly priced yet uninspired clothing line, along with his sleep-inducing HBO concert, but I was relieved when Justin decided to take a little bit of a post-tour hiatus from the media spotlight.

Well this past Saturday, Justin made an unexpected appearance on Saturday Night Live. He was featured in a sketch in which he, along with 2 white male SNL cast members, dressed in leotards and high heels and pretended to be the back-up dancers for Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” video. In the skit, all three males fumbled and bumbled around sans-rhythm, giving the appearance of 3 feminine white men that were without any notable dancing skills. Here were my two problems with this sketch:

The first was not so much with Justin as it was with Beyonce. If I were her, I wouldn’t be caught dead sharing a single frame, stage, or song with Justin Timberlake. I know that it is vital to one’s career to work with “current” artists, but without Janet, there would be no Beyonce, so to perform with Justin is, in my book, to side with him. Secondly, let’s face facts here Justin, we all know that if necessary, you could’ve hit every single hip shake, every floor sweep, every weave toss of that “Single Ladies” routine, so to pretend like those days of 8 counts you performed as a member of N’Sync didn’t teach you anything, is just disingenuous.

After going through the SNL experience, I then had to suffer through Rhianna’s new video for “Rehab” in which Mr. Timberlake is featured as both a vocalist and as the man that she is lusting after, or trying to get over, or something or other. I was left wondering if Chris Brown or Usher were too busy? I somewhat like Rhianna, but when I put the video on in surround sound in my living room, the combination of both of their whiney voices gave me an eerie feeling that someone had hidden a gang of pound puppies behind my couch.

I realize that many people that read this will think that I’m a hater, or that I just don’t respect Justin’s “artistic capabilities”, which is simply not true. I just hate that in an age where despite our obvious achievements, it has become increasingly difficult for black artists that truly have soul within their songs or refuse to commit acts of buffoonery in order to receive airplay continue to struggle to stay afloat in the entertainment industry, while this dance move stealing, falsetto abusing pop tart continues to rape all forms of media. We condemn our own artists for being unique and label them as being “weird”, while we continuously line up behind JT and shout, “that white boy shol can sang!”

Please Go Away

Recently in an interview with Maria Menounos of Access Hollywood, Lindsay Lohan conveyed her excitement of the election results by stating that she had "an amazing feeling. It's our first colored president"

Ignoring the obvious fact that anyone born after 1970 should know better than to refer to a minority in this country as "colored", I'd just like to know why anyone is interviewing this moron anyhow. Because she is participating in sexual experimentation in front of a world audience, or because she has made one or two decent films in her minor yet mediocre acting career, or because she has made a habit of making crotch shots to the paparazzi?

Lohan is a talented actress who once had a promising career, but she has allowed the "I'm young, rich and white" mentality of young Hollywood get the best of her.

Linday Lohan: you have had your time to shine, now please, go away.

Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold

I, like many others, awoke this morning sharing the same feelings I had as a young child on Christmas morning. Giddy, and filled with excitement and pride. Pride, not just because we will officially have our first black President come 2009, but pride because of the fact that our country has sent the message that the fear mongering, lies, and slander that has gripped the political processes of the past 8 years will now cease to exist.

My mind then began to wander: "I wonder what John McCain is thinking?" Then I started to feel sorry for him. Then, as it sometimes does, my mind began to wander onto to the extreme.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Kill Bill saga, it is the story of “The Bride”, a pregnant assassin that is brutally beaten, shot in the head, and left for dead, all by her ex-lover and former colleagues. Four years later, she awakens from her coma, seething with revenge, and sets out to make those that have wronged her pay through brute force and retribution. She makes a list, dispatching her newly found enemies one by one, saving the best for last and hence, finally succeeding in killing Bill.

I then thought to myself, what if John McCain had a revenge list? A list for those that had a hand in destroying his latest, and more than likely final chance at fulfilling his dream of becoming President of the United States. Who are the five individuals that would complete this list, and why?

In turn, I bring to you, my vision of John McCain’s attack strategy:

5. George W. Bush- Due to the absolutely incompetent decisions that the eldest son of George H. W. Bush made while serving his two terms, he made it virtually impossible for any other Republican to immediately take over the role of President of the United States of America. His inept ability to understand diplomacy, his dedication to making decisions with his “gut”, and his tendency to spend our country’s money like a crack addict in need of a fix has given him approval ratings lower than those of Richard Nixon. In essence, to be in the same party as him is to automatically have the odds stacked against you. It also doesn’t help if you’ve voted in support of 4 out of 5 of his budgets.

4. Richard S. Fuld Jr.- Richard S. Fuld Jr. is the Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. That day has come to be known as “Black Monday” in the world of commerce, and it was the first domino that led to the toppling of the financial services industry. That was also the day that John McCain stated that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” This was the beginning of the end of the McCain campaign, and without the utter greed of Richard S. Fuld Jr., the light on John McCain’s out of touch mentality may never have been shed.

3. Gayle Quinnell- You won’t recongnize the name, but you will definitely recognize the wild hair and ill-fitting McCain t-shirt. Gayle Quinnell is the McCain supporter whom at one of McCain’s dubious “town halls”, stood up and claimed that Barack Obama was an “Arab” that essentially couldn’t be trusted. This put McCain in a horrible position. He could stand there and do nothing, giving off the appearance that he sympathized with an ignorant bigot, or he could rip the microphone away, and defend the junior Senator, destroying all the swift boat tactics and "Hussein" utterances which had been utilized to scare voters. Thanks to Gayle Quinnell, John McCain was forced to face his supporters, and tell them that Obama was a “decent” man, and they must be “respectful”, because he “admires Sen. Obama and his accomplishments.” It definitely makes it tough to paint someone as a socialist and a terrorist sympathizer after you’ve already made it clear that you respect and admire them.

2. Tucker Bounds- Tucker Bounds was the spokesman of the McCain campaign. His job was to face the media and articulate the policies and platforms of John McCain, while pleading the case for why McCain was the best choice for the country. Instead, he fumbled around in statements, dodged questions, and gave vague responses. He allowed himself to be bested by various interviewers from CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox News. Fox News?

In an interview with Campbell Brown, he could not qualify the theory that Sarah Palin was equipped to be Commander in Chief if ever the time came. Contessa Brewer chastised him publicly for not being able to define how John McCain would be able to fund the bailout along with the war in Iraq without raising taxes. In an interview with Meghan Kelly on Fox News, he was unresponsive when confronted with the fact that all of Fox’s analysts had concluded that Obama would not raise taxes on the middle class, contradicting the claim that the McCain campaign had made. Bounds was speechless.

When you are a Republican spokesperson, and you freeze up during an interview segment on Fox News, you have literally failed at meeting the basic expectations of your job.

1. Sarah Palin- The governor of Alaska's task was simple. Grab disenfranchised Hillary supporters and energize the Conservative base, which frankly were never true fans of McCain's to begin with. The map was quite clear: give an aggressive acceptance speech at the RNC, reiterate talking points in interviews, and rally a demoralized party. Her failure to complete one of those tasks ultimately lead to her vice-presidential demise.

Sarah Palin's sudden rise and subsequent fall are a perfect example of what happens when you pluck an uniformed politician that prefers personal ambition to integrity, and proceed to place them in front of a global audience.

Palin's ability to make Dan Quayle look like Aristotle directly influenced voters perceptions of John McCain. The beating that she took at the hands of Katie Couric, Charles Gibson, and Tina Fey only added to the brutality of it. In McCain's defense, you think you could have done just a little bit of research, Sarah? Perhaps maybe glancing over the policies of the current administration, or at the very least, reading the Constitution, or a map even?

In the final week of his campaign, Palin offered the coup de grace: a shopping spree at both Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. The revelation of a diva that manages to rack up a $150,000 bill in luxurious clothing for herself and her family in a 55 day time span was enough to eliminate that "Hockey Mom with Small Town Values" image the campaign had worked so hard to present. McCain was able to handle the pregnant 17 year old daughter, the historically humiliating interviews, and the profound lack of political gravitas, but this, this rendered him powerless.

Fortunately for all of us, we will never know what a McCain/Palin administration will look like, but as their party tears one another to shreds anonymously in the press, and Sarah Palin plots the future of her political career, I am reminded of the last words "The Bride" spoke to her nemesis, Elle Driver, prior to snatching out her eye: "Bitch, you don't have a future."

Innovator: Real People Doing Big Things

Barack Obama is the current President-elect of the United States of America. Born to a father from Kenya and a mother from Wichita, Kansas, Barack Obama fought adversity to go from a single parent household struggling to survive on food stamps, to the president of The Harvard Law Review. He has broken down doors by becoming the first African-American to ever serve as President of the United States of America, as of January 20, 2009. He has become a beacon of hope for those around the world that happen to dream beyond their means, and he has shown our society that a community organizer with monumental ideas can become the leader of the greatest nation in the world.

Youth of the Nation

Generation Y, or the Millennials, as they are sometimes referred to, is the one social group that has typically been quickly touched upon, or examined in the media. Virtually no light has been shed on this group from the primaries to this very moment, and there is little to no definition or analysis as to why these gen-y voters are resoundingly supporting Barack Obama. They are one of the largest groups of registered voters, yet they seem to have the least amount of data regarding their voting trends.

Conservatives have claimed it is because they are in awe of Barack Obama's celebrity, his "rock star" persona. They have even gone so far as to declare age discrimination, stating that young voters refuse to identify with John McCain, villanizing him as The Penguin to Obama's Batman.

Liberals have hypothesized that it is because Barack Obama speaks to their issues, albeit willingly admitting that they are not fully aware of what this generation’s issues are. Some even think that this is the sole group where it is socially acceptable to rage against the establishment, with the establishment being the Republican Party.

Being that I was born in 1982, I fall right outside of the Generation X timeline, thus making me a Millennial, and I have some theories of my own as to why young voters stand in support of Barack Obama.

This is the generation that grew up under the Clinton administration. Like me, many of them remember a time when they, or their parents, could fill a tank of gas with $20. This was the time where the middle class had the freedom to make daring investments, take more extravagant vacations, and freely explore the job market for a comfortable and enticing opportunity. That has been replaced by the Bush era, which entails waiting in long lines to pay $4.00/gal for gas, strictly budgeting to afford the bare essentials, and fighting to keep a job that they absolutely loath. While many consider the "Hope" mantra that Obama uses as a cliché, the Millennials are hoping that Barack Obama can bring back the days of the Clinton lifestyle that their parents lived and prospered in.

Generation Y has become the generation that, after struggling to find a low paying job in the Bush administration, has had a portion of their paycheck deducted for Social Security for their grandparents to retire off of. Thanks to the political tactics of George Bush, this generation has been forced to acknowledge and accept the fact that these funds will NOT be there when they get their grandparents' age, and will have to work an additional twenty to twenty-five years that their grandparents didn’t have to work before they can obtain the same, exact benefits.

This generation has kick-started their professional careers in a state of debt. Debt incurred from the seemingly endless war in Iraq, which obviously has no substantial benefit to them. This younger group of voters has been unfortunate enough to inherit a $700+ billion debt used to bailout fifty something businessmen who allowed greed and personal ambition to corrupt their ethics. They are also aware that they will acquire the crumbling national infrastructure and decimated social safety net thanks to George W. Bush, supported by the "Trickle-down Economics" of former President Ronald Reagan.

If you haven't noticed, these are three strikes that have taken the Bush administration out of the game, and the young voters this year have made it clear that they are ready for the next guy to have his turn at bat.

Innovator: Real People Doing Big Things

Deval Patrick is the current Governor of Massachusetts. He went from the Robert Taylor housing projects on the south side of Chicago, IL to Harvard University to the Governor's mansion. He's broken down doors by becoming the first African American governor elected in Massachusetts. He has also done the unthinkable as a politician: allowing personal experience to alter your political perspective. After years of serving as a lawyer for corporations that fought to deny domestic partnership benefits, he now states that "citizens come before their government as equals."

Flatliner

We are now less than a month from the election of the next President of the United States of America. Each candidate is springing into their final leg in campaigning and last night was finally the opportunity for John McCain to bring the game onto his playing field: the town hall. When asked about his negative campaigning, McCain somehow justified them by stating that he has invited Sen. Obama to do town hall meetings with him, in which Obama has obviously declined. I have to imagine that McCain was rubbing his hands together in utter delight because he was finally getting what he wanted, to take the young senator from Chicago on in a town hall and reveal that he is nothing more than charm and rhetoric. Well now, that moment has come and gone, and what did John McCain do? He flatlined.

Depending on what network you watched the debate on, you may have been privy to watch it on a network that had focus groups charting their responses throughout the debate. The premise is that the voter is given a dial, and if you strongly agree with what a candidate is saying at any given time, you dial it up to 100, but if you are in disagreement, you dial it down to zero. Each time that a response has been given and a new question is being asked, the dial is to be placed at 50 to represent a lack of enthusiasm in any direction. Now I'm not sure if you have ever been in a hospital, or seen an episode of ER or Grey's Anatomy, but when an individual dies, their heart rate monitor goes flat, hence the term, "flatlining". Theoretically, if John McCain's heart was dependant on the reactions of the focus groups, we would be mourning his legacy this very day.

What I noticed by watching the responses of these various focus groups are a few things:

• Voters, at least those undecided, have ceased to believe John McCain. When he made claims that keeping the tax plan of George Bush is best because it keeps small businesses running, therefore creating jobs, people didn't believe him. When he proposed that his healthcare plan is best because it would allow voters the opportunity to choose their own doctors and receive a $5,000 tax credit, people didn't believe him. What I felt was detrimental to him, is when he tried to paint Barack as being too naive to handle foreign threats, people didn't believe him. Now this is apparently his area of expertise, and his one obvious strength against Barack, so when you remove that, and people start to believe that Barack has a better foreign policy stance, John McCain, you have made yourself extremely vulnerable.


• Women voters trust Barack Obama. In terms of economic planning, health care and foreign policies, the women had Barack dialed up to the furthest rating possible. There was no sense that he was being dishonest, misleading, or misinformed.


• Contrary to what was initially believed, men did not respond well to John McCain's tough talk. Calling Barack "that one" and defending his "Bomb bomb bomb Iran" comment as a joke amongst friends lead to his ratings dipping the lowest of any candidate, at any point, the entire night.

Now that we are in the last leg of this Race to the White House, I am very interested to see if John McCain can, at the very least, salvage the rest of his political career, because it is obvious that he has become disenchanted with what the average American wants. If he cannot improve his performance at the upcoming final debate, it appears that his career will suffer a similar fate as that of his performance last night: flatlining.

Check This Out

Changeling from Clint Eastwood

This is a trailer for the new Clint Eastwood film starring Angelina Jolie. It is about a single mother whose son is abducted, and returned to her months later. Once the dust has settled from the frenzy of the the photo-op reunion, the woman realizes that the child returned to her is not her's, and that she must challenge the system in order find her missing child. Essentially, this film is about corruption within the LAPD in 1928, long before the infamous Rodney King incident in 1991. Are we noticing a trend here, perhaps?

Check This Out

Hip Hop Republican


Hip Hop Republican (hiphoprepublican.com) is an online blog operated and maintained by young, educated, conservative African Americans. Now while I fundamentally disagree with virtually every opinion or perspective that is shared on their blog, I greatly respect their decision to break away from the mold and share their opinions while facing scrutiny and ridicule in their own community. I also like that they break the stereotype that in the Black community, we are all one monolithic group that has one opinion that we all fall in line with. Again, to reiterate, I do not share the views that are shared on their blog, but much respect over to the crew at Hip Hop Republican.

Innovator: Real People Doing Big Things

Tina Fey is a writer, actress, and comedienne who has won Emmy's for her acting, writing, and production work on 30 Rock. She has broken down doors by becoming the first female Head Writer for Saturday Night Live. She has recently been acclaimed for her "spot on" portrayal of Sarah Palin on SNL. When asked about parodying the Republican VP candidate, she said "I want to be done playing this lady by November 5. So if anyone could help me be done playing this lady November 5, that would be good for me."

The Methodology of Mediocrity

I love that in this great country, with hard work and determination, you can really become anything that you want to be. A girl born in Mississippi to a teen aged housemaid mother and coal miner father can become a media mogul. A man having battled testicular cancer spreading into his brain and lungs can turn around and win the Tour de France. A slave can fight for his freedom and then become an activist for black suffrage and equality in education. Those are just 3 stories of many. Many people that have struggled and endured extraordinary adversity have used that struggle to embody become the pinnacle of success. Sarah Palin’s story is not one of those stories.

The incoming President and Vice President are going to inherit an economy that is in a recession, a military that is over-stretched in two wars, an energy resource that is slowly depleting, and a public that is in dire need of answers. Can we trust that to a woman that cannot simply tell a journalist what media sources she gets her daily information from? Can we trust that to a woman that is running to be Second in Command of this country, but cannot tell us what the Bush Doctrine is? Can we trust that to a woman that feels that Dick Cheney's ONLY mistake in office was accidentally shooting a colleague in the face during a hunting trip? The answer is: absolutely not. Furthermore, can we trust that a man who chooses a woman of such apparent mediocrity has the cognitive ability to get us out of the current state that our nation is in? I think we all know the answer to that.

I, for one, really want to know the methodology behind selecting someone of such a mediocre background as your running mate. If John McCain just wanted a female on the ticket, he could've chosen 2nd term Governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, or North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole, who has been serving in office for about 25 years and graduated from Duke University along with receiving a J.D. from Harvard Law School, or senior Texas Senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison who graduated from UT-Austin and then received a J.D. from the UT School of Law. All women with experience, which used to be John McCain's platform, and all women that have spent time pursuing higher learning in the pursuit of ascertaining the fundamental knowledge that those that serve in office should possess. Instead, he chose the governor of a state with a smaller population than the city of Chicago, a budget lower than the city of Los Angeles, and went to 4 different colleges and universities to receive her BS in Communications-Journalism. COMMUNICATIONS-JOURNALISM, and she can't disclose which media publications she reads to stay informed on a daily basis? I'm sorry, she did disclose it, and it is infinite, being that she reads, "any of them...all of them."

I realize that I sound bitter, and some may view me as being sexist, but I am just frustrated. Frustrated that in defense of such a mediocre candidate, Barack Obama has been painted as an "elitist" because he is highly educated, articulate, and well informed from a global perspective. Frustrated that the few conservatives that I respect, such as Michael Steele, Linda Lingle, and even John McCain, have allowed themselves to sound absolutely idiotic defending Sarah Palin. Michael Steele, in an appearance on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, defended Palin's qualifications of being a hockey mom while condemning Obama's qualifications of being a community organizer. Linda Lingle, when asked why Palin had consistently fumbled in interviews, responded that perhaps she is "nervous", like being able to articulate themselves in nervous situations is a trait that the public DOESN'T expect in our leaders. And John McCain...well let's not even get into that one. I honestly wish Sarah Palin the best in her political endeavors…in Alaska. As for that Second in Command position, I think we should leave that to the Elite as opposed to the Mediocre.

Innovator: Real People Doing Big Things

Will Smith is an African-American actor that is a Grammy Award winning rapper, Oscar nominee, and Superstar. He's broken down doors by taking roles that were initially written for White actors, and making them global blockbusters, holding the record for starring in the most consecutive $100 million-grossing movies. He has dedicated time and money to helping suffering children and families in South Africa, along with empowering youth programs in the United States.

Penetration of the Mind

Being that this is my first one of these, I feel an obligation to explain why I'm even on here. As many are aware, 'blogging' has become a new forum for anyone that has access to the world wide web to share their opinions, theories, ideologies and perspectives with the world. I feel conflicted because personally, I feel that far too many people voice their opinions as is, but I obviously feel compelled enough to throw mine into the mix.

In an age where individualism is now becoming more acceptable, we are on the verge of dawning on a brand new day. Like so many others, I live in awe of the concept that a Black man can become the leader of the free world, a woman that has recently wedded another woman is dominating daytime television, and children are being raised with the belief that regardless of your skin tone, sexual preference or financial circumstance, you can become whatever it is your dreams lead you to be.

I say this all in that my only hopes for this blog is that I can inspire someone, anyone, to be more than they are at this very moment. Or that I can make someone see a perspective outside of their own. Or that I can get someone to stand up and speak out when others around them have discouraged them from doing so. And of course, I want to get on my soapbox and preach to the world! I also want to have fun as well, so please don't get thrown off by the sudden shifts that this blog can take, because I assure you there will be many.