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So many cute pictures! No room for them all! Check out the full roster on my Flickr page or check back at the BlackSnob 2.0 site later today! (Don't forget to poke around and check out all the new pages and services! Especially the new "Hot Topics" discussion boards!)
My friend (and reader) Dorothy snapped these pictures in Washington, D.C. Friday of soft drink maker Pepsi's "president-elect" inspired ad campaign. Using their new, modified red, white and blue circle logo like a half-grin version of the Obama rising sun logo, the Pepsi sphere has replaced the "O" in their one-word adverts, which include "hope" and "together." Some banners even blatantly read "Yes You Can" in case the others were too subtle in their connection to the Big O.
Curiously, some banners read "Oh boy," which depending on how you feel about the word "boy" can be seen as a little clunky or at worst, condescending.
Dot thought it was personally outrageous that anyone would use "boy" in an ad campaign obviously derived from the successful presidential campaign for an adult black man considering the negative history of the term and its use (usually to put black men "in their place"). Once my grandpa, then in his 70s, was called a "boy" by an Arkansas police officer young enough to be his son. We're almost positive that wasn't a term of endearment. But these banners were likely created by some clueless "boy geniuses" on Madison Avenue who know about as much about the history of "boy" and black men as they know what hominy grits are.
But this is just the latest reflection on Obama's dynamic campaign and essence popping up in advertising. This time to peddle corn syrup sweetened, carbonated water. It would be offensive for being opportunistic, but this is America and this is capitalism at work. In light of the recession where people are cutting back on their pointless consumption of useless things, you can't really blame Pepsi for trying to squeeze a good will, Obama dollar out of you by any means necessary. If Rocawear can sell "Roc-Obama" T-shirts at Macy's and Pookie n' em can sell bootleg Obama merch on the streets of D.C. this week, Pepsi is gonna get theirs.
We already know Tropicana may have got themselves an early start. (To see more of Dorothy's photos and art, click here.)
Courtesy of Paste Magazine! Make your own Fairey! I made mine! It's a little slow and clunky, but still fun. (via Gawker)
PS. If you make a really good one, send it to me and I'll post it on the blog on Inauguration Day!
I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that we black people ran out of real problems and only had mock outrage to deal out over a bunch of girly-girls in Southern Antebellum Era, fantasy-fetish colored hoop skirts and stupid wide brim, ruffled bonnets.
From Daily Kos:
Montgomery, Ala. (WSFA) -- They're part of a long standing tradition that will soon become a part of Presidential history.
The head of the Alabama NAACP, however, wants Mobile's Azalea Trail Maids to stay home on Inauguration Day, claiming the group reminds him of slavery.
"These are not just regular costumes. These are the costumes that remind someone of the plantation in Gone with the Wind," Edward Vaughn said in a phone interview.
Vaughn went on to say the group would be the laughing stock of the Inauguration. County leaders say nothing could be further from the truth.
"We want everyone to know that these young ladies do not need to be identified with slavery," said Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine.
The Rebel Flag -- the stars and bars of the Confederacy battle flag -- is an offensive symbol a destructive, bloody Civil War waged by selfish, wealthy land owners who wanted to protect their "Peculiar Institution" by destroying America. Never mind that it involved the former enslavement of an entire group of people for having African heritage.
The great General Robert E. Lee, who passed over fighting for the Union to join the Confederacy, was not fighting for Miss Ann's right to dress like a wedding cake. This was not the "way of life" of which they spoke, considering most Southern women couldn't even afford the damn thing and it had nothing to do with slave owning. A stupid frilly dress is simply a stupid dress no matter what fictional Southern movie heroine wore it.
I hate to tell the genius at the Alabama NAACP this, but ... um ... free women of color wore the stupid dress too (if they were of means, especially in the Louisiana Territory), because, you know, it was the FASHION AT THE TIME! Invented by the Europeans! Inspired by the Victorian Era! And these dresses to be worn in the parade aren't even accurate. They're some Barbie doll nightmare version of them. Their only sin is that they are kind of ridiculous looking, reminding me of that crochet toilet tissue topper Granny Snob has at her house in Newport, Ark.
And some of these "offensive" throwbacks happen to be black girls (eight of them, in fact. Two others are Native American and one is Asian American) and the only crime I see here is the crime of being a little over the top.
Now, offensive would be if the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan got to march a "Southern Heritage" banner down the avenue in front of the motorcade, but if period clothing is enough to inspire Don Imus-level offense then everyone needs to stop wearing cowboy boots right now. I could have swore they were popular with the people who settled the American west driving countless Native Americans off their land and eventually into reservations, to the brink of extinction.
But strangely, you know? A cowboy boot is just a pointy-toed boot popular in the South and American West. Not a symbol of brutality. Neither is a stupid dress.
A noose. A burning cross. A Rebel Flag. A Klan hood. Those are the symbols of the South's tragic, violent, racist past (and in certain cases, present). Sometimes a dress is just a dress. The only thing oppressive going on is that corset underneath which once conformed Southern ladies to an unnatural standard of tiny waist size making them more prone to fainting.
Stories like these imply that there are no serious issues left to tackle involving blacks and racism in America. They also unfairly push the stereotype that only the South has racial hangups and dirty laundry. (Um ... What's the City of Boston's excuse? Do they have a frilly dress situation there too?) Petty complaints like this imply that all we have left are word police and now, fashion police in Blackland. An unarmed black man was shot and killed in Oakland, Calif. on New Year's Day and it spurned riots. Poverty and poor education plague our cities and many parts of the South, including Alabama. We just elected our first black president, president of color, non-white president, biracial president and THIS IS THE FIGHT WE'RE PICKING?
WITH POOFY DRESSES?
Picking fights over gauzy symbols of bygone femininity will not bring us any closer to equality. Perhaps they could focus on the OTHER 99 problems (but a dress ain't one) that trouble the African slave descendents of the great state of Alabama.
And he's moving on up ... to the D.C. side! To a junior senator office in the skkkyyyyy! Remember kids! Squeaky wheel gets the senator's seat! (Politico)
This week on "The Perils of Sarah Palin," Alaska governor, veepstakes loser Sarah Palin continued jumping in front of microphones and cameras and saying things that never needed to be said for ... I don't know ... the amusement of schadenfreude loving Liberals? Late night comics? Evil Keith Olbermann? Why is she talking again? (And why is Joe the Not Plumber going to Israel to cover the bloodbath in Gaza?)
But most of all, why is she talking about this?
Palin also complained about reports suggesting that Trig Palin was not her son and said she was "frustrated" by rampant rumors about her and her family. However, mainstream media stayed away from such rumors, which were fueled by bloggers and others online and the supermarket tabloids.
"I wasn't believed that Trig was really my son," she said. She called it a "sad state of affairs."
"What is the double-standard here?" she asked. "Why would people choose to believe lies? What is it that drives people to believe the worst, perpetuate the worst?"
"When did we start accepting as hard news sources bloggers, anonymous bloggers especially?" she asked. (Huffington Post)
Why does Palin even bring up Andrew Sullivan's favorite sexy Palin conspiracy theory? No one in TV or in print touched this shit as they did not want it to get on them, stinking up the joint. This was PURELY an internet phenomenon. Yet, she talks about it openly as if the New York Times had reporters bribing her OB/GYN. As if Bill O'Reilly was giving in-depth chats on the status of her daughter's hymien with the rest of The Factor. Why even discuss it, you media-un-savvy nimrod? Why?
As I wrote on Facebook Friday (and feel compelled to share here), I just don't get why she would even bring it up or entertain questions about it. It would be akin to Hillary Clinton taking questions about her assistant allegedly being her Lesbian lover or that she killed Vince Foster. I mean, no one who considers themselves serious media would touch that shit with a 10 foot pole, but Sarah is literally dancing on the pole with pasties on. I mean, GET OFF THE POLE, woman! GET OFF THE POLE!
Barack Obama on Barack Obama shirtless:
You know, it was--it was silly, but, you know, silliness goes with this job ... Well, you know, the--my wife was tickled by me blushing. Anyway, what point was I making here, John? We got sidetracked by the... (Huffington Post)
Yeah. We all got sidetracked by the "the." That was some the, man! Indeed!
Now in non-shirtless, hottie president-elect pictures:
Barack got to hang out with the ex-presidents and "current occupant" Wednesday. Thankfully, for the sake of humankind everyone kept their shirts on.
Let me rephrase that ...
The man has the balls of Gibraltar. When you look up "cojones" in the dictionary THAT TOME HE'S NOT DEAD IN WILL BE THE PICTURE! I'll let Jon Stewart do the heavy lifting this time.
Jon, tell us, man. What's dah heezy with that?
Also, for the Snob Record: I think this incident has more to do with "opportunism" than "coonism." I know people want to throw the term "Uncle Tom" around which I HIGHLY dislike because neither the real life inspiration for the character of Uncle Tom or the character of Uncle Tom of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" were actual "Toms" by modern definition, but some things are just what they are. To me, this story is about a guy saying to himself "I'm-a gonna get mine!" no matter the cost. (Even paying your own ticket from Midway to DC on Southwest Airlines to not get sworn in.) That's pretty much the American way and racial fidelity has never been one to hold an ego back. This is a story of two people (Burris and Gov. Blago) reciting one of my favorite Notorious B.I.G. songs from the "Ready To Die" album over and over.
And I quote, "The What" (For the curse word sensitive, please advert your eyes!):
Fuck the world.
Don't ask me for shit!
Everything you get
You gotta work hard for it.
End quote.
Seriously. Burris could care less if this is "potentially embarrassing to Barack Obama." Or any black person because, despite the good Rep. Bobby Rush's statements, this isn't a race issue. This is about political power. Obama is already the President-Elect. Everyone is in a mad grab for any job with a title behind it, white or black, male or female, Asian, Latino, gay, straight. Even CNN's Dr. Sanjay "Looks Good In a Tight Black T-Shirt While Reporting Your Planet In Peril" Gupta is looking at a pay cut to get on with Team Hope. Folks want a job in politics in 2009. The opposition can't do anything but bitch and moan about the circus Burris is starring in and too many people have bought into their frowny-faced finger-wagging. Everyone from the prosecutor to the man himself has said Obama was not there when the shit went down, so could everyone calm down, eat some popcorn, shake your head and enjoy the show?
Burris is a George Jeffersonian man trying to get his senate pimp walk on. Why are ya'll interrupting? After all, a so-called Tom would be trying to destroy the black race through profiting his white masters. Like, I don't know, writing misogynistic rap lyrics that make black men and women mistrust each other, profiting from those lyrics by giving the bulk of the money to wealthy white-owned record companies who profit on black exploitation, never giving back to the community while starring on a reality show called "Bros Before Hoes" where you douse half naked black women in Cristal, brag about killing other black men and go by the nickname Lil Bae Bae. Or ... you try to get the Voting Rights Act of 1964 repealed. Or you're Clarence Thomas and you bring up a bullshit "Obama was not born in America" case to the frickin' Supreme Court.
Coonism is NOT being a career politician/lawyer out of the community who did work and fight for black issues, but saw a big sign that read OPPORTUNITY and simply did not care about things like, "Will this embarrass me or the new president?" Fuck no! Effie Whites don't think that hard. Folks are tryin' to be a senator up in here. Do you realize how hard it is to get in the senate and how HARD a person will hold on to a seat? Senator Larry Craig of Idaho got busted soliciting sex in a airport bathroom and he WOULD NOT LEAVE the senate! An ex-Saturday Night Life comedian is in a Minnesota triple-overtime deathmatch recount over a senate seat he will NEVER concede no matter what the count says, up or down.
Plus, Burris is 71 and like most old folks, he just doesn't care what anyone thinks anymore. Do your grandparents care what you think? Can you tell grandpa that he would look silly getting involved in this Blago drama? And while I know old people can be annoying, let's not blame so-called "Civil Rights Era Negro" syndrome. What the hell was Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's excuse?
It's about power. Pure and simple. And this is Burris' last shot. Love him or hate him. He seriously does not care what we think and in the end this is SEVERAL SHADES less embarassing than, let's say, OJ Simpson or the R. Kelly trial which involved, you know, real crimes and shit. All this proves is that black politicians are just like all politicians. Trifling. For the first time, the "Good Ol' Boy" network is no longer a hinderance in getting a hook-up on a national scale for a black man. After all, Caroline Kennedy is trying to pimp herself the same deal in New York with Hillary Clinton's seat, but without the whole crazy governor situtation. That's not embarassing. That's progress!
So, I really don't think this diminishes from Obama's achievements, the various achievements of other "Civil Rights Era Negroes" or even the performances of that wonderful Sue-loving Bobby Rush. This says something about Burris (an egomaniac) and Blago (also an egomaniac), but it's not a reflection on us black folk as a plurarilty. And folks were not just going to go "Obama '08," suck in their guts and act "perfect" for the next four to eight years. Really. I don't think I'm going to get passed over on a job interview because Roland Burris is in DC shouting "I gotta get mine, you gotta get yours" over and over. If he looks like a fool, he is the fool. But he is betraying no one in his foolishness.
Mr. Burris goes to Washington.
I swear. He's getting all Effie White on me and ya'll know how I feel about Effie Whites even when they're wrong. LOVE THEM!!! With every self-smug grin and you-will-not-deny-me! glare I fall in love with his amazing level of OMFG hubris. The arrogance! Pimp rag, Tootsie Pop and a cane!* (Link needs Rhapsody to play) Just when you think it couldn't get worse, it does. Just when you think it couldn't get crazier, it is. And now, Rep. Bobby Rush's wild race card playing has been put in perspective with allegations that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pretty much balked at every Negro being considered for the president-elect's vacated seat. What's real and what's Memorex? Who the fuck knows. This is like Predator Versus Aliens ya'll. No matter who wins, we lose.
And the stand-up Burris did on live TV yesterday at Chicago's Midway, the Chi's Dante's Inferno of airports, in front of Southwest Airlines ticket counter? Complete with gawking, cell phone chatting "look I'm on CNN" trolls? Priceless. I once few on Southwest out of Midway with Tone Loc. That's how Southwest rolls. They pull ALL the broke rappers, would-be senators and unemployed journalists.
Hate Burris, love Burris or simply love the show (and I love a good show), I really think Gov. Hot Rod Blagojevich has Reid's nuts in a vice over this.
Embattled Ill. Gov. "Hot" Rod Blagojevich never fails to disappoint.
Throwing everyone a curveball Tuesday, Hot Rod picked the esteemed careerist, four decades plus Democratic veteran/law & order, former Illinois Attorney General and first popularly elected black state official Roland Burris as his appointment to President-elect Barack Obama's senate seat.
CHICAGO — Defying U.S. Senate leaders and his own state's lawmakers, Gov. Blagojevich on Tuesday appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder, praised the 71-year-old Burris' integrity and asked that the corruption allegations not "taint this good and honest man."
"The people of Illinois are entitled to have two United States senators represent them in Washington D.C.," Blagojevich said. "As governor I am required to make this appointment."
Burris, standing at the governor's side, said he's eager to get to work in Washington. He said he has no connection to the charges against Blagojevich, who was arrested on Dec. 9 and accused of trying to profit from appointing Obama's replacement.
Burris was the first African-American elected to major statewide office. He's served as Illinois' comptroller and ran for governor three times _ the last time losing to Blagojevich. (Huffington Post)
Fascinating!
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is continuing his swan song that the senate will not accept anyone the tainted Blago picks into the Dem caucus. But by picking Burris, Hot Rod has thrown down the ultimate triple dog dare -- pass over my qualified black appointment, haters! -- a point clarified at the press conference in even simpler terms by Illinois Dem. Rep. Bobby Rush*.
*Not to be confused by the chittlin' circuit, nightfishin', proudly henpecked -- pecked by the right hen -- bluesman Bobby Rush who enjoys serenading thicky-thick girls. Because with a mama who loves blues from Arkansas that's who I thought of immediately when I heard the name Rep. Bobby Rush. I half expected him to belt out how "Sue, she's a good 'un!" when he hopped on the stage.
Noting that without Obama there would be no African-American members of the Senate, Rush, a former Black Panther, warned the press not to "hang or lynch" Burris by associating him with the ethics scandals plaguing the governor.
"I would ask you the not hang or lynch the appointee as you castigate the appointer and separate the appointee from the appointer," said Rush. "Roland Burris is worthy and he is the only one who can stand in the gap during this time and gather the confidence, re-establishing confidence of the people of the state of Illinois." (Huffington Post)
Rush, in so many terms, asked that people not punish Burris for Blago's crimes. Fair enough. But he also made the point that a Negroless Senate cannot stand. You can read this a lot of ways. Or you can go the simple route and claim that Rep. Rush just said if you don't confirm Burris, you are a racist.
I mean. Here's a direct quote.
"There are no African-Americans in the Senate, and I don't think that anyone, any U.S. Senator who is sitting right now would want to go on record to deny one African-American from being seated in the U.S. Senate. I don't think they want to go on record doing that.
Rush promised to take his case to the Congressional Black Caucus, and he said he intended to lobby Senators as well -- including his Illinois colleague, Dick Durbin.
"Let me remind you that the state of Illinois and the people of the state of Illinois in their collective wisdom have sent two African-Americans to the U.S. Senate," Rush said. "That makes a difference. This is not just a state of Illinois matter ... but indeed, by this decision, it has tremendous national importance."
That's an interesting way to go in getting a fellow appointed. (To be fair, Blago also played a little "he's a black guy, push it through" hand of bid whist there too.) I don't know how successful that will be, but it's guaranteed to be entertaining.
Either way, NOW this shizz is officially interesting to me. Burris is 71 and has watched other hot shots come and go while he was passed over. First Jesse Jackson, Sr. running for president. Then Jesse's son going to the House. Then Carol Moseley Braun going to the senate first, followed later by Barack Obama, who is now our president-elect. Burris in many ways paved the way for these individuals and during the whole press conference he had a grin on his face that said, "You will not take this away from me."
This appointment, which everyone else was running from, Burris essentially ran towards as this was his last chance at such a huge and influential position. I can't really hate on the guy for this category five level of "opportunity = crisis." He knows he's being used and he doesn't care. If anything, at this point, home skillet might being using Blago. And we all know that the senate seat is a *bleeping* valuable thing.
This is going to be a lovely way to burn.
President-Elect Barack "No Drama" Obama opened up a giant can of what the hell this week, when it was announced that controversial evangelical pastor, Rev. Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church, would give the invocation at the inauguration.
Warren, quite famously, is against gay marriage and came out for California's Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage. The ballot proposition was pushed after the courts declared it discriminatory to allow heterosexuals the right of marriage but not homosexuals. Naturally, all kinds of people have cried foul, most notably in the gay, lesbian, transgendered community, as well as a host of Liberals and progressives. And while I understand what Obama is trying to do here (re: be inclusive, reach out to evangelicals), there are a host of evangelical ministers he could have invited to the big show who wouldn't have arrived with nearly as much baggage.
"My blood pressure is really high right now," said Rev. Chuck Currie, minister at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon. "Rick Warren does some really good stuff and there are some areas that I have admired his ability to build bridges between evangelicals and mainline religious and political figures... but he is also very established in the religious right and his position on social issues like gay rights, stem cell research and women's rights are all out of the mainstream and are very much opposed to the progressive agenda that Obama ran on. I think that he is very much the wrong person to put on the stage with the president that day."
Warren does have a rather peculiar relationship with the incoming president. The two share a general ethos that political differences should not serve as impediments to progress. On topics like AIDS and poverty relief, they see eye-to-eye. But Warren's domestic and social agendas are at odds with Obama's. And for the gay and lesbian community in particular, the choice is a bitter pill to swallow.
"Pastor Warren, while enjoying a reputation as a moderate based on his affable personality and his church's engagement on issues like AIDS in Africa, has said that the real difference between James Dobson and himself is one of tone rather than substance," read a statement from People For the American Way President Kathryn Kolbert. "He has repeated the Religious Right's big lie that supporters of equality for gay Americans are out to silence pastors. He has called Christians who advance a social gospel Marxists. He is adamantly opposed to women having a legal right to choose an abortion." (Huffington Post)
Warren is sort of in the running for that unofficial position of "national spiritual leader," a la Billy Graham. That particular evangelical minister attended 10 inaugurations (almost all of them) since President Dwight Eisenhower. He also showed up for other big events like the occasional "bless the war" ceremony. It's a nice, influential position and with Graham old and sickly, there is some chatter about who will step into his shoes. Since it's not the sort of thing you can apply for, all you can do is do your darnedest to hop on any and all hot topics that would put you in the middle of the political fray. Warren did this during the election, hosting a debate of sorts where Warren sat down individually with Obama and his opponent John McCain and shot the shit.
Mama Snob joked that Obama might as well have picked Rev. Jeremiah Wright or Father Michael Phleger if his intent was to have a good, vocal minority of people go into pique. (I offered up Jesse n' Al, too, as all parties suggested would equally piss off someone, or everyone, at once.) But I'd argue that it was easier to pick someone who would irk Liberals and progressives because there has been a long-standing knowledge that you can push pinkos around because the modern right wing is so far right we truly have no other place to go.
Unless we're going to all start voting for Ralph Nader or something.
Therefore this is the latest indignity to endure.
All I ask is that Warren remembers that the inauguration is about the presidency, not CONTROVERSIAL CULTURE WAR ISSUE OF THE DAY, and will just give the invocation without pissing of 48 percent of the country. The announcement has already distracted and derailed the news cycle. But I think Warren will keep-it-simple-stupid, because he is a smart guy and wants to be Graham's heir apparent. And you don't get to be Graham's heir by being unpalatable, like crazy Pat Robertson or dearly departed but also crazy Jerry Falwell OR by being kind of skeevie, like Creflo Dollar, OR by being too vague, like Joel Osteen.
In a statement Warren recently released, he praised Obama for picking him and kept everything on message.
I commend President-elect Obama for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn't agree on every issue, to offer the Invocation at his historic Inaugural ceremony.
Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America.
The Bible admonishes us to pray for our leaders. I am honored by this opportunity to pray God's blessing on the office of the President and its current and future inhabitant, asking the Lord to provide wisdom to America's leaders during this critical time in our nation's history.
So while I wouldn't have gone for someone who equated homosexuality with incest and pedophillia, in the end, I think everything will be fine. On the left, people will be offended. On the right people will be confused. (Many are wondering why Warren would give this sort of "endorsement" to someone who is pro-abortion, pro-gay rights. But, obviously, Warren has a plan too.) And if it were me, I probably would have picked someone who either no one's ever heard of, was a 1960s Civil Rights activist or Osteen because I'm a punk and would not have wanted something as silly as pastor pickin' to become the drama-rama du jour on Hardball. But that's me. How did Obama's latest pastor pick sit with you?
And what IS IT WITH THIS MAN AND PASTORS? I know he's church shopping in Washington, D.C. Maybe he should let someone else pick this time. I'm sure someone in D.C. can point him and Michelle to the least controversial, all Jesus all, the time, Christian church in D.C.
BTW: As if to balance out Warren, Civil Rights activist, pastor and pro-gay rights Liberal Rev. Joe Lowery is giving the beneditcion. Lowery is best known of late for using the Coretta Scott King's funeral to call out President Bush. Another moment in the Bush presidency that was hilarious, although (like with the shoe throwing) it was pretty rude to use a funeral to bash our craptastic president. That didn't mean I didn't laugh, but ... dude. There was a funeral going on.
After more than a week of does she or doesn't she chatter, Obama supporter and childhood education activist Caroline Kennedy has made her intentions for Hillary Clinton's New York senate more clear. The New York Times recently wrote that Kennedy wants the job.
Some are surprised. Kennedy has spent nearly all of her life out of the political fray. While her cousins ran for office, she worked on her charities, wrote and edited books and mostly remained a political wallflower/family symbol as the only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy. While educated and politically curious, she simply didn't seem interested and who could blame her? Her entire family tree is littered with politicians, some successful, some not, some who like their Ambien and alcohol too much and some who faced an untimely demise.
Politics is an ugly business and you have to be one part Messiah complex, one part biggest ego in the world to withstand the dramarama that surrounds it. You have to be think you're Allen Iverson, that you're "The Answer" to the problems of your constituents. That you can deliver ... hopefully better than Iverson.
This is a compliment to Kennedy in the fact that I, quite honestly, did not think she had the ego for it.
Kennedy sank her gigantic familial chompers in for a huge bite of the political apple this year when she threw her reputation and last name behind Barack Obama for president. Apparently she is hungry for more.
But not everyone is skipping down Camelot memory lane. Especially those who supported Hillary Clinton in her presidential run (and that was the vast majority of New York Democrats), those who feel they've politely worked hard and waited their turn (that would be another family name, Cuomo, as in NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo) and those who involuntarily roll their eyes upon hearing the name Kennedy.
The United States of America doesn't have a monarchy, but that doesn't stop Americans to choosing to worship the political dynasties of their liking. The Republicans love the Bushes. Democrats still overwhelmingly love the Kennedys.
But the Kennedys are shrouded in desire and mystique because of when they came to political prominence and the life altering events that surrounded them. You can't get a much bigger backdrop than the 1960s, defined by war, civil unrest, injustice, violence, youth movements/youth culture and ideological warfare. If you couldn't make a name for yourself that decade it simply couldn't be done. But two assassinations shared by one political family was enough to wrap the Kennedy name up in romance. And so the name came to embody a certain American mythology. While the story is rooted in truth, the Kennedys are just people, extremely rich and influential people, but if all the boys and their alcohol/drug/women troubles have taught us anything, they are flawed.
A last name doesn't guarantee greatness.
But I suppose my larger point is -- why? Why does Caroline Kennedy want this job? Is this about the people, the party or the family name? Or is it all three? Are their individuals more qualified? Actress/activist Fran Drescher, quite strangely, wants the job. A reader floated Harold Ford Jr.'s name to me as a possible appointee for Clinton's seat. He was a supporter of her and has become more of a New Yorker, leaving his native Tennessee and his father's sphere of influence. (Yet another case for nepotism, but in New York the Ford name has less tread.)
Rev. Al Sharpton as endorsed Kennedy, yet a New York Democrat has compared Kennedy to "J. Lo," in the regard that they both have name recognition. How does this affect New York Governor David Paterson, who has to make this choice? Kennedy could definitely pull the money needed to hold the seat in 2010. And she has the name recognition. After all, Paterson would also be up for election in 2010 and it wouldn't hurt to have some attention grabber on the ticket, but ... what is this?
I was hoping Kennedy wouldn't want the job because you can't talk about Caroline Kennedy as a politician without talking about her family, specifically the mix of martyrs, tragedies and fuck ups that make up the Kennedy political graveyard. And Kennedy has no other political history to discuss other than the family history, turning us all into vulture voyers yet again. And people complain about "affirmative action" when it involves us at the bottom of the class warfare food chain, but isn't the potential Kennedy appointment the more classic case of "affirmative action?" As in, her last name is Kennedy therefore everyone acted affirmatively in her appointment?
I'm not saying Kennedy's not qualified. Qualifications for all elected offices are bare bones to make it easier for anyone to run. She's highly intelligent and politically astute and is easily the most likeable Kennedy, but 90 percent of her likeability is based in the fact that she is an activist who raises money for charities. She's seems nice and is non-controversial. But it's hard to get excited about this unless you like reruns. This isn't a "Great Gastby" scenario of the self-made politico, like Barack Obama or Bill Clinton, who had no name, money or status to trade for power. This is romance based on an old, doomed relationship in hopes it will be like the love before.
Will this be love redux or is Gov. Paterson about to potentially pass over better contenders to please those who can't get over our lack of monarchy? Is there someone else who would be better for the job? The answer is probably yes, but I'm almost positive that if Kennedy wants the seat it is truly hers to be had.
The name is still in demand.
Gov. Hot Rod goes down! ... And on the way out manages to poop on an otherwise wondrous Obama-riffic election.
CHICAGO — Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested by federal authorities on Tuesday morning on corruption charges, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell President-elect Barack Obama’s seat in the United States Senate to the highest bidder.
Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, called his sole authority to name Mr. Obama’s successor “golden,” and he sought to parlay it into a job as an ambassador or secretary of health and human services, or a high-paying position at a nonprofit or an organization connected to labor unions, prosecutors said in a 76-page affidavit by the United States Attorney’s office in the Northern District of Illinois.
He also suggested, the affidavit said, that in exchange for the Senate appointment, his wife could be placed on corporate boards where she might earn as much as $150,000 a year, and he tried to gain promises of money for his campaign fund.
If Mr. Blagojevich could not secure a deal to his liking, prosecutors said, he was willing to appoint himself.
“If I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself,” the governor said in recorded conversation, prosecutors said. (Source: New York Times)
Classy!
Our bi-state neighbor Illinois has always been the City Mouse to Missouri's Country Mouse. Largely because Illinois is home to Chicago, the third largest city in the United States. We in St. Louis could have been Chicago about 100 years ago when we were the fourth largest city in the US, but we got all protectionist about some damn ferry boat traffic and the railroads expanded rapidly and the rest is history.
It's not that we don't have corruption in Missouri. Heavens to Murgatroid, we do! It's just, our drama always looks so hokey by comparison. For instance, our dorkwad, asshat, boy wonder governor, Matt "Little Boy" Blunt, cut state medical benefits for thousands of Missourians and got caught up in a very Bush-lite email records scandal. He chose not to run for re-election this year, realizing he was going to get owned by the Democratic competitor, former attorney general Jay Nixon. Either that, or there was another scandal under his bed. He wasn't very specific when he declared that he accomplished all he set out to do in a turbulent, effed up three years.
I don't know. It didn't matter. Nixon won anyway, calling his competition Nanny-Nanny-Blunt-Bush over and over.
Over in City Mouse country, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has a 76 page indictment that includes everything from shaking down the friggin' Chicago Tribune in a pay-for-play scheme/fire-your-reporters-because-I-hate-their-faces gambit with a little quid pro quo on the state helping out with the media company's sale of the Cubs ... to demanding between half-million to a million dollars in cash, plus an appointment or ambassadorship for President-Elect Barack Obama's vacated senate seat. You know? Because if he couldn't get some scratch he might as well appoint himself. Hint, hint. Wink, wink!
Prosecutors also alleged Blagojevich expressed feeling "stuck" as a sitting governor and spent a large amount of time weighing whether he should appoint himself to the vacancy--possibly to avoid impeachment and help remake his image for a potential 2016 run for the presidency. A recent Tribune poll found Blagojevich with a record low 13 percent job approval rating. (Chicago Tribune)
CNN (among others) are speculating that potential senate appointee who may have balked and tattled on the already embattled Blagojevich was none other than Obama adviser and long-time family friend, Valerie Jarrett. She withdrew her name from consideration and took a job in the White House. And considering the fact the FBI has been working on Blagojevich's brand of Chicago-land politics for some time, this must have been the turd cherry on the shit sundae the federal government has been making in hopes will take down (another) Illinois governor.
But who's surprised that Blagojevich is being accused of this? Illinois has a hit streak going of douchy governors not matter what party they come from, with one presently serving a six year prison sentence. So far Obama is not getting beat up over this. And I'd actually consider him among the "victims" if the tale about Blagojevich trying to get Jarrett to cough up cash for the seat is true. But this will certainly be entertaining. Perhaps Blagojevich didn't want the Republican governor to be in prison alone ... or, this may explain why he was lobbying on former Gov. Ryan's behalf to get a pardon from President George W. Bush. Perhaps Hot Rod knew what was coming down the pike and needed some karma on his side.
Hot Rod's karma came up all kinds of fail though. All kinds.
New Obama Administration members Desiree Rogers and Valerie Jarrett with Linda Rice Johnson of Ebony Magazine (left-to-right) at a social event. Rogers and Jarrett will be part of the Obama White House team.Beautiful and brilliant, I have to say I've been so far impressed with the black women who are popping up as potential parts of the administration. While I'm looking forward to which other black and other minority women and men who will be joining the them, here are the so far "fantastic four" of the Obama Administration.
Name: Desiree Rogers
New Job: White House Social Secretary
Super power: Party! Party! Party! Rogers is super social butterfly, big on the socialite scene in Chicago with her business connections and ability to have a good time
Obama Connection: Michelle Obama
From The Washington Post:
Rogers, 49, is a friend of Michelle and President-elect Barack Obama's, and a leader in Chicago corporate and civic circles; her appointment signals that the first couple consider the job crucial to how they introduce themselves to the country and the globe. She was a major fundraiser for Obama.
Claim to fame: Rogers was most recently with Allstate Financial, where she was "creating a social network of clients and consumers." She was also once president of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Rogers, who studied at Wellesley College and later earned an MBA from Harvard, was once married to Chicagoan John Rogers, Ariel Capital Management chief and another close Obama friend and fundraiser.
Her first highly visible post was in state government. She managed the lottery for then-Gov. Jim Edgar in the '90s, appearing on TV giving away pots of money.
Why she's fabulous: According to Obama friend Valerie Jarrett -- "This appointment sends a strong message that the Obamas want to use the White House strategically, to maximize its use in a way that is consistent with their philosophy -- [to] open it to a broader range of people, " said Valerie Jarrett, an Obama intimate and friend of Rogers's who also will work in the White House. "Desirée is a heavy hitter -- she comes with her own range of contacts from around the country. She's close to Michelle and she knows everyone who will be working in the West Wing, so she will be able to create a synergy."
Name: Valerie Jarrett
New Job: White House Senior Adviser
Super power: Tenacious Charm and Outward Brilliance. She also managed to smooth things over with Clinton supporters, bringing them under the fold after the contentious primary race and she works as Obama's outreach to leaders within the black community
Obama Connection: She's a close and personal friend/mentor of Michelle, then later Barack
From The New York Times:
“I can count on someone like Valerie to take my hand and say, You need to think about these three things,” Mrs. Obama said. “Like a mom, a big sister, I trust her implicitly.”
Claim to fame: "A protégée of Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, Ms. Jarrett served as his planning commissioner, ran a real estate company, the Habitat Company — whose management of public housing projects has come under scrutiny with Ms. Jarrett’s rise — and sits on too many boards to count. She is an expert in urban affairs, particularly housing and transportation, in an administration expected to lavish more money and attention on cities than its predecessors." (NYT)
Why she's fabulous: While new to Washington she's ready to hit the ground running in an effort to avoid the pratfalls that hindered hometown heroes like herself from making it in the Capitol.
She's tiny, but mighty, mighty powerful, in spite of being "underestimated" due to her ethnicity, gender, height, pixie haircut, being the only black woman in the boardroom and the fact that she's very "girlish" with a "singsong voice and suits that earned her a recent profile in Vogue." (NYT)
Name: Susan Rice
Potential Role: Ambassador to the United Nations
Super power: Anti-Genocide Warrior (she has also penned the occasional column for Huffington Post)
From the International Herald Tribune:
The choice of Rice to represent the United States before the United Nations will make her one of the most visible faces of the Obama administration to the outside world aside from Clinton. It will also send to the world organization a prominent and forceful advocate of stronger action, including military force if necessary, to stop mass killings like those in the Darfur region of Sudan in recent years.
Obama Connection: She's a warrior. She needed no such connections! Actually, she's a former Clintonite who switched sides.
Claim to fame: She's considered brilliant and tough.
Writes the International Herald Tribune:
If confirmed, Rice at 44 would be the second-youngest ambassador to the United Nations. A Rhodes scholar who earned a doctorate in international relations at Oxford University, she joined Bill Clinton's National Security Council staff in 1993 before rising to assistant secretary of state for African affairs at age 32. When Obama decided to run for president, she signed up as one of his top advisers, much to the consternation of the Clinton camp, which resented what it saw as a defection.
Some colleagues from her Clinton and Obama days said Rice can be blunt and unafraid to "mix it up," as one put it, on behalf of issues she cares about. Rice herself acknowledges a certain impatience at times.
Admirers said she is a good listener and able to stand up to strong personalities, including foreign autocrats and militants in volatile regions of the world.
"Susan certainly is tough, and she's tough in exactly the right way," said Strobe Talbott, a former deputy secretary of state and now president of the Brookings Institution, where Rice has worked in recent years. "She's intellectually tough, she's tough in her approach to how the policymaking process should work and she will be very effective as a diplomat."
Why she's fabulous: Goodness, she wants to stop genocide in Darfur in the Sudan. That makes her fabulous enough. Good luck to her on that.
She's also not John Bolton, Bush's former recess appointment as Ambassador to the UN. Bolton, like much of Bush and Co., didn't believe in the purpose of the UN or giving it any power -- real or perceived. Therefore they sent a man to work at frustrating and undermining the organization our country help found and headquarters. (He's already bitching over Obama elevating the ambassadorship back to a cabinet level position as it was under President Bill Clinton.) Under the long list of reasons why the world hates us you will find John Bolton's name. Rice is going to get a standing ovation just for not being him.
Name: Michelle Obama (You know she's the leader of the Fantastic Four. How could I not put her here? She's bigger than Oprah and Beyonce combined at this point.)
New Job: First Lady of the United States
Super power: She's a nearly 6 foot tall Glamazon. She's Wonder Woman. Seriously. She's got that golden lasso lying around here somewhere.
Obama Connection: She's Mrs. Obama
Claim to fame: She's an Ivy League educated attorney with an accomplished career, two beautiful daughters and a devoted husband who just happens to be the "leader of the free world."
Why she's fabulous: She's Michelle Obama. She wasn't made fabulous. She was born that way.
PS. The Black Snob will be following the actions, careers, lives of almost any black, brown or minority person with a business card and a tic-tac in their mouths working for the Obama Administration. Everything from the serious to the supersillious to the "OMG! What are they WEARING!!!" Send your info to me now, now, now! Especially if you are a black, brown, Asian, Latino, female, male, warm-blooded person with a pulse -- or a vampire, I don't discriminate -- who works in DC and likes to pass along "OMG! What are they WEARING!!!" news tips and pictures, among other things.
Send your tips n' pics to The Black Snob at blacksnob@gmail.com!
And look to future coverage of more men and women of the coming Obama Administration. January 20, 2009, people! It's going down! It's the Freaknik of Hope, only everyone is sober and will keep their clothes on (because it's freezing outside in DC in January). Yeah! Nerdy black people! We're finally taking over! Bwaaa-haaa-haaa!
The not-quite-South-by-the-way-of-Illinois-by-the-way-of-New York HAS RISEN AGAIN! She told you she'd be back! Like the Terminator. Only this time she's working for the O-Team. And since the saga over her possible appointment has been going on and on for more than two weeks now no one is surprised.
Every day President-Elect Barack Obama's potential cabinet keeps looking one-part "Team of Rivals" and one-part "Justice League." Could the names be any bigger? Could the egos surpass that girth? All I want to know is who is Batman and who is Superman and is Batman carrying his emergency kryptonite to keep Superman in check? Inquiring nerds want to know!
My thoughts on Clinton for Secy. of State? I'm ambivalent and bemused and fascinated. I want to see this play out. While it's obvious that Sen. Clinton really, really, really wanted to be sworn in herself come Jan. 20th, I don't think this is necessarily part of some Machiavellian plot to destroy the Obama Administration from within. By hitching her wagon to the Great Hopemongerer, she's now completed her transformation as "ride or die" Obama. As in, if Obama fails in his foreign policy she will feel that same stiff, cold wind that occassionally blows at the backs of Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell for their roles in the many fiascos of the Bush Administration as Secys. of State. This is make or break time.
As in, she needs to make this work for the good of the country and her own reputation.
In the end, as a politician (or as anything for that matter) all you have is your name. Once that goes, you go and there's no amount of wishful thinking (see, Bush, George W.) that will make a giant turd of a presidency blossom into wildflowers.
Clinton has chosen not to play passive in this and I'm not surprised. This is the first Democratic administration since her husband's and it's so damn historic presidential historians are having preemptive orgasms anticipating every ounce of minutae they will collect and preserve for prosperity. I half expect Doris Kearns Goodwin to pass out from a case of the vapors.
The only thing that's sticking in my craw is my beloved blowhard of MSNBC, Chris Matthews, who's foot-n-mouth disease knows no bounds. Last week I had to endour the most moronic conversation on Hardball where he (and strangely enough, other pundits who should have known better) batted around the notion of Bill Clinton running for Hillary's senate seat.
Bill Clinton. William Jefferson Clinton. Former president of the United States. Former "Leader of the Free World." Former Commander-In-Chief. Former HNIC and it's all about me, me, me where they played "Hail to the Chief" when he entered a room and everywhere he went was like TV's "Cheers" -- everywhere he went everyone knew his name. Bill "I'm a Rhodes Scholar with no impulse control who could not stop chasing tail because Prince's 'Pussy Control' was about me, man. The pussy is in CHARGE! I just follow the smell wherever it leads me. Don't tell Hillary! But it doesn't matter because I beat every mutha fucker who tried to impeach me! I am untouchable, the slickest of the slick and my dick is bigger than Gods!" Clinton.
That Clinton to run to be a junior senator from New York.
Seriously.
Bill will give up his charity for his wife's potential appointment, but after being president being senator is being Pope and choosing to go back to being a postulate and Bill is no longer the student. He is the teacher, you philistines! And the ego's on fire -- the Comeback Id would rather kick it with his Billionaire Boys Club wingman Ron Burkle for the next four to eight years, picking up chicks in Prague. Debating things like who would beat who in a fight -- Sam Jackson as Mace Windu from Star Wars versus Sam Jackson as the Octopus in The Spirit? Ruminating on all the girl's he's loved before.
I always saw Bill as being Henry Hill from "Goodfellas," the real life gangster who moved up within a crime family but was brought down by his own excesses. When the party was over he griped that he had to live like a regular "schnook."
Senator Bill Clinton ain't happening because Big Willie ain't gonna be nobody's schnook. He's not about to return to Washington, DC only to be Sens. Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer's bitch. He'd rather kill himself. Or them. Hell, that's probably one of the reasons why Hillary bounced from the senate anyway. Ted Kennedy was cock blocking her on health care reform because it was his baby first. So the Clintons like to win and Hillary's decided to take her toys and go join the winning team.
Unfortunately, there will be drama, real and imagined. I put a big emphasis on "imagined." The main accusation and criticism of the Clintons, both Bill and Hillary, is that their ambition is wild, ever reaching and starkly naked. While it is true, they know how to play the game better than most and can manipulate the press with the best of them -- all politicians are flagrantly and brazenly ambitious.
Barack Obama's ambitious. He's just a master of his own domain. He has slayed his dragons. He is in control of whatever demons he may possess, or perhaps he vanquished those demons long ago. He is not a man starved for sex, affection and approval and he is not a woman married to that mess, dealing with her own self-doubts and calculations.
He's in "control." If there were ever a salacious, unhinged, kinky scandal surrounding the O-Man I would be the first one calling "bullshit," only to be followed by shock and horror. But if Bill Clinton gets caught playing "grab hands" with Kim Kardashian tomorrow I'm not going to feign indignation.
Barack is in control and he's in control of this selection of Hillary Clinton.
She knows the drill. He's her boss. The Secy. of State's job is the execute the president's vision. Yes, she can offer insight, but as Colin Powell will tell you, even if you think the president is really taking an "L" there, you have to either get on board or resign.
Very few resign.
And if for some reason she doesn't know the drill and the media circus, Matthews, et al, becomes too much it will be up to Obama to say he's had enough of life under the big top.
Either way. I really don't think folks should spend too much time worrying about it. Obama's got this.
Mike Paul, Republican strategist, tells Pat Buchanan, unapologetic bastard, that the Republicans need to be a "big tent party" and reach out to the young, women and minorities. Pat's all, "Um ... no." Then has a good laugh about it, doing his best to frustrate, confound and infuriate Paul, who (naturally) wishes there would be more than just him, Condi Rice, Michael Steele and Ron Christie at the holiday party. Pat is Pat and Paul takes offense. Insanity ensues and this time Chris Matthews didn't have to do any heavy lifting. I can't believe I forgot to post this last week!
Pat, who I "lovingly" call "The Bigot," is notorious for not putting up any happy-talk when it comes to doing anything different from what they did in the Nixon Administration to get some black votes. Pat's of the mind that if you can get your 12 to 20 percent, great. If you can't, who cares? Why is he going to waste time winning over people he either:
A) Believes cannot be won over
B) Doesn't want anyway
Pat all but told Paul, "Vote Republican! That's great! Convince your friends and family! Go do that! Me? Me? I'm doing what I've always done. Jack shit. Because I don't give a shit. No sir. I do not!"
What's "sad" is some ... er ... ill-informed conservatives have bashed Paul on the blogosphere for this above sparring with Buchanan, accusing him of supporting Barack Obama. I'm going to assume they based that on pigmentation only because between Paul, Ron Christie and Amy Holmes, I don't know who was tripping over their feet the hardest to explain why electing Barack Obama would be a nightmare. I almost wanted to comment and defend Paul, then I remembered how I couldn't stand him and stopped myself. "What am I doing!" I said as I started to type.
But, you know, I care. Even when I don't agree. I care ... about keeping the record straight. Besides, I don't want them putting Mike Paul and The Snob on the same team.
PS. I'm still on vacation! Complain all you want, but Mariah and Nick will still be there until next Monday (because I wrote all the items two weeks in advance)!
While we were getting our minds blown over Barack Obama becoming president-elect, in California others were getting their minds blown in the worst way.
Proposition 8, a measure amending the state constitution to ban gay marriage, passed.
Anyone who has read this blog for a while knows I'm a Liberal proponent for civil rights issues and I consider the acceptance and tolerance of homosexuals a civil rights issue. I'm pro-gay rights. What two consenting adults do is of no business of mine.
I was happy that gays were finally allowed to legally marry in my old state of residence. A pair of my good friends there, two Lesbians were getting "divorced" at the same time the court granted gays the right to marry and we joked about the irony. But now it isn't funny. This is a constitutional amendment taking away someone's rights to legally be bound to the person they love, to join as one family and all the state/federal rights that come with it.
I realize that not every one shares my views on homosexuality, especially within the black community which is amazingly intolerant when it comes to gays and lesbians. Many black ministers were looming figures during the Prop 8 fight. It's sadly ironic when black people start talking about infringing upon the rights of others. It was not too long ago when it was a regular debate as to whether or not the Negro had a soul. If we were more than three-fifths of a person. If we could drink from the same water fountain. If we could marry outside our race without fear of lynching. If we were more than beasts of burden meant to serve our white masters. If we were the living contradictions of being too dumb, violent and docile to survive.
And you can pull out the Bible and turn to Leviticus, but I will feel nothing. There is so much in Leviticus we pick and choose to follow. Never mind that historically many used the same Bible to justify our enslavement. I believe the references and allusions to homosexuality in the Bible should be taken into context. They are a reaction to the Romans and Greeks of the time. Their elite, politicians, wealthy, philosophers and military leaders were notorious fornicators with everything, from young boys to animals. If you were a Jewish philosopher/religious leader being oppressed by the hedonists of the empire, you'd write rules against their behavior too. But there are gay people on this earth because God created gay people. Allowing them to marry doesn't destroy marriage. Divorce is the number one and sole killer of marriage. All gay marriage does is further normalize and equalize homosexuality and that is what this is about.
Much as letting me drink from the same fountain or have a hamburger at the counter meant there was no difference between myself and the white woman sitting next to me. Letting gays marry means that homosexuality is not some one-dimensional, hedonistic, sinful rot based on nothing but illicit choices and prurient desires. No. It is so glaringly ordinary people courted each other, fell in love and and wanted to solidify that bond.
No church has to marry anyone they don't want to marry, but the state has NO RIGHT to infringe on the rights of homosexuals and I don't buy the false argument that this will open up some Pandora's Box of men marrying their Doberman Pinschers and horses or polygamy. This is still marriage between two consenting adults. But I know that doesn't matter to those who don't want the normalization of homosexuality in the same way those did not want (and still don't want) the equalization and normalization of black people.
Basically, "we" have a lot of nerve when we call for the limiting of someone else's rights. Especially when there are so many black people who are gays and lesbian who don't feel the love and support of our community. All because we are so wrapped up in one passage in Leviticus and not the numerous others we ignore (shellfish, anyone?), not the other parts of the Bible we ignore, not acknowledging that we cherry pick and interpret as we choose in an effort to do to others what was done to us.
Make us not human.
I'm not gay, but I know that it's going to take straight people and others like me to shove this country into that "more perfect union" promise. I'm human, we're human and homosexuals are humans and they're not going anywhere. Proposition 8 was a setback, but change is coming. Like it or not. The AIDS crisis brought homosexuality out of the shadows and into the mainstream as a life or death matter. Now the movement continues as a matter of acceptance and dignity. I'm sorry. I can never identify with the regulator, the conservative, "the morality sex police" when it comes to a majority-minority fight. My heart is always with people being oppressed. It's always with the underdog.
Change is coming and I have a feeling the tidal wave will not start with the states or the courts, but with the US military. We're fighting two wars and suddenly leaders find themselves dancing around "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" because they can't afford to lose a soldier or Marine. Despite the status quo fighting it, I don't see that rule surviving the Obama Administration. And just as when Harry S. Truman integrated the military it eventually lead to the integration of the country.
Change is coming. Tuesday night was just another case of two steps forward.
One step back.
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