This quote is genius:
"Bush is no diplomat," said a Democratic staffer, "but he's Cardinal freaking Richelieu compared to McCain. McCain couldn't negotiate an agreement on dinner among a family of four without making a big drama with himself at the heroic center of it. And then they'd all just leave to make themselves a sandwich."
I'm not voting for a man or not, not voting for a woman. I'm voting for ideas. Belief. Hope. Responsiveness. Integrity. Honesty. You know, all those things the other side apparently sold on e-Bay along with that jet.
I'm voting for leaving books in the library and my bedroom door shut. For not just preaching "Family Values", but living them.
I'm voting so we can stop hearing about that mythical "Bridge to the Future", stop worrying about that "Bridge to Nowhere", and start rebuilding our actual bridges so that the tragic, preventable disaster that happen in MN doesn't happen to anyone else.
I'm voting to have a president and vice-president who know how to pronounce nuclear and can find Russia on a map, not just see it out their window.
Oh, I'm checking the box by Obamas name in November. Just like I did back in Febuary in the primary. But I'm really voting for myself. More accurately, for my kids.
Check out this post by a woman very familiar with our would be leader.
Palin allegedly lied about winning "Ms. Congeniality" in that beauty contest oh so long ago.
Agreed this may not be the most pressing issue to rear its ugly head, but it confuses me. Why do these people think they can get away with this stupid crap? Do they really think they can eliminate other humans memories?
Being from Missouri, I have to say I'm believing the chick from U.C. Also, she is director at an ad firm and her husband is the freakin' V.P. of the science center. Doubtful she would make up a lie and draw negative attention to his or her positions.
According to this interview Cindy McCain has her itty-bitty feelings hurt.
Oh, Cindy. Where to begin in the ways you offend?
How do I despise thee? Let me count the ways...
1. You cheated with a married man.
2. You cheated with a married man who had children and whose wife was disabled.
3. You are a drug addict.
4. You are a drug addict who stole drugs from her own charity.
5. You lied about Mother Tereasa. (Is there a spot in hell for that? Catholics help me out)
6. You lied when you said you are ALWAYS proud of your country (either that or you are brain dead; who is PROUD of racism, sexism, or corruption? Love does not equal pride. I will always love my children, I am however not always proud of them)
7. You sat in the audience with tears of pride in your eyes as your husband lied to a preacher about his POW experiences.
And finally,
8. Your husband called you a cunt and you stayed.
Any I forgot? Add them on.
Pow Wow - to repeatedly insert reference to previous suffering for either knowledge or common sense.
As in "Did you see McCain pow wowing on Leno last night?"
Reading about the former Dem delegate that is planning to vote for McCain, I realized she is an ER nurse. As a fellow nurse, I am disgusted that she would take the chance with a womens reproductive health due to misplaced anger. It's fine if your vote only affects you or your children but you are choosing for people who don't have a vote yet.
Young women who will end up in her ER with botched back-alley abortions. Young women who will lose their fertility, lose their uterus, or lose their lives all because you didn't get you way.
Because thats what it comes down to. I understand the anger. If Barack had lost I would be angry too. But I would never risk my daughters lives to prove a point. That's childish. Shortsighted. And when youre chosing to place my daughters in the balance to ease your wounded feelings, down right evil.
Now I am not "pro-abortion". I spent many years as a L&D nurse. I wish no one ever needed one and I would like them to be much more rare. But I'm also a realist. It will require much more than a law making abortion illegal for it to become a seldom used option.
This is so much bigger than Obama or McCain. This is about the rest of our lives. Because the ugly truth is that there are women that simply won't survive a McCain presidency.
I am so sorry! My biracial son - who has been "acting black" all day- changed my title when I went in the kitchen to make a mayonaise sandwich.
Don't worry, he is being punished. Right now he is studying the dictionary and enunciating every word aloud. When he is finished, it is two hours of CMT for his brown ass.
WARNING: This post contains satire. It is not for use with all audiences. May also contain peanut products.
On this site and many others, there has been an outpouring of Obama supporters recommending a truce of sorts. I have also noticed that Clinton supporters routinely tell us how awful we Obama supports appear. They accuse us of being ingracious and unwelcoming. They blame their reluctance to cross over on our continued animosity.
My attempt to explain our (or at least my) reasoning for not playing nice just yet may seem like another attack on you candidate, but I mean it only as a way to clarify my position.
Your candidate continues to throw punches and yet you expect us to collectively drop our gloves? Have you lost your mind? This has nothing to do with denigrating you because of your choice of candidate; I am simply questioning your absolute sense. Do you really expect us to curl up in the fetal position while your candidate and her surrogates kick us in the ribs?
Please stop accusing us of continued divisiveness for divisiveness sake and be a realist for just 2 seconds. If you want peace, as many say they do, stop throwing punches.
Is it wrong to love this video as much as I do?
Sing it with me now, "Come together and lets all hold hands"
How about discussing race in America?
Let me first state my strong belief that this is more a generational problem. Much has happened in our nation’s recent history (the past 40 years). I do not see the same problems discussing race in people my age or younger (I have 3 "white" teenagers). I may be wrong, but the voting is only supporting my theory.
I also believe that this generational problem does not only belong to whites. As Obama stated, it is hard for the black generation who remember overt racism as a daily fact of life to forgive and forget. I'm not so sure I could.
I don't know that this can be changed. I am not sure we can convince a large number of "whites" that were raised to believe they were better than another entire race that they in fact are not. I don't know that we can convince a large number of "blacks" that white people have changed. Yesterday at work, I heard an elderly woman call a young black lady a "dirty nigger" because she tried to help her. The young lady tried to act like it didn't bother her and an elderly man apologized, but you can't un-ring a bell. No matter what is said or done afterward, I'm sure she might think ALL white people secretly feel that way.
I believe the only way out is through. In this time, as in other times of generational shift, it is not only of benefit but necessary for the survival of our nation, for the youth to pave the way. In this matter the elders are wrong and we should not allow their fear, bigotry, or deeply held illogical beliefs to hold us back. Whether they are black or white.
Back in December, before all the brouhaha grew to a roar, Time magazine published an article by Shelby Steele, "The Identity Card", in which he attempted to marginalize every black person into one of two categories. I must mention that he himself is "black", in that he has a black father and a white mother. In response I wrote this letter:
How about discussing race in America?
Let me first state my strong belief that this is more a generational problem. Much has happened in our nation’s recent history (the past 40 years). I do not see the same problems discussing race in people my age or younger (I have 3 "white" teenagers). I may be wrong, but the voting is only supporting my theory.
I also believe that this generational problem does not only belong to whites. As Obama stated, it is hard for the black generation who remember overt racism as a daily fact of life to forgive and forget. I'm not so sure I could.
I don't know that this can be changed. I am not sure we can convince a large number of "whites" that were raised to believe they were better than another entire race that they in fact are not. I don't know that we can convince a large number of "blacks" that white people have changed. Yesterday at work, I heard an elderly woman call a young black lady a "dirty nigger" because she tried to help her. The young lady tried to act like it didn't bother her and an elderly man apologized, but you can't un-ring a bell. No matter what is said or done afterward, I'm sure she might think ALL white people secretly feel that way.
I believe the only way out is through. In this time, as in other times of generational shift, it is not only of benefit but necessary for the survival of our nation, for the youth to pave the way. In this matter the elders are wrong and we should not allow their fear, bigotry, or deeply held illogical beliefs to hold us back. Whether they are black or white.
Back in December, before all the brouhaha grew to a roar, Time magazine published an article by Shelby Steele, "The Identity Card", in which he attempted to marginalize every black person into one of two categories. I must mention that he himself is "black", in that he has a black father and a white mother. In response I wrote this letter:
As a white woman, mother to a biracial son, and staunch Obama supporter I was stunned by the simplistic ignorance of Shelby Steels viewpoint. In the Time article “The Identity Card” the author separates all black Americans into two groups- the “bargainers” and the “challengers”. Bargainers are those who bend and offer compromise. Challengers question motive and intent and trust only when proof is offered.
After reading the article in the open thread invite, I re-examined an area that I haven't thought deeply about since January 1997.
I remember staring at the form, not wanting to choose. If I marked the box for "white" my son would forever be questioned. Imagine applying for a driver’s license with a birth certificate that states you are white when anyone can look at you and see your brown skin. In these post-9/11 days that might even get you a few days of detainment while they sort out who you really are.
So my only other option is "black". In this moment it is crystal for me. We have not moved past race. It defines us. Talk about Judas. Although my tiny son had no wish to separate himself from the mother that loves him, cares for him, changes his diapers (not to mention his meal source!) ; he was upon birth forced to chose between his love for his parents and making it easy for himself.
I started to wonder if I was the only one bothered by this government enforced segregation. This classification of humans by physical characteristics of skin color, eye shape, nose shape, and genetic inheritance.
Apparently I wasn't. I remember a friend of mine going into a fast food joint and when a woman asked her "What is he?" while looking at her dark curly-haired son, she snapped back "HUMAN!” Obviously this individual meant no harm. It is just that after having to label your child at every doctor’s appointment, daycare application, and insurance policy, you become raw.
Which leads to my question. Why is this labeling necessary? I am not against all forms of race identification. I certainly am not advocating for racial pride to disappear or for people to forget their history.
But there is a difference. I am of Irish-Scot descent. I will forever be proud and have informed my children of the great people of which they are descendent. This pride however has not required me to list it on every form I fill out.
We have come to depend upon it for several reasons. The labels have been needed to track progress (or failure) in certain social areas. It is also easier to identify criminals if the news anchor can tell us whether it is a middle-aged white man/black man/Hispanic man. And however will we make sure everyone has a fair chance in the country if we can't identify who gets jobs and college admissions?
Yes in our past labels have been needed. My hope is that in a future America this will not be so.
This hope was reinforced after reading this article. In it, Dr. Sylvia Spengler, a geneticist at U.C. Berkeley, argues that more genetic differences separates tall people from short people than one race from another. If fact, she argues that "race" in and of itself doesn't truly exist. It is something we have created to make it easier to identify individuals. Sound familiar?
I'm no Pollyanna. What I envision isn't for us to blend into an indistinguishable color of dull grey. What I want can't be forced or mandated. What I want is a shift. What I want to happen to America is what has happened to me.
My children and I proceed throughout our days without great thought to race. We eat, fight, hug, argue, and drive to endless activities without much confrontation about racial makeup. I can remember once passing the window in a store front and seeing my dark children holding my white hands. It hit me then, this is what we look like to the world. But most of the time I forget they look different from me. They forget I look different from them. That’s the way it should be.
After reading PJB's recent article located here, http://buchanan.org/blog/?p=969, I lost all hope for my father’s generation. I no longer think they are our strongest generation. I think they are weak. Weak minded, weak willed. They are unable to do the hard work required to heal our nation. They were more than willing to perpetuate stereotypes and discriminate. They worked hard to maintain segregation. They worked hard to inflict mental and physical damage to an entire race of people. But when the next generations are attempting to clean up their mess, they not only don't raise a hand to help, they attempt to sabotage our efforts.
Through out his article, Mr. Buchanan deliberately misleads the reader with his talking points. He points to programs like Medicaid, Pell Grants, student loans, and Section 8 housing as aids to black Americans as if they are the only ones who can and do use these services. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Almost every white student I went to college with took advantage of student loans and grants. Surely I'm not an anomaly. As a former Public Health nurse living in a predominantly white county, I can assure you that based simply on our numbers, there are large numbers of white people on Medicaid, food stamps, and WIC. That would make his points racist.
The prevailing theme of the article seems to be "get over it already". With his laundry list of perceived good deeds done for "black folks", beginning with (and I'm not joking) slavery. You heard me right. Yes, slavery was a boon for black people. They should even stop being ungrateful and say "thank you". Without slavery African Americans would not enjoy the bounty that is America.
It is obvious by his statements and overall attitude on cable news programs, that Mr. Buchanan views racism as a long dead phenomenon that deserves as much attention as Mike Gravels candidacy. Oh, if only that were true.
If that were true then my eleven year old biracial son wouldn't have come into my bedroom last week to ask why a teenager would tell him, "All black people are niggers and deserve to be killed". With tears streaming down his cheeks, he asked my why anyone would say that.
If that were true my seven year old biracial daughter wouldn't have had her glasses knocked off, her face spit in and been told "Only black people do that” when she tried to do a headstand on the playground.
If that were true I wouldn't have to write this blog
