Republicans do it... better?

Do they really? Probably not, but the GOP can stake a claim to Abraham Lincoln and that Emancipation Proclamation stuff, or whatever it was he was doing. They also lay claim to that guy MLK Jr. who did some stuff in the about civil rights. Heck, they probably understand the whole Barack Obama thing better than anybody else.

Here is a quote from Newt Gingrich former Republican Speaker of the House taken from obamapedia.org:

"Well, Abraham Lincoln served two years in the U.S. House, and seemed to do all right." (Meet The Press 12/17).

You can do a Google search on your own and find it many other places... it's a real quote from an interview with the late great Tim Russert.

There is so much fear in the Republican Party about Barack Obama it's almost palpable. They know that he is reaching people by speaking about tomorrow and what we leave for our children. They know that this "abstract" change is going to mean huge losses in their takeover of the world. They see the pie being re-distributed to take 99% of our country's wealth from just one percent of the population. Very scary for them folks

So far I have enjoyed the Democratic National Convention. Highlighted so far by Hillary's speech and orange pantsuit, this convention has had so much enthusiasm, power and most importantly unity. The surrogates have done a good job going after McCain and working to garner support for Barack Obama. All of the speakers and people who have been interviewed get the message, except for a few Hillary supporters that clearly cannot hear. Here is an excerpt from her magnificent speech:

"I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that young boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?"

That is pretty clear right? Here's what I heard/saw:

Hey guys! It's me Hillary. I'm here rockin' the hell out of this orange pantsuit (take that Michelle). But on the real, I know y'all love me—but is the truth Barack is gonna be working for you guys just I would have if I didn’t underestimate him."

Somehow CNN found two Clinton supporters that missed what she said and what heard/saw.

One Clinton supporter whose name I missed said, "I need to be courted" and that her not supporting Barack was on "principles". What principles?! I guess that’s the principles of Nobama democrats (thanks Fatimah). She continued to say "I don't vote on the first date."

WOW! Keep your vote!

Then there Ann Price-Mills was the delegate from the great state of Washington in the city of Kent. She is actually really close to where I am from, very sad. I'm not furious that she said she hasn't connected with Barack Obama, because all that shows is laziness in finding information and an inability to let go of things. I am not a McCain fan by any means, but I can tell you what he stands for and why people like him and think he is worth voting for. She also said Hillary looked Presidential and said that democrats made a mistake. Well the people spoke and selected Barack to have the right to BE presidential not just look like it.

But no, that's not really why I am mad. Actually, I am mad because she said, on national television mind you, that she may not vote. Our adviser at the Kentucky Kernel said that using profanity is taking the easy way out, so I won't write what I think, but I will say Price-Mills needs to immediately have her delegate rights removed. How you can even introduce the idea of not voting? It’s absolutely shameful. How can you in good conscience represent a body of people and consider the idea of not invoking one of the most fundamental democratic rights?

I'll be watching the next few days eagerly and please believe I'll do the same for the RNC.

Salute

Today was a _ _ _ _ day

It wasn't good, it wasn't bad. It just was a day.

I did UK Fusion, which is this huge community service based event designed to get students involved. That was interesting. Then I did my first Kernel Edit Board Meeting. More interestingness. Neither bad by any means, just something new to add to my life experiences.

I did some of the welcome week stuff which was cool and got to see some familiar and new faces... thats always nice. BTW I am sincerely sticking to my commitment to be cool and sociable. I don't know how I am going to do it, but by golly I will.

Today I saw that Daddy Yankee (the guy that did that Rompe")endorsed John McCain. That was interesting...and not in a good way. It reaks tokenism among many other things that will influence an unaware audience into voting making a bad decision. Even if it is just one voter its bad enough. And as much as I think bigger picture, I also recognize the power of the individual, because that uninformed vote influences people in ways that can weave a web of ignorance and singular thought processes that can steal an election(wait...that's big picture). All that said, I would much rather have Young Jeezy's endorsement than Daddy Yankee's. Young said "y'all touch him we ridin'", that's real dedication even though I don't advocate "ridin'" on anybody LOL.

On a positive note, Michelle (Robinson) Obama gave a great speech that Republicans are trying to chop up and say lacked substance. Aside: I NEED to find a woman like that... I dont see it happening, but hey, here's hoping! Again they are using the out of touch perspective that asks for specifics, neglecting that the prevailing desire to make America better, while vague will take shape as we all have our say in this election. Lack of experience, and the theory of Barack being a blank slate have been thrown around, but I look at the two as fresh perspective and careful consideration of issues before making a decision.

A lot of companies hire cunning new thinkers to come up with fresh ideas and keep their business running, why can't politics be the same. Most of our country is a profit driven machine anyways, so why not? Because the fresh ideas include making health care less of a money maker and more of a problem solve.... geez why would we vote for that Obama guy?

Additionally, this whole blank slate thing is BS--although I will say the Obama campaign hasn't really framed this issue well. In representative politics, a politician cannot rush to judgment and make rash decisions. Look at Bush-Cheney's stance on Iraq. Essentially they ran in there and rode on Iraq, because one half of the country wanted to do so based on, I'll go with slanted, intelligence from our guys. That quick decision, among with many other unrepresentative decisions have Bush and Cheney enjoying some of the lowest approval ratings ever by a president and vice president respectvely. Nice. Again, why vote for the guy that considers stuff and makes compromise, gosh thats stupid.

Random song playing in my head: Jamiroquai-Virtual Insanity


I think the internet is giving me virtual insanity, I literally spend more time on the internet than I do being conscious (that's really hard to do).

As I type this a sharp pain is going up my left knee... the one I tore three ligaments in. The right one I just tore the ACL in so it doesn't give me too much trouble. Anyways, since the left knee injury I have wondered where life would have taken me. Like where would I be? What would I have chosen to do? How would I be different? I based my life on being athletic and didn't really think too much of what else there was in life, so when things went sour I had no plan. By no means was I that good, and I never thought past the immediate season and whatever sport I was playing. After high school, I made plans to go into law and be rich... Really, thats it. Amazing how shallow I was and to some extent still am.

Ever since then I have been making plans to do this and do that and nothing ever ends up the way I expect it and its not always good. But I am better for it and I have something you only get from taking a lot of shots on the basketball court... and that's character, thank you Doug T. for that one.

Salute

A little disappointed

I'm not gonna lie. I signed up for that special text message to see who the future VP is going to be and it broke at like 10 pm PST (1 am where I'm at). That was really wack. The whole idea behind it was to keep the supporters in the same loop as the media, but the media still had the upper hand and had to break the story. I mean I guess I get the point of why it leaks or gets out, but still I wanted to have a breaking story as it happen. It really cheapens the process, thank goodness I haven't gotten any of the other texts they sent out otherwise I would be pissed.

This is one of my problems with the campaign. There is an effort to be cutting edge and groundbreaking, but in a lot of ways it will go to traditional political norms when it comes to things. I don't want to go too in depth and get cynical, but it is one of those things....

EDIT: I got the text at 12:15 PST (3:15 am where I'm at) Obama/Biden '08!

Edit 2: I just checked hiphopgame.com one of the sites I frequent and Barack Obama selected Joe Biden as his "runnin" mate. I dont think its a typo. How are people supposed to learn if they are taught improperly?

Anyways, to take my mind off of the slight betrayal heres some music for you all to hear:

"SLU (Swagger Like Us)"--TI f/ Kanye West, Jay-Z & Lil' Wayne aka The Little SwaggerMonster that could
Line of the track: I'm Christopher Columbus, y'all just the pilgrims" Mr. West


http://www.zshare.net/audio/1748577144739ae1/


"My President is black" Young Jeezy f/Nas
Line of the track: "Y'all touch him we ridin'" ...gotta love Jeezy (talking at the end of the track btw)

http://www.mediafire.com/?dt1g0weprif

Salute (and tell a friend)

Unity: The Story Part 2

Although Sheila Brooks was the single most important person to meet, I had the very good fortune of meeting some of the high profile sports journalism figures in the game.

At the career fair I had the opportunity to meet Stuart Scott. For about 45 minutes Scott candidly conversed with two other aspiring sportswriters, Spanky, and me. Scott was particularly impressed with Calvin's presence at the convention, as he is just entering his senior year of high school, but in general took an interest in the conversation with the four of us. By conversations end, he offered us his contact information, and more importantly an ear to listen.

On a stroke of chance, my uncle, cousin and I stumbled upon a baseball forum that Unity had partnered with the Chicago White Sox and Major League Baseball to produce. The event featured Kenny Williams, General Manager of the Chicago White Sox and Minnie Minoso, the first black player for the Chicago White Sox.

The setting for the event was very intimate and low key, so when Williams walked in, I was able to introduce myself and congratulate him for robbing the Mariners for a trade back in 2004 in which Freddy Garcia (along with Ben Davis) was sent to the White Sox for Miguel Olivo, Jeremy Reed, and Mike Morse. Sidenote: If a front office is willingly robbed, is it robbery?

Minoso, delivered a speech about the importance of embracing people for who they are and not the color of their skin. Later on, as he enjoyed hors d'oeuvres, he spoke to Spanky and me for about fifteen minutes about his life and his work as a black Cuban.

Over the course of the MLB event, I got to meet several writers/broadcasters I have looked up to including, Michael Ray Wilbon, David Aldridge, and J. A. Adande. I love DA and J.A., but meeting Wilbon was everything I expected and more. When I grow up I want to be like him LOL.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Justice B. Hill, senior writer for MLB.com, Ruben Luna, Sports Editor for the Detroit News, and Coley Harvey, a sportswriter a the Telegraph in Macon Georgia. Each individual had something of great value to impart to a young wannabe sportswriter who has yet to really make a splash in sports writing. I always have felt like you can never know too many people, a philosophy which was reinforced by meeting journalists from the beat writing level to the mega TV stars of widespread fame.

Very little time during the convention was devoted to interaction with students, so I jumped at the opportunity to go to a student forum on Saturday. There I got to meet a few journalism students from around the country and get some new ideas, such as a place to study abroad, an idea to help charter a student NAHJ (National Association of Hispanic Journalists), and some ways to get NABJ @ UK to be one of the award winning student chapters.

At the request of the magnificent Sheila Brooks I got to attend the NABJ Hall of Fame Banquet and the NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards. Both events celebrated great accomplishments of individuals and groups working to inform the people. Most people would have looked at it as a free food, but I saw a glimpse of what I need to be working towards… and I got free meals.

Unity ended with a night of parties including NABJ's Kick off to Tampa '09 party. I'm not much of a partier so I won't judge the overall shindig. But I will take this opportunity to say that Funkmaster Flex may be one of most respected DJ's in hip-hop, but he can ruin a party. He dropped songs (starting them and stopping them) repeatedly, played only small portions of songs, and missed some of the songs people love to hear at parties. Still, it was Funk Flex, and I was at a party he DJed so I ain't too mad. I also got to meet Kevin Frasier, formerly of ESPN currently of Entertainment Tonight at the party.

In general it was fun to get to be around family with Uncle Joe and Calvin who attended the conference. I also got to spend some unexpected time with Aunt TaRessa and my cousin Mariah. It was nice.

Overall I would say I'm satisfied. But, I still haven't recovered from flying out so early on Sunday morning without sleep… and I missed Barack L. Maybe next time.

Salute

Election Talk

Being so busy, I haven't had my time to get my election '08 stuff out. So I have to really catch up.

Jesse Jackson.... PAB (figure it out) of the week. (I am borrowing that title from Jim Daniels a former late night anchor for Fox Sports Radio. In no way am I that creative). It was nice for people on the outside to see the cowardice that come of the prominent black leaders have regarding their opinion on Barack. While I do not agree with, what Barack's recent stances and statements on race, I don't think someone of Rev. Jackson's stature should make such a statement, even in the most private of moments, as the historical significance of Hussein Obama cannot afford such distention.

I love how the terrorist fist jab has made it back into the news thanks to the New Yorker. It has gotten the whole Muslim, thing going all over again. BTW, who cares if he is a Muslim. Our nation was founded on the principle of church being separate from state. And how hypocritical is it for a country that boasts liberty and justice for all to use a natural right, religion, to potentially persecute a presidential candidate. Oh and I thought the intellectuals and elitists at the New Yorker would know better.

The other day I read something about Barack chastising Bernard McCullough, better known as Bernie Mac about his jokes. This is what I was referring to when I was talking about his recent stances on things that I feel, deal with race. Bernie Mac is a comedian. He tells outrageous and extreme jokes. Recently, at a fundraiser for Obama, Bernie Mac introduced the presumptive Democratic nominee. I wasn't there, but from what I have read Mac delivered his usual jokes about race, culture, society and social standards. Mac is one of, if not my favorite comedian (I want some milk and cookies, LOL), and I am familiar with his content. It would be safe to assume that the rest of his followers know to. So when he gets on there and says things like:

"Being a president is tough ‘cause you're not just running the county. You got to run your family too," Mac said. "Having a black first lady is different. You're still going have to do the dishes and the laundry and all that …you got to pick up the kids. You didn't pick up the kids? I just came from Korea, talking about nuclear weapons. You were on Air Force One and you couldn't stop to pick up the kids?"

or

"People like rumors. They are going to say things like, you know, you was in the club with Lil’ Kim and you and Kanye West got in a fist fight.”

I think to myself that's the Mac man at his best—nothing worthy of denouncement by any means. The people know that Mac does movies to dispel racial stereotypes and know that he is a supporter of the types of things Obama seeks through the president. Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey and a whole host of other black comedians would probably have said the same thing. It is one thing to be a candidate that happens to be black, but it is another to try to completely negate the influence of race. I am sure things like this are bordering on alienating some black folk around the country.

On to McCain. I logged on to the debaucherous myspace about a week ago and saw and saw 71 year old John McCain now has a profile. Cute. I guess he thinks that will get him votes. I wonder if he knows the demographics of the people that actually use that site.... No I don't. I REALLY do wonder if he gets spam solicitation from asses...hmmm.

Also he is still pandering to Latinos to get a vote. I again don't understand how minorities vote for the Republican Party, on a national scale that is.

Sorry for the long post. It's been a while.

Salute

Black Republicans, Not just a Nas song

Yahoo! had a story from the U.S. News.com about the state of the black republican vote. Here it is in total, worth the read:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/someblackrepublicanstornaboutvotingforobamaormccain

In this article about the black republicans the blog http://hiphoprepublican.com/ is mentioned. Their mission statement of who they are says something about the Democratic party taking the minority votes for granted. I don't even think the GOP even likes taking the minority vote, they just know they can't win on whites alone anymore. That article says something about this.

The article also talks about MLK being a Republican and the billboards in southern cities some black Republicans finance the display. They reference democrats who supported slavery and were members of the KKK and the fact that the Republican party "has been the champion of freedom and civil rights for blacks" according to Frances Rice, chairman of the National Black Republican Association. It’s a good article. I recommend the read.

Now I generally don't go for racial stereotypes…at least seriously. Everybody can agree with certain popular stereotypes to a point, but there is always somebody who doesn't do what the stereotype says, which is why they are just stupid generalizations. Anyways, black Republicans is something that is an interesting subject. I would suggest reading the article to get some more insight if you're not familiar with the subject, but if you are you know how rare that is within the black community and what being one generally earns you within said community.

Undoubtedly, ignorance plays a large role in the way both sides perceive each other. But its also a general bullheadedness that doesn't even hear the other side. That said I don't really get black Republicans. And not because all black people should be Democrats, but the prominent black Republicans really don't ever explain why they believe what they believe, except Alan Keys and I am convinced he votes Democrat LOL. I have a few conservative friends, note conservative not Republican, who are registered Republican.

In my observations of the news, books and political information combined with conversations and observation with real people, it seems to me like Republican voters seemingly weigh only a few issues. I have followed politics pretty avidly for years and from what I have seen the reason the GOP has won most of the large elections of the last 60 years isn't being a better party, but it's being able to compress and segment elections into competitions about a few issues. So whatever policies go along with the war, not raising taxes (not even the economy), and the pro-life platform get passed. This current election is trying to follow suit. The problem is people are starting to get a little smarter. Thank goodness!

I won't go as far as saying they do it for the sake of being different or even the extreme of saying that they are self loathing black people, but to me there are flaws in the logic...at least when it comes to voting and endorsements on the national scale.

My voting years have been spent as a Louisville voter where Anne Northup has done a lot to try to obtain and maintain the black vote. But on the in the rest of Kentucky and national scale, I don't really see that kind of effort. Partially because I can't be everywhere to know what is going on completely, but also because a token is paraded out, maybe a Bob Johnson or Clarence Thomas speaks and that's that. No breakdown of issues or anything else, just a black face, who doesn't represent many if any black people at all sent to try to get a few votes.

To be quite frank, I don't understand why who is not rich, right wing conservative Christian or just plain anti-Democrat votes Republican these days, regardless of color. But that's why I am a Democrat LOL.

Now to get to the point of this article, will back Republicans be voting for Barack? I think it’s funny that you can write a story, a newsworthy story, about somebody considering a candidate of a different party.

Take a minute and let that sink in.

And then the color thing is a whole 'nother mess. It's sad that color will either be the only reason someone votes for Barack or the only reason they don't vote for him. Even more sorrowful is black people's conscience in this situation is primarily dictated by Barack's blackness.

This is a very raw in incomplete post. It's here to get it out of my head, maybe get some of you stimulated, reading and talking. At this point, I don't even know what I typed or if I believe everything I said I believe. It's 3am and I probably need to be doing something else. Anyways more politics for ya! And I have got one about Identity politics saving the right coming. Gonna be even longer!

Oh my roommate told me Lauer slipped up and said Obama Bin Laden. I simply Googled Obama Bin Laden and found that mistake is very common in the "liberal media." Funny

Salute

2008 Election: Thoughts and more Projections

If you don't know, I have a huge interest in politics.... not exactly sure where that’s going to take me, but I'm positive it will be very key in my future interests and jobs. ANYWAYS, I have been sitting on this a while, so it’s a little old. Since there aren't any sports or TV of any kind worth watching, I stay tuned in to CNN constantly to stay up on the latest political talk. Well, Carl Rove is trying to tag my boy Barack as arrogant. That just isn't going to fly, because simply put Barack is far from arrogant and the people that are going to decide the election aren't that ignorant (the ones who want to control the election are.) I will concede that he has made some mistakes and comments that come off as arrogant, with the gun comment and the Obama seal.... but to anybody with a brain thats the furthest thing from the truth. You cannot get that kind of support on such a high level with the type of grassroots movement he has cultivated. Just doesn't work.


Here’s a snippet of what he said.

"I will say yes, I do think Barack Obama is arrogant," Rove said Tuesday night on Fox News, where he's a contributor.

"Even if you never met him, you know this guy," he said at a Capitol Hill breakfast, according to ABC. "He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone."

And here is the whole article according to the CNN folks:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/26/obama.rove/index.html

The most annoying/frustrating/irritating/generally lame thing about it all is that the GOP tries these tricks to detract from his campaign. It says a lot about how they view their loyalists. Fear mongering, divisive and negatively slanted attacks, diversion, misinformation and down right lies are the main ways they try to motivate their vote. It's like the more ignorant, spoon-fed, and impressionable you are the better suited you are to vote Republican.

What is humorous about it all is the majority of the attacks, such as this have little to nothing to do with politics, in addition to not being true. I mean honestly, I hate to be a broken record, but can you have that many donors, volunteers, and support if you're arrogant? To me it sounds like Rove and people of his ilk are bothered by the confidence/swagger of a politician who knows he has the support of the people to do what he wants. Because even if he is that guy with the fine wife, the drink and the cigarette, what does that have to do with being president?

As much as I hate those types of guys, they generally succeed at life. Like a Don Trump. Not sure what he's good at, but he sure fits the description Rove is throwing out. Funnier than that is Trump ain't even good looking and he has bad hair. So with those glaring disadvantages he still dominates the things a man wants to say he has and does, arrogant or not.

At this point I am more concerned about results, than perceived arrogance. So even if it were there who cares? Let's focus on issues. Please. You're better than that Carl and company. Really.

Here's another election projection site. Check it out as well. Apparently its a little more conservative, but its a good road map to Obama '08 as well!

http://www.electionprojection.com/index.shtml

fivethirtyeight.com... Some political projections you may find useful.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

I paired this post with the Don Imus post, but I think people need to check out this site. It’s amazing. It has stats and polls and good information on everything that is the 2008 Presidential election. Straight dope. The funniest thing about it is I found it on one of the top 5 best overall blogs in the world http://ussmariner.com/. Interesting what baseball can lead you to. And on that note the Mariners look like they are playing major league baseball again. Quite nice.

So this 538 really is great. I have no idea what it stands for. All that I know is one day i was reading something about Pitch FX or fangraphs or something about baseball and the good folks at USSMariner, Dave and Derek, referred the site visitors to its projections. Their pitch was that it was something like baseball analysis with politics. So I checked it out. And its been a good thing.

I have seen the shift of polls near and far for about 2 months now and I must say I like what I am seeing. Not because it is for my boy Barack Hussein, but because from what I have gathered in news watching, reading and sniping....this s#!+ is correct!. So blessings to ya.

Salute

So here you go:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/