Tuesday, February 26, 2008

first woman president as a sea change...

I disagree with Hillary's assertion that her being the first woman to become president is a sea change. If it were some other woman, perhaps.

Hillary, to me, represents the status quo.

Farrakhan, Obama and anti-semitism...

Barack does NOT have to defend or assuage the Jewish community. I am sorry. This line of questioning is bullshit. Why do black leaders have to field this question? I don't see them

I don't see anyone defending themselves because Senator Byrd supports them, given his former involvement with the KKK.

I don't see anyone defending their marital fidelity when Newt Gingrich supports them.

Obama and Clinton racially..

I do think that race matters somewhat in this race but it isn't the preeminent issue that some media outlets will have you believe. It's kind of the low-hanging fruit of this campaign.

Senator Obama has won states with very few blacks. Senator Obama has won states with lots of blacks. I think Ohio is just kind of backwards and they are buying into the Hillary Kool-Aid...but that's changing.

same answer, different vibe...

Senator Obama gave the same answer of Senator Clinton on NAFTA but he sounded relaxed and mellow...Senator Clinton did not.

NAFTA

Clinton bristles a bit at being asked the question first. Well, she's to the left (where she's sitting) and she's first in alphabetical order so of course she's getting questions first.

Obama makes the connection to fair trade and consumer protections.

...and that is the question...

On health care...

Senator Obama has just mentioned that a universal mandate would play into insurers hands creating automatic demand. I definitely agree. It would be more difficult to hold them accountable.

Welcome back to Cleveland, Tim Russert...

Tim Russert, of Meet the Press and Brian Williams' right hand man in this debate, has a connection to the area. He is an alum of both John Carroll U and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

HILLARY IS NOT BILL....

The thing that bugs me about this election cycle is how people think that just because they shared matrimonial vows that former President Clinton and Senator Clinton are politically one in the same.

I think that they are very different politically and as people. Bill strikes me as a person who very easily vibes with people...Hillary...well, not so much.

focus...

Joel Libava gave me an idea that's been running through my head. Maybe I should focus on a particular area...

Of special interest to me in this debate is race, class , who locally is supporting who and why, education funding and support and aid for the working to middle class (here's a gauge...if the thought of not having a paycheck for a whole month scares you, you are working-to-middle-class).

Liveblogging @ channel 3

From The Melting Pot in Lyndhurst to another melting pot...

...except some of Northeast Ohio's finest and most prolific bloggers are nothing like the fondue I had at my work meeting (which I hustled -- thanks to my understanding boss and coworkers for their support) but less than an hour ago.

I sit here with George Nemeth, Tim Ferris, Joel Libava (The Franchise King), Will and Laura Kessel, Roger Bundy and Gloria Ferris, all writing about the goings-on here tonight at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University.

I will start tonight's blogging by saying I have decided to throw my support behind Barack Obama. While I respect Senator Clinton as a statesperson, I do think that the change in approach Senator Obama represents is necessary for the dire situation our country is in after our current president's tenure.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Charles Barkley for Barack Obama



Charles Wade Barkley...

I recently read his Barack Obama chapter in his book "Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man" and I really appreciate the chapter. I think that Charles Barkley is a very straight shooter and the best power forward ever. I think that seeing Barack as president would do wonders for the self-esteem of some of the kids out there with no hope.

I love Barkley's take about judgemental conservatives as "fake Christians". When Wolf asks him if he feels comfortable about his stance, he says, "I don't work for them." Classic.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Race and BHO (Barack H. Obama)

One issue that keeps coming up in this race for the top job in the most racially charged country in the world is race. If Senator Barack Obama left the race now, we know he has already traversed uncharted territory. No black person has ever done this well (Yes, Jesse, this includes you. Come on, man...Hymietown? What in the hell were you thinking? But, hey, you weren't presidential material anyway...) in a race for the presidency. As of this post, Senator Barack Obama, including pledged superdelegates (that's another story entirely) is LEADING Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by 42 delegates (Source: CNN ).

But, there is one refrain that I hear from some black people...

...Barack's not black or Barack's not black enough.

Legendary NBA coach (and former Cavaliers coach) Lenny Wilkens said in his autobiography that he recognized that America will see him as a black man but he knows as well that he is the sum of his black father and Irish Catholic mother and both are inextricable parts of who he is. Barack's boat is similar, being of similar lineage. But, what Barack has that many of us black Americans don't have is a direct and distinct tie to the motherland. Let's not forget his father is African while many African-Americans who claim to have two black parents are more racially diluted than they know -- or care to admit. So whether he's biologically black enough
is moot.

Socially, I believe that many black people put restrictions on who they are and what they can be because they simply think "Oh, black people just don't do that." What if Willie O'Ree (the first black player in the NHL - 50 years this year, as a matter of fact) said hockey isn't for black people? What if Shani Davis said speedskating isn't for Black people? What if Ben Carson said being a surgeon isn't for Black people? What if Mae Jemison said being an astronaut isn't for Black people?

Sen. Obama, like the people previously mentioned, are expanding Black people's expectations of their own abilities. They are showing young kids in general, and young black kids in particular that your only limit to what you can be is your willingness to work and your drive to find who you are. Others' preconceived notions about the limitations about black people (even from black people) don't matter.

This isn't why I am supporting Barack for president but it is part of why I always liked him as a man.