The President Elect

BARACK OBAMA is the President Elect of The United States of America!

There are so many things running around in my head tonight. I am so excited. I feel like it's Thanksgiving and Christmas all in one.

I am glad, tonight, that I work night shift. I have an excuse for being up all night listening to the news.

This is indeed a historic day. Even if you disagree with the man's politics, I hope you can see what a beautiful statement this makes about our nation.

My heart is full. I am proud. There is a first lady whom I can actually admire. I am so profoundly happy.

The question now is what went wrong for John McCain? I hope someone is honest with him. Yes, the economic crisis was not favorable, because it made it painfully clear to many that we could not afford to keep things the same in Washington. The real damage was Sarah Palin, Gov. Ak. It was a good thought, try to get some of those woeful Hillary supporters. It fell apart when he chose Ms. Betcha-by-golly, proud redneck woman, Sarah Palin. Who could take him seriously after that? What she's supposed to appeal to feminists? Only if you have no clue what a real feminist is.

As an aside: I have to say I missed Tim Russert's voice during this Election 'Season'.

Is Wall Street worthy of being bailed out?

Maybe I don't know much about economics or fancy mortgage backed securities, but I do know that in many neighborhoods around this city there is an epidemic of foreclosed houses. Some communities, some cities have been really hobbled by foreclosures. Many of them were due to unscrupulous loans, but a great deal were due to things that were happening in the country.


Businesses have been closing, leaving employees laid off, rising prices have made it ever more difficult to make ends meet, and things have been just generally tight all over.


So, why didn't Wall Street know this?


How could anyone who works on Wall Street, whose business it is to have their finger on the pulse of what is happening, miss all of the glaring For Sale signs all over America?

So, Wall Street gets to recklessly run the country into the ground and they get rescued. What is to make them any more responsible? How do we know that others will be more responsible than AIG? How do we know there won't be a $442,000 jaunt at taxpayers' expense?

How will we get out of this? I just cried when I looked at my retirement statement, and I am not close to being ready for retirement, but I would like to not lose everything I have gained due to cavalier and madcap decisions.

Can you hear the music?

....Cue the banjos.



Is this really the person you want ready to take the helm when that whipper-snapper McCain finally gives up the ghost?



So, this is what America needs? These are the traditional family values that are being protected and fought for?



She can say, however, that the political is personal. She can see the abstinence only sex-ed policy at work right behind her. Promises break a lot faster than condoms.



Oh, is this the picture of America that we are all supposed to embrace.

The Barak and Michelle Obama New Yorker Magazine Cover

The 21 July 2008 cover of the New Yorker Magazine shows a caricature of Barak and Michele Obama. Barak is dressed in muslim attire with a turban, and sandals, and he is bumping fists with Michelle who is sporting an afro, wearing fatigues, combat boots and has a machine gun (assault rifle) strapped to her back. The two are standing in the oval office with a portait of Osama bin Laden hanging over the fireplace and the American flag burning within it.

The New Yorker says it is satire. It looks like fear of a Black President is really making people leave all the pretences behind.

Why can't we all just get along?

U.N. fails to pass sanctions against Zimbabwe

It is not often that sanctions are truly called for, but this is one of those times. Zimbabwe has become a dictatorship. Robert Mugabe has beaten and bullied any opposition into hiding and submission. He has run the country into the ground. Russia and China stood together and vetoed the "resolution that they said represented excessive interference in the country’s domestic matters." Incredible. So, the people of Zimbabwe will suffer and the world will watch and not come to their aid.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/world/africa/12zimbabwe.html?ex=1373601600&en=378a937aa0966d70&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Condoleezza Rice

I have never liked anyone in politics as much as I like her. I know I have said it before, but I thought I would repeat it.

Sex-Ed

Whether conservatives want to admit it or not our current thinking on sex-ed is failing miserably. It's as effective as leaving two very horny teens alone in a room for a weekend after wagging your finger and saying "Behave yourselves". It just ain't working.



The story about the teens at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Mass. is really a sad commentary on what should be a very straight-forward discussion. Clearly talking abstinance is not working. There is more to this than just sex and a lack of birth-control. When we have far reaching issues in a community that are not being addressed, and are not easily fixed, they still can't be ignored. The Superintendent of Gloucester School released a statement saying that the 7 or 8 freshman and sophomore girls found out that they were pregnant and made a pact to stay in school and raise their babies together. This is the complete opposite of what the school nurse reported when she said that girls came in several times to take pregnancy tests and were disappointed when the results were negative. What matters is that there are girls in the community who need help and some real solutions. Clearly the abstinence bit is not cutting it.

Of course, Gloucester does not want this kind of attention. No Mayor wants this kind of egg on her face. The Mayor should wear that egg and try to look for a real solution rather than trying to wag the dog and put a different spin on this. There is no spin. The city is in trouble. The families are in trouble. The kids are showing the symptons. You cannot wag that.

Zimbabwe Election

The opposition sought safety at the Dutch Embassy, and his closest aide fled to Johannesburg. Think about how times have changed, an African fleeing to South Africa. Is this Robert Mugabe's claim to fame, his legacy. After thirty years, he lost an election to Morgan Tsvangirai. The election was contested and now that they are nearing the runoff, the violence against Mr. Tsvangirai's supporters has become unbearable.

Mugabe's hubris is throughout his regime.

Boniface G. Chidyausiku, the United Nations ambassador from Zimbabwe, said that
neither the statement from the Council nor the call by Mr. Ban to postpone
the
vote would affect the timing of the elections.
“The Security Council
cannot
micromanage elections in any particular country,” Mr. Chidyausiku
told
reporters. “As far as we are concerned, the date has been set.”
He
accused
Britain and its allies of pushing for “regime change” and said Mr.
Tsvangirai’s
decision to drop out of the election was a ploy to attract
international
sympathy. He also said the opposition in Zimbabwe was
exaggerating the violence.
“These are M.D.C. tricks that should be seen for
what they are,” he said in
a speech, referring to the Movement for
Democratic Change. “The British
government’s hidden hand in all these
political developments is evident and
clearly visible.”

There may not be enough support within the 14 countries that make up the Southern African Development Community. And, with the unwillingness to hear the United Nations it looks as if the people of Zimbabwe will not see a free and fair election to take place. They will not see the man they had already elected take office. Their voices are being choked out of them.

I hope the world will sit up and take notice.

A quick thought about race.

For those who think that race is no longer an issue, ask yourself: when is the last time articulate was used as an attribute for a white person?

It seems like something small, but it speaks volumes. In relation to Barak Obama, he was a law professor. Condoleeza Rice has a better education than the President. So, how is it that reporters say articulate and people nod in agreement as if this is unheard of.

Just a thought.

Peace.