Too Far Off Track, or Morbid Fascinations

September 11, 2001 was one of the worst days in America's history.  I remember being at home, on 'vacation' and watching the television in shock. I was glued to the television.  When the news wasn't on, I was online. I was sickened and saddened and shocked, as was most of the world.

 I cried along with the rest of the country. I cried for those who died. I cried for those people who posted signs for their missing loved ones. I cried for the loss of a sense of security. I cried and cried.  I did not understand how people could kill other people who have done nothing to them.

 I just cried.

So, the news earlier this week about the death if Osama bin Laden was only bitter. My first thought was, where did they find him? Beyond that, it was just another senseless death.  It won't bring our soldiers back. It won't give those families the 10 years they have not been able to share with loved ones. I does not change anything.

This will not deter those who lack the skill, vocabulary, will, or imagination to do anything more than kill.

This will not assuage hatred.  This will not do anything.

Today, the President has decided that the pictures of bin Laden's dead body will be sealed.  He will not disrespect in death even this hatemonger.  There is nothing to be gained by those pictures being disseminated. 

The pictures would make his death a joke for some.

The pictures would be a war cry for some others.

Nothing about any of this is funny.

Birther Smirther

     Barack Hussein Obama, II, the President of the United States of America, was born in Honolulu, HI on 4 August, 1961.  On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state to be admitted into the Union. His parents were married February 2, 1961, at the time his mother was three months pregnant. His father was from Kenya, not America.  This is why he is listed as African and not as a ‘Negro’ or ‘Black’.  He is listed as African on both the long and short birth certificate forms, which makes it difficult to grasp why this is an issue. Ok, so, Hawaii was a state of the Union.  His father was African, his mom was Caucasian and he is biracial. They were legally married at the time of his birth. So far, so good.  

   I haven’t understood the issue from the start.  How is there a question about whether he really is an American? Is it because he had a very un-American childhood? John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone.  In McCain’s case, there was a question, it was answered and the issue was dropped. 

    I almost fell off my chair when I read statements calling this a racist attempt to make the President illegitimate.  There is no reason for this to be an issue.  There is nothing to be learned from the long-form of his Birth Certificate. This is all just a way to relegate him to being “other,” or “not one of us.” 

   These are not new tricks.  Marginalizing and devaluing the object of one’s ire is of utmost importance.  How can we get anything done if everyone is arguing about the most elementary issues?  So now, with the long form, even the President’s mother is not safe from disrespect.  He wasn’t hiding anything.  Who would want to allow their detractors to have a hay day with their mother’s reputation?  He has even been said to have not been deserving of his Ivy League education. 

  You hear very little about his accomplishments during his presidency. The hard-won successes are not mentioned.  People cannot seem to get past race.  I’m surprised they haven’t asked him how the Little President measures up. It’s too much.

Enough is enough. 

Oil, Toil, Roil

What a mess!  BP, the lack of safety, the 'incestuous' relationship between oil companies and those who are supposed to protect our environment.  There is more than enough blame to go around.  There is more than enough mess for everyone to end up covered in...well, yeah, oil.

It seems to me that the Obama Administration is taking a great deal of heat that they don't deserve.  This is a part of the mess left for him by big-business-loving G.W. Bush.  The blank check which big business can write, the rich get richer and the poor get...put out of business by careless greed.

I don't know why people want to see the President angry.  If he were to come across very angry, he'd become some caricature.  Or, even more of one than the nay-sayers have already painted. 

This spill is out of control.  BP has no means to stop it.  No matter what, the government has to defer to those with the expertise to handle this.  That is supposed to be BP.  How could they drill knowing that they don't really know what they'd do if the worse case scenario happened?  In this post-911 world, when everyone has plans and then back-up plans, and even make back-ups for those. 

This spill will have a terribly long impact on our environment, as well as our economy.  It is sad to think of those delicate wetlands, the delicate ecosystem which may as well be ablaze right now.  It's ruined for years, maybe even decades. 

And with it, the livelihood of countless people.  This is sad.  We don't need the President angry, we need him focused.  I think we have what we need.  It's just too bad that BP's greed has left everyone else with much work.

 We are left poorer every way you look at this situation.

That's Mr. President to you

Since when it the President of the United States of America referred to as Mr.   The media, yes even NPR, has been saying "Mr. Obama" throughout his presidency. 

Excuse me?

That's President Obama! Mr. President maybe, but not Mr. Obama.   Never again will he be Mr. Obama.

It's blatantly ignorant to disrespect the office of the President of the United States of America this way.
Even G.W. (that's G-Dubya) was President Bush and remains so, so what gives.

In my opinion, there has been a renewed, powerful wave of racism in the country that began with the financial difficulties.  People are often more racist when their finances are precarious. 

The media should be above such foolishness.

there is no such thing as an honorary black man, John Mayer

John Mayer has reached a new low with his Playboy interview. Most significantly saying that his penis is a white supremacist.  

Now, this is not John's first melt down.  He has always said that he doesn't understand why white people cannot say the word nigger.

He clearly wasn't raised right.  His arrogance is amazing.   What did he think that he was going to show all the black people what blues were really about?  Did he think that he would become The Great White Hope of the Blues instead a prince of coffee house pop?  

What year is this?