For the most part these joints have gone strongly in Obama’s favor, this was the first one where McCain started to show some force, and signs of semi-intelligence so it sparked me to express my thoughts on it.

In general, I like that Obama is cool and level-headed for the most part but sometimes that cat just needs to step up the level of passion behind his words so that hedoesn’t come across so flat as he does at times.  I know he is fighting the “Angry Black Man” label, but still.

The first half-hour had a very aggressive McCain on the offensive trying to press Obama. However, unflappable as ever, Barack weaved through the offensive line and hell he didn’t he even have to sack McCain, McCain sacked himself with that extended discourse on Bill Ayers, ACORN, and trying to get Obama to repudiate John Lewis’ statements.

I liked how Obama, just turned that shit on its ear given all of the negative stuff that has been coming out of the Palin and McCain rallies.  “Terrorist!” “Kill him!“  Where are the repudiations of that shit?  That’s real talk that could stoke the underlying hate and racism that exists beneath the surface.

Obama WENT IN on McCain’s Health care plan, breaking that shit down to the bone gristle.  Fuck is anyone over 26 gonna do with $5,000 insurance credit, you can’t get decent coverage with that.
Barack made an impassioned plea for sex education and deftly argued his point about the merits of Roe v. Wade, plus he made a point that many can agree with: no one is really pro-abortion. This is something I have always kind of felt made the Pro-Life/Choice abortion debate weird.  If you are Pro-Choice it doesn’t mean you are pro-abortion, it means that you are for a woman having the option to pursue abortion as a course of action if she feels it is necessary.  If you have a Pro-Choice stance, you are actually Pro-Life as well.

Obama still has miles to go before he is in office, though he currently possesses a very strong lead at present, the truth will be revealed in the booth. (THAT should be a new campaign shirt, I need to get some joints pressed up and slang ‘em – who’s with me?)  I hope that things proceed apace and Obama comes out on top and no fuckery occurs, but the Republican long-ago elevated tomfoolery to fuckery and they do it well, though to the benefit of Obama, it seems like McCain was a P.O.W. at the time and missed some of the lessons

And in Michelle Obama news – she was putting that AyAassss™ on display in that purple dress – and men around the country thank you Michelle!

Michelle Obama’s Makeover for America  by Recshop

Who ever thought that Michelle Obama needed a makeover? Personally I thought she was looking pretty good. But according to sculptor Daniel Edwards Michelle has been given his version of a makeover that provides for her a ‘signature look’ to take to Washington.At first when I looked at the sculpture I was kind of iffy…I mean it seemed to be an overtly sexual portrayal of the Black female, something that being a Black female myself we see on an everyday basis (but I digress). According to Edwards “The goal is to create a look for Michelle Obama that eliminates excessive comparisons to Jackie Kennedy,” and  when you think about it she does get compared to her a lot. The Leo Kesting Gallery where the bust (literally) of Michelle Obama will be displayed has described the sculpture as:

A pearl-studded Afro pick, shaped like an eagle, demonstrates the makeover’s fashion mix of Black African and White House heritage to reinvigorate the traditional First Lady pearls. A tight, spiral-textured mane complements Michelle Obama’s likeness, with the pearl Afro pick placed modishly askew in a Nefertiti-esque hairstyle. Included are big hoop earrings shaped like O’s that seem to suggest, according to a gallery spokesman, “Look out Oprah, a new ‘Lady O’s’ in charge.”

Adorning the breasts of Michelle Obama’s bust are temporary tattoos, of which an American flag is depicted, to compensate for Barack’s pin-free lapels. Additional breast tattoo designs for Mrs. Obama, by Chicago tattoo artist Alex Higgins, will also be exhibited.

“Michelle Obama inspires a fashion template change that many First Ladies of the 21st Century may follow, as we witness minorities in this country becoming the majority,” added the spokesman. *** In the end Edwards reinterpretation has caused a lot of controversy. But I like the idea behind his intentions that being, that even though the comparisons between Michelle Obama and Jackie Kennedy have been related to her style and grace… it ultimately undermines Michelle Obama because she is being compared to a white woman in order to give her credibility and legitimacy. What Edwards is trying to do is reinforce the ideal that there is something powerful in being a proud AFRICAN-American. Just my thoughts…

This is a clip from Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections by David Earnhardt. I’m not sure if this is the same documentary I saw on the subject but it looks like it’s worth checking out. For more go toUncountedTheMovie.com 

This and more political rants can be found PDS POLITICS

I saw an article by him over at HipHop is Read and after reading it had to check it out. Interesting so far….

Here is his article on White Privilege copied from the HHIR folks.

This is Your Nation on White Privilege 

By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay. 

White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you’ll “kick their fuckin’ ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”


White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office–since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s–while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.


White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.


White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you’re black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.


White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do–like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor–and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college–you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.


White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”


White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.


White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.


White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.


White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden.


And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…


White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Are you registered to vote? If not take a few minutes away from searching for Weezy’s newest freestyle and go here. The picture above does not mean that I’m voting for the guy…but if you catch me doing anything else shoot me.

  REGISTER TO VOTE HERE. DO IT. DO IT.

Once again big shouts to Different Kitchen. This is Big Boi interviewing celebs about the state of the world today. Haven’t watched yet but it’s a nice segue into my next post…..

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) – Residents along Galveston Bay in Texas “face certain death” if they don’t leave home before Hurricane Ike roars ashore, the National Weather Service warns.

   

Evacuations were steady Thursday night as Texans were ordered to leave areas in the path of Hurricane Ike.

Rarely do forecasters use such forceful language.

The last time they did was three years ago as Hurricane Katrina closed in on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Forecasters expect Ike, a Category 2 storm, to strengthen before its center makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday. The storm is so big that it fills most of the Gulf of Mexico.

Roughly 3.5 million people live in the storm’s impact zone, according to federal estimates.

The weather service painted a vivid picture in its warning of the destruction it expects: a towering wall of water, possibly up to 22 feet high, crashing over the Galveston Bay shoreline as the brunt of Ike comes ashore. That wall of water could send floodwaters surging into Houston, more than 20 miles inland.

“All neighborhoods … and possibly entire coastal communities … will be inundated during the peak storm tide,” the weather service warned. “Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one- or two-story homes will face certain death.”

But farther inland, 4 million Houston-area residents were told to hunker down and stay home, even as government offices and schools prepared to close Friday in anticipation of the hurricane.

“We are only evacuating areas subject to a storm surge,” said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the county’s chief executive officer. “Yes, we know you will lose electricity. But you’re not in danger of losing your life, so stay put.”