Sarah who???

People. Your first mind is probably right. They tell you this when you are taking standardized tests. Your first thought is probably the right one. So what did you think when you first heard that John McCain had chosen an obscure female governor from the state of Alaska as his running mate.? I will tell you what I first thought: WTF??
I mean, who is Sarah Palin? Does she even know McCain? Have they ever worked together on anything. (MSNBC reports that the two met for the first time 6 months ago) How is it that a man who is criticizing Obama's experience selects a woman that no one knows. (She is also under an ethics investigation in the state of Alaska) How must Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney feel right now. When Chris Mathews asked if they would be comfortable with Palin's experience to run the country and her being "one heartbeat away" from the presidency, a McCain political operative never answered the question. Instead he talked about Palin's conservative agenda, her love of hunting and pro-gun rights agenda. Call it what it is. A political move that hopes to capitalize on "post-rational" Hillary Clinton sentiments. Does McCain really beleive that pro-choice supporters of Hillary will view a pro-life Palin in the samelight as they do Hillary? The racial equivalent would be McCain appointing Ward Connerly or Clarence Thomas or JC Watts as his running mate. As in the previous case, Black people will not support a candidate just because he is Black (in fact most Blacks abhore Connerly, Thomas and Watts as sellouts) and most Hillary supporters will not support Palin just because they share the same feminine parts. Their issues do not align and neither do their politics.
Frankly, this was an exotic pick that McCain hopes balances Obama's "exoticness" as the first African American presidential nominee. This was a purely political move that did not take into account the gravity of a VP pick. This pick calls into question McCain's judgement and his willingness to gamble with the lives of the American public for political gain. Sounds like he will do anything to win....and I, for one, have seen enough.
After last nights epic speech from Obama I am convinced that anyone that does not vote for this man...has serious intelligence issues or they just refuse to see across party lines and continue to vote against their own economic issues...

More than Ever...Race is Unavoidable.

If Barack Obama loses this historic presidential bid to John McCain the blame will fall squarely on white, rural, working class, lower income voters who by definition are Democrats but who just can't physically allow themselves to pull the lever for a Black man. Forget the fact that their politics are almost identical or that Democratic policies will give them the economic leg up that they need in these Republican-infused distressed economic times or that these same Republicans have dragged the American brand through the mud worldwide...they just can't mentally wrap their minds around it.. Forget about the fact that Michelle Obama spelled out in her speech to the DNC that her and Barack's story (the African American story) are identical to the mythical American dream that everyone espouses and we all hope to emulate, both Black and White. I guess that's not enough. Never mind that both became successful despite working class roots and parents who sacrificed for their children. No that's not enough either.
On MSNBC's Morning Joe the panelists openly discussed how white voters are wondering how it is possible that these two Black people could get into Ivy league schools when their own children were not that fortunate. They discussed white sentiments that were against affirmative action and how a quota system must be the reason why these two Black people are successful. I mean they openly discussed how white folk held resentment towards successful blacks by making assumptions about how they got to be successful. I mean it was lunacy. (The real facts are these: While affirmative action connotes the idea that unqualified Blacks get preferrential treatment, the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action are WHITE WOMEN) These same folk will vote for Republican elites who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth and have no real connection to average Joe Smith or their economic issues and furthermore have run our economy into the ground the last 4-8 years. (ie George W Bush and McCain - both were well connected but abysmal students that held status because of their family blood line, not hard work) While corporations continue to get bailed out with taxpayer money and others make record profits while charging us higher prices and still others hire illegal aliens who will work at way less than the going rate and still others continue to ship American jobs overseas for bigger profits, these same working class whites continue to profit from white entitlement and the white superiority that is embedded in our society. When they see a successful white the attitude is one if pride and similarity. When the successful one is black they are met with skepticism and envy. It doesn't matter that we are all American or that Blacks can succeed by playing by the rules. None of that matters. In the solitary confinement that is a voting booth, where no one is watching them, they remain unable to vote for their own interests when the candidate that shares thier views and lives their story is Black.
It is times like this where I can truly understand the depression of my ancestors. They told us that we can't just be as good as whites...we had to be better. What they didn't tell us is that even when we are better and play by the rules and achieve...there is a resentment that will follow from the dominant culture that is rooted in racism and white supremacy. Those of you in corporate America know of what I speak. Look around upper management at your job. How many of you rise through the ranks without even considering that your race is a factor? If people will not vote for a Black man who shares a common American story and shares their economic issues...do you really think they would hire one or better yet promote one? I will continue to scream this from the mountain tops: Racism and white supremacy is this country's first and most pervasive and insidious sin and the manifestations if this sin affects each and every one of us...each and everyday...more than ever before.

Lying to yourself: Sex, Race and the White House

Ok. I must tell the truth, as I see it. I am officially tired of Hillary Clinton and her supporters (PUMA's / Party Unity My Ass) who would rather make a scene against Barack Obama at the convention and then cast their vote for John McCain in the fall. All because of some percieved slight of Hillary Clinton. I could maybe see their argument if she had been running against an older white man who certainly would have some built in political advantages but her opponent was an upstart Black man who is dealing with many of the same if not more negative political stereotypes and perceptions. I swear these people are derainged or just simply unintelligent. Hillary lost!! The nomination was not stolen from her. Get over it. I find it impossible to fathom that Barack supporters or Barack himself would hold up and threaten the election of the next democratic president like this. Where is your class Hil? I thought you were a statesman of some sort. And PUMA's, have you forgotten the facts? Hillary lost Iowa and only won New Hampshire after shamelessly shedding crocodile tears at a news conference (What is ironic is that it was those "tears" and her political use of that femininty that spawned the New Hampshire win and now her supporters claim it was sexism that derailed her campaign and that Obama should have spoken out against her treatment) It was Hillary that never planned for the campaign to go on after Super Tuesday. Her arrogance and sense of entitlement made it difficult for her to believe that she would even have a challenger after February 5th. Have they forgotten that it was Hillary that employed the "kitchen sink" strategy after understanding that the nomination was in fact slipping away and this turned the primaries into the negative campaign she thought she needed to win. I guess negative politicking doesn't always work, right Hil? So let me get this straight... Hil got outworked in the caucaus states, got out financed, got out-manned on the ground, had no strategy for a long campaign, fired her campaign manager Mark Penn, went negative (including adding injury to Obama by helping fuel the Rev Jeremiah Wright debate) and then blamed Obama for repsonding to her negative attacks, lost the delegate race and Obama is to blame?? The audacity of her!! Look at the man in the mirror Hil !!! And then tell these PUMA's to get on board or get out the way.These feminists are mad because they feel she wasn't treated fairly by the media. They claim sexism played a role in the election, and while I give that arguement credence and do agree that sexism was and continues to be a big issue...so was the racism that affected and still affects the Obama campaign. The bottom line is both candidates ran historic campaigns but somebody had to lose. And the only person who was in the position to have the nomination stolen from him was Obama. He took the lead in delegates after winning 11 straight contests after Super Tuesday and never relinquished that lead. That lead was the direct result of Clinton's arrogance and unpreparedness. So in actuality these Clinton supporters still have a win at all cost strategy... despite the lack of righteousness that this strategy evokes.
If you think this election was stolen from Hillary...you are lying to yourself
If you think Hillary was treated more unfairly than Barack during the primaries...you are lying to yourself
If you were supporting Hillary and now are voting for McCain then you are "post-rational" (and I suspect you have an issue with Black people) and...you are lying to yourself
And if you don't see race intertwined in the fabric of this election and the electorate...you are lying to yourself...and I feel sorry for you.

Update: August 26, 08 11:20pm
I just watched Hillary Clinton give her speech at the Democratic National Convention... simply put... a great speech. She deserves credit for the fire and vigor with which she delivered her support for Obama. I just wished she had done this earlier and I hope she continues this during the general... I also wish she had driven a more righteous campaign during the primaries and we maybe could have avoided all of this mess and these distractions...

So Who is Playing the Race Card???

I find this topic insulting to my core. The idea that McCain and his surrogates can charge that Obama is playing the race card after 4 straight negative ads that have run since Obama's much heralded trip abroad is just plain grotesque politics and I am highly offended..On MSNBC's Morning Joe program it was discussed openly that McCain's campaign had made a fundamental decision last weekend to attack Obama as much as possible so they could do a few things: 1. Keep Obama on the defensive 2. Control the airwaves and not let Obama control the debate.Now how will this help McCain? By controlling the media jargon you distract the media and the public from "real" issues (ie. Exxon Mobil's record profits, rising unemployment & food prices and a continually failing housing market - all which has happened under a Republican administration). By keeping Obama on the defensive you keep him from talking about the issues and you again distract those casual voters from the real issues.The idea that Obama is playing the race card is just straight lunacy. Obama has tried to keep the discussion from race for the entire campaign. We all know that a political campaign infused with race is a losing proposition for Obama. It makes no sense.When Obama (a Black man) says that the republicans are goimg to try to make you afraid of him by pointing out his "funny name" (we all know that when Fox News and their pundits continue to refer to him as Barack HUSSEIN Obama they are preying on electorate fears of Muslims and terrorism), and his Blackness (numerous republicans and the RNC ran adds during the primary season that were at best racially tinged to again draw out fears held by a largely white electorate) he has a valid historical point (remember the Willie Horton ad) and this latest "race card" attack is along the same lines. A Black man discussing his blackness as positive is vastly different from republicans or the RNC or swiftboat type organizations discussing race as a way to draw out fears of the white electorate. Just because Obama discusses his race does not mean that he is playing the race card. One is discussing the elephant in the room (All the other 40 or so presidents and vice presidents have been WHITE males...this fact in and of itself is a referendum on racism in America) and the other is "playing" the race card. In a campaign where it is widely known that discussions of race hurt Obama...why is the McCain campaign so eager to discuss race and accuse Obama of playing the race card? This is shades of the Rev Wright controversy all over again. The right wing is very good at talking about race and drawing out it's negativity as it relates to the white electorate and then hiding it's hands as if they are not responsible for it. This is an old game...and I am not buying it...you shouldn't either.