Wales2004

I've lost track but it seemed like last week that Mitt Romney's camp had this victory lap theme going. I am surprised to hear him encouraging people to vote early for him so that they can influence the media's narrative. It's kind of interesting that he now wants the media to start telling the public that he's leading in the early voting.

I went to him because you referred to the current Republican nominee and I know you mean that whoever it is at the time, and he just happens to be the one at this time. I'm unfamiliar with whatever any previous candidates might have said at past conventions. And I don't remember hearing anything about John McCain except for his stance against the MLK, Jr. holiday. So unless I misunderstood you, what I got from you was that the Republican candidates make speeches at the NAACP convention that are similar in content to Bill Cosby's speech. Let me know if I misunderstood because if I haven't then I disagree that this cycle's candidate, Mitt Romney, said anything remotely close to Bill Cosby's message. My position is that it's fine to make blanket statements about education pertaining to learning basic grammar and vocabulary. We can easily point to examples in the media of popular athletes or entertainers who have atrocious grammar, as an education problem--especially when some of the athletes have made it as far as college. My issue is with the one size fits all solutions that people specifically seek to apply to black Americans based on this ingrained idea that they are monolithic. When some of those Republicans, such as Newt Gingrich, claim that they are going to make black people work for welfare and wax on about black people taking personal responsibility, they're perpetuating the monolithic lie among other things. They wouldn't make those broad statements about or to white welfare recipients or irresponsible white people, so while people feel all brilliant for "telling those black people" and others nod their heads in agreement, they should get smarter and direct that message to citizens/resident to whom it applies. And i know that anyone who thinks he/she is smart and not a racist couldn't be ignorant enough to believe that all black Americans a re lazy and ignorant--no matter how many people you've seen that seem to fit that description. It's no different than when you work at a company where two employees slack off constantly and instead of the manager talking to the two of them, he drags the entire staff in to an hour long meeting to basically tell everyone else not to do something they aren't doing. The two problem workers continue to go on as if they've done nothing wrong.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/elyk9MBY72U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I was half asleep this morning when I confused a couple of posts so I responded about the bank but not about the prescription drugs. I believe people with medical insurance usually have cards issued that identify them and their medical insurance numbers and if they purchase at their carrier's pharmacy then those cards suffice. Drugstore pharmacies may differ from state to state. As of January 2011, photo identification is required for purchasing over the counter cough medicine in the state of California. I believe they're trying to prevent teens from being able to purchase it for recreational use. Other states may have similar laws.

I don't care what people want to call themselves because that's their business. The problem is that everyone else doesn't see it that way and it leads to idiocy such as the sports talk show host on ESPN referring to a Bahamian as an "African-American." He's so bent on being politically correct that he ends up being incorrect period. I can't even get two people to give me the same meaning of the term. I've read about people getting mad when people from the African continent refer to themselves as such. They claim those Africans have no right because they're not a part of the American slave history. Then I've seen people get mad when all the black people don't want to label themselves as such because who do they think they are. Je ne sais pas. Confusion must be some sort of glorious state. <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LztZu5s0-QU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You didn't just compare what Bill Cosby said to Mitt Romney did you? Please rethink that because it's not even close.

No,, everyone doesn't have one. Not everyone has a bank account. Some people cash checks at stores and/or check cashing outlets. I would assume they'd want i.d. but you know some people do have fakes. Are you being naive or just an idealist? Republicans might recognize they need support from "Latinos" or "Hispanics" but they haven't figured out how to/have done an inadequate job reaching out to them. Republicans don't court black voters. They pretty much imply that they are all lazy people draining the welfare system. Unless you call Mitt Romney going to the NAACP convention to tell that group to vote foe the other guy if they want "free" stuff courting. Don't you ever hear any Republicans admit what a poor job they've done with minorities and how they need to change that? I'm sorry I am Swede and GoldenDogs because I thought I was responding to just one of you and ended up confusing you in my mind.

I'm not at all ignoring history. I don't believe in using history as a "go to." I see far too many people who can't even cite any history accurately use it to try say what they've overcome, etc. Honestly, I have zero to do with any accomplishments anyone before me made so I'm not one of those people who will say, for instance, that because I'm a woman I've had it hard or look how far I've come or we've come. That credit goes to those who fought for it and died for it. Hispanics can be black. Black is not an ethnic group, it's a race. I have no use for the term "African-American" because it muddies the waters and now I don't know whether you mean only black people, born in America with slave ancestry or everyone and that makes a difference to me because there are black voters who are not connected to America's legacy and don't necessarily believe they've been oppressed or are being oppressed. None of this changes the picture that MSNBC paints in which they ignore everyone else to focus on the narrative that black voters are being unfairly burdened. People can interpret those laws how they want and draw from history to make their cases but the reality is that the language in those laws can't possibly say "only applies to this group." I've already made my point about the timing of it and I'm glad that advocates are assisting people. Seriously, you're telling me that if I don't see things the way you do then I've never been powerless. I'm sorry that you're that close minded on this issue. This would be the part where II might list a whole bunch of things about how hard I've had it. I don't need to go there because someone's always had it tougher and it's irrelevant anyway. People survive and keep moving or they get stuck and come up with reasons why. So you're right. What can I say? I lead a charmed life.

Let's be honest and admit that these laws were not created smack dab in the middle of the presidential election cycle because of any sudden concern over voter fraud. Just because it sounds like a good reason doesn't make it true. On the flip side, just because voter fraud is not a "legitimate" problem, doesn't mean that voter i.d. should not be enacted. It should be enacted nation-wide next year or whenever--as long as it's not in the middle of the cycle as to keep registered voters from being able to vote or eligible voters from registering and voting. I'm not going to make any analogies to or draw any correlations to lunacy about rape/rape victims and racial issues. MSNBC depicts the voter suppression laws as racist towards black people. Students and the elderly are an afterthought and seldom mentioned as affected. Minorities = black and Poor = black. That's the narrative told over and over again. So if the picture MSNBC constantly paints is correct and voter suppression laws work primarily against black voters, then won't it conttribute to people seeing black Americans as perpetual victims? Nobody's saying "if only black people were perfect," because that's a diversion..distraction That's pretty much what I described above regarding Bill Cosby. Instead of focusing on the education problem, for which no one seems to have any solution, let's all attack Bill Cosby. Years later the education problem persists. Racism is full of distractions/diversions....keep moving on to the next outrage. It keeps people from serious resolutions.

I wholeheartedly agree. Those guys pushing their books need it too. That's pretty much why they have a long list of the problems but they never offer any solutions. Michael Eric Dyson wrote a couple of books about Bill Cosby's 2004 "pound cake" speech to the NAACP. I'm willing to go out on a limb and say the books were dedicated to criticizing Bill Cosby and explaining why people are in their situations without offering any possible remedies. People were so enraged that Bill Cosby aired "dirty laundry" in public as if news reports and statistics don't reveal any of what he said. So dump on Bill Cosby and pretend that his "senility" was causing him to tell lies. He at least expressed concern about young kids not learning and going astray. Kids can't read and the excuses pile up but no solutions. What was Booker T. Washington's excuse for not knowing how to read? He was a slave. Oh and he could read yet I'm supposed to believe that some kid today cannot read because of America's slave legacy. A slave could read but someone who was never a slave is more hindered by the legacy of slavery than an actual slave was by being an actual slave. I am soooooo tired....

These are the types of situations about which you can't do a whole lot unless you personally encounter them. People can listen to an "expert" on MSNBC, CNN or some other station say that black people are not monolithic before he goes on to say that "we don't agree with Colin Powell but we respect him" or something along those lines and would they walk away believing that black people are not monolithic or more confused than they were before listening to that "expert?" On a one-to-one basis, individuals can tell or show people that they are not that stereotype but despite the fact that you have people who know black people that don't fit in the box, they end up seeing them as merely "different" than other black people because the media image overrides everything else.

Do I have any reason to believe that the people to whom this lot appeals would want to support Barack Obama? They're echoing the beliefs or thoughts of their constituents/supporters. The coverage I've seen of Barack Obama lacks a middle ground. It's to both extremes. He's the worst ever and all the things you pointed out. Or he's the man who can do no wrong except when certain people like Chris Matthews are mad that he doesn't react the way he wants, or the disillusioned who don't think he's lived up to their expectations. Black people who criticize him are usually labeled as race traitors. People can keep complaining if that's what they want to do. I personally don't see the repetitive cycle as progressive but I don't want to keep people from their complaints. I knew from day one that Barack Obama would encounter racism so while I might sometimes shake my head, I'm not going to get stuck on it. They're trying to disenfranchise voters for their own benefit which is wrong. The rest of the narrative is that the laws are aimed at the poor and the poor are apparently all black. I don't like the fact that they wanted these voter i.d. laws implemented during the middle of a presidential election cycle. I think it should be effective across the board January 1. 2013. I see immigrants come here and get driver's licenses (legitimately) and identification cards so if the hardship was a story of the elderly not getting their i.d. it would make more of an impact. At some point it becomes easier for other people to look at black Americans as being weak and pathetic because groups of people including immigrants from the African continent, come in and seemingly hit the ground running.

I don't think those people give two flying figs about black voters. They just riling people up and watching them all run around like they've lost their minds because stirring up confusion makes them feel victorious. So far they've done an excellent job at setting the confusion in motion.

I don't believe the polling regarding the increase. It would make more sense to me if they polled the same group of people and noted a change in their attitudes. I understand the political strategy of using race but everyone else makes it so much easier by constantly being shocked over things that are said. Look how much time is taken up with minutiae. At the end of the day, who did John Sununu really harm? The ignorant people that are more likely to be swayed by whatever he says were of that mind in the first place. How many rational logical people actually heard him and said "oh that must be true?" There's entirely too much whining going on. I've even heard people whining about someone calling them "black." Why? Because someone white called them black which means it has to be racism. Is it hard to see why even the most patient reasonable person can get tired of hearing these complaints over and over again and eventually get tired of it and just start tuning it out so that legitimate complaints aren't taken seriously?

So back to John Sununu for a minute....can someone explain to me the point of getting riled up over what he said? It seems to me that the focus should have remained on Colin Powell's statement instead of acknowledging that John Sununu was trying to distract and then giving him the distraction he wanted. The focus on racism should be on physical and other tangible damaging acts. Not on this type of nonsense that gives people "racism" fatigue and allows serious acts to go unnoticed. This cycle of having "experts" come out and say the same things over and over again, push their latest book, and claim we need a national dialogue on race is pretty useless. How did that work after the outrage over Don Imus and Dr. Laura? They should start that dialogue with the definition of race because I for one, would love to know how come black people are the only race that unite over race and not nationality, etc. How come black people are the only race which apparently has a speech pattern, dances, sings, is ath-a-letic, eats fried chicken, watermelon, looks like monkeys, apes, shares the same pea brain? Did I leave anything out? I would love to hear the answer to that. I would also love to hear the "experts" offer a resolution to the problem as I have yet to hear a single one of them say anything beyond stop racial profiling.

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4lxRRCxfRvI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1j4U-0mtZe8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Well Lawrence O'Donnell saw fit to remind anyone watching his show last night that Gray Davis is still alive. The idea that he was a valued source of voting information is unfathomable. I don't care how smart Gray Davis may or may not be or even how informed he may be--he's not the public model for Californians on how to vote. Besides I'm not affiliated with either party and my mailbox has been overrun for months with unsolicited advice (mainly from the Democrats) on how to vote. I find it hard to believe that Lawrence O'Donnell didn't receive at least a handful of pamphlets from the Democrats with their suggestions for the propositions and candidates. Even without that, their standard voting advice in California is to vote "yes" on everything that includes a tax increase. Taxes are the solution to every problem and they constantly hold up education as the biggest reason for tax increases, yet I have not seen a report that indicates that this money has been put to the use for which it was intended. Their biggest selling point for the California Lottery was how it was going to benefit schools. I see that some of our state officials still manage to renovate their offices while shutting down or curtailing state services. Arnold Schwarznegger must love Gray Davis for giving him his big moment in politics.

John Sununu was born in Cuba to non-American parents so he's ineligible to be President which excludes him as a V.P. candidate. What amazes (for lack of a more appropriate term) me is that those in the media that concluded John Sununu's motive was to distract people the reasons Colin Powell gave for endorsing Barack Obama, yet they continued to beat the drum. MSNBC rolled out a number of their guest analysts to give their two cents on the topic. One of them, James Peterson, said that black people are not monolithic then went on to contradict that position with a bunch of "we" this and that. The best was something along the lines of we don't agree with Colin Powell but we respect him which makes it sound as if black people are monolithic with exceptions such as Colin Powell. Now I'm listening to Ann Coulter claim retard just means loser and that no one uses it to refer to people with disabilities.....sure. The one tax both Democrat and Republican governors seem to agree on increasing is the sales tax. Lawrence O'Donnell seemingly lectures people about being responsible then he gets Gray Davis to come on for the last minutes of his show to help him with his ballot. Gray Davis??? Hmm kind of reminds me of Jerry Brown...don't get me started on Jerry Brown.

I haven't ordered anything since the day before it went into effect but won't rule it out for the future. If they have a significantly lower price including the tax, I will go with them. One of the L.A. County propositions asks whether or not porn film makers should be required to get a public health license. The Erotica whatever company who wrote the rebuttal of course says that it's not necessary and a waste of money. I'm having a hard time with the idea of county health inspectors visiting porn shooting locations to check up on these people. The majority of the 11 state propositions were poorly written so while I may have agreed with them, they were not definitive enough and had too much wiggle room. I don't mind comparing. I can tell you, because I remember these two quite clearly, I am surprisingly okay with keeping the death penalty. People like Charles Manson should never be up for parole and they should have let him die in that gas chamber. The Three Strikes law absolutely needs to be revised. Not only can there be issues with the first two strikes, but to send a man whose third strike is for stealing a slice of pizza, to prison for life is insane. Yes, he should have known better and is simply dumb but I cannot just shrug my shoulders and shake my head and pretend it's okay to lock people up forever for being stupid. Oh and I do think it's stupid to have me vote for a list of people of whom I've never heard. Should I go with the nice sounding names or eenie meenie. I ended up with a plastic bag full of pamphlets for the recycling bin. The candidates for representative send at least ten pieces of mail/week accusing each other of various practices. Is Dianne Feinstein ever going to retire? I don't even know what she does. California loves their old politicians. All you need to do is get elected once and you have a job for life as long as you aren't caught committing crimes....ethics violations--you can worm your way out of those.

My separate post to thank Roman for his kind words. Also thank you GoldenDogs. If I did .gifs I'd have a humorous fighting back the tears one but I don't so I offer you "Special" instead: <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ysvgSL6tz0k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I will do my best to live up to your words. I think I will tackle my ballot today.....or at least read the umpteen propositions on it. My gripe: Los Angeles county has the most unfair property tax assessment in all the land, according to me. I don't know why California is so crowded considering the number of laws they produce that should run people out of the state. My biggest gripe this year is that they finally forced Amazon to start collecting state taxes--which wouldn't be so bad if the state government was even moderately efficient. Our special fuel regulations has gasoline near $5/gallon....I know it could be a lot worse so happy face time Okay now I feel better....

For some reason I can't resist this one. I'm inclined to think they will just leave him alone and go with the whole single-mindedness of black Americans, if they want to dismiss his decision. I don't recall what they said last time he did this. But if they are going to claim his not really an American then they'll dig up "evidence" that he was really born in Jamaica which is where his people are from. I'm actually now a bit disappointed that Barack Obama's dad wasn't Jamaican because I'd love to have seen Dinesh D'Souza concoct a theory based on some connection to Rastas. I love when people assume that Jamaicans all smoke ganja and wear dreadlocks. In my ideal reality, people will start speaking for themselves and not entire groups of people they don't know. It's important to maintain the right of a woman to have an abortion if she so chooses. I used to believe that because I would never choose to have an abortion that this issue did not concern me. Then I realized that it's not my place to inflict my beliefs on other people. I have friends who've had abortions--some are still troubled by it. I get tired of hearing what women want and I wish they would phrase their opinions and beliefs in ways that get the message out that being able to make that choice is important without making it sound as if this is every woman's desire. Some time ago, I read a magazine article about a woman who'd been raped and ended up pregnant. She said she was afraid that she would look at her baby and see her rapist but she decided to have the baby anyway. Her daughter, according to her, has become the greatest love of her life but she does struggle with what and how to tell her child about her father when the time comes. I don't believe that God wants bad things to happen to anyone but I do believe that He allows both good and bad things to happen. How we handle those things is entirely up to us.

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HYKzJL_Rw9E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I9ZnyzarOpA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/60GKTp0pf1A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Those are such vague terms that I find it amazing that anyone can claim that they didn't see any change. Personally, I thought his hope was to win and change his address which happened.

If you were talking about actual Barack Obama supporters at MSNBC this would be surprising but not from Joe Scarborough's show. I'm surprised it wasn't worse. It's kind of tiresome for people to place Barack Obama in some idealistic box and feign shock that he's become this jaded politician. He doesn't wear this halo that radiates light wherever he goes. If he did then all his goodness would have rubbed off on Mitch McConnell and John Boehner (I don't mean that bizarre tan) causing them to become better people who enabled him to maintain the optimism he once had. We should try to accept that he was unable to change Washington and instead he changed...mourn what we hoped he'd be and move on to the reality that he isn't and life goes on. Or we can just beat this drum over and over and over.....I vote for moving on.