I have a few more things to say about last night's election here in "Pistolvania". And I have a few choice words for you Negroes here in Philly. Negroes like the clown who asked me if I voted, and when I told him yes, he had the nerve to brag to me that he didn't because he had to do something with his "old lady."
It's these kind of Negroes that make me wonder if it's really worth it to fight the good fight. I mean why bother? Some folks just enjoy living in ignorance. I will let you all in on a little secret; I happen to have some pretty good connects at our dumbocratic city committee here, and I looked at those Ward results from last night. And guess what, a lot of you Negroes didn't even vote. Not for Hillary not for Obama. Now for Hillary that might not have been a bad thing, because if your dumb asses did vote, it probably would have been for the "O" man. I thought I knew you Negroes but I don't. The other night I gave the "O" man's advisor some bad advise, because I told him to save his WAM (walking around money) and to use it for other shit. "It's a national election I told him, folks are going to come out for this one, they are passionate about their candidates." Well you Negroes here in Philly didn't come out. Thousands and thousands of you stayed home. I guess you will always need your committee person and ward leader to come around and kick your lazy assess in the butt. I bet if they were giving away free T.V's at Wal-Mart your asses would have skipped work to go. But not to go and vote, something that folks died to give you the right to do. Something that new immigrants to this country can't wait to do once they get their citizenship. You want a politician to ignore you? Just keep ignoring the ballot box. Want your neighborhoods to stay fucked up? Keep ignoring the voting booth. No wonder the "O" man is reaching out to white folks, he knows you sorry Negroes don't vote.
So the Negroes in Philly didn't come out in force, althoug the ones that did, came out for the "O" man by a nine to one margin. And I am going to give it to the "Ice Queen", she kept the Montgomery County and Bucks County suburbs close when everyone was expecting an "O" man blowout. A Jewish friend of mine saw this coming, and he tried to warn me. His Mom and his older relatives were strong for Hillary, and she sealed the deal for them when she made her comments about the Middle East the other day. That was "dog whistle" politics for all the Jews in this area; I will "obliterate" any country in the Middle East that fucks with Israel. And for most Jews that's all they needed to hear. Hey, that's smart politics Hillary, the "O" man could learn a thing or two from you. You knew the blue collar Catholics and the ethnic gun toting crowd wasn't going to vote for his black ass, so you went after his Northeastern suburban base.
Now as for the aforementioned blue collar crowd. This could be the most problematic thing for the "O" man in the general election. He needs states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Michigan to become President, but all of those states have a significant population of "Negro fearing" folks. And even if the "O" man went in to everyone of their homes and gave them a check for $1,000, they still wouldn't vote for his ass. I told you all that at the start of this nomination process and it's still true.
I love how all the pundits and pollsters like to beat around the bush on this issue of race, as if it's so hard to believe that everyone in these divided states don't share our Yankee doodle idealism. They will beat around the bush to find anything except the real reason these folks won't vote for the "O" man. "Well, he is too young. Well, there is that Pastor. Well, his wife just seems so angry. Well, his bowling game is weak. Well, he can't go to his right on the basketball court....."Come on now. Let's keep it 100% with each other. "He looks like one of the gangbangers I just saw on the evening news, and don't want the leader of my country to look like that." Sorry "O" man, only the best Tuna's get to be Starkist.
So that's my little postscript on the elections folks. Here in Pistolvania we hate to see the candidates go. I know the T.V. stations are sad that the "O" man is leaving, they made a killing on that guy. Now in retrospect, I am realizing that maybe he should have kept his T.V. money and used it for something else. WAM maybe?
"He looks like one of the gangbangers I just saw on the evening news, and don't want the leader of my country to look like that." Sorry "O" man, only the best Tuna's get to be Starkist."
ReplyDeletefield; Good post, especially the part about the tuna. But I don't think this is about the "O" man anymore. This is now about the super delegates. Okay the "O" man has played by the rules, refused, for the most part, to make personal attacks. He's got the pledged delegates, the popular votes...blah blah blah...
Now get some balls, get off your ass and come out in hugh block for Barack Obama as the democratic nominee for president, Goddammit!
Blessings.
I'm resigned to staring at Grampa McCain's mug as he ruins the country some more for the next four years.
ReplyDeleteBecause the thought of Bill and Hillary Clinton returning to the WH on the Dog Whistle Express makes me want to find Al Reynolds and marry him.
Thanks for your analysis, as always. Insightful on how some people continue to be clueless when it comes to voting.
I don't know about the WAM, but that I will kill Iran and whoever else wants to get in it worked.
ReplyDeleteObama will be fine though, he's saving his fight for McCain.
Why show his hand to Hillary and have her pick it apart for McCain - he would have to come up with a whole new game plan.
Those votes would have made the percentage a little better but they cant's stop the math that was already in his favor.
In the end, like I said, Obama will have done everything required of him and he will still not achieve his goal.
ReplyDeleteSo, he might as well break out into more authenticity than he has shown, because the Borg Queen has done her level best to paint him as the second coming of Willie Horton.
P. S. - your sidebar comment about Star Jones was really cold! LOL
And, ditto about Black folks not voting and then wanting to complain about how the guvmint is taking their shyt.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when they had the chance to vote in their own best interests and choose to stay home.
My parents' generation got bit by dogs and waterhosed so I could take my happy behind into a voting booth and not have to say whether or not my grandfather had the vote in order to qualify (cause Jim Crow rednecks made that a requirement back in the day); so I'm not staying home on voting day.
I do, however, reserve the right to write in my own choice if what's being offered is not to my liking on principle and issue platform.
But staying home? W-T-H?
Ok, I know that getting out the vote is such a popular anthem amongst the immigrants, well-heeled rappers, and our professional folk, and defeatism can be a stinky cologne, but the reason why those who can vote, yet don't is because they've seen their vote ignored. It's not as if black folk just decided not to vote en masse since the day we were GIVEN that "right". It's been a long process where broken promises and straight lies are shoveled at communities so people can get in office and do the work that THEY want to do (usually to curry favor with the business community and to further their own political career) not the work that those who voted for them in the first place. People aren't stupid. Now I know where your frustrations are coming from. You think that even though Obama has yet to have proven to us that he's like all the other politicians, folk still should have come out and voted for him (or Hilary) for the historical importance of pushing a white woman or black male into the GE for the first time.
ReplyDeleteAnd it may have been laziness, and it may have been the beleaguered feelings that some folk felt due to the MSM and Clinton attacks on Obama that made them feel that he was a lost cause already, so what was the point of coming out? I'm sure being black Obama knows our people and how they feel, so yeah he had no choice but to go after middle America more.
The thing is, we still have plenty of people who would have voted had they not have been through the system. Now come on, you know that that would have been a huge chunk right there for the O-man. So there are many factors that need to be weighed as to why we don't vote. I never felt it was laziness or ignorance on the part of our people; in fact, I see it as a defense mechanism against being let down and lied to again and again. Look at the dumb-assed rifle-rackers and shit-kickers who came out for Hilary; they helped her win Penn, but we'll see if they'll have jobs in the next 8 years when the labor goes off to Iraq as their kids come back home in body bags from the same place. They'll ask if there was ever a difference between her or McCain. Go Hilary!!!!
FN: Great post. Straight up and true.
ReplyDeletePeace,
Angie
(The Realest)
Ain't no excuse for not voting.
ReplyDeleteI respect the guy who listed the complaints black votes have with the voting process, but it's still wack. If you don't like your leaders vote some new ones in. I'm tired of niggas telling everything that's wrong with the world, and then telling me they don't feel like voting. That's some dumb shit.
And I'm glad Obama didn't hand out any walking around money. eff those greedy bastards who wanted money. Pimping black folks for their own benefit.
At first I was turned off by the tone of this post, but then when I really considered reality, I came to share FN's attitude. If black folks won't even come out to vote for a black man who might become president then who the fuck will they vote for?
You know Field you are right about the television money that this campaign has put in the coffers of news organizations. These mofos are making a killin off this bs election process. You are also right about black folks and voting. There is I think multiple streams of thought running through black America whatever the fu*k that means in 2008. Believe it or not most folks black and white do not have cable, do not access the internet, pay no attention or even know what the hell a blog is about. So many people are locked in their everyday hustle or everyday struggle that they look at the world as if it ain't right in front of them then the forget about it. I said yesterday and I will say again Obama's campaign symbolically is very important but he needs to get off his high horse and speak truth to power. These white folks do not like Negroes in this country and Negroes in this country not all but too many of them are in some purgatory that they cannot not seem to deal with the reality of capitalism, racism, what it means to live like a human being in the 21st century.
ReplyDelete~
ReplyDeleteUmph; umph ah umph, umph, umph, umph!
Walking Around Money is used for the meals and other expenses of the folk who move through the neighborhoods encouraging their fellow citizens to vote.
Day-um!!, gott bumpity-bump day-um; they actually listen at, er, to you field. That is a punk-darned shame, field. Don't they know that you do not know what's up. field, why didn't you keep your mouph shut, and let some po' Negroes make a little chump change. Ev-er-by-body cannot be a big tyme Negroe barrister like you. Or, is it solicitor? Yeah, that's the ticket, a big-tyme Negroe solicitor like you.
Let me reiterate field, "you just can't sas-sah-fy some of you Negroes."
`
"If you don't like your leaders vote some new ones in."
ReplyDeleteAnd which ones would those be? Which leaders? Let's take the racist liberals, the opposition of radicals who don't like Obama, his own willingness as an assimilated American politician to show how yankee doodle he can be by threatening to nuke Iran out of the equations and what do we have left? He belonged to an alternative church, his wife doesn't pledge to the stupid flag, he had relations with former Weather Underground members, etc. In other words, he does not fit mold. If we wanted someone that we truly wanted in an office, that person would be painted as the next Castro for advocating a halt on unfair housing practices by landlords who are looking to get paid via gentrification. And although we could vote for that person in record numbers, whose platform would that person be on? MSP in America is like the cops of American Gangster or in Serpico's day; where no one trusts no one if they aren't about taking money. In the arena of the RNC, DNC, and all of the branches of government, you ain't being respected unless you about protecting the rich and their interests in country and abroad.
So where does that leave our hypothetical leader? An independent? Well we hate independents; they spoil elections, remember?
It is not impossible for people of color, workers etc. to get what they want and have a just society, but it's going to take more than passive voting or voting for some cookie cutter politician. It will take a movement that will be willing to even break rules and heads to empower who they want as an office leader. It must be done OUTSIDE of the frame work we are GIVEN.
If Hillary steals this nomination, & she comes to Newark NJ looking for votes, she will be booed. Cory Booker doesn't have the kind of machine that can compensate for open antipathy. & if it can happen in Newark, it can happen in Philly, Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit & Chicago. Will someone on her campaign staff please tell me how she can win the general election?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBrotherKomrade you are preaching the absolute gospel!! I've gotta sit down and blog about this, the points you are making and others you have not too important and ought to be fleshed out. Electoral politics are a complete and total sham.
ReplyDeleteFor your information Field, I happen to know some immigrants from Jamaica and Africa who did not vote yesterday (who are registered). Also, I have another Jamaican friend who voted for Hillary of all things!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much and by the way all of my peeps voted (including myself).
No matter how I feel about HRC not voting is not an option. I have no patience for people who complain but don't vote. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteMy parents are immigrants and have never missed an election in their life.
Too many people died so that we could use one of our basic rights as Americans.... to freaking vote.
Dayum, Field. You didn't just hit a home run for the straight talk. You put Ryan Howard to shame.
ReplyDeleteOne of my pet peeves is when someone doesn't vote, and then they bitch about how our government is fucked up. I always tell them that if you don't vote, you forfeited your right to bitch for four years.
I have a lot of ignorant crackers where I live. Although our country is really fucked up right now, my fellow residents are donating to Duncan Hunter's son's campaign in big numbers. In fact, the #2 Republican in my 'hood has raised more money than the top Democrat contender.
And they cling to Jesus Christ and their guns. Obama was right.
I got into a BIG argument after church on Sunday with some Caribbeans here in Geneva. They swore that Obama was going to win or come close. I said no, "He's not paying walking around money." They argued that it wasn't necessary, blah, blah, blah. "He shouldn't pay money. People will come out to vote." Yeah, right.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Philly girl, born and bred and I, unfortunately, know my peeps. They're lazy - especially when it comes to voting. If it rains, they don't vote. If the lines are long, they don't vote. We have to PAY somebody to come to their door and drag them to vote. (From what I understand, Hillary, surprisingly didn't pay either.)
More than anything I can't stand people who doesn't vote. I have gotten into SCREAMING matches berating lazy-ass people - of all colors and parties - who can't be bothered. Do you think those people who were hosed down trying to vote could be bothered? The people who were lynched?
I met an American here who hasn't lived in the States for a while. I asked her if she knew how to get her absentee ballot. She told me that she didn't want to vote because she didn't know enough about the election. Puh-leease! Every European radio and tv station and newspaper has covered this election in practically more detail than their own elections. It was everything I could do not to smack her. I know plenty of Europeans, Caribbeans, and Africans who want to vote in our election. They follow it very closely.
I'm with you, Field, on this one. I can't stand these ignorant-ass people should be put in the stocks!
Shame on Philly…For every registered voter that did not vote, they need ___________ (fill in the blank because what I want to say is not nice).
ReplyDeleteDid you get the actual numbers, if you did please share?
No I'm not crazy or a Tom , this is how she would get my vote.
ReplyDelete1. Do a special speech on race,and say how racist you were in Pennsylvania.You did everthing but burn a cross.You were phoney as hell .Getting drunk, talking about hunting and for what , to appeal to racist.
2. Appologize to Rev.Jeremicah Wright. This Veteran got death threats because of you.You never heard a sermon like that, ministers that went to college do it all the time , the effect is called a Device.He had you and your sorry ass husbands backs when your family was hurting.
3. Appologize to ALL Americans in particularly Blacks. My mother went through Jim Crow so that you racist ass can call US Nigger. You has Stephannie Tubbs-Jones call me one,Bob Johnson call me one then some sorry old ass lady call me one that I voted for before. She even said that I had it easy because I'm black.
4.Tell Fox you don't need help from those racist.Not Sean Hannity or his anti-semitic bomber friend , Bill O'reilly or his sexual molesting self.Tell the American people that there is no MSM . That white people control everthing and you're greedy and hate to share sh!t.
5. Tell them why Sen.Barack Obama could not respond to you. He could not bring up race, but you and Fox and the MSM can.He couldn't call you out of your name , but you could do that to him.
6. Have your husband appologize. We considered him a honorary black, but in reality he was bush lite. Now blacks have a choice. I was going to vote for you ,but when I see the whole USA call me Nigger and you stand there and giggle I said fuck you.Yes you are a woman but my moms a black woman and below that's me NIGGER. You do this it would be good for a start, but when I see little old black ladies from the south look at you every day on TV and get madder and madder I don't know what's up. Your in league with O'reilly, Limbaugh,Hannity ,Beck ,Medved, and eveery other bigot that want me dead.
Apologize
Tuna = brilliant.
ReplyDeleteEverything else in this post is even more brilliant.
Sorry that circumstances conspired to bring this out of you. But thanks nonetheless, Field.
Well said Field! Rock on mate.
ReplyDeleteField,
ReplyDeleteThat's what happened in Texas! You had large pockets of blacks that DIDN'T vote.
I think people are not looking at this on both sides. Is Barak working hard for the black vote? It's great that he's giving speeches in coliseums and college campuses but that does nothing for the 'WORKING CLASS' blacks. Those folks are not going to Penn State to see anybody speak. I don't care if Jesus was speaking.
Barak has no problem showing up looking uncomfortable in white areas, restaurants, gun lodges, etc. Too just assume that blacks will show up is a mistake.
The lying ass American media has people believing that black people are coming out in droves to vote for Barak. But really there are still a significant amount of blacks that are NOT voting. The white media obsesses about the ones who are voting. It scares the hell out of them! It's also a call to arms to get get the non-voting whites to actually vote. So, those toothless, pale fools are showin' up voting in LARGE numbers.
I do think black folks are naive. I told my parents weeks ago that Barak was going to loose PA. If you've followed this election closely you'd know that. So, when he lost my mother was sad. People wake up, Barak was NOT suppose to get this far.
For me it came down to the health care plan. Hillary, despite her moderate Republican (they still exist) values, had a better plan. If Obama would take the lead on real issues, he would have been my choice. Either way, the next President will be a D, if only to fix the BushMess.
ReplyDeleteMold
I think some of the comments have it wrong about Obama understanding the black community. I have been attending lectures by black historians and black ministers and they keep talking about how he's like us, but my friend from Nigeria said, "They don't get him." She teaches African history. He's got the "immigrant" culture down. He understands white folks. His wife might understand being black in America, but I have to say he doesn't seem a like who listens much. Now, this is my first time on this site and I saw it referenced on another blog, so I hope it's OK for me to post. I admit I voted for Clinton. Here's why in a nutshell. When I look at healthcare policies, energy policies, her crime policy, her record on voting for issues that concern women and children, I see her standing up for that more than the O man. She introduced legislation in Feb. while running for president that would help African women and children. So while I was really torn, I did not see evidence that Obama was actually doing anything for the black community and I still haven't. Why do these issues matter to me? Because they are the ones where we get shafted all the time.
ReplyDelete[quote]I looked at those Ward results from last night. And guess what, a lot of you Negroes didn't even vote[/quote]
ReplyDeleteDamn Field Negro - if you are attacking Black folks who didn't vote as you are......I can just imagine what you would say to Black folks who DID vote........for John McCain.
(I am not in the state any longer but my understanding is that all of the Republicans were on the ballot despite them having dropped out because they had previously qualified.)
Field Negro - MIGHT IT BE that the majority of "Black Philly" didn't vote because they have been PLAYED ENOUGH - having purged the concept of the "wonders through political victory" will actually translate into benefit for their community?
Think about how it is with our people Field Negro:
* White, by and large, folks vote thumbs up or thumbs down by voting Democrat, Republican or Third Party
* Black Folks though years of conditioning and "De-Blackification" if they violate certain rules about who we can vote for and remain a "Negro In Good Standing" now practice a "Vote for the Democrat or NOT AT ALL" mantra.
The Black Popular Political Machine must be held accountable for this state of mind. THEY are the one's who forged it. They are interested in POWER more than MEASURABLE PROGRESS WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
When the GOP and Dems must run ISSUE ADS in the rest of America while the Dems only need to provide VAN SERVICE TO THE POLLS for Black folks.....you know that YOUR INTERESTS are not being served while THEIRS ARE!!!
Philly is about 85% Democrat in its voting. Are you hoping that change will come when it hits 95%?
Field great article, and the comments are wonderful. Every body don't believe in the election process. Too alot of them hope might be gone.
ReplyDeleteFrom looking at your side bar and the murder count in your city who can possible have any hope?
Field, WTF?
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to post a picture of the Borg Queen, couldn't you at least put up a current one?
The one you posted is obviously several years ago and heavily photoshopped to make her look young and nice.
She's neither.
Field,
ReplyDeleteUp here in Berks we saw the same sort of situation, people not getting out to vote unless one of people were there to prod them. "i just got home, I don't feel like going out, it's not going to matter, he's going to win, it's not going to matter, she's more esperienced, I'll vote in the fal, blah blah blah fucking BLAH."
As to WAM, while I don't know if the Shill paid any out here, I did hear through our volunteers that her staff was trying to poach our volunteers in the runup by offering them ten an hour to come work for the Shill. Our local staff was almost entirely unpaid, except for the woman working the front desk, as far as I've heard.
For all of you who are just counting on him winning, HELL NO, do not count on it. Work it, do your part, just get to the polls and fucking vote. The fuck? If we come knocking then it's probable that we're working off the voter rolls. In other words, you're registered or we wouldn't even have your name to start with so use your vote.
If she wins then it's due to more people turning out to vote for her. Got it? We can't JUST write it off to her low ways if her ways work to get enough people off their asses to vote for her!!
Shit. People just wear me out some times.
@ Christopher,
ReplyDeleteYou are funny all the time; and you are right, the BQ aint nothin nice.
@ Field, I feel you on the non-voters. No matter how dis-enchanted I am, or disappointed, or fed up, or taken for granted, I WILL ALWAYS VOTE - even if as others noted, I have to write my candidate in. I have nightmares about my family being burned alive in South Carolina, being attacked by dogs, and beating in the streets with water fire hoses, all because they wanted us to be able to vote and participate in this country as full citizens. Sure, we are not there yet, but we will never get there if we get too tired to keep fighting. I WILL ALWAYS VOTE. I will not let their suffering go in vain. It is the same prinicple with education. I will read any damn thing I can get my hands on, because I have copies of Virginia laws that said any Negro caught reading would be arrested (and worse).
Apathy is a pathetic ass excuse. And it is the direct pathway to no damn where. Non-voting negros;who still have the right to vote (cause you know there are many of us who have paid our 'debt to society' - never mind the fact that society has not paid its debt to us - and still don't have their voting rights restored and that's some bullshit) make me sick. And when they open their mouths to complain about how the government ain't worth nothing, I want to throw a damn brick down their throats. Hell, your blues ain't like my blues, but we all got struggles. Regardless, we all have the responsibility keep tyring to do something to make our future better.
Thanks for the venting opp.
Naj in VA.
Field:
ReplyDeleteI am another annoyed person who doesn't fathom the reason why black vote is low. It took me years to get my cousins to finally vote. My cousin did not register to vote until her 50s, and one of her daughters decided to vote upon owning her first house. My immediate family always voted, my grandmother, mother who both were discouraged from voting while they lived in the south. However, once they reach New Jersey, they were able to register to vote.
I bet Fannie Lou Hamer would be turning over in her grave if she knew about the low voter turnout among blacks. I mean here is a woman was beaten and forcefully sterililzed to fight to get blacks registered to vote in Mississippi. I think it's deplorable and that's putting it mildly. And what really annoys me that they talk about politics all day long, voicing their opinions only not to take the short trip to the fire station or school to push the level that takes all of 10 seconds, if that long.
There was one time, that I did not vote and it's because I did not make home on time to get to polls, but learned to get up 6 in morning in pjs if necessary to push that level and exercise my right. I just do not understand it at all.
Please check out today's post over at my blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's something all us political bloggers ought to take a minute to think about.
Thanks,
SH
Hillary thinks that's gonna fool Liberal Jews? Give me a physical break. Sure as hell didn't fool my folks, nor me!
ReplyDeletePeople, independent ain't the answer, nor never will be in this country (Israel has joke parties, we don't. there's a reason for that. they're parlimentary...).
The republican party got taken over by crazy wackos who BRIBE churches to shill for votes. WASPy evangelical churches scare me -- places where the womenfolk won't watch TV because they'd 'rather study the bible'.
We got our chance now, to take over the Democratic party and do something real with this country.
Obama may turn out to be a regular, bigoted ol' money grubbing politician. But we've got our knives honed, in that case. If he betrays us, he's going down (politically speaking).
This is the first primary I've ever voted in, and I was glad to do it, wearing an Obama pin (that lives on my bookbag, and that I wore for a week straight through the entire city).
By the way, peeps, Obama's already won the nomination. All's done except the talking.
Damn. Free TV's at Wally World? I'm an EBP and I'd take off work to get a free TV...is it a plasma?
ReplyDeleteSpot on analysis Field. The white folks thought it was cute at first when O was winning...now they see that it's serious, they must stop it at all costs.
Brotha Field -
ReplyDeleteI'm a regular reader of your blog and agree with your take on this political season's antics most of the time...but I have to disagree with you on this one.
The majority of our folks who don't vote have little education and really don't follow elections that closely and they are in part, a large portion of an impoverished class in our community who live in the most affected neighborhoods in major cities (i.e., Killadephia, New Orleans, New York, Oakland).
They KNOW that most politicians (including some of our own) only show up when they want votes and really don't give a shit about them after elections.
Now I agree that not voting is anathema to what OUR ancestors died for but you can't really blame that part of our community; just like those bitter gun-toting, clingy white folks O' man commented on...they're bitter too BUT their bitterness about shit has been largely ignored.
For decades.
Voting, of course is an important part of participating in the "process" but how does one explain the events of 2000 and 2004 when the general election was stolen AND the majority of black voters who attempted to participate were fucked over? How does one explain the decades of ignoring and marginalizing communities of black folks by politicians, black and white?
There should have been rioting in the streets for what was a completely unconstitutional display of political chicanery by the Supreme Court...but negroes from the hood rather riot over some Rodney King shit to get a free tv (as you opined..) than over their constitutional rights. It's sad statement on our most vunerable folks but can you blame those who have endure years of political ostracizism and oppression and feel jaded about the fake-ass political process? Yeah, we keep hearing that bullshit about how our vote counts but the results are evident in poor schools, unemployment, redlining, and black incarceration rates...can these thing be attributed to a lack of voter participation?
And let's keep it real...like when we playing dominoes and talking shit, Obama appears to be a great candidate, but to many in the hood, he's just another house negro.
In my opinion, Obama has some good points but if he don't come out with some stronger shit, we'll revoke that nigga's ghetto pass.
oaktownbrotha
@grown:
ReplyDelete"The white folks thought it was cute at first when O was winning...now they see that it's serious, they must stop it at all costs."
-I've said since before the S.C. primary that since 1992 we've been told that Bill and Hillary were these BIG policy wonks BUT when Obama stopped being a novelty (Look! A black man running for President! Ain't he cute!)and bacame a competitor, Bill & Hillary didn't talk policy; they went right for the race card.
If she is the nominee, she won't get my vote.
Don't talk to me about the Supreme Court justices; Hillary will vote for whomever the Republicans want as long as she gets something from the Republicans in return.
Field, Don't be too hard on these brothers, the disenfranchised don't see the opportunity vote as making a difference. But I do feel your pain. I mean, this is the first time in ALL of our lifetime that there is a viable Black person running for POTUS, we may never see this opportunity again, who knows.
ReplyDeleteIf we have to give brothers WAM, then so be it. It would not be the first time or the last, that a candidate has purchased votes. After all, that's how this thing works.
Fireld... two things. First, do you know if Hillary handed out walk around money in Philadelphia?
ReplyDeleteSecond, do you think that Ed Rendell would be a viable VP candidate for Obama?
peace, Villager
great post (as usual)... I'm hearing conflicting reports of the clinton take, what's the word from the field?
ReplyDeletehope it's cool I added your site to the mouse's blogroll -
While I'm not down with Hillary's "new math", or personal attacks, she has a point- Obama lost the large electoral states of Mass.,Cal, Oh., Pa., TX, NY and NJ within his own party.
ReplyDeleteThat said- rules are rules.
Black folks did not vote? I'm shocked, shocked.
ReplyDeleteAlso reporting from Philly, when I went to vote I figured it was so empty because there is a polling place like every two blocks.
ReplyDeleteLater that I night I had the SAME conversation with a confused Negro that you had, who proudly declared that he doesnt vote because Bush stole the election and its clear "they" can do whatever they want, so theres no point, noithing is going to change. When I asked what he was going to do INSTEAD he replied "Nuffin', I'mma do me."
By the way, I heard on Washington Journal this morning that Rev. Wright is going to address the National Press Club, I think on April 28. THAT should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteOaktownbrotha: You live in Oakland? So do I. I hear the kind of excuses you made here all the time about why kids drop out of school, why there is so much crime, etc. You should know that a lot of educated black folk don't vote either. I was shocked to listen to my nephew's wife, a lawyer, discussing how many of her peers don't have time for politics. Please don't roll out the same tired excuses for why black people don't take care of business. I am so over blaming everything on poor black people. The black folks in my neighborhood living on Section 8 may not own cars, but they darn sure have cable and satellite dishes. Especially the ones pulling in all that good drug money.
ReplyDeleteAs for my upper middle class friends and relatives, who I truly dearly love,in the midst of this crimewave in Oakland, you know what they are doing? Not a damn thing. I've tried to get them participate in rallys, petitions, meetings, etc. and they are so not interested.
We are too hard on our people, we turned out in record numbers to vote against Bush, what happened? so many blacks are disenfrachised, why blame them? whoever runs promises many things, once in office our issues are generally ignored.
ReplyDeleteI take offense at the comment about Rodney King, I am from LA and we were tired of getting beat on and harassed by the police and our anger boiled over, and like so many the commenter believed the media hype, it was all about looting.What has changed? In Las Vegas upteen numbers of unarmed black men and women have been killed by the police. I cannot blame a person for feeling helpless in this society.
When I look at history in America, our kids are still being taught about Massa 's superiority, unarmed blacks are still being killed, racist comments are all over the web. Black ppl are so hard on black ppl, we are supposed to be perfect. Whites never yell and scream and demean their own, but Black ppl will get on TV, the Internet, anywhere and put each other down. Where is the positive motivation, seems we still worried about what massa thinks, "we ain't like those lazy negroes, wes betta" Every black blog I go on puts down blacks, how many white blogs do?I live in a mixed city,poor whites and poor black act the same, why not diss the poor whites for not voting, for giving the same reasons as the black ppl for not voting, black ppl love to complain. Try a differnet approach, try uplifting and stop complaining. and everyone putting ppl down stop the police from killing us and then I will listen to your constant complaints
imhotep, I don't want to be hard on these brothers....but...I will leave it alone. Maybe in another post I will explain my frustration.
ReplyDeleteBO,i don't have time to break it down ward by ward for you,but in the heavily Af.Am.wards,well over 100,000 did not vote.
I think adam692 might be on to somethinhg with the "O" man,but that doesn't excuse folks not voting for him or Hillary.
Villager,Hillary didn't hand out WAM either,although I heard she gave some unions money on the low.
As for fast Eddie for VP, I heard a little of that too.That wouldn't be a bad choice for the "O" man.He could lock up the Jewish vote with that pick (now Florida would be in play) and fast Eddie is a good politician.
Thanks mouse,and as soon as I get home and out of the court room plantation I will add you as well.
"Imma do me".Thembi, now I know you are from Philly:)
I believe that voting is nothing more than a symbolic gesture. I still vote for the simple fact that my ancestors died in order for me to vote, but I am not naive enough to think that once I do vote that things are going to get better. If we are waiting on a politician to make our lives better and believe that voting is the end-game, then we have already lost. Just as brotherkomrade stated, "It must be done OUTSIDE of the frame work we are GIVEN."
ReplyDeleteSo hit the streets, organize. Don't wait on some darn politician to come and save you. The saying shouldn't be vote or die, it should be organize or die!!!
"I think adam692 might be on to somethinhg with the "O" man,but that doesn't excuse folks not voting for him or Hillary."
ReplyDeleteI think that is the problem that many people don't seem to understand about many people who don't vote. The only viable choices are between those two and if neither of them speak to their interest, then what is the point of voting. Because believe it or not, everybody doesn't believe in "hold their nose" and vote strategy because in the end what does that achieve?
Pookie, Jamal, Junebug and LaTameka aren't voting. (read that twice) That's a huge chunk of the 100K black folks who didn't vote. Barak Obama or anybody else means nothing to them and wouldn't do anything for them if they did vote. Can anybody explain what Barak is going to do address the needs of urban America besides making a speech?
ReplyDeleteBut all of you want those people to cancel hard fought nail and hair appointments to take 2 buses and the metro AND stand in line for 3-5 hours to vote for someone who won't do a damn thing for them. Yes, that makes sense.
America does not give a shit about poor or working class people whether they're black or white. Black folks know this! But the white working class are still in denial.
We are a capitalistic society - hello! So, giving a shit about the poor, or working class and the disenfranchised ain't gonna happen.
You are right. Let's all stay home and let the grown-ups decide our fate. Like the good children that we are. We shouldn't worry our wooly heads over 'dis 'ere white folks' goin' ons.
ReplyDelete"Pistolvania"?? Where I come from it's called Pennsyltucky.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous I feel you on Black folks being hard on one another, which is why I try to go light on my analysis on this election circus. But yall we got to give another way a chance. Thank you brother Komrade and sister Kai for saying what you did. I usually am ignored as if I lost my mind by suggesting a third way. But like Fidel Castro once said history will absolve me. We have given the Democrats the Republicans and petit bourgeousie Indendents plenty chances to get it right. It was Malcolm X who folks love to quote but are loathe to follow, who proclaimed that, "both the Democrats and the Republicans have sold us out." What do we have to lose? Our chains?
ReplyDeleteAnd brother Field I feel you on brothers not voting but by not voting they are actually voicing their lack of confidence in the processes ability to bring relief to their situation. If we are honest we know history has revealed that they have failed us all over and over again.
And what Fannie Lou Hammer would be rolling over in her grave about Hennasplace is the failure to vote or fight for what we really want.
Fannie Lou Hamer put her life on the line not just because she registered people to vote but because she challenged the very right of the Mississippi delegation to be seated because they were not fully representative of the people of Mississippi and thus she organized the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, whose very existence condemned the sham process. She voted with her feet for exactly what she wanted which was full representation and not partial seats at the table and empty promises.
liberation then peace
It really is hard to be taken seriously when you don't vote.
ReplyDeleteWhen kneegrows complain to me about the "bad ole white folks", I remind them that WE have discovered the ememy and it is US.
I like your approach better. I will read and learn.
Thanx
J Paul Ghetto
Midtown Detroit
lee coles, AGAIN you are reciting hillary talking points. why can't she close the deal with all her advantages against the rookie...huh? she won the big states is a bullshit argument. why even have a vote in all those little puny other states. they don't desrve a say because...why exactly. anyhow the big state strategy has sucked balls in both 2000 and 2004. obama spreads his net wide forcing the repubs to play defense in colorado and virginia and the dakotas. they can't touch him in wisconsin and minnesota and iowa where hillary will have to scratch for her win. they are different candidates with different gameplans. and obama will win the big states in the fall and hillary knows that. in fact he would probably beat her in california if they were voting now rather than two months ago. hillary can't win the southern states. why not? thats a real question for her to answer. i am very concerned about why that is.
ReplyDelete"And brother Field I feel you on brothers not voting but by not voting they are actually voicing their lack of confidence in the processes ability to bring relief to their situation. If we are honest we know history has revealed that they have failed us all over and over again."
ReplyDeletemellaneous, I understand this position, but you are giving ssome of these folks way too much credit. They have no idea who or what can or will relief to their situation because they don't care. They are too busy enjoying whatever the hell it is the happen to be doing for the moment.
Trust me on this one, I agree with j paul ghetto,esquire, "The enemy is US"
"Pistolvania"?? Where I come from it's called Pennsyltucky."
Or PennsylBama. jim I will take them all :)
Lee Coles said...
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not down with Hillary's "new math", or personal attacks, she has a point- Obama lost the large electoral states of Mass.,Cal, Oh., Pa., TX, NY and NJ within his own party.
That said- rules are rules.
-Yeah, and bullshit is bullshit.
Fifteen months ago:
Hillary has name recognition, a bag full of endorsements, a humongous campaign warchest, a nice background story and a battle-tested campaign staff.
Fifteen months later...SHE"S LOSING!
dear field, i was talking just now with my wife about the election. we were talking about the swiftboats. i was saying they are trying to root out the anti american deviant in obama because that can be the only explanation behind his 2002 speech against the iraq war. the patriot test begins with did you support this lunacy. so the lunatics make the sane seem loony, using guilt by association with those whose sanity has actually driven them insane, like the weatherman guy. my wife said sounds mccarthyistic. i said yes and hillary has condoned and employed this tactic. disgusting and unacceptable. i think that is reason to stay home in the unlikely event she wins the nomination. are you really sure you would vote for her?
ReplyDeleteField,
ReplyDeleteYet another great post followed by great comments! I agree with you on this one AND empathize with those who are apathetic for all the reasons brotherkomorade, kai and mellaneous have given. That said however, for me, having grown up in the Deep South, not voting, in ANY election, on ANY issue is not an option. So Field, I’m glad you brought this up. I can hear it coming from supporters of the “O” man, but since we’re talking about not voting, can I talk about voting?
Along with the presidential nominee, there were two very important local issues on the ballot about which a shitload of Black people did not care enough to go to the polls and vote:
-VERIFIABLE PAPER BALLOT-important BECAUSE of the Shrub selection/Katherine Harris bullshit in 2000)
-AMENDMENT1 (property tax relief amendment for the wealthy -IMHO- put on the ballot BY THE REPUBLICANS hoping not enough Dems would turn out to defeat it - they were right, it passed) which has since resulted in a cut to the schools budget! Like our schools (particularly those in Black/Latino neighborhoods since that's where the cutting starts first!) can afford THAT!
When they saw this Black man might just have a chance at sitting on that throne and their apathy might possibly give Hill an edge, THEN they said, “Oh shit!” - said they stayed home because they were told their vote wouldn’t count. Nobody told them their vote wouldn’t count regarding the damn paper trail or the amendment that would further hamstring an already hamstrung school system! Shit, we live here!
THEN they got pissed, brought in Rev. Sharpton talking about suing if the votes were allowed to count. Suing to disenfranchise OUR Black asses because we gave a damn about our schools getting worse, about them not pulling the okey-doke again in the general. Suing to punish those of us who got the hell up and did exactly what Field is talking about DESPITE the fact that we were told the nominee vote wouldn't count!
When there's a Black man running for president, damned if you do, damned if you don't it seems.
Whew!! Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
I'm sorry to say that I agree with only half of what Field is saying here.
ReplyDeleteI understand the frustration that sits underneath the desire to have all Blacks turn out to vote.
But then when I get to the impact of voting, to the point of analyzing what happens after the vote is cast, I part company with Field. I come down on the side of BrotherKomrade, Kai, and Mellaneous.
At the federal level (President/VP, Senators, Representatives) voting is totally corrupted by several things: the influence of money, the manipulation of votes, and at the Pres/VP level, the Electoral College process.
A self-respecting and intellectually honest Black person should step back from the earnest desire to see Obama taken as a legitimate candidate (a symbolic victory), and look at what has happened with the votes that were cast.
And remember what happened in Florida!! Black folks turned away from polls via lies and via thuggish intimidation. Ballots designed to confuse many voters. Corruption of the state election system via a racist Governor (Jeb Bush) and Secretary of State (Katherine Harris). And to top it all off, the US Supreme Court decided wrongly in Bush v Gore.
Field is a lawyer, he ought to know all about the result of Bush v Gore. It is the most unconstitutional decision since Dred Scott or Korematsu. It is pathetic politics.
It is very likely hard for optimistic Black folks to see the corruption that exists, when Barack Obama has made it to the final cut for the Donkey Party. But don't you folks see -- that is the VERY REASON why Obama has been allowed to get there.
Can't you take a moment to see things honestly? Obama is funded by the same people who fund Hillary Clinton and John McCain (Wall Street, big Businesses) and who fund Bush-Cheney. Obama is advised by a team of pro-Bush-Cheney people. Obama has voted consistently since 2006 to give Bush-Cheney whatever they have requested of the US Senate.
People, if you want a Black person who will appreciate and honor the struggle of Black America, you need to get behind Cynthia McKinney. She is the one who will stand up to Bush-Cheney and the corporate machine. She is the one who was railroaded out of her seat in Georgia by HER OWN PARTY, the Georgia Democrats -- because she stood up to Bush-Cheney.
To use Field's own chosen phrase, Barack Obama is a House Negro. The fact that his skin color and name have African tones doesn't change that.
Hey there!
ReplyDeleteThe Field Negro did not just say "PISTOLVANIA"!! *lol*
That is just so wrong on so many levels! But it's darn funny though! *lol*
Thanks for the chuckles,
Lisa
It's simple, McCain will be the next POTUS. America will never be ready for a Black or woman president, and the fact that Hillary is still in it proves the first point.
ReplyDeleteCome November, this racist ass country will show it's true, retarded ass colors when McCain waltz'es in - and it won't be because of a lack of the Black vote!
Peace kiddies!