"Can't we all just get along"?

*

There is so much angst and anger in A-merry-ca these days and the natives are just taking things out on each other. (Rodney, that was a famous quote, but if your ass was around today you wouldn't have been alive to make it. That was BO. Before Obama.) Sadly, those charged with protecting the reservation are on edge as well. They do things that we don't expect them to, but when they do we are no longer surprised.

We have all seen the video from the land of Starbucks by now. No need to dwell on the obvious. Girlfriend was seventeen. I know, I know, she was rude,belligerent, and ignorant, (these kids need some serious home training)but that overhand right (Or was it a left?) shouldn't have been put on a girl. -Or any woman for that matter- Had that been a female police officer dusting it up with this jaywalker I wouldn't have tripped, but watching a man go all Mike Tyson on a woman is not cool. I don't care if he is wearing a uniform. And who the hell catches a beat down for jaywalking?

I don't think I am going to ever get like my man Francis Holland with the W.A.A.M. self help group. BTW, that's an acronym for "whites are after me". You gotta love Francis. But man the s*&t out hear is depressing. And this is not only about white folks gone wild. Humans have gone wild. (I still can't get over the two year old that those animals shot to death in Chester.) But when humans charged to protect me go wild, there is an added dimension to my anxiety and exasperation.

There is more:

"Five current or former New Orleans police officers were indicted in federal court Friday in the shooting death of a man in the days after Hurricane Katrina and burning of his body.
Federal prosecutors allege that one NOPD officer fatally shot 31-year-old Henry Glover without justification, and that other officers burnt Glover's body and left it in a torched car beside a levee. The 11-count indictment also alleges two other officers lied and helped cover up the incident.

Charged are former officers David Warren and Lt. Robert Italiano, and three current cops, Lt. Travis McCabe, Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann and Officer Greg McRae . "[Article] (h/t Michael A down in Nola)

Of course, this was before Obama, before our post racial A-merry-ca. This was when there was real angst and tension on our reservation. Not anymore, Obama changed all that....

Sorry Francis, I don't need "W.A.A.M." therapy just yet. I have to figure out who is really after me, first.

*Pic courtesy of AOL....OK, that's bullshit! Pic lifted from AOL. :)

"The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet.”

I thought about blogging about President Obama's oval office address and his well scripted talk with the A-merry-can people. I thought about blogging about the despicable Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, who- along with other despicable acts- refuses to go along with her state's Clemency Board and allow a wrongfully convicted man (my opinion) to be freed after 28 years in prison.

I thought about blogging about them, but I can't; not after reading the following story:

"At 11:08 a.m. yesterday, 2-year-old Terrence Webster died from a bullet wound to his head.
"He died on his own, thank God for that," said Robin Powell, Webster's maternal grandmother, who had sat vigil by the Chester tot's bedside. "We wouldn't have ever been able to make the decision to take his tiny body off of life support."

While grateful that his soul will rest in peace, Powell is enraged that a killer stole his life away before he had a chance to live it.

Webster was returning home with his parents, Tisheta Green, 25, and Thomas Webster, 26, and his 4-year-old brother, Thomas "T.J." Webster Jr., to their apartment in a public-housing development on 9th Street about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when a gunman ambushed the family.
Powell said that the four were able to escape gunfire outside of the home and get inside, but when the unidentified gunman shot two bullets through the door, one of them struck Thomas Webster in the hand and then hit Terrence in the head.

The other bullet struck Green in her left leg, police and family said. Friends said that Green didn't know she was shot until after she arrived at the hospital, cradling her bleeding son in her arms.

The only member of the family to escape physically unharmed was T.J., Powell said.
More than a dozen friends and relatives gathered in Powell's Brookhaven home yesterday evening to mourn Terrence, lovingly known as "Lil' Pop" because of his affection for Pop-Tarts. "He was bright," Powell said. "He was sunshine."

As the Rev. Calvin Williams led the group in prayer in a steamy living room with the curtains closed, Powell sobbed into the leg where her daughter had been shot. Green herself said nothing, as she lay on the couch, overcome with anguish and pain.

It's been less than two months since Powell mourned the death of her own son, Thomas Lee "Bear-Bear" Green Jr., 23, who was shot and killed on April 17. His alleged killer, 16-year-old Omar Rashad Hooks, has been arrested. Police have not yet released a motive in that slaying.
"We just did this," Powell said. "It ain't even been two months and I'm grieving again. Our family is really close. We just don't live the way our children died."

Powell said that T.J., Terrence's brother, has been traumatized by what he witnessed.
"He's scared to death of the dark and loud noises now," she said." [More]

"Bear-Bear", huh? ....OK, so we are killing two year old children now? I was going to write some things about this story as well, but I changed my mind. Maybe sometimes "silence is golden."

And,well, maybe not.........let me close with this:

The president was eloquently speaking about making the Gulf and the people who work there whole again. He spoke about all kinds of commissions and blue ribbon panels who will be made up of some of the country's finest minds to work on the problem. That's great. But long after the Gulf is cleaned up and BP has reorganized, (thanks to a bankruptcy judge) the next Terrence Webster will be buried, and we will all be just as outraged at his death. Just don't expect any blue ribbon commissions or oval office addresses. As is the case with this two year old victim, the President won't even know he existed.

“Today, as we look to the gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude,”

Oh the irony of it all.

You have nothing to fear from this "HNIC". Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Congressmen from North Carolina.

With all due respect to F. Scott Fitzgerald; there are "second acts in American lives".

Take my man G. Gordon Liddy, for example. You remember G. Gordon Liddy don't you? He is the convicted burglar and liar who spent four years in prison for his role in one of the most ignominious acts in A-merry-can history.

And now this charlatan is a popular right wing radio host with mainstream credibility. He accommodates like minded people on his radio program who are allowed to say things like this:

"...the President has demonstrated that he has a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race - on the side that favors the black person."

Who elects these people? The aptly named Steven King (it's all about the horror) said those words while discussing his O ness with my man G. Gordon. But Mr. King has some history, so his comments about O was not that surprising. And it fits a pattern. Glenn Beck parroted the same narrative when talking about Obama hating white people, recently:

"Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with "a deep seated hatred for white people"'

I don't know, I guess when a person who looks like others you have had a hidden fear of all your life has the codes to the button, it's time to get a little nervous. He is, after all, the most powerful person on earth. We just can't have him hating the wingnut white guy now can we.

Still, Beck and Liddy promoting and participating in that type of talk is one thing; but hearing a congressman talk that way is scary. Even for a guy named Steven King.

And speaking of congressman, I just want to give a shout out to that politrickster from North Carolina who went all MMA on the little wingnut with the camera. * in my best haughty, pompous, young republican, college student voice* "Hi congressman, do you fully support the Obama agenda?" Give me a break! This is where the politrickster should have asked the wanna be Radio Rwanda reporter just what the hell his agenda, was. Instead, he asked him, "Who are you?" No! No! No! No! You already know who he is. He is a little wingnut trying to score political favors by playing gotcha with some democratic pol. You ask him nothing. You clock the little wanna be Radio Rwanda reporter and act as surprised as he is. You tell everyone that he was approaching you, and that you thought he was coming to do you bodily harm, so you reacted. How is that for a You Tube moment?

And how old is that congressman? Seventy? And that kid is begging him to let go of his arms? "Sir, please let go of my arm."

Sorry I don't live in your district, Bob. That would have been one extra vote for you.

Why?

There are things in life that just makes you want to say why. [like this, for instance] You always think about these things when you come across certain stories: Like the one about the folks at the World Cup wanting to ban the vuvuzelas because a bunch of players are whining about their concentration. Please. Personally, I love the "swarm of locusts" type sound that the horns give off. They are unique to South Africa and the fans in the region and they should stay.

Also, they are raiding Sizzler Restaurants in Arizona. Why? Are the undocumented workers busting it in the kitchen going to make the steaks into weapons of mass destruction?

And finally, I have a serious question: If you are young, single, and wealthy; and you play the most important position on a team in the country's most glamorous and prestigious league, why are you in a strip club at three in the morning? (Vince, does the name "Big Ben" mean anything to you?)

The strip club? I guess my man didn't get the memo about no "sex being in the champagne room." And even if there was sex, why would you need to go to the champagne room to get it? Come on Vince, let's start treating life as if it's your Titans play book: with a seriousness of purpose. You have way too much talent to waste.

Justified?

I would have posted earlier tonight, but I just stopped laughing long enough to actually try and post something. Why was I laughing, you say? Well I will tell you why: While riding in my car earlier today, I heard a host on some local talk show wonder out loud about the number of "AFRICAN AMERICANS PLAYING ON THE BRITISH SOCCER TEAM" ???????? Let that sink in a minute.........Yep, he really said that. See why I was laughing? Help us lawd!!!!

Anywhoo, I don't really want to get a rep as a racism chaser...... and if it wasn't a slow news night I wouldn't even post the following story. But someone sent it to me and I thought it would be interesting to see how different people react to the same video.

It's another case of the po po gone wild in yet another urban outpost of A-merry-ca. Now, to be fair, being a po po anywhere is a tough job, so please believe that I understand when they go close to the line sometimes. Still, I don't think they should ever cross that line. No matter how stressed they are.

So now comes the following story from my man Dr. Boyce over at AOL Black Voices: (I swear this man has better Air R's than I do.)

"I am not quite sure what to make of the ruffled YouTube video that is now scouring the web out of Paterson, New Jersey. In the video, the woman filming, who mentions that her mother works in the sheriff's office, is taping a New Jersey police officer holding a black man to the ground. The man clearly has his hands behind his back and appears to be restrained. As the woman videos the incident from a distance, the officer inexplicably grabs the man, turns him around and puts pepper spray into his eyes. He appears to do it twice...."

Dr. Boyce has obviously made up his mind. After seeing the video, how about you?

"Excuse me, but don't I know you from somewhere?"

It's Friday night, and as I continue my journey with you, my fellow travelers, while pursuing the A-merry-can dream, there is so much that I could be blogging about:

Racism in Indy. Africa hosting the World Cup and all the issues, both internal and external that comes with the turf. BP still acting the fool. And, speaking of the World Cup and BP; like a well scripted play, the A-merry-cans and the Brits face off tomorrow on the World Cup pitch.

But of all the stories that t I could be blogging about, none fascinates me more than one coming out of the state of Florida.

"Alex and Donna Voutisinas of Boynton Beach, Fla., met and fell in love at work, and they were about to get married when they realized they had crossed paths before ... as kids at Disney World.The couple was looking through old family pictures for their wedding video when they came across a picture of a then 5-year old-Donna and her brothers at Disney World and realized Alex's dad was pushing him in a stroller in the background, WPTV.com reports. At the time, Donna's family had just moved to Florida from New York, and Alex's family lived in Canada."It's unbelievable," Donna says. "I still get chills to this day."

Wow! Talk about Karma! My spirituality meter is really low, but this story gives me the chills.

I wonder how often stuff like that happens? I bet it does all the time, we are just not fortunate enough to catch it on camera. But we have all been there: Sometimes that pick up line isn't just a line. Sometimes you really do feel like you know her from somewhere. And now, we know, that maybe, just maybe, you do.

I meet people who are supposed to be strangers all the time (sometimes in places that I have never been) and I swear that I have seen them before.

"Excuse me, haven't I seen you somewhere before?" "Yes, we met at Disney World when you were in your stroller and I was, like, three." "Yep, I thought you looked familiar."

I swear these people better stay married. Because If they don't, I fear something bad might happen. You don't want to mess with karma. [More]

THE STRANGE TALE OF ALVIN M. GREENE

You know what I love about A-merry-ca? Everybody can be somebody. All it takes is a little drive and a willingness to put yourself out there.

Unless you have been on another planet for the last couple of days, I am sure you have heard about my man Alvin Greene by now. Seems old Alvin was an unemployed military vet who was recently accused of committing a felony (one allegedly involving sex no less). Yep, Alvin, if he wins, could be sitting in the halls of power as a registered sex offender. Hey, at least, unlike the other [non registered] sex offenders in congress, we will all know who Alvin is.

But seriously, how could this happen? I told you all there is something in the water in South Carolina. Now the dems smell a rat, and they want answers. Poor Jim Clyburn is quite upset:

"COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 3 Democrat in the U.S. House called on federal authorities Thursday to investigate how an unemployed South Carolina military veteran entered and won the state's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

"Here is Alvin Greene, unemployed, he goes into the Democratic headquarters and pays $10,000. That's no little bit of money for an unemployed person," House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said. "This guy, who is he? Where did he come from?"
Greene, 32, stunned the Democratic Party establishment Tuesday night when he handily defeated Vic Rawl, a four-term state lawmaker and former judge, for the party's nomination. Rawl, who had campaigned little but already raised $186,000, was forced to scrap a fundraiser planned for Thursday night.

Greene has not reported any fundraising, run any ads, or put up signs or a website in his challenge of Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. He had been considered such a long shot that neither his opponent nor the media bothered to check his background, which includes a November arrest on a charge of felony obscenity.

"There are a number of things that are taking place in the South Carolina political process that I find suspicious," Clyburn said. "I believe there's a coordinated effort to circumvent state and federal laws and seriously subvert the electoral process. Something needs to be done."
Greene, who says he left the military last August after 13 years in the Army and Air Force, has said he paid the $10,440 filing fee by saving up two years of his service pay. On Thursday, Clyburn said he's skeptical Greene paid the fee himself and demanded that federal authorities investigate where the money came from. " [story]

What are you suggesting Jim? That repubs fronted the money for Alvin? Come on Jim, why would they do that? I know Alvin was unemployed, but he might have had some money saved up.

"In Washington, the head of the committee to elect Democrats to the Senate tried to distance himself from the South Carolina primary results.
'South Carolina is not a place I'm focused on a lot," said Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "I'm simply saying the DSCC is not engaged."'

Bob, I don't blame you. I would distance myself from all things South Carolina my damn self. At least until we can find out what's going on down there.

THE ALIEN IN OUR HOUSE!

Please read what Dorothy Rabinowitz, writing in the WSJ, had to say about his O ness:

"The deepening notes of disenchantment with Barack Obama now issuing from commentators across the political spectrum were predictable. So, too, were the charges from some of the president's earliest enthusiasts about his failure to reflect a powerful sense of urgency about the oil spill.

There should have been nothing puzzling about his response to anyone who has paid even modest critical attention to Mr. Obama's pronouncements. For it was clear from the first that this president—single-minded, ever-visible, confident in his program for a reformed America saved from darkness by his arrival—was wanting in certain qualities citizens have until now taken for granted in their presidents. Namely, a tone and presence that said: This is the Americans' leader, a man of them, for them, the nation's voice and champion. Mr. Obama wasn't lacking in concern about the oil spill. What he lacked was that voice—and for good reason.
Those qualities to be expected in a president were never about rhetoric; Mr. Obama had proved himself a dab hand at that on the campaign trail. They were a matter of identification with the nation and to all that binds its people together in pride and allegiance. These are feelings held deep in American hearts, unvoiced mostly, but unmistakably there and not only on the Fourth of July.

A great part of America now understands that this president's sense of identification lies elsewhere, and is in profound ways unlike theirs. He is hard put to sound convincingly like the leader of the nation, because he is, at heart and by instinct, the voice mainly of his ideological class. He is the alien in the White House, a matter having nothing to do with delusions about his birthplace cherished by the demented fringe. .."

That is a stunning pronouncement coming from a major columnist writing for a major A-merry-can newspaper.

"The alien in the White House" is what she is calling a man who was elected by a majority vote to be our country's leader. By writing that Obama doesn't identify with real A-merry-cans (as if George Bush did. I sure as hell didn't identify with the SOB. But then, I suppose, I am a globalist like Obama) what she is really saying is that nothing about him -from his name, to his skin tone, to his biological history- says A-merry-can. He is not one of us, so he can't relate. The reason that he has been facing criticism for his handling of the BP oil spill, is not because of his cool seemingly detached way of methodically dealing with problems, but rather his "un- affiliation" with the real A-merry-ca.

His "sense of identification lies elsewhere"? I wonder just where in the hell that would be? Africa? Indonesia?Cuba? Russia? Canada? Where? That, my friends, is a revealing and amazingly risible statement. But this is what masquerades for intellectualism in A-merry-ca these days. Rather than attack the man for his policies that might have led to this particular disaster (although I blame Bush, his former side kick, and BP) or even his style of handling things, we get this: that he is not really one of us. Imagine that: Our president is not one of us. Amazing!

"He is the alien in the White House, a matter having nothing to do with delusions about his birthplace cherished by the demented fringe."

Dorothy, I have news for you, you belong to that "fringe" as well. [Article]

HERB, BEER, OR CIGARETTES? OR SHOULD WE JUST LET OBAMA RAP ABOUT IT?

This is a good way to start this post because the World Cup is fast approaching. But I was a pretty good football (soccer) player in high school, and I played for a club side in Jamaica that traveled to various rural venues to play different teams. On one such outing we played in a little village called Royal Flat, (Only you true yawdies will know where this is) and as is usually the case at such venues, because many folks have a literal interpretation of Psalms 104:14, the smell of the good collie weed was in the air. No biggie. But then, while glancing around the crowd, I saw one of those images that has stayed with me all my life: There, on the sidelines, was a kid who couldn't gave been more than eight or nine, -dreadlocks flowing- with a big fat spliff hanging from his mouth. And what was just as amazing is that none of the people in the crowd even seemed to notice or care. Still, I guess it's beats smoking a damn cigarette. What is it comedian George Wallace used to say? "The world has gone crazy."

Now fast forward. Here I am in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, far removed from those days on the rock. I am chilling with my morning coffee, (Community from Louisiana, it's a Mrs. Field thing) when the reporter leads the morning news with this. Talk about deja vu. WTF? The Rastafarian kid might have been on some sort of religious mission. I mean some religions baptize their kids at an early age, so I get the whole ritualistic possibilities of what he might have been doing. (Unlike the little rug rat who is just hooked on cigarettes in Indonesia) But a beer at the ball game for a kid who couldn't have been more than ten?

I swear these fans in Philly never cease to embarrass the hell out of me. But field, are you sure it was beer. I mean his mother or father could have put his milk in a beer bottle. Well, yes, I suppose it could. And now, the Phillies, in order to save face, are saying that the little frat boy in training might have been drinking from an empty bottle. (Memo to MLB; removing the video clips from your broadcast won't make it go away.) Yeah, OK, well he was sure enjoying the hell out of that empty bottle.

And look, I know that things aren't always as they might appear. Videos sometimes lie. Have you heard the latest about Obama? Seems folks are claiming he was in a 90's rap video ,aptly named: "Whoomp there it is". I swear you can't make this s*&t up. Although, I must admit, dude does look like his O ness. Oh stop it field, you know they say we all look alike. You of all people should know better. OK, let me stop.

But on a serious note, if that was beer in that little party animal's bottle, his parents got some "splaining" to do. I laughed when I saw the little dread back in the day, but I am older now, and that s@#^ ain't funny no more.

Is red the new black?

That's my man Charles Lollar in the pic. Charles is running as a republican to go to Congress from Maryland's 5th District. I don't know much about Charles, he seems like a nice enough guy. (Thank you for your service!) Although I wasn't pleased to read this:

"Chances of winning: Lollar, who recently solicited money from donors at a Maryland bar decorated with a Confederate flag, is fighting an uphill battle against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer."

Not cool Charles, not cool.

Still, maybe I spoke too soon about that republican tent being too small. Seems that there is a profusion of black folks running as republicans this coming political season. -The most since reconstruction-And I, for one, am happy about it. I don't think that they are "delusional" as some would suggest. We need fresh ideas and a diversity of views to bring to the political table. Seems that there is no shortage of black folks willing to climb up on the back of the elephant. (Including some dude named Issac Hayes, a 26 year old who used to work for Newt, some candidates with tea party backing, my girl Angela and some cat named Vaughn Corrogan:

"After losing his middle-management job at US Airways following 9/11, Vaughn started a limousine company and a female clothing line, Vaughn Wear. He's also a deacon at his church."

Vaughn, you might have needed to sit this one out.

Anyway, of the 35 candidates named by the New York Times, I am guessing that maybe four or five of them have a legitimate shot at winning their primary. I think they will find that getting republicans in certain states to fork over money to the Negro candidate will be much easier to do in theory than in the real world. But we will see. And then, of course, there is the fact that many of them are political neophytes, so they were going to be behind the eight ball with the party machine in their various states to begin with.

What this all proves, of course, is that the political landscape is changing. Whether this "Motley Crew" represents a good change is left to be seen. Contrary to popular belief, black folks have shown that they will be willing to vote for the person who they perceive to have their best interest at heart. If that means voting for the white guy over the candidate who looks like they do, well then, so be it. Just ask Artur Davis in Alabama. He thought that being black and being a democrat was enough. It wasn't.

So if folks are picking up what these republican candidates are putting down it will be all good for them. But if they are not...well, see Artur Davis.

The other problem, of course, is that many of these candidates are running in republican primaries, so they have to speak to the interest of their constituents. And the last time I checked ...well let's just say that you aren't going to get any future first round NBA draft picks out of any of these districts. Tacking to the right and then tacking to the center is always tricky for politricksters. And for the black republican politrickster, it is even more so.

"President Barack Obama and San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi are implementing policies that are destroying our conservative Mississippi values. ... No one will defend and promote our conservative Mississippi values more vigorously."

I hear you Angela, but here is the paradox:

"Chances of winning: Though media savvy, McGlowan will have a tough time running against state Sen. Allan Nunnelee in the primary."

Nunnelee is a part of that conservative Mississippi machine with the old school values you so fervently embrace. The problem is, Angela, they don't embrace you.

The faux revolutionaries: The rise of the "Noisy Negroes".

I sit on the board of a very good organization here in Philly. It's an up and coming 501(c) whose founder (Shout out to Malika) does great work with helping at risk young ladies get themselves together. I remember during the early stages of getting her organization off the ground, the group's founder would have various meetings and head sessions with so called leaders from different areas in the city. Some of these so called leaders talked a great game,-we could barely get trough meetings because of all the talking- and they were always down for whatever. As long, of course, as they were just talking about it. I suspect that they would be much like some people who comment on this board with very strong feelings about certain groups in various parts of the world. The thing is, when this young lady needed funding to help get her organization off the ground, these down ass leaders were nowhere to be found. When she needed actual volunteers to help out with various projects, these down ass leaders were nowhere to be found. This is typical of an individual I like to call the faux revolutionary, or the "Noisy Negro". They talk a lot, but that's about all they do: Talk.

I have issues with the tea party folks and the wingnuts who organize around right wing causes, but I will never accuse them of just talking a lot. They actually organize and put their boots on the ground, and they usually aren't afraid to write a check. They will walk to the voting booth, to Washington, and to the office of their local elected representatives. The farthest the "Noisy Negro" will walk is to his or her television to watch whatever, or to his or her computer to comment on a blog in order to cement his or her "Noisy Negro" status. Oh, and they will walk to meetings to talk if they can have the floor. That's just what "Noisy Negroes" do.

I suspect that's why many of our communities are in the shape they are in. We have "Noisy Negroes" in the pulpit, "Noisy Negroes" in city hall, and "Noisy Negroes" masquerading as community leaders.

"Noisy Negroes" are cool sometimes because they keep us entertained. They represent a kind of minstrel show, a comic relief from life. But sometimes we need a little more than just comic relief. Sometimes we need to get serious. These are serious times that call for serious actions. But I know that we won't get anything -even faintly resembling serious action- from the "Noisy Negro". Nope, that would actually require doing more than just talking or typing. That would require being quiet and listening for a minute.