INAMINATION

Over the years I have watched Rev Al Sharpton and his efforts to stand up for Afircan Americans.  Although I respect what he has tried to do over the years and I thought he was right to go after Don Imus for what he said about the Women’s Basketball Team at Rutgers University.  This time howerver, I think he is wrong for trying to block Rush Limbaugh’s atempt to purchase an NFL franchise.  Now I don’t like Rush Limbaugh’s politics and I certainly consider him to be one of America’s great hypocrites but, I believe he has the right to pursue any legal business venture he desires. 

Rush Limbaugh believes in the free market so I say let him purchase a team and see just how the free market will manifest itself as it relates to African American football players signing with his team.  I predict that any team that Mr. Limbaugh associates himself with will certainly pay a premium to get any of those Black players that the “NFL needs to be successful because they’re Black.”
This time Rev. Al—leave Rush Limbaugh alone and let the chips fall where they may!

As the rest of the right wing politcal goes about their daily diatribe of “player-hating” and goes balistic because President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, Senator John McCain (definitely no supporter of the political philosopy of President Obama) offered up what I felt was a sincere congratulations to him.  Senator Mcain shared that he was proud to be an American and finished with what I thought was a fair challenge to the President.  He said, Now he surely has a lot to live up to.”
I agree with Senator McCain and I have full confidence that Presient Obama will do just that.

Yesterday I heard yet another right leaning radio talk show host espouse some criticism at former President Jimmy Carter for his statements about element of racism fueling some of the vitriol of disapproval for President Obama’s policies. I am not necessarily slamming the right side of the political spectrum here but this guy when called President Carter an embarrassment to America and claimed the he was a hypocrite because of President Carter’s use of “derogatory racial epitaphs” at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. According to this particular host, the Black Republicans had sent him an audio tape of President Carter referring to Barack Obama as a “Black Boy.”

First of all, I was shocked to hear that there was a group of conservatives that call themselves “Black Republicans” but more on that later. The tape they sent to the radio host was apparently by someone interviewing former President Carter after the Democrats had nominated Barack Obama as the nominee for the presidency. President Carter was expressing his joy and pride in America because the delegates had nominated “this Black Boy from Illinois” as the democratic candidate for president of the United States.

I would be the first to admit that President Carter’s use of the term “Black Boy” was not the best choice of words, but to try equating that to using “derogatory racial epitaphs” and paint him as a hypocrite is naïve at best. President Carter was elated and boasting at what had just been accomplished by the Democratic Party electorate. This in no way can be compared to the rage that is being fanned by the right.

President Carter is right!! He did not say all but he did say that the rage is IN PART due to racism. It is true that it’s only a few but unfortunately some of those few are the loudest, the most prominent. In my observation, conservatives will admit that racism still exists in our society but sadly they only try to pin that sin on people who are innocent of the crime, i.e. Barack Obama & Jimmy Carter. They NEVER call it out where it truly exists, i.e. “You lie!!” and “Barack the Magic Negro.”

Now about those Black Republicans; WHAT IS THAT? Might that be a bit of hypocrisy? I thought the Republicans/Conservatives felt there is no need to separate people ethnically. “I don’t see color” they claim.  The conservatives always want to know why we need a Black Student Union or an Asian Student Group, etc. They want to know why we have a Black History Month and wonder why they can’t have a “White History Month” or a “White Student Union”, etc. So I must ask, since there are the Black Republicans, why can’t they have the “White Republicans?”

In October 2008 the Federal Government instituted the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Needless to say it was a very controversial move by the Feds and came with much criticism, fear and trepidation. The criticism has continued and has even elevated to a chorus of accusations that President Obama is the 2nd coming of Adolf Hitler or the Anti-Christ.

According to the New York Times, as of September 14, 2009 at least eight of the largest banks and fourteen smaller banks have repaid their TARP funds to the Federal government. To date, he American taxpayers have seen an average of a 15% rate of return. Now it is way too early to become giddy about the trend because there are many banks that have yet to pay back their loans.  But it is a sign that the very process of some banks paying back the loans should begin to put to rest this notion that President Obama is some sort of a Socialist in hiding with designs on turning our country into the 2nd coming of a 1930’s style Germany or some other fascist regime.

It may surprise many critics of the TARP but in the 1980’s the U.S Government bailed out the Chrysler Corporation and made a $350 million profit. With that historical perspective and the early trends about the current TARP, some interesting questions come to light.  First, is it possible that the TARP may actually work?  For the sake of our country I certainly hope so.  Second, why don’t the critics of of President Obama speak about the 1980’s Chrysler  bailout and give President Obama credit for what he is trying to do—save the American economy.  Kind of makes you wonder if there is another agenda going on.

To the left side of the political spectrum, credit must also be given where credit is due. TARP was a creation of the George W. Bush administration.

Representative Joe Wilson’s outburst the other night, at the President’s address to Congress, should strike fear into the hearts of every American, no matter what side of the political spectrum you claim. His spontaneous reaction to President Obama’s ascertain that nothing in his health care plan would require service provision to illegal aliens illustrates how our society and way of life is deteriorating at a breakneck pace. We have gotten to the place that our political discourse can now show such disrespect for the duly elected leader of our country that it allows one to call him a liar while he is in the midst of giving a public speech. The real sad part is that he was not lying. There is nothing in the any health plan, even the current one, which requires anyone to give any kind of health service to illegal aliens.

You may ask, if that is true then why such an outcry about that piece of the puzzle. My only possible answer to that is that most people don’t really know that much about our country’s health plan(s) to begin with. That’s because most of us have health plans and we don’t want anyone messing with it in any shape form or fashion….which is why the “everyone is going to be forced into a government system” tactic has gained some traction. But anyway, back to my point.

What really happens with illegal aliens and health care in this country is that they rarely make use of the normal process that most of us do via making appointments with doctors or clinics for check-ups and treatment of regular illnesses, etc., because they fear being found out and deported back to their home country. Their access of the system usually happens in the emergency rooms of hospitals with life threatening injuries and sickness. There is no hospital in the nation that will turn them, or anyone for that matter, away. They will be treated and the only inquiry a hospital asks is “who’s going to pay?” If they have no insurance they are still treated, just like you or I would be. No hospital asks to see their green card or proof of citizenship before they are given treatment. Sometimes they arrive in emergency because they’ve been involved in a traffic accident, hurt on the job or the victim of a crime and arrive via an ambulance and are unconscious. That will not change, no matter what kind of health care plan we end up implementing.

One radio talk show host stated, “If we want to blame anything for illegal aliens receiving any kind of health care in this country, blame Christianity. Because in spite of those who try to deny it, this country was founded upon Juneau-Christian principles and the Bible clearly teaches us that we are our brothers’ keeper. That principle is also a major driver about how we implement health care in this country.” He went on to say that, “Nobody that works in any hospital in this country will just let someone die because they can’t pay or prove they are legally in this country!” I agree….I wonder if Joe Wilson claims to be a Christian.

Representative Wilson knows, or he should know how unauthorized immigrants access our health care systems. If he doesn’t he should be chastised for sluffing on the job. I’m sure he has a quaggle of legislative aides that prep him on all of the statistical information necessary to make informed decisions. He has the right to disagree with President Obama on anything his conscious and/or “moral compass” drives him to, but for him to call the President a liar in front of the whole world, is nothing short of disgraceful and it is part of the same ilk that thinks it’s alright to come to a town hall meeting in which the President of the United States is hosting strapped with a firearm….just to send a message. Yes he has the right to do it, but why and what message is he sending??? Again I ask, whatever happened to the respect for the office of the President that the right side of the political spectrum so often champions? It was their war cry when they lead the drive to impeach President Clinton.

Representative Wilson’s shenanigans has brought to my mind an old joke that used to permeate through the “hood” back in the day.  It goes, “What do you call a Black man with a PhD?”  Those of you who know the answer to that question know exactly what I mean.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why there is such an outcry about a planned speech to school children by the duly elected leader of our country; especially when this is not the first time that a president has address school dhildren. Teddy Roosevelt did it in 1907, Woodrow Wilson in 1917, Ronald Reagan in 1986 and Bush-41 in 1991. Bush-43 even produced a parent & teacher guide during his administration. In my opinion, this is the epitome of silly season, which is usually confined to election campaigns. It is now in full bloom and is in grave danger of becoming a year-round permanent part of our public discourse.
I understand the high octane fervor of debate regarding President Obama’s attempt to reform the American health care system—that is the American way. What I do not understand is the on-going attempt to portray this presidnet as a Boogey Man, destined to morph into some sort of Hitler-like Demagogue and have us all marching around in jack boots.

I have heard more than one talk show host say that he/she will not allow their children to see or hear the speech; invoking Hitler as a comparison. This is just plain rediculous and so-called parental responsibility run amok. The wise parent would watch the speech too and spend some time discussing the merits or problems of the speech.
Whatever happened to respect for the office of the President that the right side of the political wing so often champions? COME ON PEOPLE (to borrow a line from Bill Cosby), let’s wake up, stop calling each other names and allow our system of self-government work itself out!! Our system is comprised of elements from both the left and right side of the political spectrum and it is that blend of ideas that have allowed us to stand head and shoulders above the rest of the world. As one infamous California resident once said, “Can we all just get along?”

Now that Michael Jackson has finally been laid to rest and the story of his life gets further into the rear view mirror of time I’ve heard a lot of talk about how he will be remembered.  Will the remembrance of him be dominated by his incredible musical legacy or the controversies that plagued the latter 3^rd of his existence here on earth?  The truth is that only time will tell how it will be shaped and I think it’s safe to say that no matter what flames the controversy mongers may attempt to fan it will be difficult to outshine the music.

Of course, the major controversies are the 2 child molestation allegations that he faced; never convicted of anything.  He did reach a financial settlement in the 1993 allegation to make it go away, unfortunately it never did.  In my mind it seems to have only paved the way (with Michael’s help) for the 2^nd allegation in 2005.    Alas the only 3 people that truly know what went down are Michael and the 2 accusers; so the question will always remain as to whether or not he was a pedophile or not.

There are some questions to ponder about the issue that I personally have never heard discussed.  The first one is that child molesters usually molest many children throughout the course of their reign of terror and Michael Jackson surrounded himself with hundreds of children over the years.  Yet there were only 2 children that made any accusations of him; and there have always been questions about whether or not those children were coached or coaxed into making those allegations.  There have also been reports that Michael Jackson paid many millions to many families to keep them quiet because he supposedly molested them. 

I find it difficult to believe that not one of those families would have said no the money and chosen instead to pursue criminal charges to get a dangerous child molester off the streets (or off the stage, if you will).  I do believe that even if a child’s parents were only chasing money that this would be a case where they could have their cake and eat it too.  They could have had Michael prosecuted and then sued him once he had been convicted…but that never happened.

Lastly, Michael Jackson died over 3 months ago, still there has been no one to come forth and claim that Michael Jackson molested them “back in the day.”  Michael is dead now so there is nothing to fear…still no accusers.  Not even other parents or kids that would say that they saw or heard things that were suspicious about anything.  I know it is yet early and his death as well as the events surrounding it is pretty close in the mirror but….still no accusers.

Throughout my lifetime I’ve read, seen and heard many articles, shows and movies about the end times of life on earth as we know it. Whether or not you are a believer in the Bible, it has to be very difficult to totally ignore or dismiss the things written in the Book of Revelation and it’s accompanying “slide show movie” that appears on the the daily news nowadays. The most riveting part about the book is that it was written at least 2000 years ago; and the metaphors it contains about today’s reality is fascinating.

Although I hear a lot about disbelievers, discounters and doubters, I’ve never heard anyone dispute the ancient time frame of when it was written—even those that ridicule the belief system and supernatural historical claims it makes. It’s what makes the Book of Revelation a spellbinding piece of literature. You don’t have to believe what the book teaches but, one has to find it difficult to deny the visions written some 2000 years ago being played out right before our very eyes–EVERY DAY!!

Like a popular entertainer from the 90’s used to say, “these are things that make you go hmmm!”

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