Seeing the Future…and not liking it.

As what I am prone to describing as Michelle Obama’s Witching hour* approaches, I noticed a curious phenomenon in my blog stats.

Suddenly the good Rev. Uncle Ruckus has been upstaged from his lofty perch on top of my search terms referrals.

By various permutations of Michelle Obama and whitey.

Shit.

I see where this is going and I don’t like it one bit. As the husband/son/subordinate/Friend/uncle/son-in-law/co-worker/ex-husband/grandson/ex-son-brother in law of strong Black women, I enjoy an unparalleled view of the majesty of Strong Black women in all their glory.

I see the kind of strength that crushes sexist stereotypes, the “attitude” that Black men alternately love and love to hate, that white women WISH they had even as they cower in fear when it sees the light of day, that White men are both scared of and attracted to.

America did not create the strong Black woman so much as it necessitated her. The strong Black woman is the result of bearing two burdens enforced on multiple fronts.

For all the oppression (real and imagined) that Hillary Clinton has suffered via sexism since her entry on the national stage in 1990, she cannot comprehend what Michelle Obama is about to face.

After 16 months of white hot spotlight, the best the haters could do was to beat the world over the head with the caricature of Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ to the point that the Obamas had to leave the church.

Since It is still (barely) Sunday, allow me to finish off this tangent.

What happens in the confines of the pulpit is right up there with what happens at my dining room table in terms of privacy. I am just sayin.

The Net is having a field day at Michelle Obama’s expense in the name of parlaying her speak-truth-to-power campaign style into some kind of loop-du-jour that will accelerate the demonization of Michelle Obama.

He told y’all to lay off his wife.

I don’t think he was joking.

Alcee Hastings, kindly get your facts straight before putting your foot in your mouth

So says Congressman Alcee Hastings

At the beginning of our great country’s history my ancestors were counted as only 2/3 of a person.  Until passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, they weren’t allowed to vote. During that same time and until 1920, women could not vote.  White men who did not own property could not vote at one point in our history as well.

Um…Sir…it was actually only 3/5 of a person.  As a person whose ancestors were the same as Rep. Hastings, let me be the first to say that while it may serve Mr. Hastings’ purposes to equate slavery and non-personhood to what is happening to Florida, I am inclined to find it rather hyperbolic and wishes he would shut the fuck up.

Respectfully.

It is a LONG ass way from 2/3 3/5 of a person to being caught up in some intra-party squabble that diminishes the weight of a citizens vote in a party primary to determine the party nominee.  A punishment passed along as a result of breaking party rules.

Of course, breaking rules is something you know something about, isn’t it?

Paying the price for breaking rules?

Not so much, huh, Mr. Impeached judge turned congressman?

This is funny. I don’t care HOW offended you get, either.

Props to Jerry O’Connell (Carpoolers was funny, but cursed by being attached to that Cavemen Debacle) and a Hat Tip to TBL

A Stealth Campaign for VP? Jim Webb is EVERYWHERE!!!

Jim Webb on Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Jim Webb in a more elaborate interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air (and If you dont know about Terry or Fresh Air….-500 points for you)

Every time I hear Jim Webb, who is currently on a book tour (timing!), I get a better and better sense of how well He and Obama would match up.

The more people ask him about what HAS to be an  forthcoming offer of the VP slot from the Obama campaign, the better he gets at not saying no.

My only question is:

Does Jim Webb KNOW he is auditioning for the VP slot?

Stop The Madness.

Let us be absolutely clear on one critical point.

The Prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination (who just happens to be married to the party standard bearer) is about to lose to a heretofore unknown Black Man whose name rhymes with Osama.

All the sexism (and there has been a healthy amount) in the WORLD did not bring this about.

There are OTHER factors that created this phenomenon.  Those of you (damn near ALL YALL) who are ignoring those factors do so at your peril.

Move the Crowd

How could I move the crowd
First of all, ain’t no mistakes allowed
Here’s the instruction, put it together
It simple ain’t it but quite clever
Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years
But weak ideas irritate my ears
Is this the best that you can make?
Cuz if not and you got more, I’ll wait - (W. Griffin, Jr., 1987)

Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don’t.  - (S. Carter, 2004)

When I see the crowds, I realize just what enrages the Clinton Diehards so much.  You cannot see a movement like that and not be inclined to jump on the bandwagon.

Unless the movement in question is running you over.

Let the exposition of the myth of McCain begin in Earnest

Watch it and pass it on.

John Edwards isn’t on CP Time after all.

Shout out to Dottie Peoples…even though this is one of my 5 LEAST favorite gospel songs of all time, I spent a day with Ms. Peoples and she is the real deal.

If you could draw a script up for the ideal time to announce a John Edwards endorsement, 6:30 pm the day after West Virginia would be exactly the moment.

As irrelevant as West Virginia was in the grand scheme of things, it was truly a blessing for the babbling media hordes to have a different bone to chew on.

I disagree with those who felt that Edwards was late.  While it would have been nice to have him going into Pennsylvania, I certainly can see him wanting to lay low through Ohio and Pennsylvania so as not to be seen as piling on Senator Clinton.

I think the math has become so academic that it is time for EVERYONE to go ahead and ante up.

*Casts a glance at Mr. Gore, who IS flirting dangerously close to CP Time*

Meanwhile, Senator Clinton is jacking up threes and calling time-outs faster than Joe Gibbs and Chris Webber ever could.

(sidebar: have you noticed that EVEN in West Virginia, there is ALWAYS at least ONE Brotha behind Hillary?)

Useful Idiots

I have heard the term Useful idiots before, but I never knew from whence it came.

In political jargon, the term “useful idiot” was used to describe Soviet sympathizers in western countries and the alleged attitude of the Soviet government towards them. The implication was that the person in question was naïve, foolish, or in willful denial, and was being cynically used by the Soviet Union, or another Communist state.

The term is now used more broadly to describe someone who is perceived to be manipulated by political movement, terrorist group, or hostile government, whether or not the group is Communist in nature.

It is a bit unnerving to watch the state of West Virginia being held up as some kind of bellwether state that represents the overall American attitude.

Uh….yeah.

And THESE jokes are just a figment of your imagination.

Two West Virginians are walking down different ends of a street toward each other and one is carrying a sack. When they meet, one says, “Hey, Tommy Ray, what’cha got in th’ bag?”
“Jus’ some chickens.”
“If I guess how many there are, can I have one?”
“I’ll give you both of them.”
“OK. Ummmmm……, five?”

Today’s vote was the equivalent of a late game touchdown by a team that is down by four touchdowns. Is there time for Four Touchdowns?

In theory, yes.

In reality? Not so much.

The math is still the math.

I find it laughable that the media spent all this time in West Virginia asking them about POLITICS…under the impression that they REALLY care about them and what they think.

Obama was Lambasted for Bittergate but look at the crux of this article from the USA Today:

The following paragraphs are juxtaposed in the SAME ARTICLE:

This state of small towns is home to the gun-owning, church-going, financially struggling voters whom Hillary Rodham Clinton is targeting Tuesday. She says Obama alienated them with his remark before the Pennsylvania primary last month about “bitter” dislocated workers in small towns “clinging” to guns and religion.

Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1, but President Bush won here in 2000 and 2004. “It was because of three things: guns, God and abortion,” says Danny Jones, the Republican mayor of Charleston, the state capital.

“The people in the last election were persuaded by the gun issue,” said Robert Dennie, a retired Union Carbide employee, a Democrat who cast an early vote Tuesday for Clinton in Charleston. “Everybody has wised up.”

Now is the lateness of the hour making me stupid or is this the DICTIONARY definition of what Obama was talking about?

Mr. Dennie, who cast his early vote for Clinton said EVERYBODY has wised up.

By THAT logic, after Clinton sits down somewhere Obama should have no problem with all these Wised up Mountaineers and those Clinton Voters would just settle for the next best thing

*cough*

Yeah…uh huh…but NOOOOOO one wants to mention that.

Well, no one but Hillary Clinton.

To make the assumption that they would support her but not Obama when their platforms are similar over a McCain administration that can be tied to the Bush years in multiple ways implies that there are NON ideological reasons that would bring about all those votes She accumulated drifting away from HER party’s nominee.

Hell, no one else will say it…so why should I.

I think this speaks for itself.

So, back to the useful Idiots…

It seems that The Clinton campaign, having found itself on the verge of losing to not just a neophyte…but a BLACK political neophyte despite having every possible advantage in only 17 months.

AND NOW…they are clinging to West Virginia and Kentucky to embolden their case.

Useful idiots.

The problem with Unity

Pardon me while I sway wistfully about the complete absence of such sentiment in modern HipHop.

OK, I am back now.

So, after tonight’s woodshedding in Wild, Wonderful, West Virginia, Hillary will be emboldened and her supporters will ramp up their talking points.  At the very least, there will be calls for a unity ticket.  For many though, there will be calls that the presumptive Nominee is deeply Flawed and that something must be done to preserve victory.

Bottom line: He cannot win without her, He can only win WITH her (preferably with him and that loud-talking wife of his in the background keeping the black folk happy)

Flawed Numbers will be floated and Polls will be quoted and all this foolishness will drag on.

But now we have this unity ticket stuff to deal with.

She has half the party, HE has half the party…so put both halves together and we got the WHOLE party…right?

Um…no.  If ONLY it was that simple.

It ain’t.

It COULD have been…but THAT ship has long since sailed. (and mind you, they stopped adding on to this in FEBRUARY)

Unity…TRUE unity implies that you all have to be on the same page.  Its not enough to have the same goal.

Agreeing on going to Vegas from Dallas means nothing if one of you wants to hire a limo and one of you wants to take the bus.

Lawrence Lessig de-constructed this very well in his video

So um….yeah…Iono about all this unity talk.