Dear Democrats, Burn In Hell...

I'm calling Howard Dean out.

As chairman of the Democratic National Party, it should be YOU that acts as an adult in your party and not John Edwards.

I'm also calling Harold E. Ford Jr. out.

If you don't know who he is, he is the chair of the Democratic Leadership Council. No way on my watch, seeing as Bill and Hillary (yes, in that order) are members of said council would I let that BS happen like it did Monday night.

To give the Republican Party audio and video clips to use against the Democratic nominee this fall is ludicrous. To have members of the party quipping at each other about personal issues and not laying out an agenda is utter bullshit. To have them do it in front of the world is unacceptable. Some young leader you turned out to be.

These two gentlemen (and I use that term loosely) are AWOL.

I also an officially ashamed of the Congressional Black Caucus.

In 2000, there was a democratic debate at the Apollo theater that had Bernard Shaw as host and moderator and all of the questions came from the audience. Real questions about real issues, not that nonsense that was asked Monday night. It is unnecessary to say who those people were. Thanks for sponsoring a total waste of my time. Thanks for letting CNN ask all of the 'hard' questions (Clinton, a black president? Negroes please!). Thanks for not pushing for a single brown journalist to be on the panel.

You people are dead to me.

I also want to thank William Jefferson Clinton who I am assigning the title 'Modern Day Willie Lynch' for snoozing on Martin III at Ebinezer Baptist. I would also like to remind you that you cannot have a third term, so take a break and let your wife, the candidate come on talk shows and defend her position.

You also thought that since Barack dips in and out of black America on this talk show and that one, reminding us that he's black enough but has to get other votes as well that you could draw out his niggerdom membership card by making this thing personal. If he keeps having to defend himself he will never get to unravel his agenda as well as showing his 'black hand side' in getting indignant, thus making him a 'black candidate'. Americans want an agent for change, not a 'black candidate' and you know that. By making Barack defend his blackness, you push him against all them young, white folk that can barely relate pushing them independent and taking them away from Barack's, confusing their vote.

Smart.

Also tell your wife to mask her hateful eye contact and body language better. The fact that a black man is in the way of your wife's supposed birthright does not give you or her license to act like high school sophomores. I thought you were better than that.

Shame on you John Edwards.

You told Hillary and Barack that because she is a woman and because he is black they have no chance in rual America to gain enough trust to get votes seeing as you're the right white man for the job. So much for change in America, huh?

I still haven't decided to cast my vote but I can bet you one thing, if Hillary gets the nomination a Republican will hold the White House. If Barack gets the nomination, it will be a nasty general election where America will choose sides. If Edwards gets it, he becomes slicker than Slick Willie ever was.

Welcome to Decision 08'. Slimier than ever, and no one is taking responsibility for anything.

Lord help us.

Oh, and one more thing...

To use the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s name, likeness, dream or spirit in partisan politics should be damning in the eyes of God.

That's right, God damn you all for doing such a thing.

He lived a life of service to the community... For all of us and was murdered for what he thought of, accomplished and was fighting to accomplish. To even go near the political arena and use him to further your own acquisition for power should damn you to hell. Some of you are habitual line steppers and need to get checked post haste. There are better and more effective ways to politic to the people. Learn from the old school and get your act together dammit.

Some of us will not let this fly, I am one of them. You need MY vote to get there and I ain't no whore. No political party will pimp me or my people and shuck and jive on a world stage just to get a seat in the oval office.

Grown folks should act like grown ups. I'm starting to hate all of you.

Weekend Homework Assignment #617

Okay, More like 17...

Looking at my logs in the past week and some change I've been to Chicago, Cincinnati, Lima and Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, Hebron and Bloomington, IN, Detroit, MI, San Francisco, CA, Medford and Portland Oregon and Green Bay WI.

I forgot French Lick, IN (niiice casino), Louisville and Lexington, KY. Warmer weather and good food does that to ya.

I am tired, but I cannot stop. The movement moves on and so will I. With memory foam insoles.

Tomorrow I head to one of my favorite spots in the world, Atlanta, GA to rep the Chicago contingent, bump heads with the FTP Movement, press the flesh with the ATL brothers and sisters of the Hip Hop Caucus, hear the wisdom of Various members of the SCLC, attend the Sunday premier of Brave New Films' newest documentary in the 'The War On Greed' series and get down and dirty on its subject matter with various pundits and brown bloggers. I will close my nationally celebrated holiday out Monday at the King center paying tribute to a man and his wife who gave their lives so that I have the freedom to do exactly what I do. Travel, politic and blog about it.

I am truly honored and blessed that I do what I do. I am also thankful to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , his wife Coretta, his sons and daughters and others for fighting and continuing to fight. I am also thankful to my wife for letting me roam the earth like Kane from Kung-Fu. Get your shoes woman... Next time you come with and see for yourself.

I planned on getting deep with the subject of non-urban dictates and how you spend your money but that can wait until next week. When Nichole Wicks from Brave New Films (Peace sis! guest blogging opportunity coming soon) hit me up last week and informed me of the premier, I knew that striking out against private equity firms and informing y'all was the thing to do at this time that we pay tribute to Dr. King who 40 years ago was attending and speaking to folks in Memphis about labor and equality and was observing and attempting to mediate a garbage worker's strike. Dr. King spoke many a time on how a fair paycheck for a honest day's work was necessary for both the betterment of our community and our sanity.

No way we can continue to work so damn hard when we get nothing in return.

And plus, I know someone dear to me who works for a private equity firm. You know what they do, right? If not, do some homework this weekend and find out if marginalization and streamlining is right for your employer and think about the outcome and benefits. Who does it benefit and how will you deal with its outcome?

There is a film clip of the documentary and a press release that tells a part of what I'll be doing this weekend. I hope you are doing something just as constructive this weekend, and if you're in the area... I'll be watching the Jones/Trinidad fight someplace special Saturday night.

I hope y'all find me...

From Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films: Black American Workers to Private Equity Firms & Henry Kravis - Greed is Not Good

(Atlanta, GA) – From the producers of Walmart: the High Cost of Low Prices and OutFoxed, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., filmmaker Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films will escalate his media campaign against the leveraged buyout industry with the premiere of a new short documentary video with a message for the presidential candidates. Partnering with the Hip-Hop Caucus and the Service Employees International Union, along with community leaders and members will gather on the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday, Sunday, January 20^th, at Rev. Timothy McDonald’s 1^st Iconium Baptist Church at 2pm EST. This screening will serve as a first of a series of community actions that are expected to place economic injustice on the presidential candidate’s radar. Prominent African-American Leaders, including Dr. Steele from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Rev. Yearwood, and various Atlanta City Council members, will be present.

A strong advocate of economic justice, Dr. King was a proponent of workers’ rights, especially as it relates to racial economic justice. With the ever-increasing global economy many Black American workers are being impoverished as a direct result of corporate buy-outs and in particular, the corporate dealings of Henry Kravis’ KKR and other Private Equity Firms. Our War on Greed series illustrates the severe economic disparities of the concentrated wealth and power in so few hands while so many Black workers struggle to pay a mortgage, student loans, medical costs, and even basics necessities like groceries and toiletries. The film also addresses the fact that some worker unions have become obsolete in the face of this international greed.

“One guy needed a couple of days off because his mom was on her deathbed or his mom was gonna die… They (company representative) asked, “Is she dead yet? If not, get back to work!”

In addition, Brave New Films has also partnered some of the most influential Black bloggers and opinion-leaders in an attempt to invite presidential hopefuls to the premiere and pressure candidates into pledging to address the tax loop-hole that so many wealthy corporate CEO’s like Henry Kravis enjoy. Presidential candidates and their advisors have been invited to this screening.

Finally, to address the issue of some presidential candidates taking the Black VOTE for granted, through this film and a series of other community actions we are hoping to engage black community members and policy makers, as well as presidential candidates in a dialogue that will benefit Black workers.

ABOUT BRAVE NEW FILMS

Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films (BNF) is committed to being at the forefront in creating a just America. Using cutting-edge new internet video campaigns, Brave New Films has created a quick-strike capability that challenges corporate media with the truth and empowers political action nationwide. BNF has garnered significant media and political attention from the likes of CNN, MSNBC, the Tom Joyner Morning Show and the New York Times. Our organization has continued contact with major political candidates because we’ve often captured the ‘pulse’ of the social and economic tone of the American people and their attention with our videos garnering over 10 million hits. Our most recent video: FOX Attacks Obama Staffer reached over 300,000 hits in 24 hours.

Day Off? What Day Off?

Hey y'all...

I got something today, it's just I'm just getting up, it's my day off and I'm not used to the Pacific time zone yet. Well my sleep pattern is.

And I gotta drop the wife off at work
And get groceries
And some lactose free milk that I can tolerate with my morning cereal
And think about what I'm making for dinner
And make time to have lunch with my other half
And call my mom on her lunch break to get names and addresses for the reception thingee
And do my paperwork for submission when I get back to work on Wednesday
And load the dishwasher
And get the trash out before...
And get the pix off my camera's card using my new card reader (thanks Queen)
And get over to the UPS Store
And Harry and David
And get a new cell phone and change the plan to include more minutes and data
And pick wifey up from work
And get them RedBox movies back from this weekend
And get the oil changed
And follow up on the extended service plan call made to fix the dryer
And make a few phone calls about my Atlanta trip next week

okay, okay... then I'll blog.


Damn, being married adds more responsibility to my agenda. And it's my day off. I promise I'll be speaking to you about non-urban dictates, the importance of voting and Barack's new economic stimulus plan soon. I'm sure you're already up on these things anyway, but...

I did my homework this weekend between playoff football, laying around the house and hanging out at the mall making new friends in the business. You did yours too, right?

Not Black Enough

I've never been this busy before.

I'm chugging along the highways and byways of America safely, enjoying the warmer weather. When you operate a rig like I do, you want to consume fuel in smaller amounts meaning more straight aways, less torque when climbing hills, and you don't want to idle your engine if you don't have to. I spend around $1300 a week for diesel and I'm getting about 7 miles to the gallon. That's pretty good, trust me.

A couple of days ago, I had to blow up and redo my current reception ceremony configuration because it started to get away from me. I refuse to sit and watch our ceremony become someone else's creation and not even be included in the organizational process. I don't know what it is about folks wanting to dictate to you what you want, it just ain't happening around here. My other half and I have a vision already agreed upon on what the reception should be and that's what we're having, nuff said.

Senator Barack Obama probably will win the Democratic nomination for president. He's done everything to convince a racially divided America to look beyond race and see him as not just a candidate but a competent one. Sad thing is, he might lose in the general election to whomever the Republican candidate will be because some of his own folk are hating on him.

It ain't white folks that have scrutinized Senator Obama to death, it has been black folk. I think most of you know that the Senator reps my district in DC (yes, I help put him in the senate with my vote and physical support here in the Chi). We attend the same church (well, when there's no cover) and stomp the same ground when it's time to eat, drink and be seen. I don't know him personally, but other than the time I spent in Texas and certain times from 2005 to now when I was on the road, I have first hand knowledge of his work. This cat has his hood pass and has put his ass on the line for the good folk here and got a ton of things done on the city, state and national levels. For us. All I ask it that you look at his service record from the time he was at the law firm to the times we put him in office at the state, then federal level.

Although I haven't made up my mind on who I'll cast my vote for in the general election (hint) I never gave thought to the stuff I'm hearing out of the hood that Barack Obama ain't black enough. It ain't that hard finding folks from Chicago that have benefited from bills, laws and programs established, passed and created by the Obama camp. What angers me is that a lot of folks haven't even tried to do the simplest in research but have an opinion on his qualifications.

I might not even vote for the cat but at least I got his stats. And if I didn't live here I would have at least hollered at family, frat, associates, looked at his MySpage joint, accessed his official Senate page, watched a few You Tube joints. Put his name in CNN.com or the Washington Post archives or some newspaper(s) to at least see if there were articles and editorial written on him. I would have listened to Warren Ballentine, Al Sharpton, Michael Basden, Steve Harvey, Tom Joyner, Wendy Williams or someone to see if he came on their respective shows and gave info, lip service or whatever, but that's just me. I like to know who candidates are that'll rep for me to the rest of the world. It is my life and I live here, might as well get to know who the keyholders might be.

To write this cat off and say he ain't black enough is straight ignorant. Scuse' my French, but who the eff are YOU to determine who is anyway? Funny, but I even hear cats talking bout him winning the whole thing just to get shot because America has it planned that way. I guess whether you like him or not, voting for him or others Barack Hussein Obama will never be black enough for you. Like you counted all of the white folk in your lineage and found none, or your service record of acts performed for people he ain't blood related to is better than his.

Remember something. We only make up 11 or 12 percent of this populous and no one is running for the presidency of Black America. JFK was younger than Barack with less experience. G.W. Bush had less experience than that. Clinton never dibbled in foreign policy, but Barack is the current mediator to end Kenyan violence (his daddy IS from there). So I guess what I'm asking is who is black enough?

America ain't voting for some Newport smoking dude with a wave cap and a few baby mommas. They ain't voting for Nat X either. Here is a responsible family man, educated and versed in grass roots politics that wants a shot at running this country.

Bunches of white folks have selected him to lead them out of the rut started by other white folks. And there are viable white candidates out there. What make you so damn special that you can't even give this dude consideration because you don't know? It'll be sad to see him get the nomination and lose because black folk hated on him. I wonder when another cat like this will come around. It ain't like we had one like this before. Even Jesse and Rev Al will tell you that.

You don't have to vote for him, but at least find out if ANYONE is worth your vote.

1 866 my vote 1 - some of us don't have much time to register.

Tip:
Register for the primaries under whatever party you want and then RE-REGISTER as an independent for the general election. Make these cats work harder to get your vote. If you stay with the party for the general election, the candidate will not campaign to you, he or she is already depending on your vote. But if you're independent... Someone has to swing you over, which means more info to help you make an informed decision.

Damn, I'm long winded...

What the Fcuk is a Caucus and No, You Can't Use it to Seal Your Shower Tile

The political process in America is simple.

They express what they can do, we investigate and then we act based on facts, service record and action.

There is a caucus today.

Iowa is smaller than most states, and there are few minorities living there. We must be observant with this evening's process. There is a HUGE difference between a caucus and an election. With a caucus:

• They gather (around 6pm central tonight I believe) And discuss each candidate.
• Arguments are made for each candidate. Spirited ones, so this should be good.
• If a candidate does not get 15% support, he/she is dropped from discussion.
• After the lower tier candidates are dropped, reshuffling of top tier ones occur.
• The REAL arguments begin and some folk will change their stance (via group vote)
• Final arguments are had, then (about 200,000 from what I believe) there is a final vote.
• The votes are hand counted, and a winner is declared.

Now see, that's some serious Parliament-type old school stuff right there. I hope us folk in the brown blogosphere are aware because my state and others just have straight elections. At lease the good folk in Iowa get down with it.

I hope that folks take this electoral process seriously and remember that the American political process is one that requires active participation from both sides. The politician isn't the only one who is required to put in work. We have an unalienable right to question folk on their shit and I hope we do so. We also have what's called required rights to question, investigate, veto, impeach and form a militia when things aren't going our way because we are constituents. Don't ever forget that.

Our last president did not have the required electoral votes or popular vote to be qualified to hold office and the supreme court appointed him amidst election nigh chaos.

And we sat there and watched.

The wife and I saw Katt Williams in concert over the weekend and brother man was calling Bush an idiot. I love and respect Katt and all of y'all but I must say that we are the idiots because we sat there and did nothing when we could have been just as scandalous as the various administrations over the years. Note that I said administrations instead of G. Dubya. All he did was delegate authority, took credit and give most of his people work during his two terms. One man (or woman) can't fuck all of this up.

Especially when 30 million registered voters with unalienable rights are watching.

It makes no sense to me how someone could sit there and watch and complain and never question his or her senator or congressman. Some of these cats have been in office for years, so how does the previous administrations get away with anything when congress outnumbers the executive branch and can strike down a veto with a two thirds vote?

We don't hold any one's foot to the fire. From precinct captians to the supreme court if a person made a phone call, wrote a letter, marched, got on TV or used this incredible medium called the intetrnet to do some work and not spread rumors, lies and gossip, we would be free in some respects.

Pakistani folk can't vote like this - Candidates get shot an blown up.
Over 2000 Kenyans came to a church and killed more than 400 folks because of an election.
Our current administration refused to intervene with oil prices by releasing reserves, keeping it near $100 a barrel instead of down near $60. Would have meant gas going near $2. Remember a fill-up under 40 bux??

Funny how text messages in 2007 surpassed emails and telephone calls as the preferred method of communication in the US. Funny how I got more hits with my post on an anonymous blogger than any post I've had in the past couple of months. The internet, viral videos, texting and chat could be used to get that next revolution off the ground, but...

I'm sure we have better things to do than to watch or pay attention to a caucus. From Iowa. With limited brown skinned participation.

If the reincarnation of Adolph Hitler gets in this November, remember... No participation, no complaining.

You have been warned.

Now, back to trifling bullshit, internet scandal and pics of stuff you would never hang on your cubicle walls.

Seacrest, out.

Anonymous Commenting On How I Should Conduct My Business

I try not to get into 'firsts of the year' but...

Sigh.

I have to address something.

I would have kept the a comment on my blog (regardless of what it said) but it came from an anonymous source. Although I have 3 pieces of tracking software attached to my blog and it identifies the IP address, city, state, internet service provider, time, date, URL of the site clicked through to get to my blog and what URL they clicked out on as well as what email client they were signed into (yeah, seriously), blah, blah, blah... The person still went thru the trouble of leaving an anonymous comment.

I'll go out on a limb and say at least I know about you. Hell, I might be wrong in who I think you are. Nobody's perfect, and I know I'm not, but you already know that. From the amount of pages and certain posts read from my archive, you seem to know me better than folks that stop by here on the regular. For that, I thank you. I like folks that do their research.

To be honest, I would have responded to your comment about my wife in the positive in regards of the info you provided me with.

That's right, I said it. Now I'm not calling my wife the vile names and think of her in the negative, but we already knew of her discretion because she blogged about it. I was also a friend during that whole time and I already knew because that business was already out in the street and if you think of her negatively because of her actions then judge me too. I ain't no saint my damn self.

Hell, I was just in Texas last year in the company of a woman who was a friend for longer than I dated my wife, but... Since you read damn near her entire blog as well as mine you would have known that we've known each other for a year and a half and then we dated. I made a choice to make the quality of my life better by leaving Texas and coming back to Chicago where we got together damn near immediately.

She was here, I was too. We vibed from day one back in the day, but we were with other people doing whatever we were doing before we became exclusive. But you knew that. We blogged about it. You read it. And repeated it. So I guess that's considered old news, huh?

Ask that sister in Texas about my ass. I'm the most trifling son of a bitch on the planet (who owes her money AND rejected her advances) if she tells you, so what does that make me? It makes me human. But I'm not afraid to put that out there because I'll never run from my past.

But then again you spent time reading the post from this time last year when I told of the time I was sexually assaulted. Good post, huh? You probably like the fact that I was touched and I told about it. It makes me a strong black man who overcame a serious indiscretion to get on with his life.

Nah, I'm just another kid from some nameless, faceless poor neighborhood in a large American city that still enjoys life regardless of what happens. I still have breath in my lungs so I really try to find all the good shit so I can take advantage of what time I have left not just to get thru but to enjoy it before my number gets called.

If she blogged about her past affairs then imagine what I know? Imagine what she told me and imagine what I heard from others during the time I courted her.

And I still found enough positives in her to love her unconditionally and to make her my wife. I guess either misery loves company or birds of a feather flock together, huh? I am not Christian, nor am I Muslim or Hebrew but I grew up in that environment and respect the writings and teachings as sacred. I wish I could afford the cover charge, I'd go to church...

I guess Jesus ain't shit for hanging out with that whore and them drunks, travelling the countryside perpetrating that lie about who his real daddy was while hustling gullible folk with cheap parlor tricks and the power of suggestion, huh? I ain't nowhere near Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Gandhi, Ronald Reagan, Oprah, 50 Cent or the like, but who am I to judge who's worthy? Who am I to forgive or not based on what I experienced? You have a right to say whatever you want, but who are you to do so and not even have the nerve to put your name behind your comments?

So if my decision was so bad, or if you felt that I was kept hidden from folks so I couldn't learn the truth I feel bad that you feel that way. Really, I do. I was told, counseled, warned, and preached to and so on and so forth and I know as much as a man could know to make the ginormous decision to choose this woman to spend the rest of my life with.

And I'm happy and satisfied with my decision, thank you.

If you have a suggestion for my, then step up into the light and tell me who my soul mate should be. I am always open to dialogue with you. Who ever 'you' are. We don't hide around here, we just do us. Because we have lives beyond then internet (check my frequent flyer miles since July) sometimes we make choices to just enjoy life wherever we are and don't feel the need to report shit to the internet. When you sign my check (oh shit, I'm an independent contractor, so you can't!) and pay our mortgage then I'll feel the need to get your approval on who I do and where we do it. Until then, all I ask is for you to come into the light and use your name.

It's then that your comment can stay.

And for those that want to know what the comment was... You probably know by now. Hell, I just blogged ad nausem about it.