For the first time I am truly in awe of my country

I can't yet comprehend the astounding historic shift that has just occurred. I feel that I must be dreaming. A Black man is the President-Elect of The United States Of America. This is the first time in my life that I have a true admiration for my country. I can now feel the pride that I have heard so many people say they feel for this country, and it's a pretty nice feeling.



Wow.....

What experience?

I have been wondering for quite some time what Senator Hillary Clinton means when she says she has more experience than Senator Barack Obama. She says this over and over again.

But I think it's time for a reality check.

Hillary Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate in the year 2000. That means she has been a U.S. Senator for 7 years. Prior to that Hillary Clinton never held public office. She had been a practicing lawyer and on the board of several corporations. Her only other experience was being First Lady of the United States.

Barack Obama served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. That's just about 10 years of legislative experience.

So can anyone explain to me how it is that Hillary Clinton claims to have more experience than Barack Obama? Am I missing something?

Do you think Hillary Clinton has more experience than Barack Obama?

Why doesn't the media challenge her assertion that she has more experience?

Question

Do you think Barack Obama, if elected President of The United States Of America, will or should apologize on behalf of the U.S. government for Slavery, Jim Crow Laws, stolen land and the many other atrocities committed against African Americans?


Japanese Americans who were interned during World War two received an apology and monetary compensation from the U.S. government. The details are below.

In 1988, U.S. President (and former California governor) Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which had been pushed through Congress by Representative Norman Mineta and Senator Alan K. Simpson — the two had met while Mineta was interned at a camp in Wyoming — which provided redress of $20,000 for each surviving detainee, totaling $1.2 billion dollars. The question of to whom reparations should be given, how much, and even whether monetary reparations were appropriate were subjects of sometimes contentious debate.

World War Two internment camp

On September 27, 1992, the Civil Liberties Act Amendments of 1992, appropriating an additional $400 million in order to ensure that all remaining internees received their $20,000 redress payments, was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, who also issued another formal apology from the U.S. government.

Would you hope for or expect an apology from Barack Obama?

Do you think the United States owes African Americans an apology?

Japanese Internment Information courtesy Wikipedia

Are Hillary and Barack Naïve or lying about Iraq?

Major U.S. military bases in Iraq (map courtesy FCNL)

I am at a loss to understand how most Americans are ignoring the fact that the U.S. is not leaving Iraq anytime soon. At this very moment the United States military is building military bases in Iraq. Why would the U.S. build bases if there was an expected pullout of troops in the near future?

The answer is that the U.S. has no intention what-so-ever of pulling troops out of Iraq. Look around the world for further evidence that the U.S. has no plans to leave Iraq. There are U.S. military bases in every theater that it has operated in the last century except Viet Nam. There are bases in Japan, Europe, South Korea and Cuba.

So why are the media and the Democratic Presidential candidates acting as though there is some actual chance that the U.S. will bring the troops home from Iraq?

Are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton just uninformed or are they lying when they both say they will bring the troops home? I tend to think they are both lying. After all they both serve in the U.S. Senate so they are privy to all the goings on in Iraq. Which means the Senators know that the U.S. is not only occupying over 100 bases in Iraq but at least 14 of them are described by the Pentagon as "enduring bases".

It seems that the only Presidential candidate that is currently speaking the truth about America's future involvement in Iraq is Sen. John McCain. Say what you want about him but he is unabashedly giving the American people the "straight dope" on Iraq.

Another question is; why hasn't America's corporate media asked Obama or Clinton more about their supposed plans to bring troops home? Could it be that big business has a stake in America staying in Iraq?

Can you say oil.

The Iraq situation is problematic in terms of how the Democratic candidates are addressing it. There needs to be more real questioning of them by someone. Otherwise , if either is elected, they may just do what the Democratic Congress has done since taking the majority; which is make excuses as to why the troops are not home yet.

What do you think?

Are Clinton and Obama lying?

Do you really believe the troops are coming home any time soon?

There is a new frontrunner in town!

Barack Obama easily won the Potomac Primaries yesterday and is now the undisputed frontrunner in the Democratic race for the Nomination. Hillary Clinton is now putting all of her effort and hopes into the upcoming Texas and Ohio Primaries.

Do you think Hillary Clinton can come back or is it over for team Billary?

Breaking News: Obama rises, Clinton falls

6:14 PM PST - CBS and ABC news are both reporting that Sen. Barack Obama has won the Washington State Caucus (78 delegates) and the Nebraska Caucus (24 delegates). They also report that he is leading, according to exit poles, in Louisiana (50 delegates). Results for the Virgin Islands Primary have not been reported yet, where there are 3 delegates at stake.

On tomorrow voters in Maine go to the polls for their state caucus; there will be 24 delegates at stake for the Democrats.

Democratic delegates count as of yesterday, February 8th;

Clinton - 1075
Obama - 991

Also reports indicate that Mike Huckabee has won the Republican Primary in Kansas today.

I'm voting for Barack on the issues I tell you!

I have a question that has been brewing for quite some time. I have been hoping that a columnist or blogger would answer this question for me. But thus far no one has. My question is; why are so many African Americans not willing to say they are voting or going to vote for Barack Obama because he's Black?

Recently in the Nevada Primary Mitt Romney a Mormon (who as you know is no longer in the race) won 90% plus of the Mormon vote in that state. I have seen and read time and time again White women saying they are voting for Hillary Clinton because she's a woman.

None of these groups, Mormons or White women seems to have any problem stating for the record that they are voting for a particular candidate because they resemble them in some way.

So why are so many African Americans saying to anyone who will listen that they are voting for Barack Obama because of his message or on the issues but not because he's Black? Are we, African Americans, just so much more politically mature than White women and Mormons?

And do you think that Irish-Catholic Americans didn't vote for JFK because he was Irish-Catholic?

Is this like the case of the only two Black people at a party avoiding speaking to each other for fear that everyone else in the room will think that the two are speaking to each other because, well because they are both Black?

Why is it a bad thing to so many African Americans to vote for Sen. Obama because he's Black like them?

I am not, for the record, playing Devil's advocate. I really don't get it.

Also as many of you know I am still undecided but leaning toward Sen. John McCain. Just in case anyone thinks I'm trying to convince people to vote for Obama.

So I ask you;

why are so many African Americans so reluctant to say publicly that they support Barack Obama because he's Black?

I'm not (Black) like the rest of them

In the last couple of weeks I have noticed something interesting concerning race and two of the most well known people of color in America and the world for that matter. Recently a golf channel anchor woman made a remark about lynching in reference to Tiger Woods. Also recently Hillary and Bill Clinton seemed to go out of their way to interject race into the Democratic Presidential campaign.

The reactions of Tiger and Barack were amazingly similar. Both seemed to want to down play the incidents. Tiger said he wasn't bothered by the lynching remark and Barack quickly accepted explanations from the Clintons who said their remarks were misinterpreted.

I found it interesting how quickly both Tiger and the Senator wanted to get away from the race topic. Could it be that they both don't want to remind White Americans that they are Black or at least part Black?

What reasons would they have for trying to down play their respective Blackness? In Tigers case could money be the driving factor? I'm pretty sure White people spend more on golf than African Americans.

And for Senator Obama could it be he doesn't want to be known as the Black candidate?

If Tiger made a big deal of the lynching statement would that have tied him too closely with being Black? Did Barack and his camp fear showing outrage at the Clinton remarks would make White people say "yep he's just as Black as the rest of them"?

Is being Black or part Black a hindrance to them both in both their minds? Do Black people have to down play their Blackness to be accepted by Whites?

Obviously I don't have any direct knowledge as to why both Tiger and Barack seemed to handle these situations in such similar fashion. I can only speculate that each has been advised to not act (too) Black. That may mean not reacting to racist overtures and not being offended publicly by such incidents.

If what I think is true then will Barack Obama go out of his way if elected President to not seem too Black? Will he ignore Black issues as to not draw attention to his own Blackness?

What Tiger Woods does doesn't really concern me. However having a Black President who is shy about appearing Black or at least too Black does concern me.



What do you think? Was Barack Obama trying to down play his Blackness?

The Hill factor or the Bill factor?

(Photo Attribution: timesonline)

Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire Primary yesterday. All of the politicos are speculating about what made the difference between the Iowa loss and the New Hampshire victory.

Well two things changed. First; Hillary cried for the cameras. Many are saying that led to many women changing their minds or making up their minds and voting for Hillary.

Second; Bill Clinton became the Hillary attack dog yesterday. He appeared at Dartmouth College and wagged his finger at the crowd while he attacked Barack Obama.

So what do you think; was it Hill or Bill that made the difference?

Are you ready for some Obama Kool-Aid?

United States Senator Barack Obama won the 2008 Democratic Iowa Caucus last night. I for one had goose bumps when I heard the news. It's still a really, really long way to Pennsylvania Avenue; but it's a lot closer today for the senator than it was yesterday.

Although I'm not sure if I can support Senator Obama on the issues, but I must admit as an African American I was and am very proud of him. And although I know many other African Americans are like me in not being sure about his politics, I think there are a lot of proud African Americans today.

In a world where we are constantly being fed a diet of defeat and despair, what a welcome breath of fresh air this victory is. The world today is looking at us, all of us and saying; wow!

The political pundits are also saying; wow!

In the next few days I'm sure some of the excitement will where off as Senators Clinton and Edwards ramp up their attacks on the new front runner. But we still have this victory.

That's right, we.

No matter your political affiliation, no matter who you have chosen to support, this is a victory for all of us.

I'm not sure if I am ready to drink the Obama Kool-Aid, but I am getting a little thirsty and it does look very refreshing.

Are you ready for some Obama Kool-Aid? Did Sen. Obama's win last night change your view of him?


Side note: I think it's about time Microsoft’s spell-check knows the difference between Obama and Osama.

Breaking News: Sen. Obama wins in Iowa...What does this mean?

Obama wins convincing victory in Iowa

By Christi Parsons and John McCormick | Tribune political reporters
8:53 PM CST, January 3, 2008

DES MOINES - Fueled by record turnout among young and new voters, Sen. Barack Obama won an historic and convincing victory in the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, a win that validated his status as a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. - chicagotribune.com

Are you as surprised as I am? Can Sen. Obama really win the nomination? Are you excited?

This will be front page news in every major newspaper in the world tomorrow.