black…MYstory

President Obama:

When your predecessor left office, I knew that he was leaving a shameful legacy.  It was a presidency marked by clear violations of law that were overlooked.  I was afraid that he was creating precedents that, unless acted upon by his successor or Congress, would be accepted practice for future presidents.

Over the weekend, I read something very disappointing.  I read that your administration is trying to help kill a lawsuit regarding the millions of missing emails from the eight years of the Bush administration.  We know that this was a pervasive scandal, which included violations of the Presidential Records Act and saw official White House correspondence being routed through the Republican National Committee’s email servers.

All this is clearly wrong.  So, I have to ask, why?  You promised transparancy.  What’s more transparent than allowing people to know the truth about the last 8 years so that we can clear up this mess?

My concern is that this power might appeal to you and that, if you can scuttle this lawsuit, you can use this power to your advantage.  I am hoping that you can prove me wrong and back off trying to quash this lawsuit.  I guess we’ll know soon.

Popularity: 11% [?]

First of all, congratulations Mr. President.  You earned your victory in glorious fashion.  It was a day when hope won and inspiration was felt across the country and throughout the world.  It was no small feat and you deserve the accolades you are receiving.

So, I am sorry to interrupt your honeymoon period but, we have some people who have been waiting since 2005 for their president to act on their behalf.  You might remember them?  They were the people whose hopes were all but washed away when the levees broke.

No, I see that in the stimulus, there seems to be no money to specifically address the Gulf Region.  Maybe Democratic politicians can be gracious and patient about it but, I can’t.

You see, there are still people living in FEMA trailers in Louisiana and, though the amenities aren’t great, they’re better than the alternative.  But, as you already know, FEMA is taking back those trailers so, some people will be on the outs.

So, Mr. Obama, your in the big chair, now.  There was a promise made to the people of New Orleans.  You spoke of it in your campaign.  Today, you’re in a position to do something about it.  For the sake of your credibility on this matter, please get to it soon.

Popularity: 12% [?]

You know, it’s funny, one of my early criticisms of President Obama is not that he’s not more inclusive of Republican views.  Actually, I don’t like that he’s be so inclusive of their views.  In particular, I think that on the issue of the economy, Republicans are a one-trick pony.  Their answer to everything is to cut taxes.  To paraphrase the noted American psychologist Abraham Maslow, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”

So, when I see top Republicans whining that, by not kissing up to them, Obama is off to a bad start, I have to laugh.

Obama has wined, dined and met with Republicans all throughout the process of trying to get support for the stimulus package.  He included those infamous tax when drafting the framwork for the bill.

But, this is, apparently, not enough for House and Senate Republicans.  I liken it to the spoiled kid, used to getting his/her way, who is now out on their own and learns that the real world doesn’t work in the manner to which they’ve become accustomed.

As I see it, it’s just more political posturing from the right.  They’re still stinging from the November elections, which were, in no small part, a referendum on Republian policies.  Now, they want their “spot” back and are willing to take down the economy to get it.

Well, let’s hope that 2010 brings a better economy and even fewer Republicans in office.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Despite our new President’s first day of celebration, there were apparently some on his team who are already at work laying out priorities and initiatives.  One that I just found out about appears on WhiteHouse.gov and gives a slap to the  recently-departed Bush administration.  In a section title “The Agenda”, it states the following regarding Hurricane Katrina:

President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration’s “unconscionable ineptitude” in responding to Hurricane Katrina, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims. Obama visited thousands of Hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center and later took three more trips to the region. He worked with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce legislation to address the immediate income, employment, business, and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities.

President Barack Obama will partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever.

Let’s hope that, at last, real help is coming to the Gulf Coast.

Popularity: 11% [?]

I’ve been waiting a long time to call someone else President.  So long, in fact, that I thought this day would never come.  Today, I am happy to say that George Bush is no longer president but, I am more happy to say that Barack Obama is now our nations 44th President!

Popularity: 12% [?]

Well, it’s about 15 minutes to go until we start the ceremony.  Like it or not, Change is coming.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Okay, I am looking up today and see that Bush is going to ask for Congress to authorize the release of the remaining half of the $700 billion bailout package.  Apparently, this is in response to a request made to him by incoming president Barack Obama, who says he wants to be able to use this money on day one to start addressing the nation’s economic issues.

Okay, call me distrustful and cynical but, do you think that, if given access to the rest of the money, Bush and cronies would just let the Obama team decide on what to do with it?

We already saw the games they played with the first half of it.  We have no real oversight of what’s been disbursed so far.  Also, they Bush Administration quietly slipped in some language at the last minute that lets most of the financial institution off the hook for having to put a limit on executive compensation.

So, knowing this (and many other things about the last 8 years), why would I trust them to do the right thing, now?  Maybe I’m just paranoid but, with it being just a little over a week to go, if I were Obama, I would have held off on this request.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Honestly, I knew that there were going to be acts of violence associated with the election of Barack Obama as president.  Some people are so full of fear and hate that such a change elicits violent and irrational responses.  Nonetheless, reading about such things still affects me.

Three Staten Island, New York men are being charged with federal hate crimes after a rash of Election-night assaults that ended with one man in a coma.

Ralph Nicoletti, Michael Contreras and Brian Carranza  formed a makeshift clubhouse to watch the Election-night results.  Seeing that Obama had won, the group decided to take out their anger on unsuspecting victims in a predominately-black neighborhood in Staten Island.

Their crimes included a metal pipe and baton beating of 17-year-old Ali Kamara, a young black man who was badly bruised on the arms, legs and torso and required staples to close the lacerations on his head.

However, their worst attack was reserved for Ronald Forte, a 38-year-old white man.  On that rainy Election-night, Forte was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.  Believing him to be a black man, Nicoletti hit him with the car in which they were riding.  Forte was flipped over the hood, smashing the windshield.  He has been in a coma for over two months, requiring a respirator to breathe.  According to Forte’s family, he is suffering from brain damage and motor control problems, as well.

A search of Nicoletti’s home produced more weapons and a note implicating him as the ringleader of the crew.

To read the federal indictment against the three men, click the link below:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/9832472/Federal-indictment-against-three-teens

Popularity: 15% [?]

I, like most other people, hate paying taxes.  Like most, I’d rather keep my money in my pocket and have more to take care of my family’s needs.  But, when I travel down a beat up road or travel over a bridge, not knowing the last time some maintenance was done on it, or see a fire truck responding to an emergency, I realize that taxes do have a real purpose.

Like many in the “middle-class”, I would like to see my taxes cut but, I really wonder, given our country’s economic situation, if cutting taxes is really a prudent way to get things going again.

We tried Bush’s tax cuts and, along with his administration’s other bonehead moves (Iraq, anyone?), this country was driven into a ditch.  So, I wonder if the proposed $300 billion-worth of tax cuts put forth by President-elect Obama is really what we need.

I know that my reaction is knee-jerk but, when I look at all the things that need to be fixed in this country (infrastructure, anyone?), I wonder where we would get the money or if we would even try.  Do we really need another bridge collapse like the one in Minnesota a little over a year ago to remind us that there are real risks with not taking care of our country.  When you think about it, Americans almost unquestioningly allow billions to be sent off to foreign countries for wars and paying off other countries in the interest of “national security” but would scream bloody murder if someone put for a proposal to fix a road or pass a school levy that would raise their taxes by a few dollars a year.

Knowing that, do we really want to keep putting our national priorites on the “credit card”, so to speak? Or, to extend the metaphor, should we be adult about it and pay for things with actual cash?

Right now, I think that many in Washington are continuing with putting what’s popular over what’s prudent when it comes to economics.  I’m afraid that our new President might start off by continuing this tradition.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Last week, I shared with you how some on the right are still trying to push a story questioning Barack Obama’s status as a natural-born citizen of the United States in order to block him from ever taking office as President.  In fact, many had gone so far as to actually sue to block him from assuming his elected duty.

One case in particular, Donofrio v. Wells, was placed before U.S. Supreme Court for consideration (in all fairness, I have since found out that Donofrio also challenged McCain’s citizenship because he was born in Panama (his father was stationed there in the military).  The case challenged whether or not Obama could be considered natural-born since Obama’s father was a British national.  Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 but, according to Donofrio, this gives Obama dual-citizenship, thus invalidating his status as a “natural-born” citizen.

Well, the Supreme Court has turned away this appeal.  I would like to believe that this is the end of the madness but, apparently, there are two other suits be appealed to the Supreme Court over this same issue, as well as various other suits in the lower courts.

So, I guess were in for more fun. *groan!*

Popularity: 18% [?]