This Ish Right Here…

Seriously, how dumb and mentally incompetent do you have to be?

The B is backwards, idiot!!

And did your “attacker” really have to be a big black man? Has the white “bushy haired stranger” lost all the love he used to have?

I’m just saying.

What Ever Happened to Daddy’s Little Girl?

She grew up and discovered after 36 years of neglect and indifference that she feels relatively nothing after hearing of his death.

Let’s back up for a minute. I was born to a teenaged mother sometime in the 1970’s. I never knew about my father until I was 17 and that involved a brief handshake at my church during a funeral. I never saw or talked to him again after that. Later on, I heard stories about him, heard news concerning his well being but I did not or could not bring myself to be concerned enough to find out more or to seek him out. Tearful reunions were never in the cards for me and I accepted that. I had no choice. Another part of me-my literal genetic half lived a completely separate life from me. He had a wife and other children and I was never a part of that. I had a grandmother, a mother, an aunt who I love more than life, cousins, and friends and he was never a part of that. And now he is dead.

I mourn for what never was. I grieve for what I never had: A father. I cry for the ideal, but not the man.

Rest in Peace, Ladison. That is all I can say.

Walking in Cindy McCain’s Shoes.

So Cindy McCain decided it was her turn to go after Barack Obama. I guess she didn’t want to feel left out of the Republican fist pounding that’s been going on for the past week. Here’s her contribution:

“The day that Sen. Obama cast a vote to not to fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body let me tell you,” she said. “I would suggest Sen. Obama change shoes with me for just one day. I suggest he take a day and go watch our men and women deploying.”

Now, I’m not even going to get into the specifics of her rant because frankly it’s bullshit. Especially since her husband voted against funding the troops on numerous occasions. No, I want to get on Cindy’s shoe game for a second. She’s daring Obama to switch shoes with her. Which pair may I ask? The $600.00 ones she sported at the Republican National Convention when she spoke with First Lady Laura Bush? Those shoes? Would she really want to switch off and get one of Obama’s run down pairs of shoes. One of the pairs he’s walked up and down platforms and podiums all across this country for ones that she will maybe wear only once?

$600.00 is a lot of money to pay for a pair of kicks, Cin. I’m sure $600.00 is a drop in the bucket to a multi-million dollar heiress like her. But for regular folk, they have other things they need to do with $600.00. I doubt she even knows what $600.00 means to people other than herself.

That amount could mean the difference between being able to pay their mortgage for the month or stay behind in payments.

It could help feed a family struggling with high grocery bills. It could help buy gas for a couple of months for a commuter here in Los Angeles.

It could be a student loan payment for someone fresh out of graduate school.

It could be a payback on a loan from a family member who was there to help out when the car was in danger of being repossessed.

It could be an infusion of cash in a flagging 401K plan.

It could be a payment for a week’s worth of HIV medication.

Catch my drift? There are too many folks who are dealing with way more stress than Cindy McCain right now. And even if it meant having to hang around a grumpy old man who by the way has been known to rock $500.00 loafers, there are some would gladly trade places with her.

Can I have some “heavy on the contempt but light on specifics”, please?

I’ll make this quick. Last night’s debate was pretty much a wash out for me. I will admit the dark side of me wanted a war of words, some fisticuffs, something! But instead the viewing audience was treated to snippets of each candidates stump speeches, some weird jokes, and a lot of understated tension.

The town hall style debate format was supposed to favor John McCain. However, it really wasn’t a town hall style debate. There was Tom Brokaw acting like an irritated principal at a third grade assembly. There were hand picked audience members who read prepared questions like rejects from a bad reality show casting. And there was Obama and McCain trying to maneuver around the rules that their respective campaigns had agreed on. It all led to a dull as dust engagement with no new ground covered. Well, except McCain’s new mortgage proposal which really wasn’t new.

There are only two things that stood out to me. One, McCain really, really, really doesn’t like Obama. He can’t even pretend to hide it any longer. From his tight, uncomfortable smiles, to his lame jokes, to his pointing to Obama and calling him, “That One”. Everything about his demeanor screamed, “I hate yo’ black ass!”Two, both candidates are trying very hard to be as general as possible with their policies in a time when voters truly need specifics. It’s not enough right now to have plans posted on websites, they need to face the public with camera lights streaming across their faces and let us know what it is exactly they plan to do in order to help us out of the mess our economy, our military, and our healthcare are in.

By virtue of just showing up and not blowing his cool, Obama was declared the winner of the debate. he managed to actually answer questions without going all off tangent; in a general and non scary way. He didn’t feel the need to needle Brokaw or joke about hairplugs, overhead projectors, and cadillacs (WTF?). He’s riding high in the polls and he has maintained his positive momentuem. I can understand why he would not want to jeopardize it by throwing little things like specifics into the mix. But you know, there are a few folks that would like to hear some. He has one more chance to do it at the last debate happening October, 13th.

Let’s all hope the discussion will be a bit more substantive. If not, I can do with some punches and kicks.

The Content of His Character

This weekend the McCain campaign announced that they are planning to turn the page and focus their attention on Barack Obama’s character, his associations, and his fitness to lead. In other words, they are planning to assault the American public with ads and speeches about William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and Toni Rezko. I’ll give the Republicans credit for their relentless tunnel vision. Who else could completely ignore the failures and shady associations of their own presidential candidate while trying to exploit Obama’s? It may be just politics as usual for them, but they may find out that it won’t be that easy this time. John McCain has his own questions to answer regarding his past associations and decisions. If his campaign thinks it’s fair and that they are doing a service to the electorate by providing the truth about Obama, then they shouldn’t have a problem with the truth about John McCain.

Right?

Well, just in case their memories are a little foggy, I’ll be happy to provide some reminders of John McCain’s walk on the dark side:

• The ink wasn’t even dry on his divorce papers from his first wife before he married beer heiress Cindy Lou Hensley in 1980 with whom he had been carrying on a long term affair.
• Shortly after arriving in Washington in 1986, John McCain became friends with real estate financier Charles Keating, in return for political favors, John McCain received money, gifts, and free trips. McCain wasn’t the only Senator getting the goods from Keating, and he and his friends were soon known as the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five. McCain and his group of merry lawmakers were at the heart of the one of the largest congressional scandals of the 80’s. Charles Keating and three Senators were convicted of fraud and other crimes and were sentenced to prison. McCain managed to escape prosecution but was censured by the Senate.
• After getting a slap on the wrist for his involvement with Keating, McCain attempted to transform himself into a reformer but he couldn’t quite pull it off. He formed a nonprofit group called the Reform Institute in 2001, but soon cut ties with the organization after it was discovered that the group collected millions of dollars in corporate money for lobbyists in order to influence the Senate Commerce Committee. McCain was said to have been afraid of the bad publicity the Reform Institute activities had created.
• After shaking off the dirt from the Reform Institute, McCain then became friends with a lobbyist named Vicki Iseman who worked for a telecommunications firm. In exchange for campaign donations, the firm wanted McCain to use his influence to steer cable service legislation in their favor. Out of the goodness of his heart, McCain wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and in return, he received a figurative pop on the nose from the chairman and unwanted media attention for his interference. During the Republican primary, the New York Times investigated McCain’s involvement with Iseman in depth. Innuendos of an improper relationship were raised, Iseman promptly disappeared, and McCain refused answer any questions regarding the matter altogether.
• As his nomination for the Republican loomed near, his campaign co-chairman Representative Rick Renzi was indicted for extortion and wire fraud for his involvement in a land deal in his home state of Arizona. Renzi was considered one of McCain’s few friends in Washington.
• Well if Renzi was a bust, McCain had other friends who work on his campaign: Charlie Black, Rick Davis, Randy Scheunemann, Nancy Pfotenhauer, John Green, and Wayne Berman. The aforementioned have been involved in lobbying for organizations such as Exxon, Koch Industries, At &T, General Motors, Verizon, Visa, Motorola, The National Rifle Association, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. And for foreign governments such as Angola, Zimbabwe, Montenegro, and Georgia. Charlie Black’s activities are so well known he was the target of a MoveOn.org attack ad calling for his ouster. Rick Davis’ ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were called into question when it was discovered that he had been receiving money from those firms while working as the manager for the McCain campaign.

Let’s not forget these folks either now…

• Carly Fiorina-McCain spokeswoman and fired Hewlitt-Packard CEO who left the company in shambles.
• Raffaello Follieri-indicted Italian influence peddler (and ex-boyfriend of Anne Hathaway) who was photographed meeting with John McCain and Rick Davis on his private yatch.
• Pastor John Hagee who stated that the devastation of Hurricane Katrina was the result of homosexual tolerance and whose support McCain actively sought in order to grab religious conservative votes.
• Carl Lindner, Jr. CEO of Chiquita Brands is a top fundraiser for the McCain campaign who oversaw a 1.7 million dollar payment to a Colombian paramilitary group that the United States considers to be a terrorist organization.
• Phil Gramm who is a McCain campaign financial advisor and the architect of the deregulation, and best friend to Enron–while it was still in business.
• George Bush, Jr, the current President and the guy responsible for the biggest military disaster in modern times, the largest economic collapse since the 1930’s, and helms one of the most morally bankrupt and corrupt administrations ever.

In response to questions about his past associations, Barack Obama sat down for a lengthy interview with the Chicago Times in March of this year. Will McCain be compelled to do the same thing? Will he provide insight into his dealings with crazy pastors, white collar criminals and such since doing so is a test of character and leadership?