History in the Making

Talk about a BEAUTIFUL woman!
In her Jason Wu gown, Michelle Obama was a vision of beauty, class, and style last
night to celebrate her husband, her family, and her country!

President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama were a vision of modernism, sexiness, and style as they danced to "At Last" the Etta James classic, as sung by Beyonce (who looked pretty darn good herself!)

The First Couple was a picture of pride and style and they swayed in two-step to the words that not only ended their two year long bid for the Presidency, but also started the culmination of events that would end their weekend long celebration!

Today...it's time to go to work!

Today is the day the Lord has made...

I am beyond excited for my country today!
I am beyond excited for my future today!
I am beyond excited for the future of my only child, a boy child, today!

Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!

As a 32 year old woman, I who live in the age of technology and change, never thought I would see the day when an African-American man, a man who could have been my father, my uncle, my Grandfather, my husband, my son...take his place at the helm of this country, and lead us into the future. Today, I am so completely elated and proud! Proud of the history of Black Americans. Proud of the history of Dr. King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Barbara Jordan, and Thurgood Marshall. Proud of my people, and our journey from the bondage of slavery, to emancipation, to our revolution against Jim Crow, and onward! I am proud of Barack Obama, the man with the courage and confidence to change the status quo and give America back to its rightful owners, the PEOPLE! This man, the first Black President of the Harvard Law Review, is now the first Black President of the United States of America. I sight I never thought I would live to see, that now shines back at me from my television.

Today is the day the Lord has made...
It is a day for the people. We who have fought and struggled. Not just in racism and sexism and classism, but against it. Not just those who have been discriminated against, but those who fought against discrimination. We are a collection of people, not defined by our colour, our class, or our gender. We are a collection of fighters, of leaders, of revolutionaries, of differences, of similarities, and of people...simple, common, and everday people!
And now, we are led by someone just like us. Someone who simply wants to make a change. Someone who believes in us...yes we can! Someone who believes in himself...yes WE can! Someone who is hopeful...yes we can! Someone who is ready to lead this country...yes we can!

On this day, we are called upon to celebrate all that is wonderful and amazing about the United States of America. This land was made for you and me...it belongs to you and me! And finally, we have a leader, who will fight not only for America...but for Americans!

Today is the day the Lord has made...let us rejoice and be glad!

Happy Inauguration Day President Obama!

Bail Money

The United States is known for bailing out others...we are the flotation device for many third world and poor countries around the world. I applaud that, and I think it is necessary, as one of the most powerful nations in the world, that we help out those amidst us who are in need of help.
That said...how does the saying go...
God helps those who help themselves?

Well, the US is in one of the largest and most widespread economic crises since the Great Depression. We are in a serious deficit, we owe billions of dollars to China and other countries, and we continue to see unemployment rates rise.
I live in the Detroit area, so I can tell you, this is one of the hardest hit areas, since the automobile industry has been failing for years and is now just weeks from the possible fold of Chrysler and General Motors. Both companies have stated that they are just weeks from running out of money to perform their essential functions.
These companies, as you may know, have requested a bailout from the US government, similar to the first bailout that helped AIG and other insurance and financial companies from going bankrupt and closing their doors.

On Friday, the bailout bill failed in the Senate. That same day, President George Bush announced that he might use tax money set aside to help financial companies to bail out the auto companies. As it stand, General Motors needs about 10 million and Chrysler about 4 million dollars.

Many people have been split on this idea, except for people who live in auto based areas,mainly the Michigan area. The bailout would help many people retain their jobs and help put a few people back to work. In addition, both companies have failed to keep up with the ever changing auto industry in terms of more effecient and smaller vehicles, steadily producing gas guzzling SUVs. The failure of the bailout could make them change, quickly. Over time, the auto industry, once an industry started and dominated by America, has been taken over by foreign companies, with their flex fuel and gas efficient smaller cars. However, failure to help these companies could lead to catastropic events in areas that rely on this industry...such as higher foreclosure rates, increased unemployment rates, and rise of the poverty level!

What is your take?
Let me know...share...get involved...and let's come up with some viable solutions!

What Has Obama done for you lately?

Well, he is picking one HELL of a team!

Let's look at some of his picks (or most likely picks in the coming weeks), their background, and what this could mean for you!

Chief of Staff*
Rahm Emanuel
This Congressman from Chicago has been a fixture in the Democratic Congress. He is known for his tough and no nonsense presence. He will bring a bit of fire, to the more calm Obama's team. Every team needs a fire breather to light a fire under everyone else...

Secretary of Treasury*
Timothy Geithner
He helped manage the Wall Street meltdown earlier this year and was key in many of the bailouts. His role in the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression can give an inside view on how to fix this issue and move the country forward, out of recession, and back to a wealthy nation.

Press Secretary*
Robert Gibbs
This senior advisor and communications director for Obama's senatorial and presidential campaigns has been in a fixture on his team. He knows Obama, and will be able to extinguish any negative and unfounded media attention, and will shine a bright light on Obama to keep his image positive and trustworthy in the media.

National Sec. Advisor
Jim Jones
This former military man who has dedicated his life to securing the US would be a great choice, and build Obama's national security team to great heights!

Commerce Secretary
Likely Pick: Bill Richardson
He served as Energy Secretary during the Clinton campaign, and with a huge move, proposed to focusing on alternate forms of energy he would be a great pick, to spearhead that movement, along with Al Gore as Secretary of Energy.

Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano
As the governor of Arizona, a US-Mexico border state, and a leader in immigration reform, she will help curb illegal immigration, while also making sure that legal immigrants in the US are treated fairly.

Secretary of State
Hilary Clinton
A former first lady and senator since 2000, who has served on many important committees including the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe, she is well versed in the running of the State Department. Picking Clinton shows a willing to work with a variety of people, in Obama's case, who are well respected in government. Her huge standing in the Presidential primary showed that American's respect her ability to govern and make government more effective and efficient.

Health and Human Services
Tom Daschle
This former senate majority leader has built a reputation for health care reform and can help make the possibility of universal health coverage possible for all Americans.

Attorney General
Likely Pick: Eric Holder Jr.
This former deputy attorney general, U.S. attorny for the District of Columbia, and associate judge of the Superior Court shows his strong legal background. His experience and years of service will bring a great deal of knowledge to the team.


Secretary of Defense
Wesley Clark
This lifelong military man, helped end the conflict in Bosnia and was named the supreme allied commander of NATO in 1997. His background will help lead the military into a stronger and more supporter team.


Ambassador to the U.N.
Likely Choice: William Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton is known and loved throughout the world. During his presidency, the US was looked at favorable by most countries in the world. He has spent the majority of his time since being the President focusing on AIDS and economic conditions around the world. With his wife as the Secretary of State, and many of his former advisors in key roles in the Obama team, this could put more focus on Clinton politics, than setting a new trend in government, and be looked at as more of the same Democrat ideals at work. There was also a great deal of tension between the Clintons and Obama during the primary and even into the Presidential race. This could look like a weakness on Obama's part. I think,personally, a better choice would be Caroline Kennedy or Susan Rice.

Secretary of Energy
Likely Pick: Al Gore

Al Gore has spent most of his time, since his 2000 run for the Presidency, focusing on climate change, energy, and the environment. He won the Nobel Prize for his work. He is educated and will have some wonderful ideas about how to solve the energy crisis in the U.S.

Education
UNKNOWN

The starred positions have been formally picked and vetted.
Stay tuned for more as we cover the transition from Bush to Obama.
...a change gon' come!

Biden vs. Palin: The Battle of the Century

Well, okay, maybe not of the century, but CERTAINLY for this week.
Tomorrow, we will all, all of us concerned with the future of this country anyway, be
glued to our sets, waiting to what Biden and Palin will bring to this all important
debate.
Set to start at 9:00pm, and available on virtually every channel from broadcast television to our cable mainstays, this Thursday's debate, already highly debated by the media, will show us all whether Palin has the knowledge and the chops to hold her own in Washington.
So get your popcorn ready, because this is sure to be a drama for the ages!

You make the Presidential Prediction!

There is a Yahoo feature that allows users to make their own predictions about the election on one of those infamous red/blue state maps.
This also gives you some valuable information on what the theories are for those states that are still up for grabs.
Click for MY prediction map!

The Real Race Card

I read a recent Yahoo article that began with these words:
"Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close..."
http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race;_ylt=AlJqFmFZhO5rBGA2_gPZT_Z2KY54

After reading the entire article, I was angered and disturbed. Basically, the article was in response to a poll that showed that 1/3rd of all white Democrats have negative views against black people. The poll showed that many Whites, including Democrats, still view Blacks as violent, lazy, complaining,and irresponsible.
I read the article in its entirety...and it was not the article I was angered by, but the audacity of people!

We live in a society where there are now more millionaires of color than ever before. More minorities are excelling in the business world, in education, in life. While there are still many institutional barriers in place that simply mimic the white privilege that already exists, but minorities and people of color are rising in spite of those barriers and in spite of that privilege. It is that privilege, that many White people deny and refuse to acknowledge, that gives them the audacity to say such things about other people, many of whom probably don't even personally know one Black person. These are probably people from Idaho, Iowa, ALASKA, and other areas,where there are less Black people than in more metropolitan areas. There are a few, most likely, from those same metro areas who have always held resentment towards those unlike themselves. People who are so ashamed and unhappy with who they are, they put others down,especially those least like them, to make themselves feel superior.

Well,I have news for all of those people. If they follow thier prejudices, they will elect into office a man who is purely politics and his sad choice for a running mate. They will elect into office a man who wants to continue the senseless, unnecessary, and deceptive war in Iraq. A man who is not going to bring a fresh new perspective into this country full of FRESH AND NEW life. I am amazed at the audacity of ignorance. I am amazed at the audacity of fear. I am amazed at the audacity of granduer. And I am inspired by the Audacity of HOPE!

Obama in '08...VOTE OR DIE!

Presidential Debates

THE DEBATES ARE COMING, THE DEBATES ARE COMING!
Get ready, because the presidential debates start September 26th.
Here is a list of the debates, what channel they will appear on, and the moderators.
HAPPY VOTING!


First presidential debate
Friday, September 26
The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Jim Lehrer
Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS

Vice presidential debate
Thursday, October 2
Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
Gwen Ifill
Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour, and Moderator and Managing Editor, Washington Week, PBS

Second presidential debate (town meeting)
Tuesday, October 7
Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
Tom Brokaw
Special Correspondent, NBC News

Third presidential debate
Wednesday, October 15
Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
Bob Schieffer
CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent, and Host, Face the Nation

Each debate will begin at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

(Source, Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/05/presidential-debate-moder_n_117048.html)

So Disgusted...

I am so disgusted with American voters.
I read an article this morning, stating that John McCain's approval
rating and points in the polls has risen, up 4 points over Barack Obama.
Just a month ago, Obama led McCain by over 7 points in the same poll.

What is the difference?

Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, is the most absurd and ridiculous pick for a
running mate I have ever witnessed. When Obama has such a knowledgeable and great
politican, Joe Biden, as his running mate...for McCain, who is lacking on the issues, to pick a relative unknown like Palin is beyond bad judgement.
In my opinion, she was picked to try to sway those die-hard Hillary supporters, who
are still upset that she did not win the Democratic nomination.
What an insult to those people and to women.
Sarah Palin is NO Hillary Clinton. Hillary is not just a great orator, she is a
politician who knows her stuff. She comes armed with a great plan for the economy, education, the war, and health care. Up until a few weeks ago, Sarah Palin was best known for supporting the Bridge to Nowhere, which she claims she was against. True, but only AFTER it was deemed wasteful by Congress.

This woman has somehow taken a hold on the American voter. When Obama has been called the "celebrity" candidate, here comes Palin, and she now has people going out in droves to get the same rimless glasses she wears. She is on the cover, this week, of almost every celebrity gossip magazine. Who is working the celebrity angle, I ask you? I think she is more entertained by her newfound popularity, than she is enthused about changing this country and the world with better policies, new leadership, and a stimulated economy. This is a woman who paraded her pregnant 17 year old daughter on stage, as if this is an acceptable and positive message to any young woman in the world. While she is against sex-education and the right of a woman to choose her reproductive path, she seems "for" putting the national attention on a child, her child, who is going through something that must be scary and very very personal, on display.

Further, her remarks about community organizers, is one of the worst and most damaging arguments against Barack Obama I have ever heard. This is a woman who claims she will champion those with special needs in the white house, this is a woman who belongs to a party who supports community organizers, as opposed to more government. This a woman who has NO CLUE what a vice-president does...let alone a President, and she is one step from the most important position in the free world. Community organizers, who often stimulate political action and movement in urban areas, areas that are hit hard by economical woes, poverty, lack of education, etc. , and who give a voice to the many people who have limited access to government, are an important part of this nation's government. To make it seem unimportant and comical is an insult to the hundreds of thousands of people who take part in and are assisted by these types of people and organizations on a daily basis. Yet, Obama is called an elitest.

This is one of the most lopsided and negative campaigns I have ever seen in the American Presidential Race. Obama is a formidable candidate, an accomplished Senator, and a person on the right side of the issues. He is not without faults, by no means,but he is the change, the necessary change, that American needs.

It takes a nation of millions to hold us back...Obama in 2008!

Politics all Around

For those of you who do not know, the now former Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, resigned from office today. After pleading guilty to two felony charges, Kilpatrick received a four month prison term and five year term of probation.

In other political news, Senator John McCain accepted his parties nomination as the Republican candidate for President of the United States. His running mate, Senator Palin from Alaska spoke yesterday, in a speech, thought by many, to be high on style but low on substance (no pun intended)!

Politics, my friends,is a dirty game. Let us not confuse POLITICS with PUBLIC SERVICE. Politics are the bureaucratic policies that often dictate who becomes a public official. Public service,is just that, service for public good.
Both of the McCain speech and the Kilpatrick resignation were politics gone very wrong.

Kilpatrick, who has long stated that he dreamed of being the mayor of Detroit as a child, was tasked with running one of the largest urban cities in the United States, and one of the most plagued. He made many strides in the city, bringing in companies, events, and a newfound love of the city that had been missing for over 30 years. His actions, from lying under oath, to the extreme arrogance with which he has held on to a title entrusted to him by the public, has shamed the city, many of its residents, and those who supported him. Even during his resignation speech, he lacked humility,and again seemed to infer that he was less than totally responsible for this outcome. He even seemed to blame much of his fate on the claimed political agendas of others. Nonetheless, he will now have plenty of time to think over his actions. I would guess, that those who love him will pray with him and give them a piece of their minds, after this long ordeal has put many of them to task for his mistakes.

McCain...well...he and his running mate are classic examples of talking the talk...but the real truth will come in the walk. I think she is crippled with inexperience and ignorance, and he is just cripple. So, put on your walking shoes...cuz the race is on!
In case you didn't know...Obama in '08!!!!!

Straight Up No Chaser

In this all important election season, we are going to (and have) heard all types of fiction and non-fiction about the Presidential Candidates. Now that we have narrowed the field to Barack Obama and John McCain, we are sure to hear tons of claims made by both parties that may or may not be factual.
So, to serve as your personal fact checker, go to Fact Check to get a good ole dose of truth, by a non-partison and non-profit site that checks all the claims the candidates and media hold out as truths.
This will be an INVALUABLE resource for you as you brave the rapids and consider which person will be the next President of the United States!

Bonne Chance!

Historical Night in American History

Tonight, I have never been more proud to be an American...to be an African-American.
I watched CNN all day today, as I waited to see who would clinch the coveted Demoncratic Presidential Nominee spot...and like most of the country had known for months, it was Barack Obama that prevailed.
Barack Obama, the first man of color to EVER be named the Democratic Presidential Nominee. It was both a victory and a historical moment that most African-Americans will never forget. It is a day that my 93 year old Grandfather probably never thought he would live to see! It is a day, I often wondered if I would ever see...and a day that I hope my 3 year old son will find a sense of pride and hope in, and the realization that, he can be anything he sets his mind to...ANYTHING...even the President of the United States of America.

So I stand in pride in saying...congratulations to Mr. Obama...
and ready to stand behind him in his next race...all the while saying resoundingly...
YES WE CAN!!!!!!!!

And uh...let's just note, that this man will most CERTAINLY be...the most stylish and well-dressed Presidential Candidate in the history of U.S. politics. Note the teal tie he wore last night...smart, powerful, and stylish...what a combination!!!!