Top 10 Solutions For a More Perfect Union

Over on AlterNet we find a list.
Top 10 Solutions for a More Perfect Union
By Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation

Healthcare for all, Election Reform, Campaign Finance reform, protecting unions, less media consolidation. All of these seem like simple enough goals for the most powerful country on the planet to achieve.

How much do you want to bet we will still be trying to get even one of them truly accomplished anytime in the near future?

More From the InJustice System

Eyewitness guidelines urged after man freed
By CARLOS CAMPOS
Willie O. "Pete" Williams' recent release after more than 21 years in prison on a wrongful rape conviction has put a face on an issue once again before the Georgia Legislature: faulty eyewitness identifications.
Williams, 44, was picked out of a photo lineup by a victim who testified in court that she was "120" percent certain he was the man who raped her. But DNA evidence later proved he was not guilty of the crime.

Lots of angles in this story.
1. Everyone admits there is something wrong when a man spends 20 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit, but no one can agree on what to do about it. The cops and prosecutors don't want the legislature to fix it; the legislature doesn't trust the cops and prosecutors to fix it; and of course neither side gives a damn about how the defense advocates feel about it.

2. It's always a Black man. I'm looking on the internet now trying to find a picture of a white man who was set free after being in jail a whole bunch of years for a crime he didn't commit. If you know of any such incident, please let me know. Even it there is an exception, in this case it would prove the rule. Only Black men are victimized by faulty eyewitness identifications. It's a running joke in our communities that most of us "look alike" or "fit the profile". We know it's not true, we also know it doesn't matter that it's not true. If you have ever watched an episode of Cops and seen how they grab up the first person they see who fits the description and present them to the eyewitness gift wrapped, knows that it's best not to be in the area and fitting the description.
UPDATE: 02/01/07: found a few pictures of freed white men, therefore must amend statement. It's USUALLY a Black man.

3. The suggested fixes won't work. The police cannot be trusted to adequately train themselves to serve the accused suspect's best interest. The legislature will not go far enough with their protections, because they belong to the same clubs as the prosecutors and nobody wants to ruffle anybody else's feathers. In this day and age of cameras everywhere, and forensic science that has spawned an entire genre of police t.v., maybe it would be best if no one could be convicted solely on one eyewitness identification. That's the only way to be sure, and the goal is surety, beyond a reasonable doubt. The disturbing legacy of eyewitness testimony seems to have implanted a very good reason to doubt any single eyewitness identification that is not supported by some other evidence.

ConnectingBlack.com

Have you heard about ConnectingBlack.com? (aka CompletelyBlack.com). It's online business networking for (you guessed it) Black professionals. Does anyone know anything about this website, it's owner/operators, policies, and/or any other relevent information? Check out this press release.

Due Diligence you know.

It's rather like Ryze and some of the other online networking website ventures. I could wax philosophical about how we are re-establishing segregation, albeit on our own terms this time, but I'm not that awake yet this morning.

Broken Justice System - Broken Lives

I got an email from a good friend of mine named Chandra Thomas who is writer for Atlanta Magazine. She's good at it too; no fluff stuff or status quo memos for Chandra. She picks good controversial topics and hits them hard.

This is old news to some, but as long as it's going on, it should still be news. It is almost ridiculous to even call it a "Justice System" anymore. It's like everyone who has ever heard about this case, knows that there is a travesty of justice going on here. It's wrong on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. I am a lawyer, a person who has always had a lot of respect for the rule of law, if not its application in many cases. This is the kind of thing that makes me wonder if sometimes anarchy wouldn't be a better thing.

The teen I first wrote about in Atlanta Magazine, who
received 10 years in prison for receiving consensual
oral sex, has now been featured on MSNBC, The O'Reilly
Factor, ABC Prime Time, Good Morning America, The Tom
Joyner Morning Show, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution
and TWICE in the New York Times.
Today ESPN.com released another FABULOUS account
suitably titled "Outrageous Justice." The links are
below if you want to check it out.


ESPN.COM
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=wilson
MY ATLANTA MAGAZINE STORY
www.atlantamagazine.com/article.php?id=158

Can we at least agree that the underlying philosophical foundation of Criminal Justice since the days of Hammurabi's Code? Isn't it better that 10 guilty men go free than to have one innocent man unjustly convicted? Are we so fearful of crime and criminals that we have completely lost sight of that?

The field negro is feeling Obama-licious

From the field, " Barack Obama's new book is titled the "Audacity of Hope", and you have got to respect a guy who at only 44 years old is the only African American in that exclusive club of 100 known as the United States Senate. And who has declared himself ready to run and be elected to the most powerful position on earth. That's a man who dares to hope, and who obviously worked hard to get where he is and live out his dream."

I apologize in advance if this rains on anyone's parade. First, there is no chance at all that Mr. Obama can win. I think he knows it as well as most of us. I think he knows that he would be a dead president within weeks of the election. I can't see them waiting until he is sworn in to send out the snipers.
I would guess that he is actually angling towards a possible Vice Presidency run at this point. A good showing in the primaries would make him almost a lock, no matter who gets the Presidential nod. I predict that he will be the least likely to ruffle any of the other candidates feathers especially Hillary, Edwards, or Richardson. He'll be the guy everybody likes and anybody could use to for sure capture that black vote. He might even live through a Vice Presidential run.
Here's the part that's going to get you twisted. None of it matters. While I can respect Obama the man, I expect no different from Obama the politician than I expect from any other politician. It is simply naive to believe that there will be some magical mystical miraculous change in the politics of Capitalism that is practiced in this country. Obama knows that to stay in power he has to keep the right people, the people with money happy. He isn't running a grass roots race, he is parlaying with the rich and powerful. If he is not already a tool of the special interest, he is setting himself up to be one.

That's the ugly truth of this thing we call democracy in America. In the words of the Wu, "Cash Rules Everything Around Me" As long the masses of us can be distracted into ingoring that basic fundamental truth about power there is little chance that we will take steps that can actually cause a change. So they will keep us focused on the inconsequential things, like the possibility of the first woman, Black or Latino president, or Obama's middle name. It's all misdirection.

Ever heard of the Doomsday Clock

It never ceases to amaze me when I find out about things that I had no idea existed. Take for example the Doomsday Clock. I read a lot of science fiction and comic books in my youth so I am not unfamiliar with the concept. I was, however, totally unaware that such a construct actually existed on my plane of reality as well. Ever heard of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists? Well, I had no idea they existed before today. From what I can see, it appears to be a rather well educated and informed group.

They are the ones responsible for keeping time on the Doomsday Clock. According to Wikipedia, The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clockface maintained since 1947 by the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago. It uses the analogy of the human race being at a time that is "minutes to midnight" where midnight represents destruction by nuclear war. Since its introduction, the clock has appeared on the cover of each issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
The number of minutes before midnight, a measure of the degree of nuclear threat, is updated periodically. The clock is currently set to five minutes to midnight (the first time ever set to 5 minutes), having been advanced by two minutes on January 17, 2007.

The Exodus Mentality: There are a lot of people keeping track of a lot of seemingly important things; things that a lot of us seem perfectly content to remain completely in the dark about.

Black Man = Guilty (Even When Proven Innocent)

I usually reserve my limited time and typing skills for matters that I deem to be of the utmost importance. So even though I am an Atlanta Falcons fan, and a Mike Vick fan, I didn't feel the need to comment on the incident that was the center attraction for everyone else in Atlanta and NFL news circles. To recap, Vick, Atlanta's $130 million dollar QB, made a fuss about not taking his water bottle through a Miami airport security checkpoint. Of course it struck that highly trained TSA agent as strange that a multi-millionaire would be so attached to what appeared to be a $2 bottle of water, so after Vick disposed of it, the enterprising security official decided to investigate further, by going to get the bottle from the trash receptacle and giving it a more thorough examination. (One of my first thoughts was that I'm sure this highly trained TSA agent could articulate exactly why he thought that a water bottle disposed of by a high profile African American athlete would pose a threat to airport security. NOT) The thorough examination revealed that the bottle was in fact a hideaway safe, with a hidden compartment that contained "a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana," according to a police report. (My second thought creeps in; it takes a smoker to smell a smoker, and who trains these TSA agents to be such experts at smell detection anyway? Don't they have dogs for that?).

Naturally the bottle was turned over to Police for further investigation (never would have happened if it wasn't a high profile Black athlete). The media frenzy, at least in Atlanta, was intensely anti-Vick, questioning everything from is character, to his morality, to his intelligence or lack thereof. A columnist with Atlanta's only major newspaper flat out said Vick must go. The AJC poll showed that 75% of the readers agree with him. I must admit that I too was disappointed that he couldn't have handled that situation with more finesse. But hey, everybody gets caught slipping every now and then.

It appeared to me that the lynching of Mick Vick was Well underway in Atlanta, then late Sunday night I hear a news whisper. It wasn't marijuana. Not the ganja, Not the purp, no dro, not wacky weed. The man is apparently INNOCENT. Now as I reflect on all the hype, I wonder if any of those who already had the man tried, convicted, and hung will be as public with their apologies. As I listened to the sports talk radio this morning, it doesn't appear that will be the case. The clowns I heard talking were still blaming Vick, only now they are saying he should have just had a press conference right away to proclaim his innocence. He brought all this negative media on himself, by not coming clean with the public from the start. So basically now they are ticked off at him for trying to keep his private affairs, well, you know, Private.

On another football note, or racism note, or both, We are pleased to say that there is a reason to watch the SuperBowl this year. Or should I call it the name by which it will forever be known, The SOULBOWL. That's right, for the first time in the history of the NFL, there is a Black head coach at the head of one of the teams. Ordinarily that would be a cause for much celebration in the streets, and the rigning of bells and the sounding of trumpets. But this historic occasion boasts not just one Black head coach, but Both Head coaches in the 2007 SoulBowl are Black. this means we are spared the infantile drama of the Black man vs. the White man. We can instead get to the real drama, how mad soes this really make white people. I direct your attention again to sports talk radio, where this morning I heard nothing but hate, hate, and more hate from the white folks. Even the good Christian, I marched with Dr. King types couldn't restrainn themselves.

The most polite comment I heard was that we should just celebrate them (Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy) as two exceptional human beings, who have achieved their just deserved rewards, without regard to their skin color. For those of you who may not understand, let me put it this way. Lovie and Tony and every other Black person in this country is constantly aware of the regard, or lack thereof, for our skin color. You who would suggest that we now perpetuate the fraud of some mythical colorblind society should remember that it is by your doing that things are now the way they are. You have therefore forfeitied the right to complain about it.

The other comments were just downright ignorant. Like Black folks don't have a right to feel proud of the accomplishments of ather Black folks. How dare us!?!? Like we can't hope that this might open up some doors for us in the upper echelon of a multi-billion dollar business organization that uses us as it's main attraction but somehow we can't obtain any ownership interests in it.

The Real hand of God is Mother Nature

And you have got to know that the human race is in line for a big back hand slap from good old mom. There are any number of reasons why a lot of things have to change if we expect to continue to survive in any semblance of civilized society. Here is a real good basic simple no-nonsense rational perspective on what could very easily happen if we don't do something real smart, real quick. Now I'm not saying this will happen, but can you honestly say that it couldn't happen?

After you read that, think about this; just 40 years ago the world was a completely different place than it is now. In the next 40 years, how much faster could the advancement or decline of the human condition occur? IF in fact the situation only gets half as bad as the worst case scenario, what would be the practical implications and problems that might arise? Could you survive the upheaval that would occur?

I expect to be around for the next 40-60 years, so it seems practical to give serious thought to the possible implications of current trends. I have been reminded that i was also one of those people who believed there as a good chance to major problems with the Y2K technology scare. I still maintain that it was because of a groundswell of informed citizens that the relatively simple, but extremely expensive solutions were implemented. The entire country went into an economic tailspin starting right around that time, but these days everyone thinks things didn't go bad until 9/11/01.

If a tree falls in the forest

If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Here's a very interesting perspective on that from a 26-year old political activist.

She says, "I was born in 1980. I missed the 60's and 70's, often touted as the "golden age" of a politically active citizenry. Now I am 26 years old and realizing that somewhere along the way my generation missed political action class. Perhaps it fell through the public school cracks somewhere between pre-calculus and U.S. History, when we talked for an entire semester about the Civil and Revolutionary wars, and the current state of our own country was never mentioned."

"As far as I understand it the realistic avenues I have to make change in my own country are to vote for two different versions of the same thing during elections (neither of whom represent most of my beliefs), to protest, and to write letters to government officials and cross my fingers that someone might actually read them. Apparently protesting is out.
This being the case, what does it mean to be an American citizen."

I have a 17 year old son and I often wonder what it will take to motivate his generation to an understanding of that very question.

Stepin Fetchit Awards.(The Coonies)

I wish I could say I thought of these awards, but the author is the owner of The Field Negro blog. For the most part, some very deserving coons received their just due. I might have cut Cedric the Entertainer a bit of a break, after all his style of comedy doesn't denigrate blacks any more than Carrot Top is a diss to white folks. But hey, they aren't my awards.

A bit further down the page The Field Negro, bka field, expresses some concern about the N-Word. I couldn't resist contributing the Exodus Mentality. This was one of the few places where there actually appears to be reasoned discussion about the N-word. In that spirit, I will refrain from it's use out of respect for those who might take offense. For the record, I see no reason to focus even a fraction of the energy that is being focused on that word. I consider it an useless and potentially damaging distraction from the real work that needs to be done. Rather like treating a stomach ache while the patient dies from prostate cancer, or like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. It also reeks of a simple and fundamental misunderstanding of what all this is really all about. Racism is so much bigger than a word.Most reasonable people admit that intent is the key element to the use of that word or any other. As I wrote on my blog, Exodus Mentality(http://exodusmentality.blogspot.com/2006/11/response.html), "No one needs any particular word(s) to reinforce racism. Any word or no word at all will do. Every word that has ever been used to refer to non-white people has also been used to denigrate them. When those words aren't enough, they will invent or co-opt words that have other meanings. Has anyone ever called you a Black bastard? Bastard wasn't bad enough, they had to denigrate your racial heritage as well. It wouldn't matter if they called you a Nigger bastard, a African bastard, a Darky bastard, or a Spade bastard. They have an intrinsic antipathy towards your racial heritage."I consider it disingenuous to theorize that any use of the N-word serves to embolden racists. That's like saying U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would embolden terrorists. Or saying that women wearing revealing clothing emboldens a rapist. These are all "blame the victim" disinformation tactics, designed to confuse the central issue, the wrong being done. If history is to be the criteria for abolishing this or that, I vote we abolish America. The history of America should give every person of African descent constant nightmares. We should be mightily offended that America has been allowed to retain any respect in the world after it's legacy of violence towards the African diaspora. I am so much more offended by well intentioned white folks who suggest we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps (after stealing our boots to begin with), than I have ever been about one of my acquaintances greeting me with a fondly delivered N-word.It's also not fair to presume that the word is only being used by thugs, and intellectual midgets. Just because you believe in something doesn't mean that people who don't agree with you are ignorant. I happen to be an extremely intelligent and intellectual person even though I don't agree that the N-word is worthy of all this attention. I consider the comedy sketch where Chris Rock states "I love me some Black folks, but I can't stand them Niggers" to be pure genius. For all you supporters of the ultimately impossible task of abolishing the N-word, if it's necessary to denigrate the individuals who disagree with you, rather than focusing the positions they advocate, this is a sign of an inherent weakness in your argument.It is ultimately impossible to remove a word from the human lexicon. There will always be someone for whom that word will be their choice to communicate their point. All this effort on an impossible dream, and one that would bear no fruit even if it was achieved. We've got to start looking at our problems from a different perspective; and initiating a deeper inquiry. The cosmetic cure-alls have never worked. Perhaps we could focus less on the words used to communicate, and more on the message being sent and our response to that message.
12:39 AM

Boondocks - MLK - I Had A Dream

The Boondocks MLK cartoon is over on YouTube. Maybe one day I'll find the whole show but this is the best part of it, where Martin blows up.

This Guy Gets It On MLK Day

My faith is partially restored. Ira Chemus has a great article on Common Dreams. He highlights Dr. King’s famous denunciation of the Vietnam war: “A Time To Break Silence". One year later he was assassinated.

Update: In the category of seek and ye shall find, here is yet another perspective on MLK that should have been the main story of the day.

What MLK Day Means To Me

MLK Day 2007 has come and gone. I channel surfed on the radio all day and got so many angles on the MLK celebration it made me dizzy. There’s the Coretta angle. She was instrumental in cementing the immensity of Martin’s legacy with her tireless efforts to keep the dream alive. Now that she’s gone too, there’s a groundswell to make sure she gets her due. It will be interesting to see how far they go with that. More on this later.

There’s also the King children angle. There was the King secretary dying angle. There were of course speechifying from every Tom, Dick, and Senator who could find an open mic and a cameraman. Shelly Wynters on WAOK in Atlanta did a right wing version of the I Have A Dream speech. I wanted to call him and tell him how badly he flopped at his attempt, because he was dreaming about some really infantile stuff. Cell phone battery was running low, so that saved me from being mean on MLK Day.

More angles like one guy I heard, on sports talk radio no less. This white guy was having a cow, because the Atlanta Hawks played an NBA game on MLK Day. He kept screaming that King is the only individual in American history to have a national holiday in their honor, even though I seem to remember hearing about Columbus Day. He also kept screaming that America had been “Sold” on this holiday as a “National Day of Service”. I guess he figures three hours for a basketball game completes ruins any chance at getting some service done in the other 21 hours of the day. Like it is both sacrilegious and disingenuous to play ball on MLK Day. He did not, however, complain about them playing football and basketball on Christmas, baseball on Easter, and any other special day they can guarantee a whole lot of people vegetating in front of the boob tube. By the way, in honor of MLK, the Hawks beat the Celtics.

There were even more angles on the network news and all over the internet. I’m getting dizzy again just thinking about them.

An episode of the Boondocks cartoon really put the MLK thing in perspective for me. It reflects on what King would think if he was here today. The old "wake up from a 25 year coma" scenario made popular by soap operas. The cartoon surmised that King would eventually blow his top, lose his religion, and curse out all the trifling niggers the turned the MLK Day celebration into a hip hop video block party. That was some of the funniest stuff I have ever seen in my life. That MacGruder boy is a genius.

As for me, I struggle all the time with my own version of the dream. I have often contemplated King’s legacy, and I am disheartened by the direction it is going. Before long his entire legacy will be reduced to one speech and watered down to helping Negro folks get the right to vote, eat and piss with white folks. Doesn’t really sound like a man who deserves his own day of national celebration. In fact, my spidey sense is tingling to let me know that there is a conspiracy in the works. They need to water down Martin’s legacy, the same way they watered down the legacy of Jesus. Martin and Jesus were both militants. That is the part of the legacy that needs to be out front. It’s cool to be non-violent; nice to have a gift for organizing, motivating, and moving people; and outstanding to have the courage to speak truth to power. But the defining point of King is his evolution from the mundane to the sublime. He elevated himself from the petty concerns of the civil rights movement to the heights of the human condition movement. His militancy was expanding to a whole new level, one that could actually threaten the foundation of the power structure. For that, they sent him right on down the martyr’s path alongside Jesus. If Martin were here, he would not be sitting down at the table with opponents of peace and economic equality, making little side deals, getting us side tracked and maintaining the status quo. He would speak with moral authority and uncompromising clarity. Just as he didn’t advocate halfway equality during the Civil rights movement, he would not accept any halfway path to world peace and an end to the aristocracy of capitalism. He would be in constant danger, because his would be a voice that would denounce the powers that be and with his force of character, organize motivate and move the masses towards true change.

I listened, but I haven’t really heard too many people running with that angle on MLK Day.

To Surge or Not To Surge...That is not the right question

Surge. Escalate. Call it what you want it, it's more death and destruction. We've all heard the pros and cons (that's pros-titutes and con-artists) regarding U.S. military presence in Iraq. It should go without saying that the original rational and justification for invading Iraq have proven to be outright lies, gross misrepresentations, or patently ridiculous assumptions. No WMD. No connection with 9/11, Al Queda, or any other terrorist organization. Regime change is not only a violation of international law, turns out it caused more problems than were there already. Bringing democracy to Iraq has worked, but the cost benefit analysis leaves a lot to be desired.

My personal belief is that nothing short of an outright, 100% government sponsored military attack on the United States should be justification for war. Pre-emptive strikes and all that other nonsense is just being the biggest bully on the block, making sure you put fear into the smaller kids so they will not think to challenge you.

Now the pResident (or preznit if you prefer) has framed the national discourse in terms of surging or not surging. I only have one thing to say about that. It is misdirection, nothing more, nothing less. He doesn't care about it one way or another. The administration has already clear stated its intention to remain in Iraq. Bush admitted that the surge would not bring victory or stop the violence. Their only goal is to frame the discussion in terms they want it. As long as we’re debating surges, we stop talking about our illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, or our continuing intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation in spite of the fact that the national consensus is firmly against that activity, or the rampant war profiteering, or the unconstitutional consolidation of power in the executive branch.

Harold Melvin said it best, Wake Up Everybody.

Missing the Point in Iraq

Surge. Escalate. Call it what you want it, it's more death and destruction. We've all heard the pros and cons (that's pros-titutes and con-artists) regarding U.S. military presence in Iraq. It should go without saying that the original rational and justification for invading Iraq have proven to be outright lies, gross misrepresentations, or patently ridiculous assumptions. No WMD. No connection with 9/11, Al Queda, or any other terrorist organization. Regime change is not only a violation of international law, turns out it caused more problems than were there already. Bringing democracy to Iraq has worked, but the cost benefit analysis leaves a lot to be desired.

My personal belief is that nothing short of an outright, 100% government sponsored military attack on the United States should be justification for war. Pre-emptive strikes and all that other nonsense is just being the biggest bully on the block, making sure you put fear into the smaller kids so they will not think to challenge you.

Now the pResident (or preznit if you prefer) has framed the national discourse in terms of surging or not surging. I only have one thing to say about that. It is misdirection, nothing more, nothing less. He doesn't care about it one way or another. The administration has already clear stated it's intention to remain in Iraq. Bush admitted that the surge would not bring victory or stop the violence. Their only goal is to get the talk off the only thing that really matters. Ain't no such thing as halfway crooked. Aint no such thing as a little less war. I aint falling for the B.S.

Black Men Revealed - without handcuffs even

I just found out there will be a new show airing on TVOne called Black Men Revealed. I found out about it on Prometheus6 blog, and there is also a blogger named Cobb who will be apearing on the show. Spread the word, because it is deserving of notice.

Prometheus says they are biting Al "Sharp Talk" Sharpton. But he has women on hhis show all the time and always more than just the panalist opinions are presented. Maybe they are biting because the bro's in the barbershop are playing bones? The only other sedentary thing brothas do with each other is smoke weed. Now that would be a show to watch. They could call it "Philosophizin".

On a serious note, initially the concept of "Black Men Revealed" appealed to me. I always think it's a good idea to get marginalized points of view some equal airtime. Then I looked at the topics; then I read Cobb's blog, specifically his position on why brothas don't church (the topic he will cover on the show); and now I'm not so sure this is going to be good for us.

Don't get me wrong. Opinions are just like anuses. Everybody has one and everybody needs one, to get some shit off their chest every now and again. But I shall hold the producer, distributer, and all participants of this so-called forum of Black men completely responsible for result of thier actions. Specifically whether this particular show REVEALS OR REVILES Black men.

The topics appear to be rather sophmoric, or, as is the case wiith the church topic, not conducive to intellectual debate. Can any one Black man or any small group of Black men pretend to speak on what turns on the other 15 million or so brothas who aren't in the room? Can you have an intelligent conversation about why a grown man needs to creep or would get married under duress? I can only imagine what the crazy in love topic is about, but if it's about domestic violence, then crazy in love is just plain old crazy, and any brotha who would would sit on television and try to justify it is also just crazy. Even more distressing, is this really all we can find to have a revealing discussion about?

Light skin vs. dark skin, when white is right, and black male mythology appear to lend themselves to some discourse about race in America. It remains to be seen if it will be thoughtful, substantive, liberating discourse or something else that will cause real brothas to flinch and disavow any connection to that BS.

I also wonder where they got the guests from. It's supposed to be a cross section of different types of Black men, from all age ranges, socio-economic background, religions, and regions. But will that differentiation really bring out the true spread of perspectives among Black men in America? Or will it be simply status quo Negroes, with the occasional closet radical thrown in for some flavor?

If I had cable, I would give it a chance. Too bad there is no way to get the show on broadcast television. I guess there's no room between all the judge shows, cop shows, and reruns of Girlfriends.

In the "I Told You So" Category

In the weeks and months leading up to the November 2006 mid-term elections, I was bombarded by the get out the vote message. I was told that it was absolutely essential; that it was the difference between freedom and failure; a matter of life and death even. The country was going to hell in a hand basket and the only way to stop the fall was to defeat the evil Republicans at the polls.

I must admit, I responded with my usual, logic impelled, deeply thoughtful skepticism; i.e. "Nigga Please". I did not believe that it would make any difference, at all, in the major issues of the day. But I will also admit that I was somewhat setback, from the sheer force of the Vote or Die mania. I actually couldn't believe, still can't in fact, that they had the nerve to hop back up on that same old bandwagon. Not again. They had got me before, in 2000, and 2004. Even had me going out and standing in line to vote, knocking on peoples doors, encouraging them to vote, hopeful, but not really believing, that it might actually make some difference. Of course, I was quickly returned to reality after the election day debacles of 2000 and 2004, where history will show that two national elections in the premier democratic society of in the history of mankind were basically hijacked, in broad daylight.

So I couldn't believe that the powers that be and their mouthpieces could honestly get back out there and preach the same b.s. and expect it to go over. In that, I was entirely wrong, because with no shame apparent, that is exactly what they did. It is in fact, true that you can fool some of the people, all of the time. If we just got out and voted, we could take back Democratic control of the Congress, and with it restore sanity to the American political process, change course from the disaster of American foreign policy in Iraq, and (as an added bonus to the Black electorate) finally see the culmination of the civil rights struggle in the form of highly placed Black faces in the Congressional hierarchy for the first time in history.

I am proud to report that we are 1 for 3. There is not now, nor will there ever be, anything even vaguely resembling sanity in the completely insane 2 party (Republicrat and Democan) system that isn't in America. It's a sham. Our government is all about the benjamins baby, I don't care what party is supposedly in power, Cash Rules Everything Around Me.

It is also now being widely reported that the new composition of the House and Senate will have little effect on the illegal, immoral, and unwanted military fiasco in Iraq. Actually it will have ZERO effect. This is something they have known for some time, but it's just now getting major airplay. You see, the pResident can do whatever he wants, because he is the Decider, the Supreme HCIC, Ace Number One. The congress can't tell him to stop the war in Iraq. They can't stop the money flow, because he'll just take it from somewhere else or write a bad check. And they will not go after the administration, just ask our historic first ever woman House Speaker, Nancy "Impeachment is Off The Table" Pelosi. Having been assured that his crimes will go unpunished, do you seriously think our degenerate pResident will even consider changing his course on anything?

Well, at least we got the Black people in the seats of power in the House of Representatives. Black congressional delegates now hold some very high Chairs of some very distinguished committees. Rather than take the time now to piss on their parade, I will simply hold off and let the weight of time and history demonstrate what I already know. It don't mean nothing. Not a thang.

Maybe it's time to at least think about playing the game a different way.

War Now and Forever

In case you haven't noticed, the powers that be fully intend for this country to be at war forever. They know we can't "win", and they really don't care. There's a lot going on here, neocon imperial madness, the military industrial complex (bka Cream, aka Cash Rules Everything Around Me), population control, apocalyptic vissionaries, and stuff I am not psychotic enough to even imagine.

There are no longer any real discussions of any options other than military options for solving any of the problems facing the world today. Are we running out of energy sources? Well we best take control of what's left, and prepare to fight to keep it. Global warming? Well if it happens, we best be ready to control what's left and fight to keep it. Starvation in Africa? Well let them fight it out and when the fighting is done, there won't be so many people needing food. Worried about neighboring countries? Get bigger and better weapons, and be prepared to use them. Education crisis? Well we need more soldiers anyway, and who said they had to be high school graduates. Pandemic health crisis? Bring in the military to isolate, quaratine, and if necessary exterminate the danger; all for the common good of course. You name it, we've got a guns and ammo solution for it.

The U.S. is in Iraq to stay. We are in Afghanistan to stay. We have over 700 military bases or outposts worldwide. Bush has two more years to invade Iran, do you really think he isn't going to do it. Voluntary recruitment is down and getting slower, especially for combat service. The military is stretched thin, and every combat death means less volunteerism. The number of permanent residents in the military is up over 500 percent since 2001. There are plans in place to begin recruiting foreign nationals overseas with the promise of U.S. citizenship, ourown version of the French foreign legion. Everyone is saying there is no way the draft will be reinstated. That is a classic case of smoke and mirrors. They say no way, then they do it anyway.

These days, it's only the counter-culture nuts that are willing to put this information out there. I'm too lazy to provide the background evidence to prove my position, and in fact most people wouldn't believe any proof that I could present. Most people don't want to believe that this is where the world is heading, because to believe it means you have to take a position for or against the tide. There's still a significant portion of the population who agree with the "might makes right" crowd.

If you have military age people who you care about, you might want to open your eyes and ears and stay aware of what's going on.

We're taking funerals too far now.

I hope nobody takes this the wrong way, but damn!!!! How much funerlizing does one dead person need. I know it's seen as a sign of the respect and feeling that we had for the dearly departed, but you can take some things too far. They carted the Godfather of Soul all over the place for several days. I bet half of the people who came out to "pay their respects" never paid a dime for a James Brown album. They have been laying Geral Ford to rest for the last 5 days now. Up until his death, his calim to fame was pardoning Nixon. Now all of a sudden he is an American hero, because he's dead. I feel bad for Betty. A recovering alcoholic shouldn't be put through such a grueling grief process. I wouldn't blame her if she needs a drink right now.

Give me my flowers before I die, don't drag my body around for the gawkers, and have a party, not a wake.

Holier Water Than Thou

It's the new legislative year in the great nation of Georgia, and high on the list of legislative debates is the issue of alcohol sales on Sunday. I rarely agree with Cynthia Tucker, but her editorial in the AJC in support of allowing voters to decide for themselves if they want to allow beer and wine sales on Sunday is pretty much a no-brainer. As such it doesn't take much of a brain to support that position.

It takes more knowledge and nerve to take that same arguement to it's logical conclusion. The government, through it's law-making power is far too involved in the daily lives of a supposedly free society. The majority of the laws on the books today, are completely unneccesary in the sense that they do not elevate the common good. Many laws are purely to impose one groups morality on the rest of us, regardless of whether that morality is the majority opinion or belief.

If I am truly free, why is it that anyone can tell me what to do with my body? What I should put in it, or on it. who I should do this or that with? If the criteria is the amount of potential danger or damage, why is bungee jumping, sky diving, race car driving, or extreme skateboarding not illegal. It takes a thinking person to realize that laws are not made for the protection of the public, rather they are made for the continuence of the staus quo, especially the capitalist agenda or the agenda of some other ruling elite. In the case of alcohol sales and other forms of prohibition, it's to protect the power structure inherent in the religious sector.

The ruling class understands that laws are about control, and that he who exercises control can protect his position in society. That's why we need a revolution. I'm not saying overthrow the government, but something fundamental about how we allow ourselves to be governed needs to be changed quickly. The ruling class has it's own agenda, and the non-ruling class generally would like nothing better than to become part of the ruling class. No part of this agenda has anything to do with the common good. Thus do empires fall. i just hope we can change history this time around, because I would hate for my children or their children to have to go through the chaos that the fall of the American Empire will create in this world.

How in the name of all that's Holy did this slip by?!?!

In this day and age of everything "outed" how did we all manage to miss this? Hank Johnson, (D-GA), the new congressman from the 4th district is a Buddhist? And it did not even get one second of press down here in the Bible Belt? This elevates hatred of Cyntia McKinney to all new levels. Everyone knows she attends church on the regular.

I'm going to have to do some research, but I thought Buddhists were also pacifists, and generally anti-war. That's not the impression I got from the congressman when I interviewed him before the November election. Stay tuned.