Black Agenda: We Count

The programming on C-Span2 for the last couple of nights was a round table discussion comprised of black leaders and mediated by journalist savant Tavis Smiley entitled, Black Agenda: We Count. Some of the personalities invited to articulate were very familiar names: M.E. Dyson, C. West, L. Farrakhan, Angela G. Blackwell, J. Malveaux, and J.Jackson along with a few others. The event aired in separate parts across two nights, i was able to catch the second part last night.

The focus appeared to be around a black agenda, i believe this was outlined in a book which Blackwell alluded to as a New York Times bestseller; I must admit i was not privy to before last night. However the panel last night, whether by design or happen-stance, became fixated on the alleged shortcomings to Obama, and also his lack of overt love towards the black community. I believe Dr. West said "We loved you and embraced you long before you were [president]". There are a lot of black neighborhoods that are decimated with putrid school systems and the cutting of jobs in the public sector (postal workers, bus drivers, etc.), but this panel was lamenting that Obama hasn't done what was necessary to fix these things among others, sans Blackwell. I was at odds with these comments, we are intensely hard on Obama failing to acknowledge a couple of huge footnotes; It has only been one year and he can't pass everything he wants to at will. Obama and his staff have done quite well, starting with the fact that he is the first president to have an Urban Affairs team. They talked about getting the crack/cocaine punishment ratio even from 100:1 down to 1:1. Apparently the O administration has gotten it down to 18:1, the majority of the panel was unhappy with that. That crack/cocaine example was used to make a point, its very hard to be radical in office and get your agenda accomplished. It is important to take into account the Senate and Congress. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit to move things forward in the right direction, as oppose to holding out forever to get nothing. This country is vastly bigger than the African-American population and we cannot act as if our priorities should take eminence over the rest of the nation. I understand that we have been placed in some precarious positions but you can't ostracize everyone else (two wrongs don't make a right).

From the beginning Obama has attempted to unify not separate, that has been evident from his negotiations with Republicans and his asking for solid ideas. Sometimes the black contingent can become quite lopsided in their argument, in addition to being too dependent on one individual. Perhaps Obama was not in office, then what would we do to help our predicaments? I agree it is necessary to speak up for your communities but we need to do quite a bit more starting with home base. The O administration can do a lot but it is generally going to be on a impersonal scale but i think more important than systematic changes we need personal changes. I know that's a big statement, and i do believe both are necessary. If you provide a community with the money to rectify the failing schools and such but the kids aren't going/learning or the school board is wasting away the money then what good does the donation do?

By the time the questions came around the focus was in deep left field, so i won't comment on those. In summation it was a noble idea but i don't think it was executed effectively, from the skewed age demographic of the panelists to the misplaced concerns. I respect the conversation but we have to take care of our own before we ask someone else to take care of what we have.

Sly-Fox

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

"Watch what you watchin Fox feeding us toxins, stop sleepin start thiking outside the box and unplug from the matrix doctrine" -Nas. Fox News has taken it upon themselves to conjure up footage from a previous demonstration in an effort to present to the public an exuberant rally. When walking the thin line of opinionated programming you should reserve some measure of dignity by not falsifying your material.

How can Fox or its proponents be mad when BO (Barack Obama) suggests that members of the American public refrain from watching their network? In my most humble Joe Wilson voice "You lie". Actually there is a purpose for right-wing programming and that purpose has to be executed in a punctilious manner. As the country debates different topics and strategizes which ways are best, you actually need someone to oppose and play devil's advocate, although i do not believe they are playing. But the golden rule is you have to be truthful in your stance, no prevaricating, feel free to extrapolate outcomes, but do not deceive. I do not have granite facts to back this up but, i feel as if we get a lot of tampered information sprinkled in amidst the honest information and that is demoralizing.

Now even more unsettling is that the leadership at the network allowed that footage to be used. Even if they didn't I haven't heard any executives or leaders saying "hey we made a mistake, or we botched that one". I would imagine that someone would want to at least portray the idea that they genuinely care about honest reporting and the American public. Perhaps I need to make some calls and say something...

I am really led to believe Barack when he speaks about uniting parties and ending the practice of "playing politics", it appears all too often. Its so asinine and blatant that we have terms like "filibuster" "filibustering" used in Congress and the Senate, those terms were actually in my 6th grade book, c'mon people?! So far he appears to be a man intent on getting things done for the American people, not trying to do favors for the sponsors or keeping the perception that the democrats are in control right now. He wants opinions and suggestions from everybody. I am optimistic that one day we can travel a better path, however in the meantime we have mess like this...which is a pretty big deal if you ask me.

Obama's Free Time

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/career-advice/blog/other-8-hours/how-president-obama-spends-his-other-8-hours/325/

This is a small article that was sent to me by my man J. Marsh. I thought it was quite interesting. For those that want some insight concerning how the president spends his free time, this has some utility. In a vague way it maps out what his routine is; but i personally felt it was a little motivational from the standpoint of allotting time. Many of us are busy but when you make time for things you have a greater propensity to get them done, don't just try to fit them in wherever. If the president of the United States can make some time for the things he cares about so can we.

America and Health Care

This is an episode from the the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (with limited commercials, thank me later) about Theodore Roosevelt; but more importantly the health care dialogues that are taking place in the nation. There has been lamenting across the nation on town hall meetings opposing the new proposals for health care. I watched Obama speak for about 45 minutes on CNN explaining a plan for universal health care, I will assert that he laid quite a bit of the details out in a rudimentary fashion. Although i have not seen the proposals written down, which i suppose i should, the plan provided what most deem to be relatively logical and feasible solutions with the only suspect factor being the money involved to pay and support such a plan. I've read a few things in the New York Times as well. I say all that to say these people have lost their minds.

The problem I often encounter when dealing with hostile citizens is that they often have no basis for argument and refuse to participate in productive dialogue. Watch as excerpts from meetings around the nation are consolidated and highlighted on the Daily Show, showing just how far we have to go.

Palin Perplexes Me...

I have always been a little perplexed by Sarah Palin, lo and behold, she does it to me again. Recently she announced that she will not seek another term as Alaska's governor. Initially some thought that it was a segueway to her run of 2012, but then i hear whispers of criminal investigation. Nothing is confirmed so lets not concentrate too much on that. But i think its important to note that in a report from MSNBC they inferred that Palin generally hasn't been opposed to working with a lot on her plate.

The fact that she didn't turn over her state to the lieutenant governor is puzzling, in a way (as the clip references Clinton and Bush). Perhaps this contributed to her lack of thorough knowledge on critical and eminent topics. In an article on NYTimes.com Ross Douthat cites statistics and writes "In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education.

That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard."

When i couldn't put a finger on it, Douthat transcribed what i couldn't quite verbalize. With all the opportunities she has been afforded she seems to always be ill-equipped, and every time i look for her redemption moment she botches another situation. I will never knock anyone's potential but at this moment in time she is in over her head. Maybe running Alaska doesn't quite prepare one for the national stage like sayyyyyy, New York. Now I hear rumors (albeit BET) that she has talk show suitors, although they did not mention a specific type of show, do you really want a presidential candidate one day and a talk show host the next; the two professions seem as close as two positively charged magnets. She is just a walking enigma, for me at least. I generally love well rounded people but she seems to not have much of a handle on any of her trades. Maybe that last statement is too sharp because i thought everything was running just fine in Alaska prior to 1o months ago.

One day I would hope that Palin sands those edges and tailors her position and offerings to the world. But for now the dubious legend of Palin still leaves me scratching my head.

Word to the Wise

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,”

These are the words of the U.S. Supreme Court appointed Sonya Sotomayor, extracted from an speech in 2001. Media pundits have singled out this lone sentence as a comment that reflects racism (reverse), and therefore inferring, at the least, she has a racist bone in her body.

Sotomayor began her private practice in 1984 and has been presiding since, albeit different circuits. Think of how many rulings she has handed out, if she truly harbored a superiority or favoritism complex then i think it would have reared its ugly head in at least a few of her rulings. However no controversial rulings have been cited thus far. Also as a Supreme Court Justice she does not rule alone, she will preside along with 8 other justices and there would be no way for her to racially sabotage laws. So even if one believes that she is heavily influenced by race it would not be viable as her colleagues would quickly eradicate and supplant her. I know that reputation takes a lifetime to build and only a moment lose but i maintain that the overall body of work is a better representation, if I were slightly persuaded by media i would still only call this an aberration.

More importantly we all know that life exists in contexts. Sometimes the mouth fumbles the meaning of the heart. There is no demeaning intent within that statement. As a few have stated, if she could go back in time she would probably word it differently, but life does not give us do-overs. When ruling experience is indeed an added bonus, life isn't always in black and white, therefore the more you are able to completely understand the scope of the situation, the better your judgement. I think that is simply what she was implying, it was not a jab at white males it was merely an attempt emphasize her own experience to the audience. We have all worded things wrong, what if people were able to dig up things we said 7 and 8 years ago.

The idea swirling around about reverse racism bothers me, i think its unwarranted. First let me say that qualified is qualified, however the world has become a lot more diverse over the last few decades and therefore the representation in the workplace is following suit. Also Obama is obviously a man of the people as he often uses "we" instead of "I". He obviously wants to incorporate people who represent the complete make up of the nation. I think that it is important to have different viewpoints in the room. It boils down to the same thing most companies claim to seek, "Diversity". People from different worlds offer different viewpoints; often articulating and emphasizing different facets that others may overlook in certain situations because they don't either (A).understand the connection or (B).the magnitude of the connection. So its important to understand there is value in experience. Overall i think this is quite overblown, I hope that Sotomayor can exercise exceptional decision making and help our nation be the best place it can be.

Blame It

I thought this was pretty funny, a spoof of Jamie Foxx's "Blame It" performed by our president (not for real, for real). Anyhow watch him detail the state of the nation while two-stepping with his D.C. peers.

The $540 dollar Debate

Recently everyone's favorite homegirl M.O. (thats what I call her) stepped out in a pair of sneakers by French designer Lanvin. There is a part of me that solely wanted to post this because it was about sneakers, lucky for me it has relevance beyond that (plus its my blog anyway). She and Jilly were at a D.C. Food bank for a Feeding America event. The detail that has left some folks with a bitter feeling is the fact they run about $540.

The dominant sentiment was ''They're in poor taste. That's way too much to spend on a sneaker, especially in a recession.'' This is according to a poll embedded within the webpage of the Daily News article, if I recall the percentage was 59% against and 41% for. I wasn't bothered the least bit by it, as I operate off the assumption that some of her pumps cost thousands of dollars. Also I don't know how she obtained them, perhaps she didn't even have to pay for them. Maybe she did but they reimburse her. The media builds hype over hype about her outfit selections and appearance, therefore it is obviously important to THEM. Since they consistently insinuate that her appearance is so noteworthy perhaps she does need to put on some of the best, or at least perceived that way, sneakers around. Another key point that I learned after some reading is that this isn't the first time she has donned some Lanvins, so it appears that this is a sneaker she feels comfortable with...I say let her be
comfortable.

Let me find out M.O. is a sneaker head! In my quest to eradicate the world of corny sneakers I have attained a new level of hope. Us 1, Them 0. Now who's got a problem with me and M.O.!?

White House News

In a recent announcement out of the White House President Obama has set forth restrictions on executives pay from companies that are receiving TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money. The ceiling is set at $500k, companies that have previously negotiated such as Citibank and Bank of America will not be regulated by that rule, as it was not in the terms of their agreement, but from henceforth any other company probing for assistance will. The ceiling will only exist until they repay the government funding. Additional guidelines should ensue next week.

Obama says "This is America. We don't disparage wealth. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success," Obama said. "But what gets people upset - and rightfully so - are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers."

Some business owners cited that this may discourage others from taking post at troubling companies and could prevent them from hiring successful and exceptional leadership. Also, "compensation experts in the private sector have warned that intrusions into the internal decisions of financial institutions could discourage participation in the rescue program and slow down the financial sector's recovery. They also argue that it could set a precedent for government regulation that undermines performance-based pay." I don't think that this would impede the recovery, i think it would coerce institutions to do more diligent candidate searches and seek quality individuals, keeping in mind that this will not always be the cap, just until their government loan is repaid. I would rebuttal that there is plenty of opportunity out there along with individuals willing to command the work load.

Obama's staff member addressed resistance inquiries and stated these are special circumstances and the government does not plan on extending the limitations beyond this circumstance. I do not know how the firms were rationalizing their disdainful argument when they are looking to be subsidized by TARP, taxpayers, and federal money. One executive of a firm out of Chicago said "500k is a very tight limit", i think i would have to agree with that assessment but you could lose everything without this assistance. The article also states there was lamenting on Capitol Hill for lower compensation of 400k which is what the president makes (you didn't know that did you!).

Also the number of executives ballooned from 5 to 20, who would face reduced bonuses and incentives if they are found to have knowingly provided inaccurate information related to company financial statements or performance measurements.

With everything there is an exception, so here is the black swan: generally healthy companies looking for TARP money will be allowed to waive the 500k limit with full public disclosure and a nonbinding shareholder vote, essentially all those holding premium stock (which can be bought by anyone) would have a say on the salary. I do not see why a "generally healthy" company would be looking for assistance money but maybe i don't have all the details.

I, myself am attempting to do a better job of staying abreast of the happenings in the political arena, hopefully you are as well.

Risky Business

Dear Nation,

Im writing this letter because i think there are some things we need to address as we embark on the portentous term of the recently elected Barack Obama. There is extremely too much unnecessary information being broadcast about the president, his where-abouts, and his environment. I think it's all wonderful that everyone is so excited about the incoming president, but some information is unnecessary and frankly could be a bit detrimental to his health, in a major way.

As soon as Obama was elected there were reports on the internet that divulged his code name as well as those of his family members used by the secret service. Now, take a moment to see if you can find any civilian that knows the name that was used for W over the last 8 years or even 4 if you want to break up the terms. Although its a useful jeopordy question, we do not need to be informed of this. As the coverage for the inauguration intensifies they have willingly reported what hotel Barack was staying in as he waits for the vacancy to open in the White House and essentially what floor. Media has laid out his entire agenda for the weekend where he was going to be and at what time, but not necessarily for events. They've outlined his train ride through each and every stop, what time he should be passing through certain cities and what time he should be picking up Joe Biden and when he will be arriving in D.C. We know that he has a blackberry, heck they minus well give us his passcode. I don't know if his car has been sold through an auction yet but as of a day or so ago it was certainly available. It has reached a point where enough is enough. A year ago half of the population couldn't even tell you where Camp David is located.

Perhaps the most dubious information is the diagram above: why is this information pertinent for us civilians, we really don't need to know. I would rather us not know to be honest. We know everything about his car including what areas are vulnerable and what to expect if when you target any area. They have outlined the capabilities of the car and so forth. The media has turned into Detective and Investigator USA. The diagram even shows where he sits, maybe im too cautious but i doubt it. I am not a pessimistic person, however pragmatism is my specialty. I wish the best for our president but everyone doesn't echo the same sentiment. The thinkers reading this letter are going to ask themselves why would he repost the diagram if he is so concerned, if they didn't catch it on the major media outlets that reported it then they sure as heck won't catch it on the 'sofa. But don't get it twisted there is a strong readership here, plus we are civil people over here.

As the letter comes to a close, i just want you to think about what we are doing amidst our zeal. Sometimes we get too excited and we need to calm down and tone down our exposure

The Heaviest Feather

Now that much of the adrenaline has subsided, the reality and enormity of Barack's presidential campaign has taken a different direction, for me at least. I watched Barack approach the podium with his radiant family by his side. I listened attentively as he addressed the nation, and redirected the jubilant energy towards a more critical and somber mood. But as i stared, i understood what Barack's intentions were. He knows that there is so much work to do and how paramount it is that we are all on the same page, as he consoled even those that did not cast their ballot in his favor. He mentioned that he would be forthright with information and he might not always make a call that we are going to like. I have the utmost respect for his intentions, as he appears to be a man after my own heart. More importantly this spills into a more daunting issue.

I was at work and a co-worker asked me "don't you think Barack feels a lot of pressure, because what if he doesn't do well?". When he approached me with that question, i was immediately struck with a measure of familiarity. I responded to him as if i was pregnant with the answer for 24 years, maybe i was. I told him Barack feels the same way that I do EVERYDAY! Granted i am not the president, but i carry the onus and weight of my family, race, and affiliations to everyone that i encounter everyday. I represent Wallingtons everywhere i go, i represent a black race every living and breathing second. There are so many people that i interact with at work on a daily basis that will rarely ever get the opportunity to have a quality experience with a black person, the only construction they get is through the media. If i were to affirm those stereotypes and misconceptions then i have failed. I understand it is not about what others think, and i should not have to whisk away other people's ill-informed notions but the situation is bigger than me and when you are a part of something larger than yourself it brings a greater sense of responsibility. For Barack and myself we do it for the people that will come after us, so that they too will have a chance to operate in whatever capacity of life we were once in, one of the best things we can do is "not close the door".

So Barack approached the people carefully and compassionately because he cares, but he has been carrying the onus for years, im sure people have been incredulous of him his whole life, its nothing new to him, he's been proving himself every time somebody gives him a chance. Barack is transparently a synecdoche for blacks. I believe that he is genuine and his character has steadied turbulent waters, when your lifestyle is honest and open you have nothing to worry about. My grandfather once told me when i was little, "keep your nose clean, in case you want to be president one day". Baracks grandmother must have told him the same thing.

New York Times Barack Endorsement

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/opinion/24fri1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

This is so serious im not even using a picture! This is an article written in the New York Times that essentially endorses Barack Obama from the vantage point of the collection of editors (therefore the whole newspaper). The article is astoundingly precise and keen as it evokes critical thoughts on your selection in November. The article stretches the insurmountable gap between the two candidates in a vanilla manner, not by crafty, eloquent wordplay. I felt it was really powerful and mentally jarring. Please Read! I don't get these goosebumps often.