Working Man- Obama Bills and Resolutions

As listed in the Library of Congress Record (first page).....

1. S.CON.RES.5 : A concurrent resolution honoring the life of Percy Lavon Julian, a pioneer in the field of organic chemistry and the first and only African-American chemist to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/31/2007) Cosponsors (5)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 1/31/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

2. S.CON.RES.25 : A concurrent resolution condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil society.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 6/26/2007 Held at the desk.

3. S.CON.RES.44 : A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that a commemorative postage stamp should be issued honoring Rosa Louise McCauley Parks.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/12/2007) Cosponsors (22)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Latest Major Action: 10/19/2007 Referred to Senate subcommittee. Status: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security.

4. S.CON.RES.46 : A concurrent resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/17/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 9/17/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

5. S.RES.133 : A resolution celebrating the life of Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/28/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 3/28/2007 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

6. S.RES.268 : A resolution designating July 12, 2007, as "National Summer Learning Day".
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/11/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 7/13/2007 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Resolution agreed to in Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

7. S.RES.383 : A resolution honoring and recognizing the achievements of Carl Stokes, the first African-American mayor of a major American city, in the 40th year since his election as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 11/15/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 11/15/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

8. S.J.RES.23 : A joint resolution clarifying that the use of force against Iran is not authorized by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq, any resolution previously adopted, or any other provision of law.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 11/1/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 11/1/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

9. S.114 : A bill to authorize resources for a grant program for local educational agencies to create innovation districts.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

10. S.115 : A bill to suspend royalty relief, to repeal certain provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal certain tax incentives for the oil and gas industry.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

11. S.116 : A bill to authorize resources to provide students with opportunities for summer learning through summer learning grants.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

12. S.117 : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (15)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

13. S.133 : A bill to promote the national security and stability of the economy of the United States by reducing the dependence of the United States on oil through the use of alternative fuels and new technology, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

14. S.433 : A bill to state United States policy for Iraq, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/30/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 1/30/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

15. S.453 : A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/31/2007) Cosponsors (20)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Senate Reports: 110-191
Latest Major Action: 10/4/2007 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 411.

16. S.674 : A bill to require accountability and enhanced congressional oversight for personnel performing private security functions under Federal contracts, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 2/16/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Committees: Senate Armed Services
Latest Major Action: 2/16/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

17. S.692 : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 2/27/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 2/27/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

18. S.713 : A bill to ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 2/28/2007) Cosponsors (34)
Committees: Senate Armed Services
Latest Major Action: 2/28/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

19. S.737 : A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 in order to measure, compare, and improve the quality of voter access to polls and voter services in the administration of Federal elections in the States.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/1/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Rules and Administration
Latest Major Action: 3/1/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

20. S.767 : A bill to increase fuel economy standards for automobiles and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/6/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Committees: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Latest Major Action: 3/6/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

21. S.768 : A bill to increase fuel economy standards for automobiles and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/6/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 3/6/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

22. S.795 : A bill to assist aliens who have been lawfully admitted in becoming citizens of the United States, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/7/2007) Cosponsors (5)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 3/7/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

23. S.823 : A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to facilitating the development of microbicides for preventing transmission of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/8/2007) Cosponsors (18)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 3/8/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

24. S.906 : A bill to prohibit the sale, distribution, transfer, and export of elemental mercury, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/15/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Environment and Public Works
Latest Major Action: 3/15/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

25. S.976 : A bill to secure the promise of personalized medicine for all Americans by expanding and accelerating genomics research and initiatives to improve the accuracy of disease diagnosis, increase the safety of drugs, and identify novel treatments.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/23/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 3/23/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

26. S.1067 : A bill to require Federal agencies to support health impact assessments and take other actions to improve health and the environmental quality of communities, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 3/29/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

27. S.1068 : A bill to promote healthy communities.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 3/29/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

28. S.1084 : A bill to provide housing assistance for very low-income veterans.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/10/2007) Cosponsors (10)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Latest Major Action: 4/10/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

29. S.1151 : A bill to provide incentives to the auto industry to accelerate efforts to develop more energy-efficient vehicles to lessen dependence on oil.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/18/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 4/18/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

30. S.1181 : A bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide shareholders with an advisory vote on executive compensation.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/20/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Latest Major Action: 4/20/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

31. S.1222 : A bill to stop mortgage transactions which operate to promote fraud, risk, abuse, and under-development, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/25/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Latest Major Action: 4/25/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

32. S.1271 : A bill to provide for a comprehensive national research effort on the physical and mental health and other readjustment needs of the members of the Armed Forces and veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and their families.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/2/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Committees: Senate Armed Services
Latest Major Action: 5/2/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

33. S.1306 : A bill to direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to classify certain children's products containing lead to be banned hazardous substances.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/3/2007) Cosponsors (9)
Committees: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Latest Major Action: 5/3/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

34. S.1324 : A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuel sold in the United States.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/7/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Environment and Public Works
Latest Major Action: 5/7/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

35. S.1389 : A bill to authorize the National Science Foundation to establish a Climate Change Education Program.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/14/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 5/14/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

36. S.1430 : A bill to authorize State and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies with investments of $20,000,000 or more in Iran's energy sector, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/17/2007) Cosponsors (26)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Latest Major Action: 5/17/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

37. S.1513 : A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize grant programs to enhance the access of low-income African-American students to higher education.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/24/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 5/24/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

38. S.1574 : A bill to establish Teaching Residency Programs for preparation and induction of teachers.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 6/7/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 6/7/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

39. S.1713 : A bill to provide for the issuance of a commemorative postage stamp in honor of Rosa Parks.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 6/27/2007) Cosponsors (27)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Latest Major Action: 7/13/2007 Referred to Senate subcommittee. Status: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security.

40. S.1790 : A bill to make grants to carry out activities to prevent the incidence of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections among teens in racial or ethnic minority or immigrant communities, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/16/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 7/16/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

41. S.1811 : A bill to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to assess and reduce the levels of lead found in child-occupied facilities in the United States, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/18/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Environment and Public Works
Latest Major Action: 7/18/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

42. S.1817 : A bill to ensure proper administration of the discharge of members of the Armed Forces for personality disorder, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/19/2007) Cosponsors (11)
Committees: Senate Armed Services
Latest Major Action: 7/19/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

43. S.1818 : A bill to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to phase out the use of mercury in the manufacture of chlorine and caustic soda, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/19/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Committees: Senate Environment and Public Works
Latest Major Action: 7/19/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

44. S.1824 : A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative under the Medicare program to assess and report on health care quality in hospitals.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/19/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 7/19/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

45. S.1873 : A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish demonstration programs on regionalized systems for emergency care, to support emergency medicine research, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/25/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 7/25/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

46. S.1885 : A bill to provide certain employment protections for family members who are caring for members of the Armed Forces recovering from illnesses and injuries incurred on active duty.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/26/2007) Cosponsors (10)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 7/26/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

47. S.1977 : A bill to provide for sustained United States leadership in a cooperative global effort to prevent nuclear terrorism, reduce global nuclear arsenals, stop the spread of nuclear weapons and related material and technology, and support the responsible and peaceful use of nuclear technology.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 8/2/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 8/2/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

48. S.1989 : A bill to provide a mechanism for the determination on the merits of the claims of claimants who met the class criteria in a civil action relating to racial discrimination by the Department of Agriculture but who were denied that determination.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 8/3/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 8/3/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

49. S.2030 : A bill to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require reporting relating to bundled contributions made by persons other than registered lobbyists.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/6/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Rules and Administration
Latest Major Action: 9/6/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

50. S.2044 : A bill to provide procedures for the proper classification of employees and independent contractors, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/12/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 9/12/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

51. S.2066 : A bill to establish nutrition and physical education standards for schools.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/18/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Latest Major Action: 9/18/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

52. S.2111 : A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools to increase implementation of early intervention services, particularly school-wide positive behavior supports.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/27/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 9/27/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

53. S.2132 : A bill to prohibit the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of children's products that contain lead, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/3/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Committees: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Latest Major Action: 10/3/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

54. S.2147 : A bill to require accountability for contractors and contract personnel under Federal contracts, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/4/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 10/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

55. S.2202 : A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to increase the renewable content of gasoline, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/18/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Environment and Public Works
Latest Major Action: 10/18/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

56. S.2224 : A bill to require a licensee to notify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the State and county in which a facility is located, whenever there is an unplanned release of radioactive substances.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/24/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Environment and Public Works
Latest Major Action: 10/24/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

57. S.2227 : A bill to provide grants to States to ensure that all students in the middle grades are taught an academically rigorous curriculum with effective supports so that students complete the middle grades prepared for success in high school and postsecondary endeavors, to improve State and district policies and programs relating to the academic achievement of students in the middle grades, to develop and implement effective middle school models for struggling students, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/24/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 10/24/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

58. S.2330 : A bill to authorize a pilot program within the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development with the goal of preventing at-risk veterans and veteran families from falling into homelessness, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 11/8/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Latest Major Action: 11/8/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

59. S.2347 : A bill to restore and protect access to discount drug prices for university-based and safety-net clinics.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 11/13/2007) Cosponsors (31)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 11/13/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

60. S.2392 : A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to establish and maintain a public website through which individuals may find a complete database of available scholarships, fellowships, and other programs of financial assistance in the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 11/16/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 11/16/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

61. S.2428 : A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to establish and maintain a public website through which individuals may find a complete database of available scholarships, fellowships, and other programs of financial assistance in the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 12/6/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 12/6/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

62. S.2433 : A bill to require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 12/7/2007) Cosponsors (9)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 2/13/2008 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.

63. S.2519 : A bill to prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 12/19/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Latest Major Action: 12/19/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

64. S.AMDT.41 to S.1 To require lobbyists to disclose the candidates, leadership PACs, or political parties for whom they collect or arrange contributions, and the aggregate amount of the contributions collected or arranged.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/11/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 1/18/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 41 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

65. S.AMDT.55 to S.1 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/12/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 1/12/2007 Senate amendment submitted

66. S.AMDT.58 to S.1 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/12/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 1/12/2007 Senate amendment submitted

67. S.AMDT.188 to H.R.2 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/24/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 1/24/2007 Senate amendment submitted

68. S.AMDT.338 to S.4 To require consideration of high-risk qualifying criteria in allocating funds under the State Homeland Security Grant Program.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/5/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Latest Major Action: 3/6/2007 Motion to table amendment SA 338 agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 58 - 41. Record Vote Number: 62.

69. S.AMDT.524 to S.CON.RES.21 To provide $100 million for the Summer Term Education Program supporting summer learning opportunities for low-income students in the early grades to lessen summer learning losses that contribute to the achievement gaps separating low-income students from their middle-class peers.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/21/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 3/23/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 524 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

70. S.AMDT.586 to S.CON.RES.21 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/22/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Latest Major Action: 3/22/2007 Senate amendment submitted

71. S.AMDT.599 to S.CON.RES.21 To add $200 million for Function 270 (Energy) for the demonstration and monitoring of carbon capture and sequestration technology by the Department of Energy.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/22/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 3/23/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 599 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

72. S.AMDT.664 to H.R.1591 To appropriate an additional $58,000,000 for Defense Health Program for additional mental health and related personnel, an additional $10,000,000 for operation and maintenance for each of the military departments for improved physical disability evaluations of members of the Armed Forces, and an additional $15,000,000 for Defense Health Program for women's mental health services.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/27/2007) Cosponsors (12)
Latest Major Action: 3/29/2007 Proposed amendment SA 664 withdrawn in Senate.

73. S.AMDT.684 to H.R.1591 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/27/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Latest Major Action: 3/27/2007 Senate amendment submitted

74. S.AMDT.809 to H.R.1591 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/28/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 3/28/2007 Senate amendment submitted

75. S.AMDT.810 to H.R.1591 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/28/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 3/28/2007 Senate amendment submitted

76. S.AMDT.905 to S.761 To require the Director of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education to establish a program to recruit and provide mentors for women and underrepresented minorities who are interested in careers in mathematics, science, and engineering.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/23/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/25/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 905 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

77. S.AMDT.907 to S.761 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/23/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/23/2007 Senate amendment submitted

78. S.AMDT.923 to S.761 To expand the pipeline of individuals entering the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields to support United States innovation and competitiveness.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/24/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/25/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 923 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

79. S.AMDT.924 to S.761 To establish summer term education programs.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/24/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 4/25/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 924 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

80. S.AMDT.1041 to S.1082 To improve the safety and efficacy of genetic tests.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/3/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 5/8/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 1041 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

81. S.AMDT.1045 to S.1082 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/7/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 5/7/2007 Senate amendment submitted

82. S.AMDT.1130 to H.R.1495 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/15/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 5/15/2007 Senate amendment submitted

83. S.AMDT.1185 to S.1348 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/23/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 5/23/2007 Senate amendment submitted

84. S.AMDT.1202 to S.1348 To provide a date on which the authority of the section relating to the increasing of American competitiveness through a merit-based evaluation system for immigrants shall be terminated.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/24/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 6/6/2007 Senate amendment not agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 1202 not agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 42 - 55. Record Vote Number: 200.

85. S.AMDT.1243 to S.1348 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/24/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 5/24/2007 Senate amendment submitted

86. S.AMDT.1444 to S.1348 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 6/6/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 6/6/2007 Senate amendment submitted

87. S.AMDT.1558 to H.R.6 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 6/13/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 6/13/2007 Senate amendment submitted

88. S.AMDT.1579 to H.R.6 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 6/14/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 6/14/2007 Senate amendment submitted

89. S.AMDT.1735 to H.R.6 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 6/20/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 6/20/2007 Senate amendment submitted

90. S.AMDT.1840 to H.R.6 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 6/21/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 6/21/2007 Senate amendment submitted

91. S.AMDT.2084 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/11/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 7/11/2007 Senate amendment submitted

92. S.AMDT.2085 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/11/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 7/11/2007 Senate amendment submitted

93. S.AMDT.2086 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/11/2007) Cosponsors (12)
Latest Major Action: 7/11/2007 Senate amendment submitted

94. S.AMDT.2104 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/11/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 7/11/2007 Senate amendment submitted

95. S.AMDT.2106 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/11/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 7/11/2007 Senate amendment submitted

96. S.AMDT.2149 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/12/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 7/12/2007 Senate amendment submitted

97. S.AMDT.2464 to H.R.2638 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/25/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 7/25/2007 Senate amendment submitted

98. S.AMDT.2473 to H.R.2638 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/25/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 7/25/2007 Senate amendment submitted

99. S.AMDT.2519 to H.R.2638 To provide that one of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to enter into a contract in an amount greater than $5 million or to award a grant in excess of such amount unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor or grantee owes no past due Federal tax liability.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/26/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 7/26/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 2519 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

100. S.AMDT.2588 to H.R.976 To provide certain employment protections for family members who are caring for members of the Armed Forces recovering from illnesses and injuries incurred on active duty.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/31/2007) Cosponsors (8)
Latest Major Action: 8/2/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 2588 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

New Jack City Politics

Like the only female gangster in the gang said to the landlord......”step aside gran pa!”

That’s exactly what McCain needs to do...step aside. Speaking after his victory in Wisconsin, McCain talked of reclaiming the “moral credibility” for this nation. Reclaim it from who? The one who trashed our nation’s moral credibility in the first place is a member of the GOP, still currently housed in the White House.

And what moral credibility is he reclaiming? The credibility stolen in the election of 2000? Or the credibility lost in the secret concentration camps that we operate around the world or down in Cuba, named Gitmo? Maybe he was talking about the credibility washed away during the secret water torture sessions, that thumbed our nose at the geneva convention. Or better yet, maybe he was alluding to FISA and its illegal wiretaps.

Nah, he must have been talking about the suspension of habeas corpus or the groundwork laid down secretly last year for the implementation of martial law, if we the citizens of America decide to protest too loudly. Yeah, that’s the ticket. He wants to restore our civil liberties to pre Dubya days.

I mean, give me a break, you can’t change a system that you obviously don’t believe is broken. Over and over the American people seem to be saying that the system needs to be changed, but McCain apparently doesn’t have his hearing aid turned on. He still campaigning like it’s 1999. McCain is coming across like Dubya lite or Bush junior, take your pick.

He spent 15 minutes talking about the alleged war on terror and 5 minutes talking about everything else, meaning health care, oil prices and the economy.

I hate quoting Bill Clinton, but Bill did say “it’s the economy, stupid!” It really is. It’s not rocket science. Trickle down economics has not worked in the past eight years. It’s not going to work if given another four. This nation needs help. It needs vision and creativity coming from the top spot. The White House needs to re-assume it place as a position of power, rather than Yale frat house west.

McCain was right about one thing...He is the old guy in the race. He’s been on Capitol Hill a long time...way too long. There comes a time when you have to look forward at what can be, instead of backward at what was. McCain’s moment is over.

“Bang, bang, baby.....step aside gran pa..!”

Happy Negroes, Unhappy Slaves

I had an interesting conversation with a man, recently. I don’t even know his name, but I talk to him every weekend while we’re both engaging in our favored Saturday pastime. I don’t think he knows my name either. Our names aren’t important. What draws us together and keeps us talking is the current political season and our shared love of history.

Seems his family, way back when, were slave owners. From my picture at the top of this column, you can rightfully discern that my people were slaves. He has papers to prove that his family owned “my” people. The papers list their names, how much they were purchased for, etc, etc. But he said his family never mistreated their coloreds. His family was good to its Negroes because mistreating your slave was like whipping a prized race horse...you simply didn’t do it if you wanted it to win races. In other words, if you wanted your fields plowed and your cotton harvested, you treated your slaves like people.

This was his analogy. For this reason, he told me, the historical image of the unhappy darkie and the murderous slave master during slave times was a myth....never happened. Most blacks, he said didn’t leave their masters when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Most Negroes, he said were happy in their circumstances. His family and their black chattel was proof of this.

Now, I agree with him to a point. There were blacks who stayed in their homes after emancipation. There were numbers of blacks who didn’t go north at the first opportunity.

My own family which originated in slave owning Kentucky is an example of this. Some of us bear the name of our owner, still live on the property, and today even attend the national reunion for everyone with the surname. Family story says they stayed because grandpa was the son of master. They certainly look alike in the old pictures that we have.

But, by the same token, many of my ancestors left Kentucky. They went north at the first opportunity looking for a better life. They chose freedom. That’s why I was born in free Ohio. Nearly all of my ancestors originated somewhere down south...Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina primarily.

Should we stay on the plantation with the devil we know...or should we leave, move north to make our way into the wilderness, not knowing what awaits except that whatever awaits will be our own choice, not one delineated by master.

This dilemma has always divided us. It played out during our vocal struggle for civil rights. Do we march with Martin or throw bombs with the black panthers. Do we leave with Marcus Garvey or simply separate ourselves with Malcolm.

Safe versus Free. Known versus unknown.

Today, do we back the Clintons because we have always backed the Clintons. Or do we back Barack Obama.

The known has worked to a point. Yes, I’m sure there were happy coloreds on the plantation sometimes. But I know there were many others who took a beating and longed for the day they could call the shots for themselves, if they survived long enough.

There were many of us who marched with Martin. There are many of us who still sing “we shall overcome someday” and still believe that all we have to do is wait for it to happen.

Yet, there were still others of us who believed that the Black Panthers had a point.....that Marcus Garvey’s back to Africa movement was a tantalizing scenario...that Malcolm’s demands for equality by any means necessary is still worth savoring.

The Clintons may feel black, talk black and empathize black...but the fact remains that they are an entrenched part of the establishment. They want us to continue marching and singing old anthems along with the grizzled followers of the dream, asking their permission for our freedom. They want us to be happy with what they give us. They point to their happy house Negroes in an attempt to convince us that they ultimately have our best interests at heart.

But there is another truth operating here....even house Negroes didn’t like master....they just didn’t have a taste for adventure. They would rather stay with what they know rather than try the unknown. They would rather stay in the pseudo comfort of the plantation. It’s easier.

We are at another turning point in our history. Do we stay...or do we go.....Do we follow the north star with Harriet Tubman.....or do we go to bed because early tomorrow morning we have to wash master’s laundry.

Safe versus Free...Known versus Unknown

Happy Negro...Unhappy slave

Big Wheel Keeps on Turning...

Since when did Tina Turner become the Queen of Soul? I love her, but there is only one Queen, one Diva...the rest are Princesses and or Divettes...c’mon now....

********

Seven years after the fact, the government is going to try terrorists for taking down the world trade centers. Six have been indicted and will be subject to secret trials, just as they were tortured secretly. They will also be subject to the death penalty if convicted. My main problem among many with this scenario is that I don’t recall hearing Osama Bin Laden’s name among those charged and I don’t think any of those charged are Saudi Arabians who had ties with Iraq. I’m having a problem with the alleged facts in this case, as well as with the timing of this situation. The politics of fear...will it change the outcome of the election in November, or has it run its course?

********

The History Channel says the anthrax scare was an inside job...as in originated with native grown terrorists...not middle eastern terrorists.....so native....they were probably government workers...working undercover....Are we surprised....no...Wish I could live another 100 years so that I could find out who really blew up the trade center towers....

******

The more I listen to John McCain, the more I’m sure the guy is entering the first, or maybe even the second stages of dementia. Does he really think folks are going to put him in the White House so that he can keep us in Iraq for the next 100 years, if necessary?

He is having trouble putting away his GOP opponent Mike Huckabee. How does he think he is going to handle the cultural juggernaut that the Democrats are planning to throw at him in the general election.

I feel it’s going to be Obama, but even Hillary would be a force to reckon with for the old guy from Arizona. MSM hasn’t figured this out yet...They still think it’s a matter of experience.

His speeches are painful to listen to and especially to watch. I give him all of his due respect. He is an American hero. But the days of electing a hero to lead the country just because he can fly a plane and drop bombs on indigent people, are over. I didn’t like Ike and I don’t care for McCain.

McCain has no vision, no creativity and certainly no flexibility to handle a job as daunting as president.

His selection of vice president will speak volumes...will it be Joe Lieberman, the used to be democrat, or will it be Reverend Mike, the man who wants to marry religion to government, thereby creating a western union that would rival any dreamed up by the jihadist suicide bombers of the middle east.

The talk show propelled Huckabee still thinks he is the answer. He needs to turn off the TV and radio, open his window and listen to the whispers of the street. Drumbeat don’t lie....

******
Speaking of drumbeat....I would hope that the democratic super delegates are paying attention to the people.....a back room deal that hands the nomination to the wrong candidate is going to tear the party apart.

The Democrats are great at snatching defeat from the hands of victory....they’ve already screwed up their mandate in congress that was given them in 2006. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid suck at leadership on Capitol Hill. All they’ve done is cave in to Dubya, on just about everything. I’m really, really tired of professional politicians doing what they think is “right” for me. We need term limits and a ban on lobbyists in Washington.

******

Who gives a damn about millionaire ball players who choose to take steroids and growth hormone? And why is anyone surprised that John Rocker has admitted to steroid use? He was obviously in roid rage when he shot his mouth off, way back when he was pitching. Give Clemens the cell next to Marion Jones and move on to Barry Bonds..

******

And where will you be on June 21, 2008? Ron Paul supporters want you in Washington for a march on the White House. I would guess that all two or three Paul supporters will be there. I wonder if he is going to announce it in his newsletter?

.

Falling on His Sword

Mitt's gone...

That leaves John with the nomination and Mike playing for second fiddle.

I wonder what the GOP is going to do....party members don't trust McCain..Rush doesn't like McCain...Laura doesn't like McCain....Ann says she's voting for Hilary...What are they going to do?....

Guess that leaves Huckabuck with the nomination....

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM....maybe not...aligning the constitution with the bible even offended the log cabin republicans...and the fact that Huckabee is a creationist is also a big problem...

I think we will see Romney again in 2012...He's young enough....He's rich enough...and gosh darnit...he thinks we like him!

It's Time

If given the chance I will vote for Barack Obama because....

I am not happy with the status quo, compassionate conservatism is a myth and an oxymoron...

I don't believe in trickle down economics or that Ronnie Raygun was our best president..

I was totally against going into Iraq, I am totally against staying there any longer than we have to as a military presence...so John McCain's continued warmongering takes him off the table for me, as well as his own admission that he doesn't understand the economy. ..I would venture to guess that diplomacy escapes him as well...

Hillary, has some great ideas and is a wonderful asset...I just don't feel or see her vision...I want to be excited about America again

Mitt Romney is not likeable...He says what he thinks we want to hear, that smacks of dishonesty...He practices a religion that didn't recognize me or my ancestors as human and he campaigns like we don't exist, now....

Mike Huckabee is a homophobe, despite his guitar playing and religious credentials..He wants to change the constitution to reflect God's word...which god..which bible...

Ron Paul is a racist..despite what he says, his name is the one on the banner of his newsletters...just like my name is on the top of this blog....I can't deny these words...neither can he deny his content.....

I believe we need massive change in Washington, within our government...

I believe we need term limits...line item veto, and a ban on lobbyists and special interest groups as anything other than silent spectators on Capitol Hill..I think we need public funds financing our political campaigns..

I believe that Barack Obama represents the revolution that we need..
I feel the hope....I see the vision....

No, he does not have all the answers....no one person does..But I see in him the creative capacity to make things work...better than they've been working for the past several years...

I see in him the statesman, the dreamer, the guy who can take lemons and make lemonade and be comfortable enough to drink it spiked with a little vodka.....

Barack also reminds me of someone else....Her name was Barbara Jordan...She, too lives in Barack...I hear her when he speaks...And that means more to me than even the endorsement of Caroline Kennedy...

Signs of the Apocalypse

Well, I guess I won’t be traveling to Mississippi anytime soon. Seems some well intentioned politician has authored a bill making it illegal to serve fat people in restaurants. And since my once well-toned runner’s butt long ago slid toward middle aged couch potato spread, I would assume that I have just lost my right to be served in Mississippi eating establishments.

I can't remember the last time I saw an ad that said "travel Mississippi." Does this fool think that laws like this will increase tourism?

*****

Another political genius...this one in West Virginia wants to teach guns and how to shoot guns, in public schools. Apparently the demand for hunting licenses is down, and the nut job behind this proposed law figures that the way to increase demand is to teach ten year olds how to handle weapons during gym class.

The pol does have safety in mind. The kids would only handle guns that were disabled. Isn't this the same state that wants concealed carry for college students?

******

Hillary said Sunday she might be willing to garnish the wages of those who refuse to buy health care coverage. Speaking to ABC news, Clinton said that garnishment was just one of several methods that she would possibly use to reach universal health care for America. She said garnishment would be applied only to workers who could afford health care but refused to buy it.

That should go over like a lead balloon...Can you say President Obama..

******
Maria Shriver endorsed Obama on Sunday..On Friday, her husband, the governor of California, endorsed McCain. Wouldn’t you just love to be a fly on the wall when these two talk politics?

******

Fears of recession have driven oil prices down to below 90-dollars a barrel...so why is gasoline still upwards of three dollars a gallon in my state?

******

Dubya has proposed a 3-trillion dollar budget to fund the status quo...gee, I didn’t know he could count that high...

Do You Believe in Miracles?!

Last night I sat through a history making debate for the democratic nomination for president of the United States. Today I wake up to a statement from, well..I’ll be nice and just use her name....Ann Coulter.

During a chat on FOX news, last night, the GOP’s Paris Hilton, said she would vote for Hillary for president if the choice came down to Hillary versus John McCain in the general election come November.

I will believe it when I see it. Coulter claimed to be serious, stating that Hillary is more conservative than McCain.

Hmmmmmmmmm...I thought maybe she was trying to close ranks with other females and convince us she really is one us...instead of an anorexic fembot....Time will tell.

Considering the stuff that comes out of her mouth it’s going to take more than a vote for a democrat to change my mind about her. She still comes up third on my list of those I consider “walking wastes of oxygen” behind Rush and Bill _______, insert your own preferred last name. I can think of several stupid people named Bill, these days....

But back to the debate....

Like many watching, I was seeing my dream ticket in action.

Obama/Hillary...Hillary/Obama...I don’t think it’s gonna happen... Way too much ego in play and it gives the GOP too much to unify against....A black man and white woman...I can see the head hunting party forming now...All those good ole boys and their women standing behind them urging them on...screaming for blood....

Who ever makes it to the nomination and White House is making history. So, too, should the cabinet selected by the new prez.

I’ve been pondering who I would like to see serve at the pleasure of the president......

Secretary of State........Madeleine Albright or someone she’s mentored
Secretary of Defense........Colin Powell
Secretary of EPA.........Al Gore
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development....John Edwards
Secretary of Education.......Johnnetta Cole
Secretary of Treasury..........Mitt Romney
Secretary of Commerce...........Roxanne Qualls
Secretary of Health & Human Services...Bill Richardson
Secretary of Labor..............Eleanor Holmes Norton
Secretary of Veteran Affairs.......John McCain or some other vet who’s been there..
Secretary of Energy....Dennis Kucinich
Secretary of Transportation.....an engineer with vision and imagination

Secretary of Homeland Security..........abolish this position revamp, strengthen and streamline the departments under this division

Attorney General.........Ruth Bader Ginsberg
National Security Advisor.....Dubya’s Dad.....George Herbert Walker Bush
Ambassador to the United Nations....Bill Clinton
Special Envoy to the World..........Jimmy Carter...Americans may not like him, but the world does...and if ever we needed a return to goodwill...it’s now....

And Now There are Three

Barack, Bill and Hillary...

Edwards is gone. He has 58 delegates to bestow on someone. I would bet they go to Obama, since his body language in the last debate showed he doesn't really like Hillary...We will see...

National Organization for Women...Still Deluded

Given my political stands over the years,...anyone who knows me would justifiably think that I would be a member of NOW, the National Organization for Women. At the very least, my friends and acquaintances think I’m a feminist and have been forever. I accept that. I’m a feminist. I do believe in women’s rights in this still male dominated patriarchy in which we live. I supported the Equal Rights Amendment. I support equal pay for women. I basically support, just about everything that NOW fights for.

However, I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of NOW. And furthermore, I don’t know many women like me who are members of NOW.

I am a black and lesbian woman and while most people, or a lot of people assume that all women who fight for feminine equality are lesbian, it is simply not true. Like the general population, NOW members are overwhelmingly white, straight, middle class women.

From my standpoint, NOW has always suffered from the “mommy knows best” syndrome when it comes to women who don’t fit their general mold. m.k.b.s can be very condescending in it’s application toward minorities. The general thinking seems to be since we’re all female, we should all think and feel the same way, minority issues aside. Well, that isn’t always the case. Even, the late Flo Kennedy, who was a member, and black and lesbian, had her differences with the organization.

The New York chapter of NOW is railing against Ted Kennedy, calling him a traitor for endorsing Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. The NY’ers said in their press release, that Ted sided with the men because he, like every other male in this country, can’t stand the fact that a woman is running for president.

They seem to be saying that Hillary should be supported simply because she is a woman. They apparently are willing to overlook the past week’s events in South Carolina where Bill Clinton, played the race card while campaigning for his wife. I guess they are willing to overlook the fact that she supported the war in Iraq.

Given Bill Clinton’s actions in South Carolina, does NOW think Hillary can control this man should she get the nomination? Does NOW think Hillary can win the White House with Bill at her side?

I don’t think so. I don’t think Hillary can control Bill anymore than NOW can attract minority women into the fold. Once again, the NY NOW is acting on assumptions rather than reality.

The more I see the Hill-Billy act, the more I’ve become convinced that Obama is the answer.

I wrote after New Hampshire that Hillary may have trouble getting support in the middle of this country. After South Carolina, I feel even more strongly that she will lose and lose big in the middle states. Like it or not, the Clintons are just flat out hated in the Midwest and south. Alienating minorities is really not going to help matters.

Up until last week, I was torn between Clinton and Obama. I personally will support whichever wins the nomination. But I am bothered by what is coming out of Bill Clinton’s mouth. I am bothered by NOW for presuming that all women should support Hillary, because she is a history-making woman.

Obama is also making history. He happens to be male, but he is also black.

Obama is also making sense. Obama is also looking to the future....not reliving the past. I like the fact that the young are making themselves heard in their preference for president.

The babies have spoken....Maybe NOW and the rest of us old folks should listen...

Looking Through History to the Future

Last night, while talking on the phone with my sister who lives in South Carolina, I said something, and she echoed the same sentiment. We admitted to each other and in public, for the first time, what Obama has invoked in both of us..

The one word to describe it is...Camelot...

We lived it...We felt it.....We died when it finally was killed with Bobby...We feel it now....

Change is rustling...wrapping itself around our aging bodies...making us feel like we haven't felt in a very long time....

It feels marvelous....It feels scary.....

We feel apprehensive....We feel hopeful and revitalized....

Caroline Kennedy has endorsed Barack Obama today in the New York Times....

That is enough for me...That's all I needed to hear...

Bill Clinton’s Legacy

Is apparently Barack Obama. It was a route in South Carolina according to the Associated Press. All news agencies declared Obama the winner by substantial margins as soon as the polls closed.

And it wasn’t just black people who voted for him. It was women and young people. In fact, Obama’s victory is cutting across all demographics to the consternation of all the pundits.

Guess the voting population is not as stupid at the MSM would have us believe. This vote doesn’t appear to have been shaped by racism or racial or gender divides. It seems as if this country is really, really ready for a change in direction in this country.

On to Super Tuesday..........

Money for Nothing....

I’m not gonna lie, if the government wants to cut me a 600-dollar check, I’m going to take it, and I would suggest you do the same. I was around the last time our president decided to return some of our hard earned money. That time we got a whole 200-dollars per person. So 600-dollars, this time around, has to be considered something of a windfall.

This country is flirting with a recession, and it needs us, the taxpayers to spend the money. Saving it won’t help. Paying bills won’t help either. So our beloved leaders want us to take that 600-dollars and buy half a new digital TV. Or, they want us to take a couple of our kids on a vacation, you can draw straws as to which one or two, if you have more than two.

Let’s see, you can also buy a sofa from Lazyboy or some other furniture store, if you don’t have champagne tastes. Or, you could buy about a month’s worth of groceries, maybe, or take the family to a movie, once or twice. If you drive an SUV, you could fill up the gas tank, all the way, a couple of times, at least.

Is this going to help us as individuals, as families, as a country, to climb out the mess we’re in? Hell no. But our government apparently figures the money will divert our attention away from the real problems we’re facing right now.

Problems like the current election. This alleged stimulus bill is a bipartisan mishmash which doesn’t make me any happier with the apparent incoming democrats, assuming folks don’t get too happy with all that money in their pocket and once again vote republican.

Problems like the tax cuts that this administration keeps handing out to rich people. This alleged stimulus is loaded with tax breaks for them....Us, we get 600 to 1200-dollars...once....probably in May...too late to really stimulate anything...

Problems like the on-going conflagration in Iraq and Afghanistan that is eating up two trillion dollars a day. We’ve lost about 4000 troops to date. Osama must be laughing his ass off. Our whole army can’t find him and his kid is on American television giving interviews. If there is anyone who deserves to be in Guantanamo being tortured for info, it’s Osama junior....One question...”where’s your old man, son?” Then I’d give him the 25-million dollar reward as an apology for messing up his dreds, like he needs the money.

Problems like the overwhelming credit card debt that many of us have. Or, the mortgage meltdown that the Fed is attempting to fix, as we speak.

Problems like the cost of gas or the rising costs of heating your home.

Problems like unemployment which is at about six percent right now. And what about social security, health care, and that now fleeting dream of retirement for some.

Problems like our government absolving Haliburton and KBR of any wrongdoing or fraud in Iraq.

Problems like the proposal buried deep in pending legislation that pardons all Bush Administration crimes and misdemeanors in the future, should the rest of the world try to enforce Geneva Conventions rules and regulations. At least, Nixon had Ford do his dirty work.

Yep, we can all take that 600-dollars and go on a spending spree and save our world. That is, what’s left of it, after Dubya and company are gone...

WTF?!

is all I can say after listening to Fred Thompson speak following the closing of the South Carolina polls....

What he did was prove that he can't talk without a script or teleprompter. Off the cuff is out the question. Please, Fred, go have a scotch and fall asleep..you'll feel better in the morning...

Second observation.......I really, really don't like Chris Mathews...Someone needs to tell him that "cute" only works for three year olds and under...Go sit down and let the grown ups handle the commentary....Someone needs to tell him that good reporters "report" the story...or relate a good story...they don't attempt to hijack the story by injecting themselves in the middle of the action...

Third Observation....Women have spoken....Hillary wins Nevada....It's going to get real ugly now.....

Cow’s Out...Why Close the Door

Yesterday’s announcement by the Food and Drug Administration, that cloned meat is safe to eat, is kind of like shutting the barn door after the cow’s already escaped. We’ve been eating cloned meat for several years now, according to some Kansas farmers who know where of they speak. These farmers have publicly admitted selling semen from their own cloned bulls on the open market, (www.washingtonpost.com).

The USDA has asked these same farmers to keep meat from cloned animals off the market. Not because they don’t think it’s safe, but because they think the market is not ready for cloned Mcburgers. A recent survey showed that only 22 percent of Americans like the idea of eating cloned beef, chicken or pork. That same survey shows that cloned anything is an even tougher sell in the rest of the world.

James Greenwood, who is president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, is quoted in today’s Washington Post as saying that cloning is simply a way to make offspring, like in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination.

He may be right, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to jump at the chance to eat it. I’d go vegetarian but farmers have been cloning plants for a couple of hundred years now...After all, what do you think a “hybrid” plant, is?

Maybe it is time to start growing my own.

*****

“THE WORLD IS MINE!”

Oprah is going to have her own television network. She’s going to call it OWN-TV..meaning the Oprah Winfrey Network...

Go girl!

*****

Reverend Huckabee

GOP candidate Huckabee wants to amend the US Constitution...He wants to change it so that it reflects God’s rules and regs. Which God? Which rules...Which bible?

Does he know why the pilgrims left England in the first place? Does he know why we fought the Revolutionary War? Is he aware of the regimes in the rest of the world where religion supercedes secularism and democracy? Has he heard of Osama Bin Laden, or the Taliban? Does he understand why he, Huckabee is as dangerous as the current president of Iran or any of the Sheiks of Saudi Arabia?

Has he lost his mind? Oh Yeah!

************

Can You Hear Me Now?!

Did you hear the verbal smack down delivered by the Lady Judge in Las Vegas to OJ Simpson? She jumped all over him today, talking to him as if she was chastising her two year old. I hope they put it on Youtube for all to see.

The bottom line is Juice did not get his "get out of Jail card." She even upped the bail on him.

I'm perplexed...is he really that stupid...Must be...He is still in jail. I don't understand it...OJ beat the system...He should be out playing golf....Seems like the man is a spotlight junkie....

Time to let go OJ and fade in the sunset, Please!

Cancel the Coronation

Well it looks as if the coronation of King Barack is going to have to wait awhile. Seems there is still plenty of fight left in the old girl.

I long for the days of real political pundits, before the pollsters controlled the moves of every candidate and made puppets of reporters working the election. A Cronkite or even a Rather would tell you that a primary or a caucus is a battle, not a war. The war is the election and it’s a long, long way from over.

Obama won a skirmish, the Iowa caucus vote. Clinton won the first primary, a battle. The war is now joined in earnest and is far from over. Hillary’s win should not have been a surprise or even considered an upset, as portrayed by the cable news networks. After all, we are just six days into the real election season. It’s not like she came from dead last to upset the frontrunner. Hell, she is the frontrunner in most of the country. Some 20 odd states go to the polls on February 5th. There will be votes before February 5th, including Michigan, South Carolina and Florida. Michigan and Florida don’t count because these two states have been stripped of their delegates for moving their primaries up, in the first place. So some of the contenders have pulled their names off the ballots in the offending states.

Ohio, my state, and the real swing state in this madness, votes on March 4th. Obama, Clinton, Edwards, Richardson and homeboy, Dennis Kucinich are on the democratic ballot. Thompson, Paul, McCain, Giuliani, and Huckabee are on the republican ballot.

In light of all the activity between now and March 4th, some of the names that I mentioned may call it quits before the Ohio vote. We just have to wait and see.

The anchors on the news shows last night said that Hillary won because women came back to her side after deserting her in Iowa. I think it shows something else...that women in the middle of this country really don’t like her and are still holding her days in the White House against her, and that may be a bigger problem as we go deeper into this election year.

Another mistake being made by the anchors....lumping all blacks behind Obama again. It is being assumed that Obama has South Carolina locked up because half of the voting population is black.

Bill Clinton still is the unspoken “black” man in the race and he has begun to work the crowd. Looks like Hillary took the leash off a couple of days ago. Bill is running free. And he is the biggest brain out there when it comes to political thinking. That’s why republicans are so afraid of him. They have to resort to personal attacks because they can’t beat him or out think him politically.

But back to Hillary. I have said all along that she is the consummate professional politician. She knows how to win. Think about it. She was born in Illinois. Elected to the White House from Arkansas. Represents the great state of New York as it’s junior senator. To dismiss her, to patronize her, the condescend to her is a big, big mistake.

She may not win the democratic nomination. But who ever does is going to have to beat her, because what New Hampshire has shown is that she is not going to roll over and play dead.

Living History

Some of my white friends are telling me Obama can’t and won’t be elected president. Their reasoning is simple, America is still too racist to seriously consider a black man for the white house.

My question to them is...”does this mean you’re not voting for him either?” At which point they are horrified that I’ve alluded to the fact that they, too, might be too racist to vote for a black man. After all, we’re friends, black woman, white man. We share life, conversation, stuff. We’re friends. We can talk openly about this race thing to each other. We are “there” for each other, more quickly than some of our own family members. Yet...

Inwardly, I agree with my friends. I don’t believe America is ready either, despite the results in Iowa and what I presume will be the results, tonight in New Hampshire. To my mind, it’s still way to early to call an election that takes place in November. We’re more than a month away from super primary day on February 5th, when 28 states will hold primaries, including California, New York and New Jersey. We still haven’t gone through the nomination process. The candidates for the nominations haven’t really, really been talking issues yet. Personal attack politics is just revving up. All politicians suffer uniformly from “foot in mouth disease.” We’ve got a very long way to go.

I’ll admit, I’m swept up with the possibilities that are unfolding around the candidate from Illinois. I’m drowning in hope and optimism that finally, finally, in my lifetime, we will take another step toward color blindness in this country. But there have been so many disappointments...one step forward...two steps back.

,Obama’s win in Iowa and his numbers in New Hampshire feel like a snow ball about to take off down a hillside, gaining momentum, unstoppable. It feels good, damn good....Yet...

I’m sad, because that snowball is probably going to run over the first serious female for the white house. But is it really surprising. This election follows history. Black men got the vote years before women. Black men rise much more quickly than do women, if only one at a time. Men seem less intimidated by other men, than they are by women. Men take other men more seriously then they do women.

My same friends don’t like Hillary Clinton either. She’s been tough, steely...that’s no good. Yesterday, she nearly cried...showed emotion...softness...that’s no good either...because everyone knows, there’s no crying in politics! I hope she doesn’t fold. I hope she’s stronger than that. Lose...but don’t cave-in...Don’t let em see ya sweat!

There is a lot of talk within the black community about Bill Clinton being the first black president...about how we’d like him back in the white house. Well his legacy appears to be Obama, a for real black man.

I hope that’s true.

I miss Bill Clinton, but I think, if given the chance, I am voting for Obama!

Time will tell!

Let’s all sing along with the late great Sam Cooke...

“I was born on the river
in a little tent
oh and just like the river
I been runnin’
every since...it’s been
a long time, a long time
comin’,
but I know...a change gon come...”

Can you feel it? The wind is blowing left... Obama wins the Democratic Iowa caucus...Even more astounding...the turnout to vote was somewhere in the 80% range. People are paying attention....finally...finally...

The women have spoken...they want Barack....not Hillary........not John......who actually finished statistically ahead of Hillary.

She’s not finished by a long shot, but it’s not going to be easy, because it seems there really are a lot of Clinton haters out there.

But remember....Bill Clinton didn’t win Iowa and did lousy in New Hampshire before handily winning the nomination and subsequently, the presidency. So don’t count her out just yet.

On the GOP side, Huckabee beat Romney and McCain by a big margin. The other story is the GOP turnout...they didn’t show up.....Turnout was about half of the Democratic showing..

Time for a Scarlett O’hara or two in celebration!

Then on to New Hampshire!

I’ve Just Got to Ask..........

Now that the caucus vote is here.......

If women make up 51% of the American population and women plus minorities make up 64% of the populace.....

1....Then why is either Hillary or Obama not considered a slam dunk to take the White House in November?

2....Then why is a guy who looks and responds like a cross between Max Headroom and a stepford wife considered a viable candidate for president....

3...Then why is the guy who makes the most sense and is probably best suited to be president not taken seriously....not even by himself....

4....Then why is the electorate still paying attention to guys who look and feel like the status quo, who prefer to hide in the uneven shadow of a dead president rather than be their own man, with new ideas to fit the times....


5.....Then why are we still debating who voted to go to war rather than who has the best plan to get us out of the mess, and then to fix our broken foreign policy.....

6.....Then why didn’t Rudy lose all credibility after Prophet Pat endorsed him for president...How many skeletons have to fall out of this guy’s closet before folks realize he is a reincarnation of Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon and kick him to the curb...

7....Then why is any candidate who does not view women as equal, given more than a snow ball’s chance in hell of winning a caucus let alone the nomination and election...

When Tomorrow Looks Like Yesterday

2008. Happy New Year to all of you paying attention. I’ve just walked through the door, into the twilight of my fifth decade on this planet. Still kicking, still feeling pretty optimistic about life in general.

Still paying attention to the happenings of the world around me.....the upcoming presidential elections here in this country....the assassination of Benizar Bhutto, may she find peace....the latest nuclear petulance out of South Korea....the continued ignorance and futility out of Washington.

Iowa caucuses in two days and if you listen to the media, all of the candidates are in closing arguments, in an attempt to seal the deal for themselves.

It’s a two man race in the GOP...that’s the “gay old party” for those of you who don’t know what GOP stands for....It used to mean “grand old party.” But the name has changed to accommodate all of the righteous old guys who keep falling out of the closet away from Jesus and the right leaning moral majority.

Preacher Huckabee is slugging it out with Mormon Mitt... but neither is charting new ground....just plowing the same old fields of pseudo hypocritical righteousness trying to out religious the other.

Fred Thompson seems to have fallen by the wayside. I guess he’s still in it for awhile since they’ve promoted Jack McCoy on Law and Order and taken away his day gig. Maybe he can come back as a judge who’s running for president on TV.

Rudy is busy too. He’s working hard to justify the latest group of skeletons popping out of his closet. He seems to have written off Iowa, instead concentrating his attention on New Hampshire.

The media says it’s a dead heat on the Democratic side with Obama slightly ahead of Clinton and Edwards, or vice versa, depending on the poll.

I’m not real excited about the Democrats either. I’m still not hearing anything new. Obama keeps talking about real change and I’m all for that, but is the change that he’s talking about merely changing a black man for a white man in the White House?

Alright, already, I know he is against the war in Iraq...Tell me something else. Tell me about social security...tell me about health care...tell me about ending violence in the streets...tell me about getting rid of guns...tell me about improving education.....tell me about civil rights for all people, not just rich people or straight people or Christians.

The middle class needs tax relief, too. America needs an end to the devastating voodoo economics of the Reagan era. Trickle down economics has never worked and it never will.
All of the people who support this economics plan need to understand that this is merely debt deferment. Your kids are screwed, period. They are dead and buried before they even get out into the world thanks to the past years of tax relief for corporations and the rich one percent of America. We, as Americans owe our collective soul to the banks of China. I don’t want to be around when they call that loan.

How about outlawing lobbyists, permanently. What’s the point of advertising by drug manufacturers? Wouldn’t it be better if that big advertising budget were used to develop new and better medications?

America needs to come to grips with AIDS. Is that in Obama’s health plan? Especially since fully fifty percent of all new cases of HIV infection are straight black women?

Hey Hillary, I haven’t forgotten you. Is the plight of infected black women in your health budget? If the polls are right, you’re favored by black women two to one over Obama. Are you going to take care of your constituency?

Hillary Clinton, like Obama, is the face of change. She is a woman. That is the biggest thing going her. She is not a man. On the face, she is not the status quo. But is that true? She went along with Bush on Iraq. Her health care plan seems a retread of the one that failed when her husband was in charge.

The problem that I have with her is that she has been in Congress and the White House and still feels like the old way of doing things despite her gender. As much as I want to, I can’t get excited about her.

I want someone to talk about really cutting the waste in government...no more automatic raises until lawmakers fix this mess. Absolutely no more pork barrel projects until we have a budget surplus in Washington.

I want the Patriot Act repealed. I want Homeland Security dismantled. It’s a joke on the American people. I want checks and balances restored between government branches.

I want the IRS retired. How about a national sales tax....a user tax...the bigger the item, the larger the tax.....same for everybody.....that way...you could put up a chart for all to see and read what the tax penalty is, instead of the way it is now. ....Or I would be okay with an across the board ten percent....Everyone pays ten percent of their yearly earnings...Kind of like tithing to your church, only it’s to the government....Going even further....take the ten percent and divide it in half with part going to the feds, the rest going to the state where you live.

Bottom line, I want more than I’m hearing. The candidates, none of them, have come close to speaking to the important stuff. So let’s knock off the attack rhetoric and get down to business.

The candidate who does that, will get my vote.

And trust me...........Ron Paul is not the answer!

Ike Turner, R.I.P.

Ike Turner died last week from so far, unexplained circumstances. The first thought that popped into my mind was drug overdose, or some illness related to a life of drug over indulgence. Like most people. I don’t really know. Like most people, I only knew Ike through his ex wife’s book and movie and his music.

His music came first for me. When I was a kid listening to radio, I discovered Ike and Tina Turner. Their music was alive. It was electric. It made you want to get up and move, and I did whenever I heard it. And this was before the Proud Mary cover.

Tina’s voice was unmistakably in the front. But Ike was the foundation. That bass line, his deep voice laying down the tempo, keeping everyone on pace, while she soared on high. You felt rather than heard Ike and that was the way it should have been. It was a visceral feeling that evoked movement deep within the listener. Ike worked his rhythmic magic from the inside out.

Historically, he was a legend in the music industry. Ike is credited with recording the very first rock and roll record, before Bill Hailey’s ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK, or anything Elvis did. But being a black man he didn’t get the money or credit due him as a founder of a music genre.

He even discovered Tina. Built his game around her. Gave her, her name. She gives him all credit for that. Yet to most people, he is still only her husband, the man in the background. It’s a shame that all most folks will remember him for is his abuse of Tina.

I’m not justifying what he did to her. If even half of what was said in her book and movie is true then he was an ugly human being. No one should abuse another person, especially their spouse, for any reason.

But it is sad, because he was a talented and very creative person who was a man of his time, but at the same time, ahead of his time musically. He visualized where rhythm and blues could go, by surfing on the back of an electric guitar. His musical distortions ultimately gave birth to Jimi Hendrix, Ernie Isley, Slash, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Pete Townsend, and Sheryl Crow, to name just a few.

As recently as last year, he won a grammy and was nominated again this year. He is already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But that is not what people will remember. They will remember that scene in the movie when Tina fought back and they both ended up bloodied. I cheered when she finally fought back. I hollered when she kicked him with her high heels. He was finally getting what he deserved. People will remember that Tina exited that limo a new person while Ike left it a surprised and beaten bully. She has gone on to superstardom, he to a drug fueled oblivion, if the stories are true.

He never recovered from that moment. Judging from his subsequent statements afterward, he never, even understood what happened to him. He thought of himself as the victim and on so many levels he was. A musical genius, and a member of the rock and roll hall of fame who despite the accolades from his peers, spent the last half of his life as a footnote in his ex wife’s bio.

Living with a Broken Heart

I suffer from congestive heart failure. I was diagnosed five years ago after becoming concerned about swollen ankles. I thought the swelling was due to my age and the fact that I was standing nearly eight hours a day doing my job. Except for the swelling, I felt fine. But I wasn’t, apparently.

My family doctor checked my chest and said it sounded as if I had a heart murmur and then sent me to a specialist for further testing. The tests showed that my heart was not functioning well. In fact, it was only functioning at 25 percent of its capacity. I had to have a doctor’s permission to leave the hospital and was told not to do anything at all, work, pick up my young nephew, housework, play with, or walk my dogs, anything that might stress my bad situation.

I was given medicine and materials to read up on heart valve replacements. I was given the option of having a pig valve or a plastic valve implanted in my chest once I was stabilized by the new medication. I was inundated with information about the types of medications that I would have to begin now and to take to sustain my life, for the rest of my life.

Being the info junky that I am, I read somewhere that CHF sufferers rarely live five years past diagnosis. So as I write this, I guess I’ve reached a mile stone in this unexpected journey. I’m still alive with no end in sight.

But five years in, I’m still tremendously angry. Once I got over crying and being fearful that my life was soon to end. I got mad, and I’ve pretty much stayed mad.

I have always believed that if you did things right, the universe will be right with you. Another way to say it is “what goes around, comes around.” Karma. I truly believe that karma rules all. I believe that we reap what we sow.

I was an athlete. I watched the food that I ate. I never smoked. I experimented with alcohol, finding out that I really don’t like the taste, so my drinking is of a social nature. Beyond taking aspirin or nsaids for the pain that accompanies athleticism, I never did drugs. I have inhaled though, around my college friends and at a Richie Havens concert once. But that was it.

I went to school, stayed employed from the time I was sixteen. I have been self supporting since I was eighteen. To my mind I should not have been saddled with a chronic probably fatal disease. But it happened despite all of my self identified “goodness” and good living.

Five years in and I still haven’t had the valve replacement. The hole in the wall of my heart has closed up as mysteriously as it opened. My function is nearly 80 percent as I write this. My cardiologist says I’m a textbook recovery. He has no explanation for the reversal, nor why it happened in the first place.

I must take 16 pills per day to control my heart beat, blood pressure, and fluid levels in my body. One of the side effects of the medication is weight gain, so I’m living heavier than I have ever been and that is hard. My joints ache. I have to rest much more often than I used to.

I can exercise now with the restriction of not elevating my heart beat above 150. That means no running, my last exercise of choice. I can walk. I can lift weights, now in the fifth year. I can do yoga and tai chi and I can play golf. Exercise is much more difficult with the extra pounds and the fear that I might hurt myself or worse, die from exertion is sometimes incapacitating.

I have had to face the fact that I was afraid of dying. I have had to admit that I didn’t want to lose the material wealth that I had accumulated. I have had to admit that I wasn’t ready to let go of my family and friends, just yet.

I still deal with these things daily. As I get farther away from diagnosis, it’s been easy to forget that although I’m alive, I have to be vigilant about my health. I have to work daily for my physical existence. I have to get busy living because dying in my case is extremely easy.

God and Guns....Guns and Politics....

I guess I’ve become numb to the killings by people, failed young men, making themselves infamous by killing innocents. So the Sunday news of the attacks on the two religious facilities in Colorado did not bother me too much. I listened dispassionately to the news conference on CNN and then went about my own business.

What did bother me was the fact that one of the gunmen was shot dead in the parking lot of the mega church founded by Ted Haggard by an armed security guard. Armed, plain clothed security guards at a house of worship?

I guess God now needs help in protecting his flock? What happened to trust in the Lord? I don’t remember Jesus or any of his posse carrying side arms.

**********

And then there is Mitt,”don’t hate me because I’m Mormon,” Romney. Last week he gave what was termed a major speech to explain his beliefs to the GOP evangelicals who think Mormonism is a cult. It was supposed to be a JFK flashback to make Mitt more acceptable to the American people, much like Kennedy did to turn the tide on the popular thought at the time about Catholicism.

Rather than a profile in courage, Romney’s turn can only be described as a portrait of pandering. He only used the term Mormon a couple of times. He seemed intent on trying to convince evangelicals that he is as radical and fanatic as they are.

As I’ve said before....I will not vote for a man whose religion silences women, doesn’t consider Blacks equal and has an all white, all male unassailable leadership situation.

Hmmmm...kind of sounds like a description of our government since its formation. Mitt may be comfortable in an all white ,all male situation, but the rest of us need some relief.

*********

O and O.....Obama and Oprah.....woo wee!....the merger of politics, news and entertainment is now complete. I can hear the tonight show theme song playing in the background..(.think Johnny Carson entrance music).

I can’t speak for anyone else....but Oprah doesn’t’ choose the books I read, nor will she choose the candidate I will support for president...

*********

They’ve gone all the way crazy in Britain. Seems there is a movement afoot to make Santa Claus in the malls a physically fit, iron pumping, healthy man, so that kids won’t get the idea that it is good to be fat.....

PEOPLE!.......SANTA CLAUS IS A MYTH. HE IS NOT REAL..HE IS A FAIRY TALE FIGURE....LEAVE THE FAT MAN ALONE! HE RUNS AROUND WITH ELVES AND REINDEER FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!

What’s next...make snow white monogamous? C’mon!

**********

Question.....if all of the states are moving up their primaries in order to be “king maker” in the next election...why not move up the conventions and the election itself ?

As it stands now, we’ve got another year of this silliness and I would just rather vote and get on with it.

Think of all the money and hassle saved if the election were held in February, since all of the primaries have been moved to January..

*********

Vick, Jones and Bonds....no wonder kid sports is so screwed up. Maybe we need to focus on kids getting fit and having fun...playing a game... rather than treating kid sports as the beginning of a big league professional career...

Do we really need ESPN televising little league baseball games or focusing on a non English speaking pitching phenom from the islands who’s too old to play ball in the states?

Sports used to build character, team work and comradery...it wasn’t thought of as a way to get famous and super rich.

It was thought of as a way to get out of the ghetto since so many other avenues were closed...but people, times have changed...other avenues do exist...

Sports isn’t the be all/end all that is portrayed...

*******

Question number two...........do you allow your kids to play with your Christmas lights? Seems there is lead in the cords.....But is it enough to harm a child or is this another over blown non news story....lead in toys is one thing....but Christmas lights.....

In my lifetime.....most adults that I know put the lights on the tree and let the kids put the ornaments on....after all the problem with lights as I see it...is that the lights are electrical posing more danger than lead...common sense should prevail...

Madam President

One of the things that women can count on when they start working and playing in typically male arenas is that sooner or later the name calling begins. First come the behind the back snickers. The male to male allusions and presumptions, then, if those don’t work, out come the attacks on character and personality. Truth not necessary.

Sometimes the attacks go to the extreme of becoming physical, all the way to death. No woman is safe when she chooses to labor inside the male dominated arena, no matter what the arena happens to be.

I have long wondered why men feel so intimidated that they need to resort to the relentless take down of the alleged “weaker” sex. Maybe it’s a sexual/dominant thing. I don’t know.

I do know that it is ugly and it hurts when it happens.

The attacks on Hillary Clinton have been mounting for weeks now. To this point, they have been quasi political in nature. But the boys have resorted to ganging up in the debates, probably because she is stronger than they thought, with a better or more appealing agenda than they or their advisors thought possible.

Now comes a darker, more insidious attack from the boys overseas, complete with pictures. A London newspaper has resurrected the old line that Hillary is a lesbian and further, that she is having an affair with her personal assistant, who has been dubbed “hot.” Hillary has never been considered attractive by the boys who trade in these rumors. She has been dogged by this particular rumor since her college days. In fact, it surfaced when she was in the White House and centered around one of her college chums.

The attacks by the boys are tired and typical....a woman who is successful...sleeps her way to the top, meaning she is a whore, or “ho” in today’s parlance....or she is a ball breaking dyke...unattractive and humorless..The boys obviously don’t watch the L word on TV.

Even Condoleeza Rice must endure this crap. One minute she is sleeping with Dubya, the next minute she is a lesbian, apparently owning a house with another woman.

It’s all smoke screen blown up when the boys get scared that they may lose to a girl. It’s an old way of keeping women under control, they think.

The operative word here is “old.” It’s not going to work anymore. I know it’s early, but many everyday people that I’ve talked with and listened to, both male and female are not happy with the attacks on Hillary Clinton. Many say they plan to vote for her because she is the best person to get us out of this mess that the boys have gotten us unto.

But then again, that is what women do....clean up the mess...after the boys are done screwing around.

Maybe the boys need to find a real agenda and do something positive.
You listening, Obama!?

President Michelle?!

So if I understand Michelle Obama correctly, black Americans are not supporting her husband for president because we, as black Americans, have an ongoing inferiority complex and don’t really believe that a black man can win the White House. She went on to say in several exclusive interviews yesterday that black America simply needs to wake up.

Well, I want to know if Mrs. Obama is paying attention to the words coming out of her husband’s mouth? I mean, he’s got the hopeful/optimistic thing going real well, but so far he isn’t saying anything substantive enough to make me vote for him instead of Hillary Clinton. He’s expending massive amounts of energy attacking her as the front runner, as have all the other wannabes.

But so far, he isn’t coming across as anything other than Michelle’s arm candy. He’s cute, but cuteness doesn’t win elections.

Obama may be the fresh breeze we all need, but we need more than a promise floating on this new wind. We need some substance. We need him not to look so shell shocked in these debates. He said last time, he was going to “bring it.” Well, I’m still waiting.

And before you jump all over me for being an Obama hater/Hillary supporter...I do support Hillary as the one I perceive to be the stronger candidate. HOWEVER....I have written two checks to the Obama campaign to keep the brother going. Hillary doesn’t need my money. Barack does and he will get it until he loses the nomination, if that is going to happen.

But I’m not happy with his ideas. He hasn’t said anything that makes me think he can really win or change things. He keeps looking like a deer caught in headlights during these pseudo-debates. I keep watching because I want to see the brother seize the spotlight and run, all the way to the White House.

Heck, I’ve heard more presidential stuff coming out of Michelle’s mouth than I have her husband’s. Since this is the year of the talkative/take charge woman, maybe Michelle should be the candidate. Enough of this stand by your man crap. We’ve got more than enough of that in the White House now. He who shall not be named has two...his wife and Condi. (Anyone seen or heard from her lately?)

Maybe the real revolution that America needs is for women to just simply say “enough is enough” and take over. Women do outnumber men as voters in this country. Maybe that’s the voting block waiting to be unleashed.

So Mrs. Obama, stop alibiing you husband...go ahead...take the leap...declare your candidacy. The women of America are waiting to support you.

Things that Make You Go Hmmmmmmmm!

Pat endorses Rudy for the GOP nomination....why should anybody be surprised..Pat has always been more about power than religion...Rudy has always been about power and spotlight...It’s just two old guys making a grab for the ultimate brass ring....I think their hypocrisy will undo them, ultimately.

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Obama says anyone over 50 is too old to seek the presidency and should step aside and let the young ones, meaning “him” do it....Used to be “don’t trust anyone over 30"...Obama was taking aim at Hillary when he said that, yesterday...That line of thinking has worked twice in the past...once for JFK and once WJC....Won’t work for Obama, though...I think women will make the difference in this election....Whoops! Did I just endorse Hillary!?

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The House has passed legislation barring discrimination against the LGBT community in employment. 35 republicans joined the democrats in passing the bill which says:

.......“The House bill would make it illegal for an employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment of the individual, because of such individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation.”..........

The Democrats have been trying to pass this since Bella Abzug proposed it back in 1976. Watch out for Dubya's veto!

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And from the world of scientists comes yet another study that says overweight people have a lower death rate than normal weight people...Well, I guess so...overweight people tend to eat rather than starve themselves trying to meet some unrealistic Hollywood ideal of beauty..Deprivation of food is just as bad as gluttony...Moderation is always the key..

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A sign of end times....a Boston priest has been jailed for stalking...would you believe...talk show host Conan O’BRIEN. Father David Ajemian was arrested November 2nd and remains in jail according to a press release from the Archdiocese of Boston. The errant “father” sometimes signed his many letters to O’Brien as “your stalker priest.” and this after he’d been warned to stay away from the talk show host..

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The new discrimination.....lot’s of companies in Florida are now telling their employees and potential employees that smoking off the job is banned, too. As one official put it...”if you’re too stupid to know that smoking can kill you...then you don’t need a job..”

On the job...on company grounds...I can understand...what you do in your home..on your time is your business...period..

Aw Man! Another Stupid Report!

I guess I should stop reading the news, because I keep opening up stupid stories that depress me. There is a new report out, detailing the links, actual links between eating the wrong kinds of food, which make you fat and cause you to have cancer. This isn’t new. We’ve been bombarded with this information for a very long time.

Skinny, anorexic people who don’t like food in the first place, conduct these studies to torment those of us who do like food. They keep telling us we’re going to die if we don’t stop eating. I wonder if these clowns have ever heard of starvation? Starvation happens when you don’t eat and then you die.

So what do we do? We die from cancer if we eat...We die from starvation if we don’t. Give me a break please!

I like food. I like cooking food and serving food to my friends. I like food to go with my favorite wines. I like the ambience of dinner parties. When I go to a restaurant with my friends, I don’t give a damn if my fettuccini alfredo is drowning in ten tablespoons of butter. I like butter! Actual eating at a restaurant is only secondary to what else is happening around the table.

I’m not talking about going to a sit down at some family restaurant like Golden Corral or KFC where, despite the noise level in these places, no one talks. Those places have simply replaced eating at the table at home because parents don’t have time to cook. No conversation needed. Hell, bringing a book to the table or reading the newspaper was the norm when I was growing up. Once you got past “how was school” there was no talking...just eating so that you could get to the rest of your evening.

What I’m talking about is an enjoyable night out at a good restaurant, with great wine and libation and sparkling conversation between a group of people who like each other. I’m talking about stops for dinner before or after the theater or concert. Food is not the main attraction, it is a sidedish to the evening activities. The conversation really prevents the overeating that all the skinny scientists keep yelling about, because as everyone knows, you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full, it simply isn’t polite.

What these scientists or food-o-phobics want us to do is to take a beautiful menu of suggestions and then ask the chef to make all of our choices taste like cardboard. We sit there and pick at it and finally push it aside.

I mean really, who really likes the taste of all that diet/light/calorie free crap, anyway. This study even warns us about drinking too much wine and beer or spirits.

Well, I want to tell you, if I can’t eat, I am going to drink. I may as well be drunk on my ass if I’m going to starve to death.

Care to join me?

Torture Porn

I learned a new phrase today while scanning through a review of the movie SAW IV, due in theaters tomorrow. I was thinking of going to see it, since I own the previous three versions of this series.

Torture porn, was the reviewer’s way of describing this latest flick and others of the genre. I am wondering when we moved from slasher flicks to torture porn, but then that’s what it means to get old. When I hear a phrase these days it’s probably already out of date rather than cutting edge. Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

The phrase alleges that people who watch these kinds of movies have basically become numb to the violence, blood and guts that permeates these films (are they still films and not videos?!). That it’s a new way to “get off” so to speak, hence the term “porn.”

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......I liked the first SAW..the second was pretty good too...but the third one was forgettable....can’t even remember the plot...and there was a plot in both of the first two....

I think that’s why I didn’t like HOSTEL or any of the Jason movies or Hellraiser movies or even Texas Chainsaw movies. I still need plot to go along with the violence. It can’t be gratuitous violence. I don’t mind gratuitous sex if it’s done artfully and with a point to do something other than get me hot, unless it is porn, of course.

The difference for me is that porn I can watch again and again, until I’m bored. Gratuitous violence and blood and guts is a one time thing. I won’t watch the first time, if I don’t perceive that a story is behind the work. Watching people die violently is not entertaining to me.

I still prefer a story first. What surrounds and tells the story comes second. I prefer “scares” to be psychological or more in my mind. That’s why the scariest scene I have ever witnessed remains Hitchcock’s shower scene in Psycho. I was more disturbed by reading “The Exorcist” then by seeing it. Most books I read twice. I have never been able to read that one a second time.

Yet, I don’t know what it is about the SAW movies. I really do want to see this latest one. I know that it is going to be bathed in blood and torture. I am fascinated by the torture methods for one. The previous ones have all been drawn from real history. I want to see how Jigsaw accomplishes it since he was dead at the end of the last one, too. I guess he’s found another disciple to carry on.

When I think about scary movies a few come to mind and this is after I started facing them. When I was a kid, I would hide my eyes or dive into the back seat at the drive in rather than watch the horror unfold. I would only listen and that was so much worse than watching. My nightmares absolutely killed me. My dad finally told me to make myself watch and then it wouldn’t be so bad. He was right. Once I started watching, the scares went away.

Scary movies for me......Psycho....Revulsion (french)....Halloween....The Fog....Scream (opening scenes with Drew Barrymore).....Jeepers Creepers (opening scene, kids in car)....The Exorcist....Darkness Falls.....Nightmare on Elm Street......Alien.....Friday the 13th (Jason was not the killer).....The rest of the slasher genre are unoriginal or remakes of the ones I just listed.

You know what, after writing this..the SAW movies don’t scare as much as they interest me. Hmmmmmmmmm....maybe it is porn after all. .

Chicken Little Speaks

“THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING...LOOK OUT! BETTER DUCK, QUICK!”

Did you flinch?

Me neither. Dubya has taken his fearmongering to a whole new level. Now he’s uttering the BIGGGGGG “W” word.....WAR....as in World War III..

He says the world has to disarm Iran if we want to avoid WWIII. Anyone who has been listening with a tin ear for the past year and a half knows that the neocons can’t wait to drop a bomb on Iran. If we weren’t already in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Cheney-Bush cabal would probably already have troops on the ground playing find the ayatollah.

I agree that Iran represents a threat. But I don’t agree that military action is the answer. I’m still waiting for Condi to grow some cojones and do the job she is paid to do...be a diplomat and stop this craziness. Enough of this “stand by your man” crap. That’s Laura’s job. She married him.

Dubya’s ratings have dropped to a new low. He’s lower than tricky dick Nixon and that’s low. Dubya just doesn’t get it. He thinks he’s still relevant and is telling anyone who will listen.

The difference is Nixon was smart enough to understand his self inflicted predicament. Nixon was a lot of things..a crook, a racist, a misogynist, an egotist...but he was not stupid...Nixon was a very intelligent and politically astute man. He knew when to say “when.”

Dubya just wants you to pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth no matter what he says, whether or not it makes sense.

Since I’ve never liked beating up on weaklings, this is my last column on Dubya. I am relegating him to the honorary Ann Coulter closet that I reserve for all those people who I deem to be walking wastes of oxygen.

So Dubya now joins the likes of Rush, and Michelle and Alan, and Nancy and Mitch and Glen and Oprah and Mitt and FDT and of course her majesty, the one and only Ann Coulter, the republican party’s Paris Hilton, inside the lock box.

I will find other things to talk about. I promise.

Real News

A noted American scientist, DNA pioneer and former Nobel Prize winner says blacks are dumber than whites if you believe the testing evidence.

No stranger to controversy, Dr. James Watson who won the Nobel prize back in 1962 for his research into genetic DNA says all you have to do is ask white employers who deal with black employees. Further, Watson, who was addressing a group of British scientists stated that Western social policies are misdirected and misguided because they are based on the assumption that blacks in Africa are as smart as white westerners.

Watson who, for the past 50 years has headed a renown genetic think tank and laboratory in New York is currently embarked on a book tour promoting a book about his racial and pseudo scientific theories. In the book he alleges that the genes that prove his theory will be found within the decade.

Back in 1997 Watson hit the headlines when he stated that women should be allowed to abort any fetus if tests could prove that the child would turn out to be homosexual. He backed off that comment, saying he was just thinking out loud.

Round about that same time he drew links between skin color and sex drive, arguing that blacks have higher libidos. We do like our sex, but then who doesn’t.

He also is alleged to have said “stupidity” will one day be cured.

Given what continues to come out of his mouth....I think not.

I think stupid is genetic...no testing needed....just open your mouth and prove it to the world, and if you happen to be an old dried up white guy attempting to be relevant,then you will at least have a bigger audience of witnesses.

Case closed.

Genius in the Family

The first born child in the family is always the smartest. It’s a proven fact, just look at me. I’m number one in my family and I’m sure that the number ones among my friends will agree with me, that we are the smartest kids our parents had.

Now our siblings may disagree, but then what do they know? They came second, third and a distant fourth in my case. They didn’t know anything until I told them. So case closed. The first kid rocks. The second is pretty cool too. But the babies...well, no one will ever accuse them of having common sense or natural intelligence.

We number ones excelled in school, our professions, our playtime. We were and still are, the leaders of our social circles.

Face it, we’re just plain good as well as smart.

So why do we need studies to document what all of us already know?

I don’t know, but maybe it’s different for boys. A recently completed Norwegian study looked only at boys and came to the same conclusion, that first born boys rule, but not by much. According to the study, IQs among siblings only differed by a couple of points. In other words if the first boy has an IQ of 103, the next boy has an IQ of 101 and on down to the baby.

The only conclusion I can draw from this study is to have only one kid because the more you have the dumber they get, so stop at one and be happy...

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Quick Hits Monday..

Yet another ball-less wonder has stepped forward to tell us in retrospect that Bush’s war is a fiasco. General Rick Sanchez, one of the real live commanders of this quagmire has now spoken up from rear and said the surge isn’t working. He joins the ranks of Colin Powell, General Pace and a few others who now show up on cable talk shows powered by lucrative book deals..

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FDT

Fred Dalton Thompson....c’mon down! Please! The uninformed masses think you’re their savior.
They think you will rescue them from the unchristian Romney, the perverted Guiliani, the big bad black man Obama or god forbid that loose woman, no name needed, who is only one who really wears a dress.

Sorry Fred, but you’re no Ronald Reagan. You’re not even a “B” actor....It was painfully obvious during the last debate that you really, really do need a script to get by. Keep your day job, honey. You’ll feel better.

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Condi has surfaced. She’s in Gaza holding news conferences, the topic of which escapes us. But she says her boss is totally focused on peace in the Middle East.

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Bush’s other woman is focused on the Buddhist monks in Burma. Well, she is a school teacher, so she can tell her husband where Burma is and why the monks are mad.

Isaiah Thomas: Classless and Clueless

No one who knows of Isaiah Thomas should be surprised by the recent sexual harassment court decision that went against him and the officials of Madison Square Garden in New York. Thomas has been showing his colors for years.

He has no class and it doesn’t surprise me that someone would accuse him of sexual harassment. His ego proceeds him, wherever he goes. For years he’s hidden behind okay basketball talent and a megawatt smile that apparently gets him what he wants.

Jock that I am, I once had Zeke on a basketball pedestal. I liked watching him and the Detroit Pistons play. They were rough and took no prisoners. They dominated until Michael Jordan came along. For the first couple of years it was Pistons’ basketball. The Bulls made it to the playoffs only to be dismissed, because as good as Michael was, he couldn’t beat an entire team by himself.

When the Bulls finally got their act together, they played Piston ball and beat the Pistons at their own game. But Thomas had to have the last word. In the final seconds of the game, Thomas led his teammates off the floor, rather than shake hands with the victorious Bulls. Rather than say “good game” he skulked off to the locker room with that stupid smile on his face.

It was thuggish and ugly, it was a slap in the face to the young Bulls and showed Thomas to be the dirty player he had become, both on and off the court.

The Bulls went on to history, Thomas went on to labor as a mediocre coach, general manager, misguided team owner, forever lost in Michael’s gigantic shadow.

Now, just like back then, he hid behind his smile, his big eyes and his momma....”she taught me better than that......”I’m totally, totally, innocent..”

Yeah, right...look deeper...there are probably more victims, run over by the Isaiah train, who haven’t surfaced yet..

Another Uppity Black Man?! HA!

When pigs fly! That’s what we say in Cincinnati when bullshit floats to the surface...When pigs fly...
Clarence Thomas...Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas calls himself an “uppity black man.” If he is uppity, then I need to change my name to Angela or Harriet or Sojourner. If he’s uppity, I need to buy a gun to protect myself from coming lynch parties that routinely materialize when “uppity blacks” speak their minds.

Uppity? Clarence Thomas wouldn’t know “Uppity” if it bit him in the ass...excuse my disrespect, please. I try to give respect to all human beings, but only if you earn it...and don’t twist your mouth around to say stupid shit like that....The term “uppity” has to be earned...you can’t self proclaim that, fool!

Let me give you some examples of “uppity” black folks.......Muhammed Ali, he refused to be drafted to go to Vietnam and got stripped of his heavyweight title.

Mike Tyson is an uppity black man...does anything and everything he wants, good or bad..he is also very very crazy...

Barack Obama is an uppity black man...he dares to run for the White House.....You want conservative black uppityness...try Alan Keyes...another crazy MF...but definitely uppity..

Justice Thurgood Marshall was an uppity black man...Bill Cosby is uppity...

RuPaul is uppity and very very fashionable!

Hell, even P Diddy or whatever the hell he calls himself these days is uppity...How about Ice T, Ice Cube, Wesley Snipes, and lord don’t let us forget Danny Glover..

Uppity? How about Whoopie Goldberg on the distaff side? How about Angela Bassett..

How about any black person who dares to speak out against the system called America and pays a price....Can you say Eartha Kitt?

Malcolm, Martin, Eldridge....I’m just sticking with the uppity names you know..there are countless others who have gone so far as to have given their lives in anonymity because they were “uppity.”

I’ve read Thomas’ book...I’ve read the books about Thomas...I’ve watched Thomas from jump...all the way from his nomination by Daddy Bush...through Anita Hill...and all his years to date, on the Supreme Court....

Uppity? No!

How about ego driven, under achiever with a huge chip on his shoulder, who is very obviously mad at the world.

As we say in the ghetto...”A brother’s got some issues that need working out..”:

Try love and honesty with self first, Mr. Thomas...then maybe all that uppityness will one day really shine through....