Insanity vs. Hope

The feeling in the air was pure electricity. The sky was crystal clear with temps just on the north side of 20 degrees. Even with the crisp and biting cold, the people kept coming. Standing on top of the hill formed by the Comcast Center and looking back from whence you had just come, you could imagine what the Hebrews felt as they crossed over into the promised land. Our time has truly come.

People are so excited by this man and his message of change. I met people who had come from all over the state to catch a glimspe of the future. They are completely fed up with the politics of old. And rightly so.

Doing the same thing and expecting different results is called insanity.

Taking a stand against the status quo and being willing to work for a better tomorrow against all odds is called hope.

This is not an election about black vs. white. This is not an election about men vs. women. This is an election about insanity vs. hope.

The Clinton camp (hereafter referred to as 'Hillbilly' in honor of the witty young Maryland student who braved the cold with me) has shown us time and time and time and time again that they will continue to operate in the same old fashion. They will say exactly what you want to hear and then do exactly what they want to do. Picture Lucy pleading with Charlie Brown that THIS time she won't move the football when he tries to kick it. Poor ol' Chuck falls for the fairytale yet again and ends up on his ass...... as usual.

Picture Hillbilly agreeing with the other Democratic candidates that she will not campaign in Florida as a part of a unified front meant to punish the state party for acting outside the wishes of the National party. "C'mon Chuck.... I promise...for real this time." As soon as the other candidates act honorably and keep their word, Hillbilly is in Florida giving her stump speech to Mickey Mouse. Oh....NOW you want to seat the Florida delegates. Real smooth there Hillbilly.

Four years ago when the O-man was screaming to the entire world that this was an unjust war, Hillbilly chose to vote "Aye!" Now....either Hillbilly was stupid enough to fall for the Bush warmongering agenda or she was aware of his tomfoolery and voted to support anyway. My gut tells me that Hillbilly is light years from being stupid. Either way, is this the kind of leadership we need?

Why in the world do intelligent people think that THIS time will be different? Are you insane? Maybe you just don't believe in hope. Maybe you think the O-man isn't 'experienced' enough. Maybe you think that America isn't ready for a Black president.

Former Va Gov & current Richmond mayor, Doug Wilder, spoke out against the naysayers from the Black community (because white people GET IT) this evening. He said that on the issue of experience... Bill was the governor at the same time as he & was the governor of a small state who was at the bottom of the nation in every category that counts. Education. Economics. Yet... we gave him the CHANCE to gain the EXPERIENCE to run our country. But we won't give the SAME opportunity to a brother. Crabs in a barrel anyone??? On the subject of America not being ready he said that people said the same exact thing about him...Virginia just isn't ready for a Black governor, Doug. Well look at what happened.

Where would we be without hope? Hope made our ancestors continue to struggle when all the odds were against them. Hope made our great-grandparents learn to read under penalty of death. Hope made men & women establish these great institutions of learning when the world was telling us that the best we can do is to clean houses. Hope caused a woman to refuse to give up her seat. Hope took a King to the mountaintop. Who are we to now stare hope in the face and instead choose insanity?

Victims of Tricknology

Have you forgotten that once we were brought here we were robbed our names?
Robbed of our language?
We lost our religion, our culture, our God.
And many of us, by the way we act... we even lost our minds!!

I first heard these words as a sample in the intro to Public Enemy's "Night of the Living Baseheads". I have never felt that these words have more meaning in our lives than in 2008. We are witnessing the first truly viable presidential candidate of color and many educated, well-read, and professional Blacks are questioning whether this is the candidate for us. Before you start petitioning to have my blog removed understand that I am not advocating voting for someone SIMPLY because of the color of their skin. There are plenty of good reasons to support a man like Barack Obama in this election. The least of which would be to finally right a 400 year wrong.

We as a people have survived, and in some cases, supported white men for the highest office in the land with less experience & less intelligence. Most of us grew up with parents pushing us to do well in school "because one day we might be President." I wonder how many of our parents, having lived through the civil rights movement REALLY believed this would be possible in our lifetime?

And now we have Obama. The brother announces his candidacy and immediately, we start to question his worthiness as a leader. Why? We start to question his blackness. Why? We listen to the cynics who say he will never win a general election. Why? I submit to you that the 'divide & conquer' plan that slaveowners enacted so many years ago is alive and well in the 21st century.

Is Barack any less prepared to lead this nation than Dub-ya? Maybe it's because he doesn't have the crucial Hollywood experience that dear ol' Ronnie brought to the table. Seriously, the system is broken. Just like a Fortune 500 company that finds itself unable to sustain growth in an everchanging global economy, we need to find a CEO that will bring some fresh new ideas to the table and get us moving in the right direction again.

The choices in this election are slim. More of the same ol' same ol' or one guy who has inspired millions to action. Hillary Clinton will bring her 35 years of being a career politician to the table, along with 35 years of baggage. Will she be able to work with republicans to enact meaningful legislation after she claims the White House? She can't even admit that a republican can have a good idea. She's walks, talks, and acts just like the rest of them. Playing the race card when needed while at the same time saying that she has been a champion for civil rights. Really? Were you championing civil rights while you and your husband were members of a segregated country club in Little Rock (1992)? Maybe you were championing civil rights when you & your husband stood by and let a MILLION Rwandas die?

I expect my President to have integrity. Bush has done enough to tarnish the office. Hillary has show us AGAIN that she will lie & cheat to serve her ends. Didn't the entire Democratic party make a deal not to campaign in Florida this election? Didn't she then break that agreement & even is now trying to say 'let's count those delegates after all'? How many times must you be lied to before you wake up???

Please someone tell me about a time Obama has done something dirty or underhanded or unbecoming in a leader. Yet & still we continue to drink the Clinton kool-aid.

My people, my people. Don't like the media machine fool you any longer. The time of tricknology is at an end.