It is less then two months before the registered voters of this country make the most important political decision of our time. We are bombarded daily with frivolous, misleading and biased information by the majority of media outlets. Half-truths, misrepresented and misstated information gluts the print, air, and radio waves. It is imperative that you seek out objective and truthful information about the candidates and the issues so you can make informed decisions. It is a challenge since there are only so many hours in the day. Webmistress Peg and I are committed to making this blog one of the places you can trust to get pertinent information about this election and other urgent issues facing this country. We are two voices but joined with yours we become a chorus for change. Rarely will this site be written by anyone other then myself but I thought the following pieces were thought provoking and on the mark. The “how dare you question our candidate?” outrage didn’t work for Hillary or Obama and it will not work for Sarah. Truth is one of the most potent weapons we have to win this election. It is incumbent on us to refute the lies and misconceptions that scare and frustrate us. This is no time to succumb to those fears. You cannot and must not sit on the fence. It is our time – yours and mine to act. Write letters, e-mail and call to correct misinformation. Volunteer to register, make calls or donations, knock on doors do what you can where you are right now to help win this election. We must encourage and remind every democrat that we can win. And we will win if we turn out and vote. We have the numbers and now we must demonstrate the courage and willingness. The future of this country and what we will leave our children and grandchildren hangs in the balance.  So get off your apathy and kick some attitude.

The following is courtesy of John Ridley of The Huffington Post:

If you are biracial and born in a state not connected to the lower 48, America needs darn near 2 years and 3 major speeches to “get to know you.”

If you’re white and from a state not connected to the lower 48, America needs 36 minutes and 38 seconds worth of an acceptance speech to know you’re “one of us.”

If you get 18 million people to vote for you in a national presidential primary, you’re a “phony.”

Get 100,000+ people to vote you governor of the 47th most populous state in the Union, you’re “well loved.”

If your pastor rails against inequality in the United States of America, you’re an “extremist.”

If your pastor welcomes a sermon by a member of Jews for Jesus who preaches that the killing of Jews by terrorists is a lesson to Jews that they must convert to Christianity, you’re a “fundamentalist.”

If you give your wife dap on stage, it’s actually a “terrorist fist jab.”

If your daughter licks her palm so that she can slick down your youngest child’s hair on national TV it’s an “adorable moment.” (Seriously, forget about abstinence only; teach these folks some grooming skills).

If you’re 18, white, and get a 16 year old girl pregnant “life happens.”

If you’re 18, black, and impregnate a 16 year old girl, you’re a “registered sex offender.”

If you’re a black man and you use a scholarship to get into college, then work your way up to being the president of the Harvard Law Review, you’re “uppity.”

If you’re a conservative and your parents pay your way to Hawaii Pacific University . . . you only have four more schools to attend over the next five years before you somehow manage to graduate (it might be five more schools over the next five years. No one has yet verified whether or not Palin was actually ever registered at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. But, you know how shady people are who ever attended any kind of school in Hawaii).

If you spend 18 months building a campaign around the theme of “Change,” it’s just “empty rhetoric.

“If one week before your party’s national convention you SUDDENLY make your candidacy about “Change,” that’s “red meat.”

If you’re a minority and you’re selected for a job over more qualified candidates you’re a “token hire.”

If you’re a conservative and you’re selected for a job over more qualified candidates you’re a “game changer.”

If you live in an urban area and you get a girl pregnant you’re a “baby daddy.”

If you’re the same in Alaska you’re a “teen father.” (Actually, according to your own MySpace page you’re an F’n redneck that don’t want any kids, but that’s too long a phrase for the evil liberal media to take out of context and flog morning noon and night).

Black teen pregnancies? A “crisis” in black America.

White teen pregnancies? A “blessed event.”

If you grow up in Hawaii you’re “exotic.”

Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you’re the quintessential “American story.”

Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you’re “unpatriotic.”

Name your kid Track, you’re “colorful.”

If you’re a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you’re “reckless.”

A Republican who doesn’t fully vet is a “maverick.”

If you say that for the “first time in my adult lifetime I’m really proud of my country” it makes you “unfit” to be First Lady.

If you are a registered member of a fringe political group that advocates secession that makes you “First Dude.”

A DUI from twenty years ago is “old news.”

A speech given without proper citation from twenty years ago is “relevant information.”

And, finally, if you’re a man and you decide to run for office despite your wife’s reoccurrence of cancer you’re a “questionable spouse.”

If you’re a woman and you decide to run for office despite having five kids including a newborn with Downs Syndrome …

Well, we don’t know what that is ’cause THAT’S NOT A FAIR QUESTION TO ASK!

The following is a letter to Keith Olbermann of MSNBC’s Countdown:

September 11, 2008

Mr. Olbermann:

I watched your broadcast tonight and felt enlightened, redeemed and positive – a feeling that has been fleeting in recent days. I’ve been amazed at the reaction to Gov. Palin’s speech and to the “fluff” that has been a substitute for the usual media cross-examination of a candidate. There are several points I’d like to make and perhaps you might be one to understand my concerns.

-Has she been victimized because she is a female? Hardly! She has been treated with kid gloves, kept in hiding so that she might cram for the tests of her knowledge of national economics, international affairs, the recent history of her party’s views and the spin that she should use when finally interviewed and challenged.

-Is she a woman with views that reflect those of the majority of American women? Hardly, again! Those supporters of Sen. Clinton who choose to accept her, despite the radical differences in opinion and activism in areas like abortion rights, health insurance for all, global warming, the war in Iraq, preservation of wildlife, and drilling, never were loyal to the issues and the efforts of Sen. Clinton.

-God on the side of the war in Iraq? Was God also responsible for the attacks on 9/11, or on the bombing in Oklahoma City? Did God give his big okay to the staggering number of deaths and wounding of so many innocent people on either side of the war? Was this a vision or word that she personally received?

-Having 5 children and working – does that provide an adequate résumé for running a country in the face of the staggering issues that our country faces? You know the answer. I am an African-American woman who worked for 36 years as a secondary education teacher in an urban environment, with added jobs as needed. I raised my daughter for most of her life as a single parent with wonderful familial support, and at the same time housed my mother, an Alzheimer’s patient for 5 years, and for a period of time, my brother following consecutive surgeries for brain surgery and the placement of a pacemaker and defibrillator for a serious heart defect. Do I feel prepared to run a country simply because I’ve managed to handle the unpredictable and unrelenting demands of life? I don’t think so. And by the way, I’ve suffered more punishment and denial for being African-American than I’ve ever suffered for being a woman. I was never followed through aisles of a store, denied admittance to an apartment complex that I had qualified for, required to pay higher insurance rates for no apparent infraction, to just point out a few humiliations, because I was a woman. The greater “fault” has been that I am of a race that has been victimized for centuries. I do not condone the dismissal or prejudice of anyone for any reason, but I have a bird’s eye view of prejudice from two vantage points and I’ve had plenty of validation for my final conclusion.

-I won’t ask you to go any further with my concerns but do know that my concerns also deal with John McCain who has most recently ran one of the most slanderous, deceptive campaigns I’ve seen. He accused Sen. Obama of putting winning an election over winning a war. I vehemently accuse him of putting winning an election over systematically and purposefully denying the American public of truth, integrity, and the desire to “win” a winless war – a war that began under false accusations and that has taken the lives of so many for no reasons other than oil access, money and power.

-Oh, Sen. McCain, by the way, I will never make $5 million dollars in my lifetime and that’s fine with me. I guess that means I can’t be “middle-class”. As a teacher, a community activist and provider of a social service that strives to better our country and its people, I had responsibilities, and I handled them with compassion, integrity, and with the knowledge that this contributed to the strengthening of our nation and the young people who will eventually follow in the footsteps of those who’ve come before. This may not seem important to Sen. McCain or to his running mate, but it is of crucial importance to those of us who care about the needs of everyone in our nation. (Excuse me for stepping out of my place and questioning the real intentions and aspirations of those who are “mayors”, war heroes, or financially privileged.) I just do what most of us do – keep it real, pray for continued grace, and hope AND pray for guidance from those who have the ability to influence and act, to see beyond their own needs and shortcomings.

Thank you so much for allowing me to share my thoughts; to address the nightmares that visit me too often. And to the American populace – do not get lost in the HYPE. It’s so much more like the “Sale” that has twenty lines of fine print, than the reality that you truly seek. Be independently responsible and true to your values.

Jacqueline Johnson

P.S. I’m cute with glasses too and a feisty nature. Big Deal!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! The man – Barack Obama.  The place – Mile High Stadium in Denver.  The occasions – 45 years since Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, and the 1955 lynching of Emmit Till converged to make history. I hosted a Yes We Can party to watch Obama accept the Democratic nomination. The room was filled with a palpable excitement and joy rivaling that in the stadium. Our group was as diverse as the faces we saw on the television screen. Our strength and expectations for a better and revived America joined with people throughout this country and this world. Oh what a night.  We all felt privileged and renewed to have the opportunity to witness one of the greatest leaders of our time stand with us and for us. I never imagined that I would get a second chance to change the world the way I/We did in the sixties. I am part of a movement bigger than the man who invoked it, Barack Obama, and bigger than the fear that will try to stop it. The Democratic Party came into its own this last three days. A party for the party became a party for the world. I felt the unity and sincerity as Hillary Clinton gave a speech that revealed her love of her country came before her love of politics. See Hillary’s speech here. I heard Bill Clinton pick up the gauntlet to fight for a cause bigger than a lost election and remembered why I loved him as a president. I saw Michelle Obama become the face our new first lady. I listened and watched as her face shone with pride as she shared with us the love of her family and her country. Authentic, intelligent and beautiful, she is a role model for all females. See Michelle’s speech here. Oh what a night. I danced as Joe Biden’s million-dollar smile lit up my heart and confirmed that he has Obama’s back. I was not in Denver, but I felt the energy, the belief that this is not a dream. The culmination of everything I have done to change from the inside out came to rest with a call to action. My hopes and dreams for the country I love rise from the ashes and reclaims the luster it once held throughout the nations. I am giddy, and have been since Barack Obama announced his candidacy. I am more resolved than ever to show up and work to insure that the next great speech I hear from Obama will be his acceptance of the Presidency of these United States of America. OH WHAT A NIGHT!

Shame, embarrassment, anger and disgust are just a few of the words that come to my mind as I observe the media’s continual negative and condescending reporting about Barack Obama. Once again I believe it comes back to inherent and ingrained racism.  Every segment of American society is tainted by racism that provokes reasonably sane people to do insane things. The media is supposed to be a filter so we the viewer, listener or reader can make their own conclusions, but has seemingly decided that we are not intelligent enough to determine if Barack is who he says he is.  I am skeptical and wary of the media because I observe them wielding their power to diminish ours.  How is it that everything Barack Obama does or says is interpreted by a majority of white pundits as arrogant and presumptuous or too presidential?  Why aren’t John McCain’s weekly radio addresses and his trips abroad determined to be too presidential? Why isn’t McCain receiving the same scrutiny and judged by the same standards as Obama?  Is McCain not black enough?

The Berlin speech given by Barack Obama on July 25^th should have given each of us a reason to be proud. An American son welcomed, embraced and celebrated in a foreign land yet treated as though he was one of their own. Instead of this being a good thing for the country and the world it has been twisted into a different event other than the one I viewed.  I now have some indication as to why news coverage is colored when it comes to Obama.  On July 28^{th the} George Mason University and The Project for Excellence in Journalism revealed that even though Obama received a majority of news coverage in the pass six months over 77% of that coverage was negative.  Seventy-seven percent!  What is wrong with this picture?  Could this much negative coverage be a co-incidence? I don’t think so.  You might not want to hear me say it, but it appears racism is once again stacking the deck to distort the truth. This has to stop, and it starts with each one of us saying NO. We must say NO to racism in our news, our courts and our schools. Say NO to racism in our politics and the coverage of our politics. NO, NO, NO!  To begin having our NO heard in unison please listen to the Berlin speech. Determine if you feel the same pride that I did as 250,000 people waving American flags hailed an American son? Tell me if you felt hope and belief rise up in your mind and heart thought long ago dead to politics?   Secondly hold the media accountable.  Take the time to learn the truth and fight the smears.  Write, call, e-mail, and let them know that false, misinterpreted and mean-spirited reporting will no longer be tolerated. To quote a young, gifted and black man whom I respect and admire, “This is our moment, the time is now and yes we can”

I had a clear vision when I initiated this site. I wanted a serious discourse about the difficult and hurtful issues of racism in America.  Let me be clear, prejudice is not racism.  Prejudice is an opinion or judgment that I believe every human being has about one thing or another. As we grow and learn, hopefully, we become less judgmental about people and life in general. Racism however, is an entirely different sort of prejudice and specifically applies to an individual’s race. Racism believes that race determines ones abilities, capacities, and rights as a human. Racism teaches that one race is inherently superior to another.  It is as much a part of American culture as it was in Hitler’s Germany. How painful it is to admit that I live in a country where hating another because of race can still be so polarizing, and is alive, and well.

I underestimated how uncomfortable the subject of racism would be to you the reader. I am hopeful as I continue to engage in this conversation that the discomfort will give way to a willingness to share your insights.

We are living in historic times. It is an opportunity to put the worst of who we have become as a country due to racism to rest, and give rise to the greatness of liberty, justice, and freedom owed to every citizen. For the first time in the history of this divided country a black man, Barack Obama, is running as the democratic nominee for president of the United States of America. What joy and confusion.  Since his nomination, the subtle and pointed racial over tones are permeating what we read, see, and hear.

The weekend of July 12^th Jesse Jackson was caught on a hot mike disparaging Barack and the black race. More recently it was revealed he used the “N” word also known as nigger to refer to African Americans at large. Let us not be hoodwinked into thinking racism is only one sided.  Jesse reminds us all that ignorance and prejudice are equal opportunity shortcomings. Monday, July 14, 2008, the cover of The New Yorker Magazine (7/21 issue) slapped me upside the head. The cover depicts Barack and Michelle Obama portrayed satirically by every lie and myth that dogs his presidential bid. It was racist, sexist, and harmful. The freedom of speech justification seems trivial versus the cover that validated what so many people believe.  I whipped off a letter to the New Yorker expressing my displeasure. I am requesting that you do likewise.  As soon as I mailed my letter, I caught a snippet of The View on July 17^th. There is a hot exchange between Whoopi and Elizabeth, co-hosts of the show, about the “N” word. I can’t believe that we still have so far to go. We are besieged by an economy gone amuck, failing banks and mortgage companies, a president and congress seemingly out of touch with the constituency it purports to serve and it is each other we are attacking.  Distract, disturb and divide the people. Confusion, blame and emotions will destroy any notion of order and rationality about the real issues and culprits. Add the race card, and behold you have the recipe for nothing. Nothing happens, nothing changes and everyone loses.  I am asking us to stop. It is time to hear with our hearts and see with clear eyes. If we are not willing to tackle this cancerous issue, the racism that affects us all, we all lose. The time is now what do you have to say?