Thursday, October 30, 2008

RONALD REAGAN WAS A MARXIST! WHO KNEW?

By Elizabeth Roach (bettanne@online.no)

Recently, an anchor for Eye Witness News in Orlando, Fla., asked this question of a stunned Joe Biden:

“You may recognize this famous quote: ‘From each according to his ability, to each according his need.’ It’s from Karl Marx. How is Sen. Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around”?, she asked.

Republicans and Eye Witness news have now set the bar for a new low. The manner in which the question was put implied that Obama is a Marxist, and it was premised on a quote taken out of context.

The label, Marxist, comes at the end of a long string of words leveled at Obama: “terrorist”, Elitist and Socialist, the latter a code word for Communism.

The McCain Campaign knows well what effect these words have on the American People. Witness the planned attempts on Obama’s life. But one would not have expected such a fear inducing-insinuation to comefrom the anchor of a major network. She is admittedly a Republican, by the way, so no impartiality there.

David Gergan, a revered professor and contributor to CNN said the following about the charge of Marxism. “I don’t think the Democrats have really answered appropriately. Teddy Roosevelt was very much an advocate of what is called Progressive Taxation, and that is: The rich should pay more than the poor in terms of taxes.

One of the most effective poverty programs we’ve had in the last three decades is called Earned Income Tax Credit. It’s a program whereby if you’re a working person, or working couple, and you’re below the povertyline, the government will actually give you money---that’s a redistributionprogram. It’s a program which takes money from the upper class and gives it to the working poor. Now, who started that program----Ronald Reagan. It was the achievement of the Reagan Administration that Bill Clinton then built on…The wealth of the last three decades has been redistributed upwards .. .”

So, what does this mean for John McCain? Since he is a professed Reagan Republican, it means that he’s a Marxist and doesn’t know it! It also means that he has lost the last argument he had and it means he has to drop the “M” word and re-examine his position on the economy!

It is apparent that no one in the Republican Party knows or truly understands the history of American economics and what we have achieved through it. That our economy is in an economic shambles today attests to this. John McCain openly admits that he knows nothing about economics and his no-regulation policies led to Wall Street’s collapse. He seems not to recognize the Iraq War has contributed to this economic mess. He has diverted attention from that part of the equation and placed the blame solely on Wall Street’s greed.

So, fear-mongering through the use of loaded and divisive code words goes on. There is talk of “the real America”, “the very Patriotic Pro-America”, “the real Virginia”.

In the words of Ronald Reagan, “There you go again, (John)”.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Obama Will Not Be Tested and for Good Reason

By Elizabeth Roach (bettanne@online.no)

Paris, London, and Germany - Barack Obama broke crowd records everywhere he went in Europe. It was touching to see the enthralled faces of Obama's intent listeners who believed that he could bring peace to the world and change the order of things. In Germany they complained that his speech was too short - they had waited for hours on end to hear him, and they wanted to hear even more!

The McCain campaign sulked and labeled him a rock star, and a celebrity. They made an offensive video depicting Obama, superimposing images of Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears . I would not have been offended if they had superimposed images of Bob Geldorf, Bono and Bon Jovi. At least those men are known the world over for their intelligence, generosity, largeness of spirit, humanity and desire to make a difference in the world, much like Obama. But then McCain's petty little point would have been lost. The video did more to underscore the McCain campaign's pettiness and meanness of spirit than to diminish Barack Obama.

In dismissing and deriding Obama's phenomenally successful tour in Europe, the McCain campaign argued that "Europeans don't have a vote". I would contend that they do, in subtle and not so subtle ways. Remember how hard it was to get France and other allies to join us in the preemptive strike against Iraq? I'd say that was a vote against the Bush/McCain policy whose childish response was: "change the name "French fries" to freedom fries"! That’ll show ´em! and don't drink French wine, either”!

"What do you make of the Obama-mania that seems to have swept not just France, but all of Europe?" Fareed Zakaria, respected Newsweek journalist and host of CNN's Global Public Square asked that question of his guests. The French author and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy answered: "If (Obama) were to (run for) President of Europe, he would be elected by 85%...If you ask me the reason for that, I would say that he's the re-embodiment in one person ... of the two greatest heroes, in our eyes, of modern American history, Martin Luther King and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. ...We see in Obama a sort of mixture of realism and idealism."

On another GPS program, the Singaporean United Nations' Ambassador said, "Obama understands the Muslim world in a way that McCain cannot. If elected, 50% of the anti-Americanism would disappear." This is huge! What kudos for Barack! These two remarks come from men of stature, with the world knowledge and political savvy that the McCain-Palin ticket so sadly lacks.

When Joe Biden said that Obama would be tested within the first year of his term in office, McCain and surrogates jumped on those words as if the sky had fallen. It is, however, a matter of public record that almost every President in our history has faced a crisis within the first year. John F. Kennedy was tested when the Russians placed missiles on Cuba. So the McCain campaign's reaction to Biden´s words reflects only one thing - that they don't know their history.

Now to my point: Barack Obama will not be tested if within the first year the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is put back on the table in a meaningful way. It must be solved with all the leverage we have, putting equal pressure on both sides to go the extra mile to achieve a fair solution. The headway made by President Clinton was shamefully squandered as the Bush administration turned its back and allowed the situation to deteriorate.

Solving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, as well as that of Iraq, would relieve us economically and allow us to turn our diplomatic efforts elsewhere. As it stands today, we are increasingly being perceived as anti-Muslim. The diplomacy in the Middle East has been driven by the neo conservative, largely pro-Israel elements in the Bush War Department. New headway must be brokered by a strong, yet even hand, and the playing field has got to be level. Obama must reject neo conservative policies and agendas that ruled the White House Defense Department these past 8 years and led us down that woeful path to Iraq!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Is Osama Dead?

Many people around the world seem to feel that Osama Bin Laden is dead. Osama has had advanced liver disease for the last five years. Bush and McCain use Osama as a boogeyman to scare and frighten certain types of low information voters such as Joe Six Pack and Susie Six Pack for political reasons and expediency. Wake up America!

The Six Black U.S. Presidents

If elected, would Barack Obama, be the first black president of the United States?
What determines if a person is black or of African descent? In the 19th and 20th centuries, the standard for determining one’s race was, one drop of black blood, made you black, socially and in the eyes of the law. So by that standard, it would appear some U.S. presidents would have been considered black or mullatto.


Mulatto (-noun 1. the offspring of one white parent and one black parent: not in technical use. 2. a person whose ancestry is a mixture of Negro and Caucasian. adjective 3. of a light-brown color.


In February of 2004, an article was written by C. Stone Brown, titled “Who Were the 5 Black Presidents?” for DiversityInc magazine. The article was based on a book by Dr. Leroy Vaughn an opthalmogist titled “Black People and Their Place in History”. The following text is a collaboration of his theories and other known
historians and authors.

Thomas Jefferson the third elected president, who served two terms between 1801 and 1809 was described as the “son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father,” as stated in Vaughn’s findings. Jefferson also was said to have destroyed all documentation attached to his mother, even going to extremes to seize letters written by his mother to other people. Only in recent years did the family of Thomas Jefferson acknowledged he was the father of the (5 or 6) children born to a slave on his plantation, Sally Hemmings.


President Andrew Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, was in office between 1829 and 1837. A
renowned African-American historian J. A. Rogers, author of the “Five Black Presidents” wrote that Andrew Jackson Sr. died before his son, President Andrew Jackson Jr., was born. The president’s mother then went to live on the Crawford farm, where there were Negro slaves and one of these men was Andrew Jr.’s father, Rogers wrote.
Vaughn cites an article written in The Virginia Magazine of History that Jackson was the son of an Irish woman who married a black man. The magazine also stated that
Jackson’s oldest brother had been sold as a slave.

Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president, served between 1861 and 1865. Author Vaughn, states
Lincoln had very dark skin and coarse hair and his mother allegedly came from an Ethiopian tribe. His heritage fueled so much controversy that Lincoln was nicknamed
“Abraham Africanus the First” by his presidential opponents and cartoons were drawn depicting him as a Negro.
In a book, titled “The Hidden Lincoln” written by William
Herndon, Lincoln’s law-office partner, said that Lincoln’s father of record, Thomas Lincoln, could not have been Lincoln’s father because he was sterile from childhood
mumps and later was castrated.

President Warren Harding, the 29th president, in office between 1921 and 1923, apparently never denied his ancestry. According to Vaughn, William Chancellor, a
professor of economics and politics at Wooster College in Ohio, wrote a book on the Harding family genealogy. Evidently, Harding had black ancestors between both sets
of parents. Chancellor also said that Harding attended Iberia College, a school founded to educate fugitive slaves. Professor Chancellor says the Justice Department agents
allegedly bought and destroyed all copies of this book.
Harding suffered nervous breakdowns at the age of 24 and had to spend some time in a sanitarium. Between 1889 and 1901, Harding paid five “protracted” visits to the J.P. Kellogg sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan “to recover from fatigue, overstrain, and nervous illnesses.” Some speculate his illness was due to the pressure of not fully disclosing his black heritage and living as “white”.
http://stewartsynopsis.com/8percent/
Warren%20Harding%20and%20Jim%20Crow.htm

Calvin Coolidge, the nation’s 30th president, served between 1923 and 1929 and supposedly was proud of
his heritage. He claimed his mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry. This notion was disputed
by Auset Bakhufu, author of “The Six Black Presidents” who said in her book that by the 1800s, the New England Indians hardly were pure Indian, because they had mixed so often with blacks. Coolidge’s mother’s maiden name was “Moor”
and in Europe the name “Moor” was given to all blacks just as “Negro” was used in America. It later was concluded that Coolidge was part black.



The last elected “black” president was Dwight David Eisenhower who served from 1953 to 1961, the
34th president. Eisenhower’s mother, Ida Elizabeth Stover was a mullato woman making Eisenhower part black.
Eisenhower as president moved military integration from a law to reality. He battered Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus with federal force to desegregate Little Rock’s Central
High School. He was the first President to elevate an African-
American to an executive position in the White House. He established the first regulations to prohibit racial discrimination in the federal workforce. He was the first President since Reconstruction to meet with Civil Rights leaders in the White House. He helped turn Washington, D.C., into an integrated city.
http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/ forum.aspx?tsn=13&nav=messages&webtag=abracerelation&
tid=9705


The only difference between Barack Obama and most of the former “black” presidents is that none of their family histories were fully acknowledged by others or themselves. Even though Obama is half-white, he strongly resembles his Kenyan father. And not only is Obama open about his ancestry, most people acknowledge and recognize him as a black man, which is why people will identify Obama, if elected, as the first black president of the United States.

Another excellent source of reading on the "Six Black Presidents" is an article titled: "Racial Heritage of Six Former Presidents Questioned" by Monica Haynes, staff reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, dated February 5, 2008.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08036/854713-51.stm

Blogger Black Buzz states that John Hanson, the first president of the country under the Articles of Confederation was a Moor/Black. He is also ignored and relegated to an obscure footnote in the annals of American history. George Washington was the first president of the country under the U.S. Consititution.

Warren G. Harding's sister taught in a Black segregated school in segregated Washington, D.C. for all her life and she never married. Harding's sister loved the students under her charge and inspired and motivated them to be all that they could be in the post Plessey/Jim Crow era. Records show that she was rather fair skin with semi-kinky hair. It has been reported that some of Mr. Harding's relatives are very well aware of the fact that their great grandfather had Black ancestors.

The Hardings, like many Blacks of that era, passed for White because of the brutal, harsh, cruel, inhumane and ungodly treatment that people of color suffered at that time. My Mother's great uncle, Kit Gady who was from the Pee Dee River area of South Carolina and who was a Cherokee Indian, married a White lady by the name of Della. Della was born in 1877. To this union were born four children, Thomas, Ben, Jewel and Kate. When they were contacted for attendance for the family reunion in 1980, they responded that they did not want to be bothered because they had crossed over into the White race. This part of the family settled in Savannah, Atlanta and various parts of North and South Carolina.

The miscegenation that has taken place in the United States and throughout the Americas is beyond our comprehension.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

• Early Voting Sees Reports of Voter Intimidation, Machine Malfunctions *

(Blogger Black Buzz says the United States has the gall and audacity to try to lecture the country of Zimbabwe on how they should conduct an honest election when our presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 were more reminiscent of the scandalous elections in South and Central America. The Republicans stole the presidential election in 2000 and they had their ideologues on the U.S. Supreme Court validate that theft. The same thing happened in 2004, particularly in the State of Ohio. Independent watch groups should be asking Zimbabweans to come in to monitor our present presidential elections for fraud, dishonesty, voter suppression, manipulation of the voting machines and for possible violations of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and other state, county and federal laws governing elections. When will the individual and systemic racism cease to exist in this country)?

Today's Democracy Now!
Early voting has begun, and problems are already emerging at the polls. In West Virginia, voters using touch-screen machines have claimed their votes were switched from Democrat to Republican. In North Carolina, a group of McCain supporters heckled a group of mostly black supporters of Barack Obama. In Ohio, Republicans are being accused of trying to scare newly registered voters by filing lawsuits that question their eligibility. We speak to NYU professor Mark Crispin Miller, author of Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy.Listen/Watch/Readhttp://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/22/votes

Palin’s $150,000 Wardrobe!

What happened to her Wal-Mart and Sears’ suits? Joe Six Pack and Susie Six Pack don’t wear suits from Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue or Brooks Brothers. Oh, I get it. Sister Sarah is all about show and style and no substance. Palin having executive experience does not compensate for her lack of knowledge…..nor does experience mean she has good judgment…..it just means she knows how to delegate.
Bush II had a vast amount of executive experience before becoming president, which is clearly not an indication or predictor of future success in the Oval Office.

The Trail of Tears

The month of October is Native American Heritage Month and my poem titled: “The Tail of Tears” is dedicated to all the descendants of the Cherokee and other Native American tribes that lost their loved ones on the treacherous, murderous Trail of Tears.
Background: In 1838, the Cherokee Indians were forcibly removed from their homelands against their will and were stripped of their prior treaty rights in the State of Georgia and in the Carolinas by the United States government. The Cherokee Indians were brutally moved to the Oklahoma Territory on the “Trail of Tears”.

The Trail of Tears
Torrid hot summer days and ferocious wintery nights
Their obscure future didn’t appear too bright
A once proud people were dying on the trail from left to right
With no foreseeable end to the systematic genocide in sight.

October, 2008 Ronald B. Saunders

Watch for the First Black Buzz College Football Rankings on October 29th.

Blogger Black Buzz has followed and studied college football since 1949. Stay tuned for his rankings next week.

McCain/Palin’s Infidelity

How can any true Christian Evangelical or the orthodox of any religion vote for two known adulterers in John McCain and Sarah Palin? Shouldn’t our president and vice-president be role models for an entire country? Why shouldn’t character and moral judgment be a requirement for the presidency and vice-presidency of the United States of America?

Monday, October 20, 2008

JOHN LEWIS HAS NO REASON TO APOLOGIZE!

By Elizabeth Roach (bettanne@online.no)

In my last commentary, I took up the inflammatory language used in the McCain campaign. I pointed to the rabble-rousing directed at Barack Obama. Through the use of innuendo, tone of voice, code words, and a uniformed policeman on the podium, Palin was creating a climate in which some people in her audiences felt free to shout "traitor", "terrorist" and kill him". I also pointed out that "the fear-mongering tone of the McCain campaign was nurturing latent racism." Not until there was an outcry from viewers who were shocked to see and hear these outbursts, did McCain begin to repudiate them.

Since my commentary, Congressman John Lewis, the legendary civil rights activist of the 60´s with "the scars to prove it", found the language so offensive that he issued a statement criticizing the McCain campaign. The following quotes from both men will show you how illogical McCain´s response was:

LEWIS: "What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans ... Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

McCAIN: "Congressman John Lewis´comments represent a character attack against Gov. Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale. The notion that legitimate criticism of Sen. Obama´s record and positions could be compared to Gov. George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign. I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I´ve always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events ... I call on Sen. Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments."

LEWIS: (A careful study of my remarks) would reveal that I did not compare Sen. John McCain or Gov. Palin to George Wallace. My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior."

It is clear that Lewis referred only to the toxic rhetoric of the campaign, and in doing so, he gave a poignant example of how situations could get out of hand if allowed to continue. And he certainly did in no way mentioned or maligned the character of "the thousands of hardworking Americans" who attend his rallies.

McCain´s feigned indignation is a two-pronged diversionary tactic:

1. First he obfuscates Lewis´ real point by introducing into the discussion, something that was not at all at issue in Lewis´ criticism - "hard working Americans". He does this in order to deflect attention from what Lewis was really talking about - i.e., the toxic rhetoric.

2. Then he hurls a barrage of emotionally charged words at Lewis - "Shocking", "beyond the pale", "outrageous", "brazen", and "baseless" - all words that are more descriptive of the tone of McCain´s campaign rather than of Lewis`criticism! Here, McCain tries to portray himself as the victim of a character attack.

These diversionary tactics turn the discussion from being not about McCain´s toxic language, but about his character (good ploy because who would dare criticize the character of a war hero who has "the scars to prove it"? ) Unfortunately, talk show hosts fell for it hook, line and sinker, saying that Lewis had crossed the line.

If McCain really doesn´t understand the psychology of toxic language, he should not become President - and if he does understand, then that´s even more reason why he should not become President!

America has a diversity of ethnic groups. Her history lies buried in their genes. Toxic words can conjure that history up in the blink of an eye!

McCain, if the shoe fits, wear it.> > >

General Colin Powell Endorses Obama

Former Secretary of State under George Bush II, Colin Powell, endorsed Barack Obama for president yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. Mr. Powell stated the same things I have been voicing for the last two months in my previous postings relative to McCain’s lack of depth and shallowness on the economy and his miserably poor judgment in choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. Mr. Powell stated Sarah Palin is a distinguished governor from Alaska but is not ready or qualified to be president. Furthermore, General Powell stated that John McCain’s campaign has turned extremely negative and is over the top with its false accusations of Obama’s religion, character and his very limited association with Bill Ayers.
Hmmm, I get it, all those Blacks stick together. The most important part of the Powell endorsement is the fact that Mr. Obama will bring an infusion of a high degree of intellectual depth and curiosity which have been missing for the last eight years and is not remotely present in the form of McCain/Palin by any stretch of the imagination.

John McCain Receives the Endorsement of Henry Kissinger

John McCain has received the endorsement of Dr. Henry Kissinger, three other former White Secretaries of State and 200 White generals and admirals solely because John McCain McSame is White. Their endorsements of McCain are based solely on his race and not his qualifications and suitability to be President of the United States.

Dawgs for Obama

Forget about all the pre-season hype which had the University of Georgia in the number one spot in the Coaches and AP polls. The Dawgs play the most difficult schedule in the land in the toughest conference in the country, the SEC. The teams in the Southeastern conference basically eliminate each other from any possible consideration for the national title by killing each other each weekend. If the Dawgs can slay LSU this weekend, that will eliminate the Tigers from any consideration for the bogus national title. It appears to be a mission impossible for the Dawgs to beat LSU, Florida, Kentucky and the other school in Georgia, called Georgia Tech, which is presently ranked number 18 in the nation.
Furthermore, it appears as though the UGA campus police and the Athens police department just lie in wait for the UGA Black football players to run afoul of the law with a host of petty criminal violations while dismissing similar alleged violations of White UGA football players. Are the UGA campus police and Athens police department merely enforcing the law in a non-discriminatory fashion without regards to race? It might be fitting for the president of UGA to convene an investigatory panel to ascertain the true nature of many of these arrests of UGA’s Black football players which as a result have devastated the team’s depth chart in key areas. All of the arrests of the Black football players could make the recruitment climate not conducive in getting the top Parade All Americans throughout the State of Georgia and the rest of the country to matriculate to a superb world class university such as the University of Georgia if these patterns of incidents continue to persist.
Disciplined parents, teachers, coaches, staff produce disciplined student athletes and much of that responsibility lies with the parents for providing consistent positive modeling of behavior that will have carryover effect when they leave home for college.
Let’s go Dawgs! Beat those Tigers from the Bayou!

McCain (McSame) Voted for 700 Billion Socialist Bail-Out of Wall Street

Why did John McCain vote for the largest socialistic 700 billion dollar bail-out/rescue in American history if he was not a socialist in disguise? So doesn’t that make McCain an undercover socialist masquerading as a reformer? And what about his wife Cindy’s beer distributorship in Communist Cuba?
Tell me why has the sponsored media stayed away from the McCains’ business dealings with Cuba which are against U.S. trade sanctions. The sponsored media also refuses to investigate the role that John McCain played in manipulating the fraudulent land deal in Arizona that ostracized the Navahos from their property/land for the sole benefit of the Peabody Coal Company.
It’s unfortunate that our educational system in the United States does not accurately teach the correct and true meaning of the terms or ideologies such as socialism, communism, fascism, totalitarianism and other political systems. Therefore, we have many citizens who use the aforementioned terms incorrectly, not knowing their true definition or meaning in proper context. Technically, unemployment compensation insurance and Medicare are the by-products of socialism as well as a whole host of other governmental programs that benefit hundreds of millions of American people.
McCain’s criticism of Barack Obama “spreading the wealth” is false and misleading because the government on a daily basis gives all types of governmental largesse in the form of subsidies to farmers, corporations and every other entity in the American society.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

SARAH PALIN HAS BECOME A LIABILITY TO McCAIN

The following posting was submitted by Elizabeth Roach of Oslo, Norway (bettanne@online.no). Please see prior posting of September 29, 2008 for Elizabeth’s short bio.
#
It turns out that Sarah Palin is in bed with the enemy! Her husband Todd Palin was a registered member of the radical Alaska Independence Party (AIP) between 1995 and 2002! This extremist group, founded by Joe Vogler, advocates Alaskan secession from the United States. Using hateful language, Vogler has reportedly said, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American Government" and "I wont be buried under their damn flag!", exhorting members to "renounce allegiance". After seven years, Todd Palin dropped out of the AIP only because it would not look good while his wife was running for public office. Although there is no record of Sarah Palin´s membership in the party, she has allegedly attended some of their meetings - and there is actually a video of her as she spoke at the AIP convention while she was Governor of Alaska, praising their work and wishing them luck!

Whoa! That´s unpatriotic! Those two could end up in the White House! Wake up, America! WHY AREN´T TALK SHOW HOSTS TALKING ABOUT THIS? Contact them and demand that they take this up!

By the way, the AIP motto is "Alaska First!" Well, whatever happened to "America First!"?

Palin was recently censured because the Alaskan State Legislative Committee established 3 facts about her: (1) that she abused her authority as Governor when she dismissed her Public Safety Commissioner, Walter Monigan; (2) that she was in violation of the State Ethics Law; and (3) that she fired Monigan to advance a personal agenda.

Earlier, I pointed out that McCain was censured some years ago by the Senate Ethics Committee for his role in the Keating Five fraud case. That makes two censured people on the Republican ticket! Need I say more?

Palin has been on the scene for only a short time, but long enough to do damage to McCain´s campaign. Her latest rabble-rousing rants about Barack Obama backfired. At a recent rally, Palin bashed Obama, exclaiming in a knowing tone of voice, "This is not a man who sees America as you and I do". Then, after a pregnant pause, she went on to say, "Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country."

Palin´s incendiary statements were viewed with dismay by decent, thinking Americans, but those statements were met with shouts of "kill him" and "traitor" by the rabble she intended them for. The next shocker was the appearance of a policeman in uniform on the podium, speaking for the McCain campaign. Now "That sent shivers up and down my spine"* A policeman in uniform at a political rally sends a very negative message to African Americans, and with very good historical reasons.

According to observers, racial epithets and shouts of "terrorist" have been more numerous at Palin´s rallies than at McCain´s rallies. But the bottom line is that McCain is responsible for the unfortunate turn his campaign has taken. When you throw out questions to a crowd like "Who is the REAL Obama?" in a sinister tone, some of the crowd will give you back the sinister answer they think you want. People answered McCain by yelling "terrorist" and "traitor". It is clear that the fear-mongering tone of the McCain campaign is nurturing a latent racial undercurrent.

McCain is reining in his pit bull, but it may be too late!

Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Race

Blogger Black Buzz states that since the beginning of the present presidential campaign, there has been a lot of false, intentionally misleading, distorted and inaccurate discussion by all media pundits, news analysts, guest news analysts, news anchors, the candidates, radio/TV talk show hosts, academia personnel, pollsters, the legal community and everyday American citizens which has revealed a gross total lack of knowledge and understanding on the subject of so-called “race”. It is my intent, with this posting to fill the void of knowledge within the well-meaning, less informed public. In my posting, fact and the statement of fact should remain paramount while subjectivity is relegated to a position of secondary consideration. Hopefully, the below information on the “Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Race” will be helpful to all.


RACE---The Power of an Illusion was produced by California Newsreel in association with the Independent Television Service (ITVS). Major funding provided by the Ford Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Diversity Fund. The “Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Race” are some of the facts that are included in the video: “RACE—The Power of an Illusion”.


Our eyes tell us that people look different. No one has trouble distinguishing a Czech from a Chinese. But what do those differences mean? Are they biological? Has race always been with us? How does race affect people today?

There’s less---and more---to race than meets the eye:

1. Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide people according to physical distinctions, but according to religion, status, class,
even language. The English language didn’t even have the word ‘race’ until it turns up in 1508 in a poem by William Dunbar referring to a line of kings.

2. Race has no genetic basis. Not one characteristic, trait or even gene distinguishes all the members of one so-called race from all the members of
another so-called race.

3. Human subspecies don’t exist. Unlike many animals, modern humans simply haven’t been around long enough or isolated enough to evolve into
separate subspecies or race. Despite surface appearances, we are one of the most similar of all species.

4. Skin color really is only skin deep. Most traits are inherited independently from one another. The gene influencing skin color have nothing to do with
the genes influencing hair form, eye shape, blood type, musical talent, athletic ability or forms of intelligence. Knowing someone’s skin color doesn’t
necessarily tell you anything else about him or her.

5. Most variation is within, not between, “races.” Of the small amount of total human variation, 85% exists within any local population, be they Italians,
Kurds, Koreans or Cherokees. About 94% can be found within any continent. That means two random Koreans may be as genetically different as a Korean and an Italian.

6. Slavery predates race. Throughout much of human history, societies have enslaved others, often as a result of conquest or war, even debt, but not
because of physical characteristics or a belief in natural inferiority. Due to a unique set of historical circumstances, ours was the first slave system where all the slaves shared similar physical characteristics.

7. Race and freedom evolved together. The U.S. was founded on the radical new principle that “All men are created equal.” But early economy was based
largely on slavery. How could this anomaly be rationalized? The new idea of race helped explain why some people could be denied the rights and freedoms that others took for granted.

8. Race justified social inequalities as natural. As the race idea evolved, white superiority became “common sense” in America. It justified not only slavery
but also the extermination of Indians, exclusion of Asian immigrants, and the taking of Mexican lands by a nation that professed a belief in democracy. Racial practices were institutionalized within American government, laws, and society.

9. Race isn’t biological, but racism is still real. Race is a powerful social idea that gives people different access to opportunities and resources. Our
government and social institutions have created advantages that disproportionately channel wealth, power, and resources to white people. This affects everyone, whether we are aware of it or not.

10. Colorblindness will not end racism. Pretending race doesn’t exist is not the same as creating equality. Race is more than stereotypes and individual
prejudice. To combat racism, we need to identify and remedy social policies and institutional practices that advantage some groups at the expense of others.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Palin Should Learn About, Not Mock, an Important Profession

The following “letter to the editor”, written by Jim Cunningham, appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on September 10th. The letter is a rebuttal to Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani’s negative, despicable comments in reference to all the individuals who work in the area of community service and development which includes community organizers.

Vice-presidential aspirant, Sarah Palin laced her Sept. 3 convention address with demeaning assumptions and charges vilifying the humble but historically significant occupation of community organizing. Doesn’t this bright and lively young woman know that St. Paul the apostle was a community organizer who first made Christianity an international faith, as he sailed around the then-known world spreading a powerful new vision and recipe for happiness?
Right here in Pittsburgh, Tom Murphy, a mayor who started out as a community organizer, helped to provide our town with flourishing PNC Park and Heinz Field before the curse of underpopulation weakened the vigor of our city center.
Right here today throughout the neighborhoods and nearby towns of Pittsburgh, dozens of community organizers help residents preserve and build their small communities. A prime example is Carl Redwood, who has put a lifetime of energy into his own Hill District.
A heroic trio of organizers, Rick,Swartz, Aggie Brose and Richard Flanagan, have spent an unbelievable 25 years patiently bringing renewed energy and stability to once-hopeless Garfield.
The Post-Gazette almost daily celebrates the work of this profession, although those doing the work are not always labeled as community organizers. In the last 50 years, thousands of community organizers have been turned out at Pitt and other colleges in our region as well as in other regions of America. We can only be hopeful that in the next 60 days, Sarah Palin will be educated to the important and productive roles played by members of this profession.

James V. Cunningham is Professor Emeritus of Community Organization, School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Oakland
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Blogger Black Buzz received the Humanitarian Award from the nationally acclaimed Operation Dig/Careers, Inc. in 1987 for outstanding community service. There are millions of people who have been involved with community service and community development work locally, statewide and nationally. And for anyone to attack the people who have been involved in community service is very petty and reveals the person’s basic lack of understanding and appreciation for improving the conditions of ordinary American citizens.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Sarah Palin Says Barack Obama Associates with Terrorists

After the shallow, miserable debate performance by sister Sarah, the vile, malicious, mean spirited, fear mongering, hateful (racial subtext) McCain camp who can’t win the battle with the voters on the issues, now has their trashy, non-critical thinking, stupid, dumb, empty, backwards, dangerous, Pit Bull Palin with her nauseating, squeaky, whiny sounding voice saying Barack Obama associates with terrorists. Palin is acting as an old school demagogue with her attacks which are inflammatory, divisive and appear to be inciting crowds. With shouts such as: “Obama is a terrorist”, “kill him”, “we want his head”-------the crowd’s reactions are reminiscent of a supremacist’s meeting relative to their castigation of anything that looks different from them. Threatening a person’s life is against the law in the United States of America and these vicious threats should be investigated immediately by the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies. Because of the lack of a cohesive campaign strategy, how is reintroducing the gutter kitchen sink tactic of Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright and Minister Farrahkan helping to solve the problems of high gas prices at the pump, home foreclosures, escalating food prices, crisis in the national and global financial systems, almost 800,000 jobs lost since the beginning of the year, highest rate of unemployment since 2002, and businesses going out of business?
The Obama camp needs to stay on message and simultaneously fiercely attack Sarah and Todd Palin who both belonged to the jingoistic, fringe Alaskan Independence Party, which seeks to secede from the United States. Both Palins should have been placed on the U.S. Justice Department and Homeland Security’s Watch List of individuals who are very similar to various Patriot groups such as the Minutemen and other Texas Secessionist Organizations. While the Bush administration was preoccupied with the misadventure in Iraq, the various radical nationalist, survivalist, anti-immigration groups and secessionist organizations increased their memberships and resources. And these home-grown domestic front organizations, some with strong fascist leanings, a la Tim McVeigh, can be as treacherous and dangerous relative to posing a threat to our internal security than the perceived threat coming from foreign extremist terrorists.
Now sister Sarah has the gall and audacity to question and berate Obama’s patriotism while she pals around with known anti-American kooks from the Alaskan Independence Party while again getting a free pass from the sponsored media who refuse to inquire about the Palins’ motivation for joining such an anti-American movement. Why does the McCain camp keep their lying, winking Pit Bull Palin on a narrow leash away from the media? What is the McCain campaign afraid of----exposing her true ignorance and lack of substantive knowledge on the serious pressing issues facing this country?
How will Sarah Palin be able to pass an in depth FBI background investigation for the highest level of KRYTO clearance unless it is a selective, bogus inquiry into Palin’s extremist activities with the Alaskan Independence Party? Do the American voters really want an extremist kook only a heartbeat away from the presidency and an erratic, reckless John McCain McSame who is all about winning an election and self aggrandizement rather than putting the interests of the American people first?

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Are You Ready to Play Pro Football?

Blogger Buzz is the creator of this brain stimulating fun exercise which was originally designed for fourth graders but can be utilized by all age groups. This exercise tests one’s knowledge in the areas of science/physics, zoology, ornithology, Native American history/culture, U.S. history, geography, World History, African American History and Americana. Share with your friends, family, students and associates. Send your answers to the comment section for: http://blackbuzz.blogspot.com/. I will publish the answers at a later date. Enjoy.

How Many Pro Football Teams Can You Identify?

1. Driven by propulsion_______
2. Indigenous people________
3. Colonel Andrew Jackson defeated the British in 1815 at the Battle of_______
4. Located where the Cuyahoga River enters Lake Erie____
5. Quantrill’s________
6. Crispus Attucks, Paul Revere, Salem Poor, Ben Franklin_______
7. King of the beasts________
8. The males are bright red_____
9. Site of the signing and ratification of the United States Constitution__________
10. Young equines_______
11. Trained birds of prey_______
12. A major city during the Gold Rush Era____
13. The Comanches and Kiowas tried to save and protect them on the Great Plains_______
14. Male sheep______
15. Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Elaine Brown, Kathleen Cleaver_______
16. Brownish yellow colored animal with black spots_______
17. One dollar for an ear of corn_________
18. One of Edgar Allan Poe's famous poems________
19. Plastic abusers_______
20. The confluence of three rivers meet at the Point_________
21. Aquatic birds_______
22. Used by the Navy in underwater security operations_______
23. Composed of five (5)boroughs______
24. Carnivorous big cats from India_____
25. Eric the Red, Leif Erickson________
26. Half-wild____________
27. Heavy animals with thick fur________
28. November 22,1963___________
29. Tecumseh, Crazy Horse, Mangas Colorado, Red Cloud, Rain-in-the-Face__________
30. Barbara Jordan, LBJ, Sam Houston, Doak Walker, Bobby Layne, Earl Campbell____
31. This team is owned by a group of community stockholders_________
32. The Volunteer State________

Bonus question: Name the U.S. Olympic Medal winners who are also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Adolf Hitler Blamed the Jews for All of Germany's Problems and the Republicans Blame Blacks for America's Financial Woes

In the United States’ anemic political climate, is George Bush and Treasury Secretary Paulson telling the truth to the American electorate about the obscene 700 billion dollar bail-out and purported financial crisis on Wall Street and Main Street? Have the American people been duped by Bush, Paulson and McCain with this extortion bail-out? Show me the evidentiary proof and facts to support the Bush/Paulson position. Or is this just a Republican ploy to give more socialized (capitalism) corporate welfare to Bush’s, Paulson’s and McCain’s friends and cronies on Wall Street while 90 % of all Americans are left to fend and survive in the tumultuous free market trickle-down capitalism. The Republicans wrongly and inaccurately blame the current financial dilemma on the Clinton Administration and the Democrats. Furthermore, the Republican pundits and the Republican members of Congress such as the racist Michele Bachmann of the 6th District of Minnesota, Republican voters and the powerbrokers in the Party of Lincoln state that in 1999 the Clinton Administration put undue pressure on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to relax lending standards so that more racial minorities and lower income people could buy homes. The Republican arguments are flawed and inaccurate because of the following:
1. President Bush inherited a budget surplus from the Clinton Administration and Bush used up that surplus in the first nine months of his first term.
2. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac weren’t compelled to issue sub-prime mortgages. Instead, Freddie and Fannie invested millions in Congressional lobbyists such as McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis and other McCain lobbyists who worked in concert with John McCain on the Hill to ensure that stricter regulations with oversight were not passed. Thus most of the lobbyists were paid to curry favor with Republicans who controlled Congress until 2006. (Check factcheck.org).
3. The Republicans and some misguided and uninformed Democrats and Independents state that the majority of sub-prime mortgages were issued to Blacks/Hispanics or lower income people. They were not. That is a blatant fallacy and those assertions are based upon unadulterated racism and scapegoating. Instead, the sub-prime mortgages were issued primarily in areas where housing prices had escalated sharply and many home buyers on Main Street (at all income levels) could not get a prime mortgage because they did not have the necessary minimal down payment or income to qualify.
What we have in the instant case is a classic Republican attempt to shift the blame away from the corrupt, inept Bush administration and the do-nothing Republican Congress led by John McCain and Phil Gramm who advocated and lobbied for the deregulation and lax oversight at every fork in the road.
Was the Communist Lenin right? It was Nicolai Lenin who said that people always have been and they will always be stupid victims of deceit and self-deception in politics, until they learn behind every kind of moral, religious, political, social phrase, declaration and promise to seek out the interests of this or that class or classes.