Previous month:
January 2008
Next month:
March 2008

February 2008

Of Flies and Fasting

I would love to be a fly on the wall during the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign steering committee meetings. She must be too outdone that Barack Obama has her on the ropes…on the offense…and in a must-win situation on March 4th. I guess that goes to show how important experience is in this presidential race. Barack Obama is kicking her experienced butt, isn't he?

At this point the HRC camp will try fear…guilt…anything and I mean anything to win big states like TX, OH and PA. HRC has little to lose as the underdog candidate. Barack Obama has successfully rebuffed her attacks thus far and been unflappable at Republican attempts to discredit him also.

Starting Sunday morning I am starting my three-days of fasting and prayer for another Obama win on Tuesday, March 4th.

Yes, this election is just that important to me. There is too much craziness in the United States and I think Barack Obama can begin to change that. No, I don't think he has a magic wand and all of the evils in the world will disappear but I do think our nation's leader will set the tone for us as a country.


Barack Obama: We Are the Ones; Si, se puede.

From: illwilly

Barack Obama is not a savior but he is the candidate that can change this country for the better. Some say he doesn't have the experience to lead this country but I submit to you the fact that he is victorious over much more "experienced" candidates.

His campaign plan was long-term and he was not short-sighted in his approach to the road to the presidency of the United States. He is accused of just making great speeches and again I submit to you, look at the folks on his campaign team and look at the folks who are his supporters. It is a real rainbow coalition. A real United States.

The more "experienced" candidates will and have injected fear and racism in the race. Unforunately that tactic may sway some older Americans but young people have consistently shown their support for Barack Obama. Let's hope the other demographic groups continue to support him also.

One would think the more experienced candidates would not be threatened by the man viewed as an upstart. The fact is the Obama campaign is showing just how deficient the other candidates really are. Barack Obama has remained calm in spite of attacks by the othe candidates. He has not whined; he is running his race. He is winning.

The Republicans will continue their attacks on Obama but America doesn't waant another Republican president after the Bush debacle. The Obama Movement will continue.


Florida Legislator Pushes Bill for Confederate License Plate

There will be hell to pay in Florida if Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, continues his fight for a specialty license tag in honor of the state's "confederate heritage". Yeah, that means the tag would proudly display the confederate flag.

To make matters worse, in spite of the pain that flag symbolizes you know what Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's response was when he was asked to weigh in on it?

 

 

Excuse me, Gov. Crist that was the wrong answer. What about denouncing the pain the symbol represents? What about concern for how the potential controversy would affect the state? 'Let's see if it goes anywhere' is an insult to blacks. Perhaps the governor has been campaigning with John McCain too long. What's that crashing sound in the background? That would be the governor's approval rating.

Sure, there are folks that won't let go of the Confederate past and couldn't care less about the effect of the flag on blacks or anyone else for that matter. This is one issue that will quietly not go away. The Republican Party will not want to be at center of this controversy and totally tank a GOP presidential candidate's opportunity to win in November but that's about to happen folks.

I have already begun to contact my family and friends throughout Florida to be prepared to fight this issue. The legislation is identified as HB 1007. The NAACP and other organizations will weigh-in and it could get ugly.

There's another perspective on this issue that says let them sell the flag so the racists can be easily identified. What do you think?


My Blog Upgrade

I've been a TypePad user for a number of years. I'd signed up once before and later canceled my account and then came back to TypePad again. Now I have three blogs through the service. Yes, I pay for the privilege to blog.

With the popularity of free services such as Wordpress and Blogger, paying for TypePad may seem like a waste of money. Well, for me, nothing could be further from the truth. The fee for TypePad is actually a convenience fee in that I pay for the simplicity of access to great professional design templates and other features on my blogs. I crave simplicity, ease of use and anything that will save time. Some folks may be so advanced at CSS, HTML, and the like, that simplicity is not an issue for them but I'm not one of those folks.

One of the features that kept me with one of my blogs on Blogger was their ease of navigation that TypePad lacked. Now, with a beta version of TypePad's upgraded features, my readers can navigate from page links at the bottom of each page. That is a small but significant improvement as I am convinced many readers did not avail themselves of blog posts beyond the first page. The navigation upgrade is also available for comments,

Speaking of comments, TypePad allows for comments to be disabled on a post and to be closed. The upgrade allows a global blog feature of closing comments after one week up to one year. You can also subscribe to comments to keep up with conversations that may develop within the comments.

Those are just a few of the features and upgrades on TypePad and I love them. It's important to know that these upgrades are strictly for the users like me that don't use advanced templates or mixed media layout.

Since the TypePad folks also added new design templates, you never know what my blog will look like because it so easy to change to a new template. Anyhoo, I'm loving TypePad again. Now, back to blogging!


Obama Tops Clinton in Debate ---Again

One of the signs of a true leader is that person's ability to handle difficult situations. The days since the Washington and Wisconsin primaries and Hawaii caucus have proven that Hillary Clinton is likely a good policy maker but she is not the best person to be President of these United States of America.

Without a doubt, Hillary Clinton is smart but that alone doesn't make one the best person to be president. Of course would be a great time to insert a comment about the lack of intelligence of our current president but won't go there.

Hillary does need to distinguish herself from Barack Obama. She needs to draw out comment from him that highlight his lack of experience and in turn demonstrate her superior knowledge of foreign policy. The problem with that is Hillary Rodham Clinton can't make that happen without making herself look catty.

She whined about campaign material mailed by Obama's campaign that was erroneous, whined about getting the first question all the time in their debates and made a catty comment about Obama and a Saturday Night Live skit. I didn't see the skit so I have no idea of what she speaks. That aside, Barack Obama did not react to the SNL comment and Hillary Clinton again appeared very un-presidential. Barack Obama also mentioned the negative and false mailers that the Clinton camp has sent and he has not whined about it. Ouch.

If anyone had an opportunity to whine it would be Barack. The Drudge Report accuses the Clinton camp of circulating the photo of Obama in traditional Kenyan garb. The photo is a weak attempt to associate Obama with Muslim terrorists. You know, his middle name is Hussein. If that's the best the Clinton camp can come up with they should pack it in now and go home.

The 16 minute debate about the differences in their health care plan was not worth the time. I mean really, she didn't want to let it go. The positions of these two candidates are too similar on most issues for Hillary Clinton to try to fight the way she does.

Speaking of fighting, Hillary's advisers should remind her how un-wise it is to fight with the press. At one point it appeared as though she wanted to smack Tim Russert --- not a good look.

Other non-issues popped up during the evening: Obama's endorsement by Louis Farrakhan and Clinton's I am Woman comment.

Last night's debate was not the slam-dunk that Hillary Clinton needs to slow down the Obama train. Again, the attack Obama strategy doesn't work; she should try something else. Giving credit where credit is due, Hillary Clinton is likely a better policy maker than she is presidential material.


Spreading the Love in 2008

Wayne Hicks , the Villager over at Electronic Village honored me with a 'Spread the Love' Award. I've seen these awards on several blogs and I think some folks may take them lightly. Let the record show that I don't. Each and every award I've received has humbled me and served as motivation to keep doing what I do.

As one who started blogging without a plan or a niche or following any of the recommended steps and practices in the blogging process, I am honored when another blogger takes the time to recognize and appreciate what I post here and on my other blogs.

Villager is one of the folks I consider a master blogger. He's always on his game, posts regularly and his blog's flavor is definitely Obama-esque. The Electronic Village is transformative in the knowledge shared and the overarching ambience of unity of all Villagers. He is also one of the bloggers I've featured through my '20 Questions' interviews on my blog 'on the black hand side'.

I probably shouldn't be so honest as to share the fact that much of what my regular readers have enjoyed the most on my blogs were frequently those features and posts that I really hadn't planned. I could pretend it was all planned and I had it going on but that would be a lie. The truth is I listen to my inner voice and allow myself to be led. It's karma, the ancestors and the angels guiding me. For all of the nudges in the right direction I say thank you. For all of you who are subscribers and commenters, I thank you also.

With all that being said, I am spreading the love to Shelia, Invisible Woman, MarvalusOne, Karoli, Paula Neal Mooney and Linda. All of these ladies are shining examples of bloggers who uplift and inform. I am pleased to have them as blogging sisters and wish them many more blog posts to come.

Again, thanks for the love, Villager. Let's keep this train going.


From:  busterbus1963jp

Hillary Clinton can’t get out of her own way and the Barack Obama momentum continues

I don't know about you but last night's debate was mostly a snoozer for me. More of this before the Convention is really pointless unless you're Hillary Clinton and hope to trip up Barack Obama and reverse his momentum. So for all of you Hillary-lovers and Barack-haters ---that's not likely to happen. Clinton's time would be better used on the ground campaigning.

Although I've made no secret of my support for Obama I am objective and human enough to see the sadness in the direction of Clinton's campaign. It's not pretty, folks. Hillary Rodham Clinton should not be the President of the United States. She's not ready. I see her doing what far too many 'inexperienced' women leaders do --- she's trying too hard.

I know of what I speak because I've been there before. Early in my supervisory career, I felt that I had to 'prove myself' in a male-dominated office environment. Those males were usually significantly older and not black. It was on the job training for me so I got mentors. Some of the mentors and I would and still do have direct conversations; other folks were my mentors from afar.

I learned that I didn't have to prove I was smart I just needed to get the job accomplished --- thorough, accurate, efficient and expeditious. I learned when to use my feminine charm and I learned when and how to put folks in check too. Most of time it worked in my favor and on a few occasions I had to just play the hand I was dealt and ride out the consequences. I also learned that I didn't have to explain everything and try not to hurt someone's feelings. It was and still is a tightrope but I've learned to be myself and still play the game.

Game, that's the magic word. Many 'inexperienced women leaders women in Hillary's age group don't play team games well that's not how we're socialized. So when I see younger women who've not been so constrained and restrained as my generation, it makes me proud.

Way back during NH, Hillary would have been better served by assuming a presidential posture. The whining and tears may have garnered her votes from sympathizers when she showed her human side but it did little for those concerned about her strength as a leader. It's a sword women bear and we just have to deal with it.

The negative comments are definitely working against her. When the comments are about a non-issue her camp is trying to make significant it really serves to destroy the positive political legacy the Clintons have enjoyed thus far. It's really sad. The 'Xerox' comment surrounding the 'plagiarism' issue is so Hillary. That is the polarizing nature of her personality and she hasn't been able to successfully hide that. Her closing comment during the debate was great but it doesn't overshadow who she really is.

I won't go so far to say that Hillary should pack it in now because almost anything can happen. I do know that she should pull up and carry herself as if she is already president. The catty comments and negative ads really may not be the best way to garner votes during the latter part of this campaign. Unfortunately for her, the Barack Obama charisma has flipped the script on traditional campaigning this time. Note to Hillary: Negativity is not working; try something else.

On the real, it may be too late to preserve the possibility of a HRC presidency this time so she should at least go out with dignity.


Derrick N. Ashong: Obama supporter stuns interviewer

Meet Derrick N. Ashong AKA DNA. Here's why we need to know what we're talking about when it comes to politics. Ashong gets grilled by an interviewer known as Mike. This young man was really cool because I would have wanted to go off on Mike. He was rude and interrupted Ashong's answers.

Derrick Ashong is no joke. Mike met his match. Check out both videos but check them out in the order they're posted here.

Derrick Ashong is my new hero. Let this be a lesson that you never know when it's your time; so be ready.

From: thelatestcontroversy
From: soulfegemusic

Smooches…

If you want more of DNA, check these links:

DNA – It's a blog, baby!

MySpace: Soulfege

Take Back the Mic

Soulfége

DNA on YouTube

Harvard University Gazette

On SweetMother.org


You have the right to vote but not to blog (without our approval)

Did you see this jacked up story about a CNN producer who was fired from his job at CNN for blogging. What's that about? The guy did not blog about work but his blog became so popular that he was invited to guest blog for The Huffington Post. Perhaps that was his undoing? I don't know. The New York Times coverage of his termination and his personal blog post gives one reason to pause.

His blog post after he was kicked to the curb was very enlightening and it may have been better for CNN to just reprimand him and not fire him.

Use of the internet on one's personal time is an issue that must be dealt with or there will be more situations like this in the future. Thanks to Matt from A Bowl of Stupid for the heads up.


The Obama Train Rolls Over Clinton Again

Well, Obama pulled it off again. Hillary and her disparaging remarks about Barack didn't help her win. Perhaps it's time for her to cry or find another voice; the one she's using isn't working. People are ready for change and Hillary doesn't appear to be a part of it.

Barack Obama demonstrates unity among American voters. Hillary Clinton and John McCain are divisive and that's not what the USA needs.

Did you notice the way Barack dissed Hillary as she gave her concession speech? He started his victory speech while was speaking and the cameras cut away to Obama. Ouch. Now you know that messed with her head and that was precisely the point. Her campaign strategists must be scratching their collective heads.

Senator Clinton's campaign has been hurting for some time now. Voters are rejecting her negative campaign. Since she's run on being the candidate with experience, one would think her experience would have taught her to run a better campaign.

Basically Hillary has to play out the hand she's dealt. How she overcomes the position she now finds herself in is beyond me. Barack Obama has momentum and right now, Hillary should find a gracious way to handle losing.