Delayed reaction…

There has been alot to talk about, but unfortunately, my blogging slows down a bit when my daughter gets sick. I’ve been home with her for several days now and she is still coughing her pretty little head off. I figured it might do me some good to take a break and vent about some of the things I’ve been seeing in the news.

First, the whole economy thing. People need to back up off of President Obama and let him do his job. Yes, he’s spending money, but it is going to take some spending to fix the great big mess that Mr. Bush left behind. Although I was not a huge Obama supporter during the campaign, I am smart enough to realize that he’s not just going off on some wild spending extraveganza. He’s got a plan and it’s going to cost some dollars to put the plan into action. He did warn us that things will get worse before they get better. In my opininon, the best thing we can do is to be thankful for what we have and trust that things will be better over time. There really is no sense in bitching and moaning that he’s spending too much money. Unless we work in his office, we can only speculate as to the necessity of the amount being spent. Give him time…at least as much time as we gave the last guy to muck everything up.

Second, I was happy to see Wall-E win an Oscar! This little movie was just great and it really deserved the recognition. I was a little disappointed the Kung Fu Panda didn’t win, but if they had to lose, I’m glad it was to Wall-E. On the other side of things, what was with all the panning to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie during Jennifer Aniston’s time at the podium? Someone needs to be slapped in the back of the head for being a troublemaker.

Third, this article about degrading lyrics in music and teen sex. Well, this is a big surprise. As I’ve said before, many times, there really is no need for some of the language that we are hearing in songs that are played on the radio. If it embarrasses me, I damn sure will not be letting my daughter listen to it. Good article if you’re interested.

Lastly, the whole cartoon thing. I think that this is just another example of how irresponsible our journalists have become. To have allowed this cartoon to show up in the New York Post is just ridiculously disrespectful. As I said before, I have not been a huge supporter of Obama, but I do respect his opinions and I think he is very capable of turning this country around if the rest of the country will let him. I believe it is time for our news outlets to begin exercising a bit more prudence in their actions. What happened to delivering the news in an unbiased fashion? When I was learning about journalism, way back in high school and wanted to be a journalist, I was told that journalists never take sides. It seems the opposite is now true and I think this is a shame.

Now that I’ve vented a little, it’s time to get back to my daughter. Another trip to the doctor and a couple of more prescriptions later and she’ll be good as new.

Until next time…

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Ready for a change…

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have been ready to see some big changes in our country’s government since the last election. I’m happy that today, we will see a new leader step up and take his place in history. No doubt, the election of Barack Obama is of major historical importance. As our first African-American president, he is a symbol for just how far this country has come in terms of civil rights and just plain valuing people for who they are instead of judging them on the basis of things like skin color, religion, sexual preference, etc.

I, for one, am glad that we have finally gotten to this point and I hope that some of the groups that are still out there promoting the “wrong” kind of behavior will not impede President Obama’s progress as he attempts to lead us to the change we so desperately need in this country. I’ve never been a fan of this kind of hate. I don’t understand it and I don’t accept it. It has never made sense to me that people would judge one another so harshly on the basis of characteristics that are basically just part of one’s appearance. We all know how flawed this type of thinking is and that it has gone on as long as it has is unbelievable to me.

I won’t stay on that soapbox too long. People get a little touchy and what I’m really aiming for with this post is to say that in spite of my initial reluctance to vote for Obama, I am happy that he’s now preparing to be sworn in as our next president. I feel hopeful and I have confidence that he will work to make this country better. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish President-elect soon to be President Obama the best of luck as he embarks on this journey. I can’t wait to see what happens!

Until next time…

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Blog Tour: How Obama Won by Earl Ofari Hutchinson


Benston Blogs is pleased to be a stop on Author and Political Analyst, Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s Blog Tour for his book, How Obama Won.

How Obama Won is a provocative, hard hitting critical assessment of the issues, events, forces, politics, pressures and controversy that shaped and ensnared Barack Obama in his historic 2008 presidential campaign.

Political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson examines the impact of race and gender, campaign strategy, the key political players, the nature of presidential politics, the changes in the Democratic and Republicans parties, the importance of the black, Hispanic, youth, women and blue collar white worker votes, the role of corporation and special interests in American politics.

Hutchinson tells what the first African-American to win the White House means to America and the world.

How Obama Won

Hutchinson tells why:

Race was not a factor in Obama’s win

The Iraq war and the terrorism were not compelling issues in the campaign

Sarah Palin hurt McCain

Many blue collar whites and rural voters supported Obama

Obama was able to top McCain in fundraising

Ultraconservatives did not unite behind McCain

The economy ultimately sunk McCain

Obama’s win will and won’t change politics in America

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a nationally acclaimed author and political analyst.

He is a frequent guest analyst on:

The John Gibson Show

O’Reilly Show

Hannity & Colmes

Glenn Beck Show

PBS Lehrer Report,

NPR’s Talk of the Nation

Various CNN News Shows.

He is the National Political Writer for New America Media and a regular contributor to: the Huffington Post, and BlackAmericaWeb.Com

Excerpts from How Obama Won by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Table of Contents –
http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/11/take-peek-inside-how-obama-won-by-earl.html

Introduction –
http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-obama-won-excerpt-from-introduction.html

Chapter 3 – It Was Still the Economy Stupid – http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-obama-won-excerpt-from-chapter-3.html

Chapter 4 – Team Obama’s Money Game Changer – http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-obama-won-excerpt-from-chapter-4.html

Chapter 5 The Catch 22 Black Vote –
http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-obama-won-excerpt-from-chapter-5.html

Chapter 10 – How Obama Snatched the Race Card off The Presidential Table – http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-obama-won-excerpt-from-chapter-10.html

Chapter 14 – The Clinton Factor
http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-obama-won-excerpt-from-chapter-14.html

Chapter 19 – Not Black President Obama, Just President Obama
http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-obama-won-excerpt-from-chapter-19.html

E-book of How Obama Won is NOW Available – https://www.plimus.com/jsp/buynow.jsp?contractId=2174906

Print Copies of How Obama Won
If you would like to be notified when the print copies of How Obama Won will be available – please fill out the name and address block in the top right corner of the blog.

Affiliate Opportunity
We also have affiliate opportunities if you would like to offer How Obama Won on your site – http://learnhowobamawon.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-obama-own-affiliate-program.html

Until next time…

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Perceptions…Confusion…Exhaustion…

On this, the eve of Election Day, I find myself wondering why so many people are still optimistic about the prospect of a Republican president. I mean, what more can they be permitted to do to the working people of America? At the rate we’ve been going, under a new Republican leader, we’d all be lucky to be able to afford bread, milk and toilet paper each week. What person in their right mind looks at the options and says, “Ok, I’ll take four more years of this. After all, I don’t mind putting money into a retirement fund that is sure to lose money. I don’t mind paying through the nose for everything I need to survive and I don’t really need to be able to save any money for the next four to eight years.”


I have had my doubts about electing Senator Obama to be our next president, but I have to tell you, it scares me more to think that McCain or Palin could ever be in a position of power.

It especially scares me to think about what could happen if Palin ever found herself in the big chair. She doesn’t appear to be wrapped too tightly. Though I don’t know her personally, her position on things like abortion and teen pregnancy (as evidenced by her own daughter’s situation) doesn’t impress me. I’m a feminist and although I like the idea of a woman achieving success, I have to say (and it pains me to do so) that some women simply shouldn’t have that much power. I hope that my fellow feminists understand me when I say that there are women out there whose agendas have not been set to further the status of women as a group, but to further nothing but their own selfish whims.


I didn’t see this in Hillary Clinton and I’m still disgusted that she wasn’t picked as our Democratic nominee. I won’t beat that horse now, though.

I will, however, keep plugging away at this notion. We all need to get out there and vote tomorrow. If you do nothing else productive with your time, please make sure that you go out and vote. It doesn’t take long and your input means everything. We have the power to make some very positive changes, no matter who we choose as our candidate. Although I would encourage everyone to vote Democrat on all counts, I know that we don’t all see the benefit in doing so. Perhaps you haven’t fallen upon hard enough times. Maybe, you’ve always voted Republican and you don’t easily accept change. Maybe the economy isn’t bothering you at all or maybe you’re still harboring some ignorant prejudices about our Democratic candidate that you simply can’t shake. Please don’t take offense, but we need to be rational about the state of our nation today. We’re in bad shape and the wrong choice (Republican) will only make things worse and worse over the next several years. They’ll keep chipping away at us until the middle class no longer exists. I don’t know about you, but I work too damned hard to let greedy politicians take it all away from me and my family.

I’m on pins and needles for now, waiting to see what the future will bring. I am hopeful that our decisions will be the right ones and that whomever we choose, they will lead us away from the chaos that we’ve fallen into. Though I’ve not completely decided to vote for Obama, I have decided not to vote for McCain. I do plan to vote for every Democratic candidate for the House and Senate, however, I’m still struggling with some of the negatives I have heard about Obama. When it all comes down to it, though, Obama definitely seems to be the lesser of two evils. Even if it is simply on the basis of the example that has been set by Republicans these past eight years. I have to admit, I’ve been wondering alot lately, how bad could he be?

I guess it will all come out in the wash and sometime tomorrow evening, we will have a much clearer picture of what our futures hold. Perhaps the one thing we can all be happiest about is that these damned political activists will stop calling us at all hours asking who we are voting for. I know at least that will make me happy.

Until next time…

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Tales from the fence…

Though I’m a loyal Democrat, I’m intrigued by John McCain’s choice of running mate. McCain announced earlier today that Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, will be his pick for Vice President. I think this might have been a great move on McCain’s part and am also thinking that the race is actually going to be interesting to watch. Though I still don’t think I can vote for either candidate in good conscience, McCain’s latest move made me stop to consider whether or not I could actually crossover and vote Republican. Of course, I can’t, but I’ve never even asked myself this question before now.

Governor, Sarah Palin seems to have some very strong credentials including her tendency to be a whistleblower. I admire someone who is willing to stand up for what they believe to be right even when taking such a stand is clearly unpopular. She’s got spunk from what I can see. There are only a few things about her that I can’t get past. Her participation in a beauty pageant, the pro-life thing, and of course, that Republican bit. Otherwise, she seems like a great choice. I think she will do a great job if she is fortunate enough to find herself in the position of being our first female Vice President.

Most people I talk to are still not too optimistic about the outcome of this year’s presidential election. On one hand, we can endure more of the same economic hardship and bullshit that we’ve put up with for the last eight years by electing McCain and hoping that his watchdog V.P. will help keep him in check with regards to any ethical concerns instead of helping him continue the Bush legacy of screwing the little guy. On the other, we have a candidate who is a smooth talker and who seems to have all of the right answers to the questions Americans have been asking for years. The problem is that anyone can provide answers to questions. We need someone who will follow through and make some actual progress. Someone who isn’t suspected of operating under some other agenda.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t a good way to know which is the lesser of two evils until they are actually in office. Once we’re stuck with them, the amount of damage they can do is limited only by the passage of time.

Until next time…

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Contrary to popular belief…

America does not “got talent” and it’s evident on just about any channel you might choose. I tried to watch last night. Emphasis on tried. The show (America’s Got Talent) was so bad that I eventually decided to turn it off in favor of watching a recorded episode of Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh that I had already seen. Now, that’s bad. Not saying anything bad about Drake and Josh, but really, I hung in there from the extreme clogging to some really goofy looking dude that tried to sing “She Bangs”, but that was all I could handle. How many versions of this terrible song should one person ever have to hear in her lifetime? And what was with the little girl who wanted to be a stunt woman? I wasn’t really impressed with her ability to act like she was beating up those men. Hell, I can act like I’m beating people up. How has this show managed to stay on for so long?

To make matters worse, the whole time I was switching back and forth between this show and the Democratic Convention listening to their discussion about alternative fuels. The whole time, I’m shaking my head because I just don’t believe that we’ll be able to accomplish anything without Hillary Clinton in office. I’m not sure which was hurting me more, being subjected to David Hasselhoff’s lack of wit or listening to a bunch of people who think they have all of the answers, but that’s another post. I actually went to bed by 9:30 for the first time in months.

The contrast between the two shows was not all that clear. On one hand, I’m watching people who think they are doing something spectacular by impersonating Britney (talentless) Spears and on the other, I’m watching people who are trying to convince me to vote in a presidential candidate who won’t even say the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States. And they all think what they are doing is ok. I, obviously don’t. In both cases, they were simply trying to pull the wool over our eyes and make us think that what they are doing makes perfect sense and should be rewarded. My take on this is that no one should be rewarded in any way for acting like Britney Spears and no American citizen should vote for someone who conducts himself in such an unpatriotic manner.

This is an unpopular stand for a Democrat to take, for some reason, unbeknownst to me. Aren’t we supposed to want our president to take pride in being an American? Isn’t this some kind of requirement for taking that office? Granted, he doesn’t have to like it, but shouldn’t he at least go through the motions of acting like he has some respect for those American traditions? What he is saying and doing is sending a clear message to the young people out there that it is ok to buck tradition and to place no value on patriotism if you believe otherwise. How then, will he ever convince them to stand up for our country if he won’t even sing our National Anthem? How does he propose to stand up for the United States if he can’t even get behind those simple principles?

It’s like when you tell your children not to do something and then go and do it yourself. The old, don’t do as I do, do as I say cliche. He’s not even encouraging others not to follow his lead. In fact, he’s counting on the fact that we will follow him. I don’t want to be standing at a baseball game on the day when no one in the crowd is willing to stand for the National Anthem. Not that they will still be playing it at that point, anyway. It’s all very scary to me. If he has no allegiance to our country, then whose side is he really on?

I’ll wrap this up by saying that I feel that my participation in last night’s viewership has cost me valuable brain cells and I want my money back. See, I’m not even sure why I said that. God knows I wouldn’t have paid to see any of that stuff. Not willingly anyway.

Until next time…

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I’m going to be Obama’s Vice President…

not! But you’re here reading this, so you must have thought it was possible. So, what does this say about our society? It says to me that we’re turning into a bunch of people who will believe just about anything if we see it on the internet. It says to me that the way we make the big important decisions these days is based more on a person’s popularity than on their credentials. It says to me that a large segment of our population, (the controlling interest, so to speak), has decided that it is no longer necessary to follow logic and good sense. It really needs to quit saying things to me.

Let’s send text messages to my supporters to let them know who I choose for the vice presidential candidate. Senator Obama’s latest move to keep the media interested in his campaign is so trendy, so cool. That’s why I hate it. I don’t want a cool president. I want a president who knows how to stop a war and bring the economy back into balance. Hell, how do I know that Obama won’t be too busy texting his bff to pay attention to the important stuff?

And another thing, I’m not one of those super-patriotic types, but I am really put off by this thing with the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. I’m not voting for anyone to lead this country if they have no allegiance to it. That’d be like putting Satan in charge of Heaven. Or well, something like that. I don’t know of a great analogy for it, but it really seems like a stupid move. I’m wondering if maybe, Obama’s people have pulled one of those General’s Fried Chicken debauchles like the one in Undercover Brother. Have they been tampering with the Starbuck’s? The key is mass production, you know.

Alright, so I’m obviously not a supporter. This puts me on the horns of a dilemma. Who do I vote for? I’m a democrat, so I’m not voting for McCain. But, as an American, I cannot vote for Barack Obama. I just can’t do it. As a last resort, I’m considering a write-in. I just need to decide whether or not it will be Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby or Al Gore. Since I don’t use text messages, I’ll have to post my final decision here on the blog. So, stay tuned. I’m sure you’ll be on pins and needles until I announce it.

Until next time…

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Hillary Obama Roadshow-Posted for Nikki Leigh’s Ethnic Presidency Blog Blitz

There were also mixed signals if whether being a woman would help more than hurt Clinton even with women in a wide segment of America. In a Newsweek poll in July 2007, fewer voters said they would vote for a woman candidate for president than a black candidate. Hillary scored just as dismal when asked whether the country was ready for a female president. More said no to this question than said no for a black president. The gender reluctance by big chunks of voters was in part offset by the experience factor. Hillary scored big on this in the polls.

The Hillary distaste in part explained why in February 2007 Hollywood mogul David Geffen, a long time Clinton family cheerleader and campaign bankroller sucker punched Clinton with the knock that she would polarize voters. The implication was that she would be a disaster for the Democrats if she were to get the party presidential bid. Geffen rapped Clinton at the moment that he and some other Hollywood movie big shots pumped a reported cool million dollars into Obama’s campaign coffers.

At the same moment, a slew of conservative hit groups loudly announced they had sunk loads of cash into a pack of “stop Hillary” websites, muckraking pieces and scheduled attack ads on her. They vowed this was just the start of a freewheeling, no holds barred disinformation effort to sabotage her campaign.

For much more information about Earl Ofari Hutchinson and The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Affects the Race to the White House, visit his blog blitz homepage – http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Ethnic+Presidency+Blitz. To order your copy of the Ethnic Presidency, visit http://www.ethnicpresidency.com or
http://www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Presidency-Decides-White-House/dp/1881032256