Republicans Might As Well Be Aliens

Photo from BBC News

For as much as Republicans appeal to me, they might as well be aliens on the outer edge of the universe. Months ago, I declared John McCain's run for president dead on arrival. Before he started partaking in that Republican foolishness on immigration and Iraq and siding with President Bush on key issues, he was a Republican I would have actually consider voting for. Not now.

Now that Rudy Giuliani (was he really serious?) and Fred Thompson have been rooted out of the Republican race for president, we're stuck with McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. The way I see it, it's going to be a two-man race to see which candidate can pander the party's conservative, religious right. Unlike the Democratic presidential race, Republicans are allowed to stick to key issues like immigration, Iraq and the crappy U.S. economy.

No one in the mainstream media brings up race when talking to McCain, Romney or Huckabee but Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards couldn't avoid it. Republicans have always been allowed to ignore the concerns of women and minorities without being held to task. They are overly concerned about abortion but support the death penalty. They complain about affirmative action but still find ways to discriminate in spite of it.

In spite of Condolezza Rice and Colin Powell, the Republican party is the party of old white men (circa 1970) whom I have nothing in common with. They embrace profit over people, believe poverty is a character affliction and profess to be Christian. Although these are character traits that could easily apply to Democrats as well, Republicans, in my opinion, are particularly adept at these strategies.

Another Take on Bob Johnson

Since my days in Oakland, I've always been a fan of Davey D who is a Bay Area legend and extraordinary emcee. "Bring the Noise with Davey D" which was aired on KPFA a few times a week was truly "da bomb", Davey played rap music before there was an east coast-west coast beef and before gangsta' rap ruled. Back in the 90's, rap music was about clever rhymes, break beats and real skills. I can remember hearing some of the best rap music ever and thinking that his show never seemed to be long enough.

Anyhow, Davey has an interesting take on Bob Johnson, the man who brought us the foolishness that is BET and became a billionaire in the process. Like me, Davey thinks Bob is a hypocrite for attacking Barack Obama but his reasons are different from mine. Check out Davey's critique of Johnson here.

Link of the Day: Why I Should Be President by Yo Mama Bin Barack

A Long Island, New York newspaper's attempt at satire entitled "Why I Should Be President" by Yo Mama Bin Barack (yes, really!) has drawn the ire of Nia Online. This essay was supposed to be satire, but I'd say they failed miserably. The only thing the Independent succeeded in doing is confirm that racist stereotypes are alive and kicking in 2008.

Besides insulting Muslims, black women and men, this piece also takes aim at what constitutes blackness and evidently, Obama fails the test. Obama has been hounded from day one about his blackness. He has often been deemed "not black enough" because he doesn't refer to women as hos, butcher the English language or claim to be a civil rights leader. He's always been judged by people who are in no position to judge him and this includes certain black "leaders" and blabbermouth pundits like Rush Limbaugh.

Down and Dirty With Bill & Hill

I'm still dumbfounded by the love affair some black folks have with the Clintons(**blank stare coupled with silence**). Bill Clinton is often referred to as "The First Black President" by some but that's an enigma for another day.

Brother Bill was caught sleeping again at the MLK Day celebration a few days ago. Martin Luther King III was speaking and Bill just couldn't keep his eyes open. Of course, I have to talk about him for falling asleep but he was also clock-watching. He must have really been tired. I bet Calvin Butts isn't going to bust Bill out for his bad manners. Butts, a Harlem minister, praised Miss Hillary by saying the following at his endorsement announcement:

A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to elect someone who has proven through time to me and to this community and this country that she has the experience to make things happen," he said.

Okay, Calvin. I'm so glad I think for myself and don't allow people like you, Bob Johnson and Bill Clinton to influence my decisions.

Like Hillary's presidential campaign, Bill's sleeping isn't about race either. At least Bill is an equal opportunity sleeper. Both him and Miss Hillary were caught sleeping at Ronald Reagan's funeral a few years ago. Oh, the travails of a high-powered, sleep deprived, mud-slinging couple! The Democratic presidential campaign continues and Bill just can't seem to stop talking about Barack Obama, too bad he's resorted to bad-mouthing him. This is not a good look. I know Bill is trying to help Miss Hillary's campaign but this is truly going to backfire and reflect negatively on him and his wife. It diminishes them even more in my eyes; my already low opinion of the Clintons is now even lower.

Lying is something that I automatically associate with the Clintons and all elected politicians. I'm waiting for Bill to start picking on John Edwards but then Edwards isn't viewed by the Clintons as a threat to Miss Hillary's run for the White House in 2008.

The Coon Eats Some Crow

Image of Bob Johnson from Black America Today

Bob Johnson, billionaire supporter of Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton (Miss Hillary), has issued an apology to Barack Obama. What's he apologizing for? After his harsh criticism and signifying in South Carolina five days ago, I doubt if he had any kind of epiphany about glass houses or stone-throwing. He must be exhausted doing all that darn backpedaling because he swears his comments were misunderstood.

Johnson sounded awfully sincere to me when he said:

As an African American, I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues -- Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood; I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book -- when they have been involved.

I'm with Obama's people on this one, Johnson owed him an apology. Johnson needs to apologize for besmirching the reputation and career of Academy Award winning actor Sidney Poiter too. It sounded to me like Johnson was doing some more of that signifying and insinuating by comparing Obama to Poitier. For someone who has made a fortune off of booty-popping and the degradation of women, Johnson wouldn't know class from crass.

I have yet to see how and why black folks think the Clintons are emotionally involved with them or their issues. Of course pretending to be "down" with black folks allows Miss Hillary to get people like Bob Johnson to do their race-baiting for them. You'll never hear Miss Hillary say what Johnson said about Obama. Realistically, Johnson is no more emotionally invested in black folks than the Clintons, he made his millions off the foolishness that is Black Entertainment Television (BET).

Link of the Day: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Washington Post columnist William Jelani Cobb has written a thoughtful, yet telling piece about the rise of Barack Obama. At issue here is the place of the old school civil rights leaders in the 2008 Presidential Race, it's no surprise that few want to step out and actively support Obama against Miss Hillary. After all, it's a new day and old school "leaders" like Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, John Lewis, etc. are finding their audience not only shrinking but getting older.

Funny thing is, Obama's campaign is successful in spite of their reluctance to support him. He didn't have to kiss the Rev's ring to get an endorsement nor did he have to attend an NAACP or Urban League conference to get approval to run. It's a new day for the old black "leadership", they no longer hold sway over the African American vote, not that they did in the first place, but you know what I mean.

Cooning and Smiling With Miss Hillary

(AP Photo - Photo/Elise Amendola)

As I predicted last week, prominent African Americans will be stepping forward to help Miss Hillary win the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. Among one of the first to publicly voice his support for Miss Hillary while disparaging the other candidate, is billionaire businessman Bob Johnson.

Last week, Miss Hillary said if it weren't for President Lyndon Johnson, none of the civil rights legislation would have been enacted. She glossed over the civil rights marches, freedom rides and other acts of civil disobedience that were orchestrated by Martin Luther King Jr. and others. Johnson, being the forgiving supporter that he is, gave Miss Hillary a pass and jumped on Obama's ass for criticizing her.

This "ish" must be in the Clinton playbook. Get a prominent black supporter to bash Obama while you stand back and watch. Nice move, Miss Hillary. I say Obama doesn't need Bob Johnson as a supporter anyway. This is typical of how black folks try to undermine each other. I would respect Johnson much more if he hadn't been signifying about Obama's suitability to be president. Here we go....

Other than potential business partners, who takes Bob Johnson serious anyway? From the man who helped popularize booty-popping and ass-shaking on BET, he really isn't in a position to criticize Obama or anyone else. He's made millions from depicting demeaning images of his own people on television. If we're to believe him, Miss Hillary (along with her hubby Bill "The First Black President" Clinton) is a saint and savior for black folks. Surely he must jest!

What Miss Hillary is, is a politician; she's using using Johnson and other black supporters to help her undermine Obama. I wonder who's up next to snipe at Obama on Miss Hillary's behalf? Magic Johnson? P. Diddy? I bet they're lining up right now.

Obama Isn't 'Electable'?

I'm still not believing the hype. Miss Hillary's theatrics garnered enough sympathy to squeeze out a victory in New Hampshire. I'm still not impressed nor moved. Barack Obama had better watch out. He was right about the dump truck. Miss Hillary's people are probably up to their ears in the Obama's (Michelle too) digging for some precious mud to sling to improve her chances of winning. They've probably dispatched agents to the ends of the earth to dig up some embarrassing information on Barack and his wife Michelle and the kids too.

Although race was not a factor in Iowa and probably wasn't much of a factor in New Hampshire, it doesn't matter now. You can expect Miss Hillary to use race against Obama; expect to hear innuendo about Obama's blackness. She probably thinks her husband Bill is blacker than Obama but she's not going to say that, there will be some subtle hints. She probably thinks her black credentials are blacker than Obama's because after all, an articulate, charismatic, Ivy-League educated black man like Obama is not black enough. The Obama's net worth is a paltry $1 million compared to much larger fortune of the Clinton's $100 million and getting bigger by the day.

Also in Miss Hillary's bag of tricks, expect to hear something about Obama not being electable because he's a black man but she's not going to say that. She believes and some black "leaders" concur, that Obama is not electable and only she (and her husband) has black people's interests at heart. The fact that some black people, sell-out ministers, phonies and certain celebrities want to hitch their wagons up with the Clintons because they're "down" with black folks are no better. The alliances forged between the Clinton and these blacks "leaders" are based on money and political favors not on any kind of discernible benefit to the rest of us commoners. Watch, look and listen.

Former Clinton advisor Dick Morris who wrote most of the Clinton's political playbook has read Miss Hill's pedigree and outed her in the New York Post today. The mud is about to be slung.

Cry Hillary Cry

Another reason to vote for Obama, Miss Hillary is resorting to tears and sympathy to win in New Hampshire. If this isn't some of the phoniest crap I've ever seen. This stunt further shows how desperate she is to win. Tears, Hillary? Give me a break!



I ain't buying the softer, human side of Miss Hillary. Someone has changed the flavor of the Kool-Aid and old girl doesn't know what flavor she's drinking now.

Imagine this conversation among members of the Hillary Clinton for President Exploratory Committee last year:

"You've got the black vote on lock, Hillary" they said. "You know how black folks love Bill "the first Black President" Clinton. You've got nothing to worry about, all we need to do is get Jesse and Al on board and we can coast through the primaries."

"But what about that kid Obama?" someone asks. Everyone sucks their teeth and rolls their eyes until someone says, "Obama? We've got the black vote, who is going to vote for him?" They laugh and move on to the next topic, Nominees for Hillary's Cabinet.

And then came the Iowa Caucus, where Miss Hillary places third behind Obama and John Edwards. That's not such a good showing for someone who had been prematurely anointed by the narrow-minded news media and other dim-witted political analysts as the Democrat's candidate for president in 2008.

The New Hampshire caucus is tomorrow and there's a fresh can of "whup-ass" waiting for Miss Hillary. I hate to see what she's going to do next. Maybe's she'll actually shed a tear to further endear herself with voters.