Moonwalking Down Memory Lane

I planned to leave up the 45th Anniversary honor to the March on Washington all weekend. But then Sen. John McCain made his gangsta move Friday morning and changed my entire game plan.

Now I've decided to take a little break from poli-tricks to say Happy 50th Birthday to Michael Jackson, the original King of Pop. Yep, Michael hit the big 5-0.

Let's put aside, for the moment, Michael's penchant for plastic surgery, animals and children. Instead, I would like to remember happier days with Michael (like when he was still black).

My memory begins with the all-time favorite album, Off the Wall.

My lil boyfriend at the time (all we did was talk on the phone cuz my parents wouldn't allow me to do anything else) used to sing She's Out of My Life every time we broke up (which was like every other day).

I love every song on this album - Got Me Working Day and Night, Girlfriend, Get On the Floor, Rock With You, etc. I probably wore that this record out because I played it so much on the record player (again, no jokes please).

Then there was Michael's fashion sense, which set trends world-wide. From the red jacket with chains and crap to wearing one glove, which drove my mother crazy. That, of course, has to be the reason I did it because there was nothing cute about the one-glove craze.

And we simply CAN NOT ignore this man's dancing. Michael had some moves for ya, that everybody tried to copy.

There was Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat It.

No question about it, Michael had talent.

Michael, you make 50 look... Well, that's another story. Happy Birthday anyway!

What's your favorite Michael Jackson memory?

McCain chooses a woman

Sen. Barack Obama has barely left the stage after his history-making acceptance speech, as John McCain is set to make a historic announcement himself.
McCain has chosen former beauty queen and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

From a man known as a male chauvenist, this is a surprising turn of events. But hey, McCain plans to go toe-to-toe with Obama, and what better way than to pick a woman.

Especially in light of all those "feminists" still reeling over the Hillary Clinton snub.

Wowzers, just wowzers.

Here's a bio about her. More details to come after McCain's 1 p.m. announcement.

Forty-five years ago Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech at the March on Washington.

In it, King wasn’t talking about a “post-racial” society, but a society in which color would be recognized as an asset and not a burden. King’s thinking, according to Peniel Joseph, a professor of history and African American studies at Brandeis University, was that racial equality and democracy were intertwined.

In other words, you can not have one without the other.

With Sen. Barack Obama’s run for the presidency, the possibilities of every child born and yet to be born, has been raised. The possibility of being whatever one wants, for many, is made more real.

Mirroring his campaign in recent months, little has been said about the historic nature of Obama’s campaign as it relates to race during this week’s Democratic National Convention in Colorado.

Unfortunately we have yet to reach the point where Sen. Obama can discuss race and racial issues without risk.

But the intent of tonight’s speech, I hope, will give honor to that history. For King’s vision was an original blueprint for what we’re now witnessing.

When I was younger, my father would gather me and my sisters around the record player (no cracks about my age) and we would listen to King’s “I Have A Dream Speech.” My Dad even made us write down the words.

King’s dream was my Dad’s dream for his daughters, and it became my dream. Now it is my dream for my three-year-old nephew.

Happy 45th Anniversary to each and every one of you, be you white, Hispanic, black, brown or other. Be you a woman, child or man. Be you American, Iraqi, European, African or other.

My gift to you is below. All I ask in return is that you listen and dare to have a dream of your own.

Historic Pick!

Now that Barack Obama has officially made history, what does it mean if he wins or loses in November?

If Obama wins, does that mean America has truly transcended race and that racism is dead or dying in this country?

If Obama loses, will it be because of his race or because he didn't sufficiently make his case?

'Uncommon Grace'

Had it been based on a popular vote, Hillary Clinton would have had the Democratic nomination.

But, elections aren’t won according to popular vote counts, and Hillary Clinton lost. Based on tonight’s reception of the junior senator from NY at the Democratic National Convention, however, one would have thought she’d won.

Love her or hate her, Hillary Clinton can not be denied due respect.

In one of the most important speeches of the convention, Hillary had to take the first step in unifying the Democratic Party. Her husband, Bill Clinton who sat in tears listening to his wife’s speech, will take the next few steps tomorrow. It will be left to Sen. Barack Obama to do the rest on Thursday.

But tonight belongs to Hillary.

How many women, how many people period, could fight as hard as she fought for the Democratic nomination only to lose based on party rules, and then come out as strong as she did Tuesday night for the same party that issued the denial?

Hillary did it.

“The time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose,” Hillary said. “…Were you involved in this campaign just for me? …Or were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?”

She didn’t sound like a loser tonight. If you ask me, Hillary actually sounded pretty presidential.

“No way, no how, no McCain,” Hillary said. “Barack Obama is my candidate, and he must be our president.”

“A fighter of uncommon grace,” Clinton said f Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones who unexpectedly died last week. But when I looked at Hillary tonight, she just as easily could have been describing herself.

So did Hillary deliver for Barack Obama tonight?

You tell me.

On Cindy, Michelle, and what it means to be a first-rate lady

As I watched the Democratic National Convention I sat transfixed by Michelle Obama's speech.

She stood their beautifully black and real.

Gone were the pieces of paper she's stiltedly read from over recent weeks. Back came the Michelle Obama we first met when Barack Obama initially announced his candidacy.

I won't spend much time talking about what she said tonight. You can go to www.cnnpolitics.com to read a transcript of Michelle's speech.

I want to discuss Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain and what it means to be a lady.

Comparing Cindy and Michelle may not be fair, especially since Michelle had her night and Cindy hasn't. But what we know so far about the women offers a striking contrast between the two.

As Michelle so eloquently put it, she's a girl from the south side of Chicago. Born to parents who had to scrimp and save and poured all that they had into their children. Michelle lavished praise on her brother, Craig Robinson, who lovingly introduced his sister to the cameras. She called him the man she's always looked up to.

Most importantly Michelle reminded America of being of service to our communities, our children, and to our world.

This woman came off as poised, personable and purposeful. I don't mean purposeful in terms of slick marketing to sell her husband. Sure she had a job to do in terms of letting people know about Barack Obama the man, but she went beyond that.

Michelle even reached out to Hillary Clinton, something the Democratic base - read most African Americans - haven't done yet. Something the Democratic base - read most African Americans - will have to do if they want to win in November.

"You treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them," Michelle Obama said during her speech before the Democratic National Convention Monday night in Colorado.

Cindy McCain came from a monied father who made his cash selling beer. He left one wife and child to marry Cindy's mom. Cindy has repeatedly said publicly that she is an only child. Only that isn't, technically, true.

Angered that her sister would rather pretend she doesn't exist than acknowledge her in the slightest way, Kathleen Hensley Portalski came forward last week to National Public Radio to say that she and her sister haven't been close in years.

Not being close is an understatement.

Cindy McCain doesn't speak to her sister. Further, Cindy (who is a billionaire) essentially gave Kathleen $10,000 and a kiss goodbye after their father died.

So much for service.

Kathleen's husband is a firefighter and a emergency medical technician who is looking for work.

He wasn't quoted, but I wonder what his response was to John McCain's claim that our economy is strong. Or what he thought about one of McCain's adviser's comments that America is full of whiners.

Anyhoo... back to what it means to be a lady.

Now I'm not saying Cindy McCain isn't a nice person or that she isn't compassionate. She very well may be. Perhaps we will get to see that side of her next week during the Republican National Convention.

I will say that the pressure is definitely on Cindy to show us a more lady-like side based on Michelle's performance tonight.

Police disrupt possible Obama assassination attempt in Colorado

The man hasn't even arrived in Colorado yet. Police to hold press conference Tuesday. More details to follow:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/25/obama-assassination-plot_n_121293.html

What happens when parenting goes very, very wrong

Warning!!! You will be disgusted after watching this video.



I came across this video on another site and couldn't finish watching it because I got sick to my stomach.

Okay, let's set aside the Democratic National Convention for a minute and let's talk about parenting, or the lack thereof these days.

The president, whoever he will be, can't do jack about this.

Some visitors to the other site blamed BET and television for the behavior exhibited by these children. Others called out the kids, particularly the little girl, and said they needed to be beaten. Some even faulted the adults in the room, including the person videotaping the, uhmm, activity.

Those who blamed the parents, IMHO, hit the nail on the head.

Sha-nay-nay, come get your child!

Obama-Biden '08

Joe "the blow-hard" Biden.

The same guy that caught flak for calling Sen. Barack Obama "articulate." The guy who said, repeatedly, that Barack Obama wasn't ready for the office. The same guy who lost his first run for the White House because it was learned he was guilty of plaigerism.

Really?

At the same time, as former chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees, Biden is more experienced; and he also has roots in the proverbial, long-heralded "working class white population."

Still, this is gonna take some getting used to.

Check out the links: 3 a.m. Announcement here, yeah, I'm up.

Biden Biography here

Analysis here, Biden pick shows lack of confidence, says the AP.

Veep Bowl: You choose!

Who do you think Barack Obama or John McCain should pick as a running mate?

I'm taking bets on Biden for Obama and Romney for McCain...

Remembering Stephanie

Ever meet one of those people who had a certain air about them. You know, the kind of person who is happy but not "fake-happy, the kind of happy like they are walking in the spirit?

That's what struck me about Stephanie Tubbs-Jones the first time I met her on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Tubbs-Jones died today after suffering an aneurysm. She was 58, the first African American woman elected to represent the state of Ohio in Congress and one of the highest ranking black political leaders in the country.

For those who have been following me, you know that I've spent the past year working in the U.S. Congress. I had often seen Tubbs-Jones on television, but I never met her personally until a few months ago outside a members-only elevator at the U.S. Capitol.

While other members of Congress often ride up on the members-only elevator alone or with their staff, while other members' staffers and constituents wait and wait and wait for the public elevator, Rep. Tubbs-Jones wasn't like that at all.

Instead she insisted that everyone get on the elevator with her, even if it meant she - and you - would be cramped inside.

Rep. Tubbs- Jones also differed from other representatives and senators in that she talked with everyone, not just talked, she embraced you. Rep. Tubbs-Jones was genuinely interested in people, even this congressional fellow who only planned to work in the nation's capitol temporarily.

I recall at the State of the Union Address earlier this year other members walked past one another, often only stopping to shake the hands of fellow Republicans or fellow Democrats. Not Stephanie Tubbs-Jones. A Democrat, she hugged both Republican and Democratic members.

And she laughed. She had a genuine smile that invited people into her sphere.

Stephanie Tubbs-Jones was someone you wanted to emulate. I'm not trying to deify her, but with Rep. Tubbs-Jones it wasn't simply talking about her faith like many politicans do, she actually walked in the light of Christ. And you could see that she did.

Russian Roulette

Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a cartridge in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against themselves and pull the trigger.

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Isn't Condoleeza Rice's speciality supposed to be Russian studies?

Shouldn't she have seen this debacle with Soviet Georgia happening months, even years ago? Rice wasn't a great Secretary of National Security, she failed the job and should have been fired (remember 9-11 happened on her watch).

Now as Secretay of State she's failing again.

Perhaps I am being unfair, afterall, she was on vacation when Russia invaded Soviet Georgia. And her boss, George W. Bush, was chillin in China, a place so polluted that American athletes probably shouldn't be there. Bush could have stayed there if he wanted.

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Russia is supposedly the birthplace of the game. Roulette refers to the element of risk taking and the spinning of the revolver's cylinder being reminiscent of the spinning of the roulette wheel.

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No, really, maybe I shouldn't fault Condi's job performance. I mean, it was only a few short years ago that President Bush proclaimed he'd looked into then-Russian President Vladimir Putin's soul, and had seen how "good" the man was.

Bull-hockey.

Pardon my language, but Putin has been crushing press and other freedoms for about as long as Bush has been in the White House. Anybody with half a brain could have predicted the path Russia was taking. If only Bush had been looking at facts instead of trying to see inside somebody's soul, he might have seen what was really happening.

Putin is no longer President of Russia, but he's still very much in control. Bush called Russia a bully last week. Oh now Putin isn't a good guy. Can America make up its mind, please?

Forget for the moment that Bush ought to have learned his lesson years ago about name-calling, forget even that everybody knows Bush is selling wolf tickets. Our military is so bogged down in the Middle East that America can't do a damn thing in terms of coming to yet another country's rescue.

Sigh...

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The form of the game can be as varied as the participants or their motives (displays of bravado, suicide etc.), but typically a single round is placed in a six-shot revolver resulting in a small chance of the revolver discharging the round.

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The limits of America's power have never been so visible. Thanks to Mr. Bush. America is no longer the most powerful nation in the world, Russia and China are proof-positive of that. We are naked, and the world sees us for what we are, The Great Pretender.

Condi Rice went to Tiblisi, the capitol of Georgia nd forced the Georgian President to sign a cease fire with Russia. In return, Russia agreed to pull its soldiers out of Georgian territory, only they aren't.

Basically Putin is saying "Fugg You" to Georgia and the U.S.

Russia's goal is to topple the Georgian government, and test America's military prowess.

So, basically, Russia invaded the country of Georgia - a U.S. ally - to see what the U.S. would do. In fact, a Russian General said, "If America can invade and take Baghdad, we can take Tiblisi (the capitol of Georgia)."

Russia is calling our bluff.

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In the game, the revolver's cylinder can either be spun again to reset the game conditions, or the trigger can be pulled again. Using revolvers with fewer chambers (typically five) or increasing the number of rounds are other variations that increase the risk.

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The names and conditions may change, but once again America is playing a game of Russian Roulette.

Hopefully George W. Bush won't overplay America's hand any more than he already has.

If he does, we might all want to consider moving to, ehrrr, Russia.

Isaac's Deeper Side

I promised Rippa that I would blog about Isaac Hayes who died after suffering a stroke earlier this week. I figure there is no better time than on the eve of his Memorial Service.

Did you know Isaac Hayes, also known as the Black Moses, was enstooled as an African American King in Ghana for his work in encouraging business and global development in the Motherland?

Isaac Hayes, pictured above with his wife and child taken in 2006, also pushed for world literacy and gave tirelessly to children.

Isaac Hayes was an incomparable talent loved by multiple generations, from our parents to us and now our children.

We should acknowledge that, but also realize that he was so much more than "Chef" and "Shaft."

Lesser known perhaps, but more important, is Isaac Hayes' contribution to the African Diaspora and his love for African people.

Check out a colleague's blog and get to know the deeper side of Isaac Hayes. We can all learn a lesson from his example.

Can you dig it?

PUMA

No, I am not referring to the sneaker or Erykah Badu's daughter.

PUMA stands for Party Unity My Ass, and is more loudly being uttered by Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters who believe the Democratic nomination was stolen from their candidate. Many are asking for a controversial roll-call vote to show their discontent at the end of this month in Denver, site of their party's national convention at which Sen. Barack Obama is expected to be coronated the new Democratic leader.

It appears the PUMA people now have added ammunition to help buttress their claims.

Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee if John Edwards had been caught in his lie about an extramarital affair and forced out of the race last year, insists a top Clinton campaign aide, making a charge that could exacerbate previously existing tensions between the camps of Clinton and Obama.

Clinton supporters say the "cover-up" cost their candidate the election. Some Obama supporters quietly, and reluctantly, may agree.

Clinton apparently knew about former senator/vice presidential/presidential candidate Edwards' extra-curricular activities, but kept mum about it. Clinton also rejected advice from her staff to trash Obama, painting him as unpatriotic as Republican operatives are now doing.

These latest revelations debunk claims that the Clintons will try to win at any cost, no matter what or who they have to step on. That's definitely been proven a false narrative by now.

More seriously, however, is the trouble Obama seems to be having among white middle and working class voters, many of whom are among the PUMA people. Realistically, Obama can not win the White House without them.

There is a lot at stake in the upcoming election, including two to three U.S. Supreme Court seats, universal health care, wages, war and more.

For those who want to see Obama win, it seems to me the questions that should be uppermost in black voters' minds - all progressive voters for that matter - is whether the Democratic Party can get its act together to win in November, and if so, how?

Party Unity My Ass... well if it isn't there, Democrats better find it somewhere!

Why don't high-powered women ever get caught up in sex scandals like male politicians?

We don't ever hear anything about Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton or other women getting some on the side.

Is it just powerful men who cheat, or are they the only ones who get caught

Tyra Banks Plays Michelle Obama??

**Scratching head**

Angela Bassett, maybe. Taraji P. Henson, most certainly. But Tyra Banks as the next possible First Lady?

No, there isn't a made-for-tv movie, yet. But you know there will be, especially if Sen. Barack Obama actually wins the nomination.

America's favorite "top model" Tyra Banks does play First Lady Michelle Obama for a magazine spread. The video is below.

Tell me if you think it works.


Who should play Michelle Obama if a movie were made?