Who Should Play Obama?

So Jamie Foxx, Will Smith AND Puff Daddy aka P-Diddy are all vying to play President-elect Barack Obama in an upcoming movie.

Now aint that some stuff!

That's why Foxx has been going around the television show circuit doing his best Obama impression lately. Have you seen it? In case not, here it is. BET is reporting that P-Diddy is throwing his weight around trying to land the gig too (either that or the first Black James Bond, he says). And Smith is talking about he and Obama have the same size ears.

Lawd...

Obama apparently agrees. He told Fox News back in February that Smith is the best actor to play him if a movie is made about his life.

Now, I don't know about you, but none of these cats fit the role, IMHO. Foxx is one my favorite actors: he pulled off Ray Charles like nobody's business and he does an okay impression of Obama. But we all know making us think he is the next President of the United States just might be too much of a stretch for Jamie Foxx.

Come on now, tell the truth! No offense to Foxx, Diddy or our future president, but I think Harry Lennix would make a GREAT Obama.

Check it out and tell me what you think, and then tell me what actor you would choose?

Personal Finance Lesson #1

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.
One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her, but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit £200 million."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at financial planning than men.

35 Most Corrupt States In The Country

In light of Governor Blah-Blah's antics in Illinois, Politico reported on why Illinois is the most corrupt state in the country, only it's not.

Suprise, suprise Louisiana appears to be the most corrupt state in the union, according to this report of the most populous states that also have the distinction of being the most corrupt.

Numbers contained in the 2007 report are based on data from the U.S. Department of Justice (pre-2006 Democratic takeover of Congress for all the partisans out there), and include political officials CONVICTED of violating the public trust (not simply those accused of engaging in malfeasance).

Here they are: The 35 most populous states ranked by their level of corruption.

Did your state make the list?

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Louisiana

Mississippi

Kentucky

Alabama

Ohio

Illinois

Pennsylvania

Florida

New Jersey

New York

Tennessee

Virginia

Oklahoma

Connecticut

Missouri

Arkansas

Massachusetts

Texas

Maryland

Michigan

Georgia

Wisconsin

California

North Carolina

Arizona

Indiana

South Carolina

Nevada

Colorado

Washington

Utah

Kansas

Minnesota

Iowa

Oregon

Republicans Trying to Link Illinois Scandal to Obama

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald says he's making "no allegations that President-elect Barack Obama was aware" of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich allegedl pay-to-play antics. But that's not stopping some Republicans from trying to link it to Obama.

Check this out: "Robert "Mike" Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee, saidi: "Americans expect strong leadership, but President-elect Barack Obama's comments on the matter are insufficient at best."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Obama has said that he hasn't talked to the Governor in at least two years. What else can Obama add to that?

Well, we also know from the transcript of the wiretaps on Blagojevich that he had been communicating with lower level Obama staff. By his own wiretapped statements, Blagovevich was upset that the Obama people weren't playing ball.

In fact, Blagojevich called Obama a "motherfu_ker" for not giving him anything in return for appointing the person the Obama people wanted to fulfill his U.S. Senate seat. According to scuttlebutt around Washington, that person was Valerie Jarrett, the woman Obama just made his Chief of Staff instead.

All the juicy details are in the transcript, you can read it yourself so I won't bore you with that. I also won't bore you with any more rumors flying around your nation's capitol. What I find more interesting is the Republican attempt to make some, if not all, of the controversy stick to Obama.

Will it work?

Stay tuned...

Supreme Court Disses Obama Citizenship Lawsuit

Filed under No Surprises Here

(AP) The Supreme Court this morning unceremoniously declined to hear an emergency appeal from a man who claimed President-elect Barack Obama is not qualified for the presidency because he is not a "natural-born" citizen.

The court without comment declined to hear "Donofrio v. Wells," a suit that had attempted to keep Obama off the New Jersey ballot. Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick had claimed Obama had dual nationality at birth, because of his Kansas-born mother and his Kenyan-born father, who was a British subject at the time.

Just to be nonpartisan about it, Donofrio also contended that Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero also were not natural-born citizens and should have been kept off the ballot.

The case had little chance at the high court, but became the subject of a tremendous amount of speculation and debate on ideological political blogs.

Right-wing blogs were outraged when Justice David H. Souter denied Donofrio's petition for an injunction, and left-wing blogs smelled trouble when Justice Clarence Thomas referred the matter to the full court for consideration.

In fact, both were routine procedures, as the court's action today shows. There were no recorded dissents to the decision dismissing the case.

This hardly means the lawsuits are over. There are two other cases at the Supreme Court, neither of which has been scheduled for consideration. The most celebrated is filed by Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa. There are others still at lower court levels.

Berg argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama has said and Hawaii officials confirm. Alternately, Berg argues that Obama may have renounced his citizenship as a boy in Indonesia, where he lived for a time with his mother and stepfather.

Those supporting Berg do not believe a birth certificate Obama's campaign has produced.

Factcheck.org has done an independent investigation of the controversy.

"FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate," the group writes. "We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship.... Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said."

History Lesson Gone Awry?

White Instructor Said To Have Taped Hands And Feet Of 2 Black Middle Schoolers, Made Them Crawl Under Desk

HAVERSTRAW, N.Y. (CBS) ― Reenactments and demonstrations can be helpful teaching tools, but did a Rockland County teacher take that approach too far? She's under fire for binding the hands of black students and having them sit under a desk during a lesson on slavery.

Christine Shand says it was a terrible experience for her daughter, Gaby, descended, like most Jamaicans, from slaves.

"She burst into tears, she was crying and she was horrified," Shand told CBS 2 HD.

In a social studies class at Haverstraw Middle School, teacher Eileen Bernstein chose Gaby and another girl for a demonstration of conditions on ships that carried slaves out of Africa.

One African-American student raised her hand to volunteer for the demonstration. Gaby did not volunteer, but was chosen anyway.

"She taped their hands together, taped their feet together, and she had them crawl under the desk as if they were on a slave ship," her mother told CBS 2.

Mrs. Shand said Gaby was traumatized. She questions the teacher's judgment.

"There are other ways to demonstrate slavery. There's movies, you don't actually have to grab two kids and like put shackles on them," she said.

Wilbur Aldridge, the regional NAACP director, went with the Shands Thursday to meet Bernstein.

"She said she apologized for causing any problems for the child, but she was not apologizing for using that simulation during the class," Aldridge said.

But Principal Avis Shelby apologized, calling the slave ship demonstration a "bad decision."

"And we have things in place to make sure it doesn't occur again," Shelby added.

Mrs. Shand said she's still not satisfied and is mulling her options, worrying about how Gaby will perform the rest of the school year.

In the meantime, Mrs. Bernstein has remained in the classroom. Because it's a personnel issue, school officials won't say if she's been disciplined or reprimanded.

Should This Woman Have Been Fired?

Have you heard the one about the university administrator who was recently fired after saying you can't compare gay rights to civil rights?

Well, in case you haven't here it is.

In case you don't want to go to the link, a University of Toledo vice president for human resources , Crystal Dixon, wrote a column in a local newspaper saying: "I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are 'civil rights victims.' Here's why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a black woman."

True.

But was she out of line?

Dixon said gay rights can't be compared to civil rights because homosexuality is a choice.

She further stated: "There are consequences for each of our choices, including those who violate God's divine order."

Two weeks later, Dixon was fired. School officials said her views contradicted university policies, according to the lawsuit.

Dixon is now suing for wrongful termination, by the way. Conservatives, naturally, are taking up her cause.

Before a judge decides Dixon's case, what do you think?

Democrats At Sixty

I just saw rapper TI campaigning for Jim Martin in Georgia.

Who is Jim Martin you ask. Depending on whether voters come out tomorrow to cast their ballots, he's one of the guys who can help Democrats in the U.S. Senate reach a filibuster-proof 60 votes.

For those not in the know (and most of my readers are) a filibuster is a parliamentary procedure to obstruct or to prevent the adoption of a measure generally favored or to force a decision against the will of the majority.

One of the things I've learned since living in our nation's capitol, is that being the minority in the Senate isn't all bad. It means you hold the power; and that means you can put holds on legislation or make extraordinarily long speeches to keep legislation you don't like from being debated or voted upon.

Democrats say they need 60 votes to help keep such practices from happening.

Last month when voters, particularly black voters in suburban Atlanta, went to the polls in droves, they prevented the incumbent Senator, Republican Saxby Chambliss, from getting more than 50 percent of the vote. His biggest challenger, Jim Martin, nipped at Chambliss' heels, and now the two are in a run-off election that takes place Dec. 3 (tomorrow or today depending on when you're reading this).

As I've said many times before, there's Atlanta and then there's Georgia (I can say this because it is my home state and town). Because of this anomoly, I feel pretty safe in calling tomorrow's race for Chambliss because the JAW-JANS will come out, and election-weary (mostly black) voters in suburban ATL will choose to skip the festivities, even with the Senate at stake.

Former Republican Vice Presidential contender Sarah Palin visited the state Monday and John McCain has been there several times post-general election to help push the GOP candidate over the top. Obama, on the other hand, hasn't visited Georgia at all. Even he is blowing off the runoff.

Then again, Obama's been a little busy with other stuff lately I guess.

Regardless, Tuesday is about turnout.

If TI can campaign and vote, surely you can too.