Politics is for Entertainment Purposes Only

By law psychics must post somewhere in their ads or on their premises that the service they provide is for entertainment purposes only. If you listen to talk radio and take in a steady diet of dinner with a side of cable airheads, you should take under advisement the same laws that apply to spiritual healers apply to watching news pundits.

I strive to be an equal opportunity listener, however it hit me like a brick after several days of listening to talk show conservatives rant on and on about the evil stimulus package Obama is trying to push through congress, that these men and women who say they speak for their fellow man clearly do not care about the welfare of their fellow men.

I am not supporting the stimulus package either way here. The way it is written I do not see it as a healing agent for our economic woes, though I do want to give a shout out to Paul Krugman and his piece in last week's Rolling Stone Mag www.rollingstone.com. I thought it provided great insight in how best to handle our economic crisis. In fact Mr. Krugman had the mindful authority to personally pitch his piece directly to the president.

But to hear right wing conservatives blast the stimulus package in the same forked tongue they used to advance Bush's war monger ideology is nothing short of blasphemy! Joe Scarborough this morning was carrying on about how wrong he and all his republican cohorts were when they listened to Bush and supported invading Iraq even after the weapon inspectors found no WMD's. He then said in the same breath, so why should the republican party now follow Obama into economic purgatory. Where is the logical thread here? Where is the rationale for comparing apples to oranges? These people get paid for talking. They get paid a very lavish salary, especially in today's depressed times. Yet there is not one insightful, smart, illuminating thought among them. Stand on any line today and strike up a conversation with the person behind or in front of you, and regardless of their party allegiance, you will have a more engaging, intelligent dialogue than you will hear on any of our highly technological advanced airwaves today.

There were plenty of loud voices raised before there was ever a raised fist singing praises to 'shock & awe' but did Mr. Scarborough or any of his party members listen? NO! They did not! But to listen to Mr. Scarborough this morning you would have to assume that Bush sucked out his brain for the last eight years and only now, in the light of a new day, did he get back his cerebral skill set.

Again, I am not defending Obama's stimulus proposal. But I am in desperate search of an intelligent approach to dissecting the proposal's pros and cons. I am in agreement that the dems apparently did sneak in a whole bunch of dusty agendas they kept hidden away from Pappa Bush. But to hear Joe Scarborough scream about the monies going to food stamps and unemployment insurance as wasteful and deplorable is too much to stomach.

Moreover, where were all these Republicans screaming for President Bush to stop throwing millions of our tax dollars onto the streets of Baghdad? Why didn't they demand accounting for millions of our dollars when our soldiers over in Iraq can tell you how many times they were ordered to hand out bags of cash to people with no intentions other than to use the money to work against and harm our soldiers. Our soldiers can tell congress just how wasteful all that 'throw about cash' was, and how no good came of it. No reliable intelligence or helpful information was revealed or uncovered. Just our tax dollars hard at work at 'WHAT?'

If nothing less but for all the American families that have recently lost their incomes and have no idea how they are going to get through these very difficult times, to collect unemployment checks and buy food via food stamps, it is absolutely imperative for congress to pass some kind of emergency fund budget.

If congress wants to cut out all of the stimulus bill's so called pork and remove every Democratic Christmas wish list item, so be it. But to yell about food stamps and increased social service programs in these horrific days is the same as kicking a man when he's down!! How egregiously hard-hearted can one Republican get!

How can any Republican look himself or herself in the mirror when they know every single day that goes by now hundreds of thousands of American families and individuals have just been cut from their life lines. How they can deny food and medical services to these families and their children? Thank God the SCHIP bill finally got signed, no thanks to the republicans. At least that will help somewhat in the absence of the stimulus package getting approved.

As long as their own families are being fed and taken care of I guess Republicans on the airwaves will always be nearsighted when it comes to passing social programs for the poor.

Black is the new White

Here is my 2009 February Black History Month composition:

It has become abundantly clear in the past twelve months leading up to Obama's inauguration address that we had the privilege to witness an event no one alive today ever thought they would see in their own lifetime.

Obama himself has made humorous remarks in this regard. Just last night in reference to Robert E. Lee he joked if he was with us tonight he would be 202 and very confused. But there are much larger issues at hand today that need our collective vision to venture far beyond the obvious, "Never did I think I'd see in my lifetime." refrains.

Our sights should be set on the way black children have begun to identify with the big, bold changes they see happening. Will Obama's presence in the presidency help to make big, bold changes in their lives as well?

His presence in the White House has already made radical changes happen in certain industries. You can't pick up a magazine or watch TV today and not notice that Denzel Washington and Beyonce are no longer the gold standard by which all black men and women are judged. A large majority of recent print ads and TV commercials have instantly switched from using solely beautiful white models to purposely hiring beautiful black models.

So yes, it's very apparent that Obama's contribution in the media has provided a win fall for all black models and actresses. Their profile and ability to get the part has risen overall one thousand percent. But will this cultural 'What looks good on the cover of People Magazine' transformation also mean a sweeping change in how we supply funding and teach education for our poor and underprivileged children as well?

This is where we need the positive currency of having a black president make the most difference in these children's lives. Before the drug dealer on the corner attaches an appendage to them, before the gang mentality on the corner internalizes in their psyche, before they see their neighborhood as just a kaleidoscope of mean streets and hostile vibes. Before they get a bullet in their back or one way ticket to jail.

Although it is critically important for all our children, no matter what genetic code or ethnicity they bestow, to be able to identify with the images they see in magazines and on TV, if the resources are not available, after they toss the tabloid on the floor or turn off the television set, for them to have the opportunity to attend good schools with well-equipped classrooms that receive natural light and offer clean bathrooms, with heat in the winter and a cool breeze in the summer, and most essential, caring and concerned teachers willing to tutor and not just teach, then all the glossy, perfect pictures in the world will not change the reality they wake up to and have to contend with every single day of their lives.

This momentous change in our nation's history should not and cannot be squandered and lost on ad nauseous realms regarding Obama's celebrity hype and our country's catastrophic economic downturns.