Not About Obama

OK So today was freakin historic and America ushered in a new day of hope, idealism and fairness. Today was a day all men are equal rather than all men of worth. Today was the day everything changed blah blah blah. RIGHTTTTTTTTT. I'll believe it when I see it.

But until then I am not going to pin my hopes for tomorrow on a guy I never met and that has no interest in even knowing who the hell I am or what I do or where I live. He can do his job, I will do my job and if neither one of us fucks up too badly, we will live in perfect harmony without ever coming into personal contact or conflict with the other. On the other hand, if I screw up, HE now has the responsibility to either guide me back to the straight and narrow OR to bust my ass before I can do further harm.

Out of professional courtesy, I should try to do the same for him. In the coming days he will screw up, as will I. I hope to be redirected to where I can do good and everybody prospers. I would hope that I would listen to sage advice and make necessary adjustments. I would hope he will respond the same. If I fail to listen or make corrections, I fully expect to be removed from my job. He should expect the same. That is America.

But I won't talk about our President. That is not the purpose of this post. No I wanted to tell you about my day, at my job, where I work to save the world (preferably before 5:00 p.m.)each and every day. Today I went from office to office and found co-workers listening to Internet Radio, watching streaming video and actually huddled around TVs. Watching the inauguration.

Now maybe it was because I didn't feel good. Maybe it was because my back was killing me and I had a ton of work to do before I left for a full day of meetings, but I kind of lost it. "What the hell do you think is going to happen here?" I demanded. "You think after two full years of campaigning, hundreds of millions of dollars, all of the lies, personal attacks, life on the road with total strangers; all for one ultimate goal... and what..? You think they are going to ask him if he will assume the responsibilities of the Office of the President of the United States of America and he might say 'No!'??"

Oh sure I got several responses that were blatant bullcrap. "We are watching history unfold." On the state's dime! "This is historic, not only is he the hope of the future but no more Bush!" I heard all of these responses and none of them justified ignoring work to watch a ceremony on TV until the new chick fessed up the real reason. She looked up over her computer monitor and sheepishly admitted, "I heard he could get shot!"

And there we have it. America loves the little guy, the under dog, the dude that takes a beating but just wont stay down. America loves football, cold beer, and it turns out they love Inauguration speeches for the same reason they love to watch NASCAR. God Bless This Glorious Nation.

Another Competition

So it seem Barrak (the vote) Obama's people are offering up 10 tickets in an essay writing jump ball contest. The best essayist that is also a likely campaign contributor, will win an all expense paid trip to the Inauguration, the parade and one of the balls. It's a big deal and I need to find a way to win this sucker! I am thinking about submitting something like:

Growing up as a poor black child in Oklahoma, prior to becoming a multi-million dollar but anonymous Democratic Party contributor as an adult, I daily faced the reality of racism and the oppression of poverty. Upon graduating at the top of my class with perfect grades, teeth and little to no body odor, I saw many of my less deserving classmates whisked into upper level management positions or full ride scholarships because of the good old (white) boy culture that still exists even today.

This inauguration marks the beginning of the end of those times. The end of times when poor black kids like me will watch others moved to the front of the line because of their white skin color or inside connections. I, and preceding generations before me, have longed for the day when that unfair, racist favoritism was no longer showered on others, but instead, would be showered on us. And I believe that January 20th (or there abouts) will be the day those changes begin to take place. It would be my greatest honor to be witness to, and take part in, that change for this country.

So what do you think, do I have a winner? Since it is for a political group I don't think honesty matters all that much, so the fact that I am a middle aged white guy might actually be in my favor. ...I wonder if I need a warmer coat for Washington? I hear it can be really cold there in January.

The Day After

So here we are, a world where the armies of good finally defeated the armies of evil after many years of watching the world get plunged into darkness. And how did the side of light over come the evil clutches of darkness..? With a BLACK MAN!

Now while the new generation is dancing in celebration of the election of the first African American President we have a large percentage of the country plunged into fear. Elderly whites, those who never attended a desegregated school, who grew up hearing tales of of the threat of outright racial warfare are in complete terror. The worst nightmare they have been trained from birth to fear is now manifested in the shape of a well educated, highly qualified man with a plan who just happens to be a bit darker than the 43 Presidents to hold office before him.

Now do not get me wrong. I am not saying we should hold a big pity party for the old established bigots of the nation. I am not saying we should clasp the cold and shaking liver spotted hands in our warm grip of hope and say with a smiling face, "Oh, you're a racist? Isn't that sweet!" NO! I am saying we need to acknowledge that reasonable or unreasonable as it may seem a century and a half after the fall of slavery, a half a century after the civil rights acts, more than 10 years after Doug Williams won the Super Bowl... as preposterous as it might strike us... We have 10s of millions of people that are gripped in absolute fear.

I don't know the answer, but I will bet there is not a reader that comes to this blog that doesn't have at least one family member who feels this way. It is not Republican dogma that controls this fear, it is not concern about taxes. It is a fear of race or skin color. It is still fed by the evening news and nurtured by a lack of direct contact with a real community.

Fueled by tales of Social Service workers and Medical Administrators who only deal with the poorest of the poor. They spread skewed stories of a incomplete demographic as if it were indisputable fact. The gang bangers are in the Whitehouse!

Please be patient. As time passes and the nation sees the leader that emerges, try not to gloat. They grew up in different times with different beliefs. Change is hard. We need to show a little understanding but we also need to continue the movement and shine light on the fears. If we don't stand up and expose the good that will start happening the fear will grow and fester. But we can help. Yes we can.

Whatt'll Ya Do On Wednesday?

So Whatcha gunna do when you get up Wednesday and it turns out like four years ago? What the hell will you do if every exit poll shows Obama won but the vote tally goes to the other guy? What will you do when the guy who has trailed behind in all of the political polls all year long pulls out a majority win?

Will you buy the argument that it was the "race" factor? Will you take it like a battered and freshly back-handed bitch and accept that polls are not reliable? Will you go back to work? Will you go back to paying your taxes? Will you accept what you hear in spite of what you feel to be true... again?

Four years ago there was an election where the least popular President in the history of the United States pulled off a stunning victory in spite of exit polls. DO you remember what an exit poll is? That's where a dude with a clip board stands outside the voting booth and asked people AFTER they voted -- "Who did you vote for?" And in the last election a huge majority of the exit polls said they voted for John Kerry. Why would they lie? Yet the voting machines, many of them sold by the Diebold Company, said Dubya was the big winner. And as a result, we all lost. We lost a lot.

We have all heard the stories. The machines screwed up. There were screw up for both sides. But it seems whenever a screw up happened that favored one side or the other it ALWAYS favored Bush. So many claimed the elections were fixed. What will you believe on Wednesday?

This year we have a guy who is winning on the fund raising battle, he is winning on the popularity battle and I will bet he will win the exit poll battle. So what the hell are you going to do on Wednesday if the media and all involved say the other guy won? I really mean this, do you have a plan on what you will do on Wednesday if the rug is yanked out from under an entire nation again?

Opinion Fluff

NOTE: Too freakin lazy to look up correct spelling of names.

I have heard a lot of discussion on Sarah Palin (Am I the ONLY one who sees that name and thinks it reads Sarah Plain and Tall? I am sure there is a psych reason for that... maybe something to do with a word sight registrar?) I hear everything to it's great she is a woman maverick to she is way too lacking in experience. So, in the long standing traditions of "opinions are like assholes, everybody has one and usually they all stink," here are some of my thoughts.

Traditionally the Veep job has been a career ender. In the 1900s when Teddy was elected VP, he was deeply depressed. His political party put him there so that he could not cause any more problems. He was so distraught he left for the wilds of Colorado with his family. Within weeks McKinley was shot in Buffalo and Teddy was on a train back to DC to change history and shape the future... and make Oklahoma a state.

The position has served as either a launching pad for people like Bush Sr, or a political cock-block like for Quale, Dukkas, and Gore. Dick Cheney really changed the scope of the power of the #2 dude. But historically I would say the VP person is of little or no importance for the next 8 years. However, this VP will be stepping into the shoes of Darth Vader who wielded way more power than any Veep ever had before. (He fabricated enough intel to get a war for Haliburton after all... while still receiving a paycheck from the company!)

I think the main things to look at are the people who will make the calls in future policy decisions. I have not paid a lot of attention to Obama because I was informed very early our votes don't count. Oklahoma delegates will vote for whomever THEY want to vote for, despite the primary election. (Good use of taxes) What excites me is that Obama seems to make enough campaign money he could change the face of politics. There are rumors that most of his contributions are from foreign governments. But if he can break the hold Lobbyist and favor-grubbers hold over current politicians, Obama may be the savior this country needs. IF IF IF....

McCain, on the other, hand claims to be a maverick but plays the party line. He wants to stay in Iraq even if it takes 100 years. He votes against Veteran health benefits, he endorses torture of prisoners... after claiming that if we torture it will endanger our servicemen if they are prisoners, like he was in Viet Nam. He has flip-flopped on all of his core values to get more in line with his party. I thought he was the guy to elect in 2000. But as many political analysts have pointed out, this is not the McCain that should have won 8 years ago.

If you are looking to make a change, right now, the guy that stands the biggest chance to change politics seems to be Obama. McCain was too eager to give his values up to the RNC. Now he seems controlled by his wife's purse strings and his party's fickle support. I think the guy who seems more independent and says he wants to make things better for everybody might be the best choice.... but can we get him to cool his jets on capital gains taxes? Sheeesh... at least set some brackets! If I make $15K a year in rental income I don't think it is the same as the guy who makes $20 million in the same year.