Imnotfeelingit.com

One of the many things that this recession has done is to hold up a mirror to how Americans think and feel about money. Because those people who already have more money that God should allow want more and those people who don’t have any money, want to be able to keep a roof over their heads. And those people in between just want to keep what little they have. Yet it has been those people who have the most who are doing and saying anything to keep it. And as an example, I present South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer to equated feeding/giving poor people welfare to “feeding stray animals.
 
People are poor for a myriad of reasons. Some people are born into poverty and can never vision another way of living. Some people are forced into poverty by a job loss, a death of the primary wage earner, or a medical disaster. And yes, there are some people for whom welfare is a right of passage. But NO ONE with more than one working brain cell can say that waiting on a check is living because it isn’t. It’s existing. And that isn’t living! But here is where the mirror that is being held up to vilify the poor is being conveniently covered up when it is aimed at CORPORATE WELFARE!
 
The American Government has given BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to FOR PROFIT CORPORATIONS who have mis-managed, stolen, fraudulently spent, and gave out in bonus’s, to people who have been eating with silver spoons for decades! Not to mention people who run Corporations who on top of THEIR WELFARE also get LOCAL, STATE, and FEDERAL TAX BREAKS! These same people spent millions on “corporate junkets and vacations”, and corporate jets, luxury sports sky boxes, and expensive alcohol and food that was as abundant as McDonald hamburgers. Yet these exact same “Captains of Industry” came with their hats in their hands to the Government trough and got billions of “Corporate Welfare Money.” Oh, sorry, the term for Corporate Welfare is “BAILOUT!” If poor people, many of whom never had a chance to succeed are “stray animals”, what would you call people who have WASTED more money than has been paid out to welfare recipients? LEECHES! BLOODSUCKERS? MOLD? FUNGUS? Whatever is considered LESS than ANIMALS, that is what they are!
 
Bauer’s comments have been met with scorn by both Republicans and Democrats alike. And he has stated that he meant what he said, he just should have used another word for animal. What a great guy! I would love to hear him explain giving BILLIONS to RICH PEOPLE would be considered. And what word he would apply to these WELFARE TAKERS? He’d probably call them “FRIENDS“, COLLEAGUES, DONORS, and SUPPORTERS.
 
“Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, let’s add another HYPOCRITE to the wall.” Calling Andre Bauer to, your SPOT is now available!
 
 

Ain’t that a bitch. We finally have a First Lady that we all can be proud of, regardless of the color of your skin, and we have people verbally beating her down damn near on a daily basis. In the last week there was a NUT CASE name Tammy Bruce who called Michelle Obama “trash.” Then there was a commentator, Bert Prelutsky, on a supposed “Christian” radio station who that racism doesn’t exist in America because if it did, Oprah, Will Smith, Colin Powell, and Denzel Washington would be serving Mint Julips on the plantation. He also called Michelle a bitch! Seems like there is a segment of America who is fighting “tooth and nail” against the idea that a country that is less than 200 years past slavery is now being led my ancestors of those exact same people! Well get past it! A Black man is the leader of the free world! And his Black wife is the First Lady!!!!
 
The capper is that a Republican Congressman from the assbackwards state of california, Darrell Issa, is sponsoring a bill that would make it a crime for First Lady’s, read Michelle Obama, to do any “substantive work.” WOW!!!
 
Let’s break this down. We just got rid of the worse president probably in the history of the presidency in george w bush. (lowercase on purpose). His wife, Laura Bush, was omnipresent on TV talking about being a big brother or sister. She spoke and advocated for women’s rights both here and Internationally. Yet NO ONE said anything about what she was doing. But when Michelle, who has only been in office for a little longer than 2 months, begins to put her stamp on the First Ladyship, a bill is sponsored to have her sit her ass down. I’d hate to say this was racist, but it is beginning to smell that way!
 
Bottom line is this. For the first time since the 60′s, we have a President and First lady we all can identify with. Two people who, if politics were taken out of it, we could see ourselves being friends with. There is hope for this country like never before. Even with the recession. And if the saying “behind every great man, there is a great woman” is correct, the last thing we want is for Michelle to “sit down.” If Michelle can help polish our tarnished image both here and abroad, I say, “do yo thing sista!!!!!”
 
Issa has more things to worry about. Like a california economy that is in the tank. An unemployemnt rate that is at or near the top of the list. He also needs to remember that this issue was settled in 1993 when the role of the First Lady was clarified when Hillary Clinton took an active part of creating a Comprehensive Health Plan.
 
So Darrell, relax. Barack and Michelle “Got this!”

Let me get this straight. An industry that is as old as damn near the Industrial Revolution is now asking for a bailout. And the CEO’s of General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford came to ask Congress for the money on THREE SEPARATE PRIVATE JETS no less! Does anyone see something wrong with this picture? Because I’m still walking!

 

I remember a time when “Buying American” essentially meant you were buying an American made car. And Ford and General Motors were the car makers to buy from. Cadillacs, Impalas, Mustangs, and a litany of Ford trucks cruised our highways and byways. Since there was no competition from foreign cars, these car manufacturers had a captive audience. You either bought one of their cars or you walked or used public transportation. And the bigger the car the better!

 

Slowly but surely, foreign cars began to come onto our shores. With Toyota, Datsun/Nissan, and Honda manufacturing cars that were economical, better made, and not as expensive, the American car began to slip in the minds of the very people Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors needed to keep … Americans! How many people remember when Ford meant “Found on Road Daily?” Or remember the Pinto and the memo that allegedly came from the higher ups at Ford who said that paying out money in lawsuits would be cheaper than fixing an obvious and fatal design flaw?  By the mid 80′s, the American people stopped thinking, and rightfully so, that supporting an industry that didn’t care about them or that produced whatever they wanted whether we liked it or not, should end. Why would I pay for a car that is poorly made, guzzles gas, breaks down every other day, and costs more than a better produced foreign car? I wouldn’t and didn’t!

 

By the time the American manufactures realized we weren’t going to buy “just anything”, it was too late. Our pocketbooks and wallets dictated what kind of a car we would purchase. While owning a Cadillac is still a “status thing” owning a Lexus, built by Toyota no less, succeeded in putting a major dent in the definition of “status.” Most people don’t even know that the Lexus is made by Toyota because the name “Toyota” is not on the car. We see “Lexus” and that is all we need to know. They were given billions of dollars in subsidies, local, state, and federal tax relief, and were able to lobby the government when they wanted or needed something.

 

In 1989, documentary maker Michael Moore foretold this current auto industry meltdown in his movie “Roger and Me.” In the movie, Moore showed just how cold and callous the deeds of General Motors and his attempts to get an interview with CEO Roger Smith. The loss of more than 30,000 jobs and the ensuing housing crash dealt a death kneel to the city of Flint, Michigan, from which it still hasn’t recovered.

 

 

The CEO’s of these companies made obscene amounts of money and stock options and will walk away with millions more in Golden Parachutes. That industries who made BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars over the last 30 years or more are now asking to be  bailed out by the government is appalling at best and atrocious at worse. Yet the only people who seem to be suffering are the average American. We are losing our jobs, our houses, and our way of life while these “fat cats” keep getting fatter at our expense. Where is the bailout for all those people taken in by the mortgage industry? Where is the forgiveness of our consumer debt? And the only jobs that are hiring are debt collectors!

 

But the government has to bail them out. What would happen to the millions and millions of Ford, GM, and Chrysler cars currently on the road? Would you buy a car from a company that is “going out of business?”  It looks like the American government has now gotten into the Insurance business, the Mortgage business, Wall Street, the Banking business, and will now get into the Auto business.

 

Can you say SOCIALISM? I know you can!

 

But wait a minute. I’m still walking?

He owes us damnit and I’m going to get what’s mine. Barack Obama has yet to be inaugurated into the office of the Presidency and he is already being bombarded with people saying that he “owes them” because of their support and they “plan on collecting.”

 

The special interest groups all are jockeying to be the first ones to “get theirs.” The Abortion rights people and the Catholic church are saying that even though they voted for Obama, it doesn’t mean they agree with his stand on abortion. The mayors of many cities are calling for Obama to send economic and work related aid to them. Black folks want him to “take care of us” and Hispanics want to make sure they “aren’t forgotten.” Women want  prominent cabinet positions go to women. Lesbians and gays want him to stand up for our rights to marry and get equal treatment under the law. The young folks, those bright eyed and bushy tailed youngsters who for maybe the first time felt compelled to get involved in the political process, want to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Old people want to know that their retirement funds and pensions will be there when they need it. Homeowners want to save their homes. The unemployed want jobs. Business owners want to stay in business and be able to support their families. Unions want to know they still have a place in the new American economy. Other countries want to make sure that the “bomb first, ask questions later” policies of the previous administration is over. Have I left anyone out? I’m sure I have. Barack is being set up to fail.

 

Barack is coming into a job in a country whose economy is on the brink of a depression.  Thousands of jobs are seemingly being lost every day. And it’s not just the mortgage industry that is losing jobs. DHL is planning on cutting over 9500 jobs in America. Sun Microsystems is planning on cutting 6000 jobs. Morgan Stanley is planning on cutting 10% of it’s work force. That would mean another 4400 jobs that will be lost.  Yahoo announced that they will be cutting another 1500 jobs and that is in addition to the 1000 that were cut earlier this year. An economic report said there were over 127,000 jobs lost in the month of October alone. In a nation of over 305 billion people, 127,000 jobs doesn’t sound like a lot. But the job cutting has been going on for the last 15 months. And since the jobs are spread out over all industries, no one is being spared. Even Las Vegas, the city that was described as being “recession proof” announced today that profits are 5.1% lower from just a year ago. Continue reading “Back up off of Obama!” »

Back in February of 2008, Michelle Obama, the new first lady of the United States of America, made a comment that she hadn’t been proud to be an American for some 26 years. She was vilified in the press for that comment and many people questioned whether America should elect someone whose wife is ashamed of the country he wants to lead. What many white people failed to realize it that the sentiment that Michelle stated spoke for millions of African Americans in this country. And for 25 years of my adult life, that included me! 

Any African American of “Generation X” is old enough to know what happened in the 40′s, 50′s, and 60′s, and young enough to know that while some things have changed, many have just been hidden under the rug. When I heard the comment and the ensuing brouhaha, my first reaction was “yeah and.” The real problem is that many white people, even those who say they have “Black friends” have never sat down and had a REAL CONVERSATION, about each other’s true feelings about race in this country. A conversation that doesn’t point fingers, that doesn’t accuse, but just lays it/racism as we see it. If and when that conversation ever occurs, race relations will take another giant leap forward.

The thought that a Black man would be elected to be president in my lifetime was unfathomable. Yet on November 4, 2008, history was made. Barack Obama was elected president. And his message of inclusion obviously struck a cord that transcended race, age, occupation, sex, and sexual preference. While Obama’s “message of inclusion” created history, not only for America, but for the world, his message was certainly lost for 52 percent of californians.

Continue reading “Proud to me an American and ashamed to be a californian” »

As I said in an earlier post, this year’s election is probably the biggest election in modern history. Projections are that this election will have the largest voter turnout ever. With the Democrats seeking to take over the White House and control both houses and Republicans seeking to hold onto the White House and maybe gain some seats in both houses, the political future of this country is up for grabs. With so much at stake, is it really a surprise that Republican supporters are pulling out all of the stops, including breaking federal laws, to win?

 

There have been numerous reports coming from many areas of this country stating that someone Republicans supporters have passed out flyers in minority areas that are meant to scare, confuse, and discourage us from voting. Many of these flyers state that if you have warrants out for your arrest or unpaid parking tickets, you will be arrested if you go to the polls. Calls have been made to voters who are registered as Democrats saying that “Republicans vote on Tuesday and Democrats vote on Wednesday.” Text messages are being sent to cell phones stating that voters can “phone in” their votes. People are being told that if they don’t have any identification, they won’t be allowed to vote. For Latino voters, they are being told that their citizenship papers can be revoked, they can and will be arrested and deported. These are blatant lies and are federal crimes.

 

The 1965 Federal Voters Right Act, an extension of the 15th Amendment of the Constitution, states that no one can be denied the right to vote based on their race or color. It also states that voting literature must be in the languages of the people in that precinct.The subsequent extensions of the Act in 1970, 1975, and 1984, also make it a crime to intimidate or mislead voters.  This is EXACTLY what Republican supporters are attempting to do. They are attempting to intimidate, misled, scare, and surpress Democratic and by extension, Black and Latino voters, from voting. And let’s not forget that in the 2004 election, we had “hanging chads“, voting machines that were said to have been “hacked“, and excessive lines that discouraged people from voting. Or more inportantly, polling places that closed even though people were still waiting in line to vote.

 

For a country that claims to be ”for the people and by the people”, it seems like only certain people, Republicans, think they should be the only people to decide how this country is ran and who should run it. The CIA could take lessons from the Republican Party because the Republicans have no shame in getting what they want. And that includes breaking federal laws.

This is one of THE most important election years in modern history with a “newcomer” by the name of Barack Obama and an “establishment guy” named John McCain running for president. The newcomer is African american and the establishment guy is white. While conservatives have pulled out all of the stops to try and discredit Obama, including saying that he is a “Muslim terrorist” and “Un-american”, it is the actions of the conservative minions that have brought race and racism to the forefront in an ugly, vicious way. And I thought Ronald Reagan and the visions of Willie Horton were dead!

 

Why am I bringing this nightmare back up? Because there have been MANY instances of racism connected to this year’s election. On an Oregon campus, there was a hanging of a life-size cardboard cutout of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. In California, the Chaffey Republican Women’s group sent out mailers that were termed “Obama food stamps”

that showed his picture on a $10.00 food stamp. Also on the “stamp” were pictures of  Kentucky Fried Chicken, watermelon, Kool-Aid, and Barbeque ribs. When this item went public, Diane Fedele, president of the group, stated that the pictures were of things “we all eat.” Funny how there were no stamps of McCain with pictures of Geritol, Efferdent, Depends, or Life Alert on them.

 

 

There was another incident at Western Carolina University where a Black Bear cub was killed and placed on the campus with Barack Obama signs placed around it. That is incomprehensible for two reasons. First thing is that racism is NOT funny. But more importantly, an INNOCENT ANIMAL was killed to make this silly point. Somewhere the late Steve Irwin, is crying about the death of this cub. But again, why am I bringing these kinds of incidents up?

Continue reading “Paging Ronald Reagan, Paging Ronald Reagan!” »