Todays Special on Barack Obama on Channel 7

Harry Porterfield did a special today on Barack Obama. What was most interesting was a comment made by both Timuel Black and Jesse Jackson Jr. As they spoke of Barack Obama in terms of his agressive pursuit of moving up the political ladder, they in essence said that many had felt Barack Obama was going too fast, he wasn't waiting his turn in line.

That is the problem that I see going on in the black community and is at the essence of why the black community is SOS (STUCK ON STUPID). If we have to allow those to get their "turns" then we will continue getting the same type of politician doing the same type of thing keeping us in the same time of situation.

Sorry folks, but I beleive in CHANGE. I don't vote for someone just because they wear the ASS on their label. I don't trust domeone just because they carry an elephant in their trunk.

If we continue to send messages to children that their future is limited to the next in line concept, we will always stay in trouble!


And that attitude is the exact reason that so many are supporting Roland Burris. He has been given his turn and we all are suppose to line up behing him and applaud. Sorry folks, there are some younger, smarter and better candidates in the line and I won't jump on the rah-rah bandwagon for Roland.

GOT THIS EMAIL AND I MUST RESPOND PUBLICALLY!

In my professional career I was an Editor, Account Manager and Columnist for the "world famous" Hollywood Gazette Newspaper before they closed their doors. I thought I saw it all but Illinois Political Corruption makes Bernard L. Madoff look like a MONK! Regardless of "selective" surveys that says Illinois not in the top corrupt states.

I checked out an "editorial page" by Publisher Hermene D. Hartman in the newspaper. Some of her points I agree on, some I do not. Let's visit a few of those delicious issues. She first discriminates [like most people do] about Republicans. She points out a truck load of reasons [in her opinion] why the Republicans want the seat and "they" are ONLY doing this and that to SENATOR Roland Burris because they want the seat. Yeah right, as if every body else in the Illinois Political "gutter" is not gunning for that historical seat too.

I am a proud REPUBLICAN and that will never change.

I support Roland Burris as a friend and from where I sit; the law is on his side. You only commit perjury if you "intentionally" make a misstatement under sworn oath during testimony. Senator Burris ONLY answered what he was asked. If Roland Burris was not fully and completely asked extensive, detailed, probative, grueling, direct questions with the 'any and all' inclusive directive; then the error lies within that body or official doing the questioning and the "finger should be pointed in that direction [hello Senator Durbin]" not at Senator Burris and say he is deceptive because he did not tell his life story on the stand and rattled on and on and on.

A very close friend of mine whom made his transition from this earth was a great historical lawyer and did what his client paid him to do [regardless of the outcome and the unintelligent client that did not have the common sense to learn he got the PASS of a lifetime and stay out of trouble] always said, "Race plays a part in everything you do." Here, it does--is--and will apply to Senator Burris.

In the Illinois 'tight' and ferocious political circle; you must be as well connect as Attorney Lisa Madigan to father Mike Madigan [Illinois Speaker of the House and classmate to most of the Illinois Supreme Court Justices]; Burris is not.Another lawyer in Illinois [EdwardVrdolyak who is White] did a lot of inappropriate things that cost him his law license and through years of litigation, he walked away with no pressure from the public or hounding by the media [unlike Burris who is Black]. That's just how things go in Illinois but that's also how things go in life too. The ONLY thing you can do when you are the underdog and the minority is to fight back legally and fight back hard.

I am disturbed but not surprised by another editorial opinion [by Arlene Jones of a free throw away local newspaper] whom attacked Senator Roland Burris' character without personal knowledge of all the facts. Summing up his appointment as "tarnished" because she believes he was deceptive in the process to his appointment. As righteous as this opinion is from this free throw away local newspaper; no one on this earth is God and able to judge anyone. Respectfully disagreeing [even in journalism would demonstrate perfection in your craft--a thing or two I learned in undergrad, grad school and at the newspaper].

From a realistic point of view, even the first Black United States President made a few errors [in appointments] and was accountable as stated so [he too is a lawyer and a Harvard man]. I do not believe that is the extent of the errors of appointments though [some transplanted from this corrupt state of Illinois]; however, that's the way life goes. First and foremost, everyone MUST stop pointing fingers and give EVERYONE the chance to defend themselves and put all the muddled slop on the tape for close scrutiny [OMG that won't happen . . . this is Illinois politics we're talking about].

-JANE


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First off, I must say, "hmmmm, must have hit a nerve!".

This woman Jane proclaims to be a proud republican. I can see from her personal attack on a newspaper that is serving a community free of charge is telling in her judgemental (remember she says no one should judge except God and then anoints herself a deity to judge. CAN WE ALL SAY HYPOCRITE????


It appears "JANE" doesn't agree with my viewpoint on Roland Burris slithering to get the senate seat. Sorry, but his actions are no better or different than his appointer. Plus, if his co-senators decide to ignore him, which I understand they did at President Obama's speech, Roland is in for a very lonely existence. A junior senator doesn't have any power especially when they are a junior and novice.

Will Roland's vote really be that important? Well time will tell. But will his be the courted voted or can they expect his vote regardless because in his being ineffective in the seat, what does he have to leverage with? He won't get elected to the seat in 2011. He doesn't have the support of the MAJORITY OF ILLINOIS VOTERS. What he offers will be a filler- something that just holds the space.

Roland Burris is a nice man. But his quest for his own glory is at our expense!

The Most Addictive Game Ever

The AJC use to publish this game once a week and every Friday I couldn't wait for it to appear. Now its published dailyed. Check it out and have fun.

BTW, I am getting very good at finding all five differences within the 45 seconds.


Find Five.

Tales of the New Post-Racial America - Yeah right!

Mayor who sent watermelon e-mail says he'll resign
1 hour ago

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. (AP) — The mayor of a small Southern California city says he will resign after being criticized for sharing an e-mail picture depicting the White House lawn planted with watermelons under the title "No Easter egg hunt this year."

Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose issued a statement Thursday saying he is sorry and will step down as mayor at Monday's City Council meeting.

Grose came under fire for sending the picture to what he called "a small group of friends." One of the recipients, a local businesswoman and city volunteer, publicly scolded the mayor for his actions.

Grose says he accepts that the e-mail was in poor taste and has affected his ability to lead the city. Grose said he didn't mean to offend anyone and claimed he was unaware of the racial stereotype linking black people with eating watermelons.

Located in Orange County, Los Alamitos is a 2 1/4-square-mile city of around 12,000 people.

Time to Take The Right Path In Responding To Critics

It is real easy to write about what is wrong. It is real easy to complain about what is wrong. It is real easy to overlook the positive and focus on the negative. I was starting to write this column and do just that. Focus on the negative because when so much of the world is raining down on you, it is hard to see dry land when all around you is a down pouring of rain.

We as a country are at our own fork in the road. Make the right turn and we can come out okay. The right road may be bumpy and it may look like a mountain is sitting in the middle of the path that we’ll have to take blocking our way, but it is the right way to go. The left turn looks good, smooth as ice but as we all know that left turn will take us off of a steep cliff.

This past week, another issue was placed before us where we had to decide which direction to take. A most disturbing cartoon was run in the New York Post Newspaper. It came on the heels of the news story of the woman whose chimp ran amok and was shot after tearing off the face of one of the woman’s friends. If you didn’t see the cartoon, it can be found all over the internet. To describe the cartoon, it involved two cops with their guns smoking and the chimp lying dead on the ground with two bullet holes in the chest. One police officer says to the other, “They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill".

Since President Barack Obama is considered the author of the idea for the stimulus package that just passed, many interpreted that the dead monkey on the ground was a metaphor for him. There was outrage, indignation and calls for the firing of the man who drew the cartoon as well as a boycott against the New York Post for printing it and the advertisers who bought ads in the paper. Originally the Post had declared it had the right to print what it printed. The Post defended the cartoonist and called the Rev. Al Sharpton who was one of the leading figures in the fight against the cartoon a media hound. Rev. Sharpton’s actions were so successful that a week later the owner of the paper issued an apology. So in the mist of bad news, we had the Rev. Sharpton and others doing the right things and their protest resulted in the right action.

Most interesting is that the media tried to paint the outrage over the cartoon as if only black people were upset. The last I looked, President Obama was elected by all of America and all of America should be upset. To many black Americans, we saw the lines connecting the dots immediately. To all of America, in a society where the numbers of guns purchased since the election of Barack Obama has gone thru the roof, to see a cartoon depicting dead the author of the stimulus bill is insulting. To have the author being a chimp had a double entendre meaning.

But another thought came to my mind once this controversy hit the fan. How will those of us who have put President Obama on a pedestal take it when he is attacked in effigy? When foreign nationals burn the U.S. flag and posters of the president, how will we take it when it’s President Obama’s face being used? How will we take it, the black America that says just the sight of a noose has traumatized some African Americans when others mad at the policies of this country hang the president from a noose? Or place his picture on an ape’s body?

President Obama so far has always taken the right turn. And those that have attacked him are finding out that people can see the right in what he is doing and are not easily swayed in the wrong direction. So far, President Obama has only been in office for thirty days and has taken all that has been thrust upon him with the greatest of ease. It will be an interesting and telling time as we begin the second thirty days of the presidency of Barack Obama.

John Legend's Open Letter to the New York Post

I received this after I wrote my column for the Austin Weekly News which I will post on Thursday.

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Open Letter to the New York Post

Dear Editor:

I'm trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our President has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon?

If that's not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connectable dots. If it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I can't imagine what possible justification you have for this. I've read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack Rev. Sharpton. This is not about Rev. Sharpton. It's about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive.

I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences. You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it. I'm personally boycotting your paper and won't do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as well.

You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed.

I'm well aware of our country's history of racism and violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don't need the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly evaluate our new President, but do so without the incendiary images and rhetoric.

Sincerely,
John Legend

Black Ministers Silence on Burris is Blaring

I wondered where our clergy has been. No prayers in the home. No prayers ont he corner. Darn shame I had to go all the way to the International Herald Tribune to find this article.

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CHICAGO: A group of black ministers who supported U.S. Sen. Roland Burris as he fought to get his job now plan to ask for his resignation following revelations that he tried to raise money for the disgraced governor who appointed him to the Senate seat left vacant by President Barack Obama, one of the ministers told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Many of the city's influential black pastors supported Burris because of his scandal-free reputation — even though he was appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich three weeks after the governor was arrested for allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat.

Now some of those pastors will ask Burris to resign, according to the minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a meeting with Burris had not yet been scheduled.

Clergy Speaks Interdenominational, an umbrella group that includes hundreds of Chicago's black churches, will meet Friday to discuss its support for Burris, spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin said. For now, the group still supports him and its leaders are unaware of discussions about asking him to resign, she said.

Burris spokesman Jim O'Connor would not say whether the senator would meet with ministers, and referred to a statement from Burris asking that leaders "stop the rush to judgment."

Burris testified before the Illinois House committee that recommended Blagojevich's impeachment in January that he hadn't had contact with key Blagojevich staffers or offered anything in return for the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

Last weekend, however, Burris released an affidavit saying he had spoken to several Blagojevich advisers, including Robert Blagojevich, the former governor's brother and finance chairman, who Burris said called three times last fall asking for fundraising help. Burris, a former state attorney general, changed his story again this week when he admitted trying, unsuccessfully, to raise money for Blagojevich.

Illinois lawmakers have asked local prosecutors to look into perjury charges, and a preliminary U.S. Senate Ethics Committee inquiry is under way. Burris denies lying under oath and has resisted a growing chorus of calls for his resignation, including from within his own party.

Burris is the only black U.S. senator, as Obama was when he was in the Senate. Blacks were among his biggest defenders as Burris overcame Senate leaders' resistance to admitting a senator appointed by a man charged with trying to sell the office.

Current sentiment in the black community is not unanimous, but the clergy's silence as the maelstrom of criticism swells around Burris "speaks volumes," said another minister, Ira Acree, of the Greater St. John Bible Church.

"I'm a little disturbed, but because of his track record, don't want to rush to judgment," Acree said Thursday. "But neither will I attempt to defend his actions."

Burris' latest revelations are "making the black community just as suspicious of him as anyone else," said the Rev. Leonard Barr of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.

But Burris deserves a chance to defend himself and should not step down, he said.

"I think he can do the job," Barr said. "He would be a good senator and a conscientious senator."

People who have supported Burris are torn between feelings of anger and betrayal and a desire to keep the only black senator in the country, said Laura S. Washington, a politics professor at DePaul University and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

"They're disappointed, embarrassed and worried that the seat will be in jeopardy," Washington said.

Edward Bogan, a 58-year-old printer from Chicago, said he doesn't buy Burris' explanation for not telling the House impeachment committee about all his contacts with the Blagojevich administration.

"If your memory is that bad, why do we need you in there?" said Bogan, who is black. "... If you're only going to remember the part that benefits you, what good are you?"

But Chicago resident and real estate counselor Danyelle Hall, 37, says plenty of African-Americans still support Burris.

"I think that he would've been more forthcoming if the appropriate questions were asked," by the committee, said Hall. "That didn't happen and that's not his fault."