Jeremiah Wright and Republican Hit Squads

The juicy revelations of the inner-workings of the Republican Right’s attack machine show how little respect hard-core conservatives have for President Obama, how little respect they have for the public and even how little respect they have for their nominee Gov. Mitt Romney.

On March 18, 2008, Senator Obama gave perhaps his best speech of the campaign in forcefully answering critics that were upset with some of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s more incendiary comments. The public (at least the 69 million that voted for him) accepted Obama’s response to the controversy when he said,

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Romney Is Hoping to Lie His Way Into The White House

 

It is obvious that the plan for Team Romney this year will be to lie, and lie often, hoping that if they do it often enough... the lies will stick. Old Willard now claims that he should be the one credited with saving the auto industry. He suggests that Obama stole his ideas on how to help save those jobs. I couldn't believe what I was hearing when I caught this story last week. But apparently this is what he is telling voters on the campaign trail.

I had to ask myself, "is this real life"? I had to make sure that I was awake and was not having one of my crazy dreams. I knew Willard was shifty and would say & do anything to get elected, but his attempt to play 'Etch a Sketch' on the auto industry rescue is just too much. This lie is so ridiculous that GM executives, and even a Republican task master familiar with the auto rescue, believe Willard is completely full of Bull for even attempting to 'Etch a Sketch' this issue.

Clearly the Romney camp is counting on voters not being informed and engaged. He doesn't need all of them to believe the lie...just a few voters in the middle who reside in States like Ohio and Michigan. Unfortunately there are thousands of voters who are undecided and who are willing to subject themselves to this nonsense. There are even a few who would fall for this fairy tale - largely a failure on the part of Democrats to educate and inform voters. Romney and Co. will exploit that Democratic Party weakness (weakness of Obama's PR/Strategy team) every chance they get. Hear Willard take credit for the auto rescue.

Where You Live Can Make You Poor

The report from the Pew Center on the States on the economic mobility of the states has earned some well-deserved buzz. The report fits in nicely with other research demonstrating that economic mobility in the United States is worsethan in many European countries.

Even though conservatives accuse Democrats of moving to European-style socialism, you will never get conservatives to acknowledge that Europe can teach America quite a bit about economic mobility.

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Republicans: The Suge Knights of Pell Grants

This summer congressional Republicans can add to their list of “accomplishments” a large number of students that must skip summer school because of GOP priorities. Last year, during the deficit showdown with the Obama White House, House Republicans took a new Pell Grant program away, a plan specifically designed to help students meet the costs of summer school.


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Need a Camera

Would anyone like to gift me one of these? They are the Nikon D3100 and D3200. (Really would like that 3200... but would take either one). I want to step up from point & shoot to something more interesting & more powerful. Something that could give me decent picture quality. Unfortunately... I can't afford a better camera.

Romney vs. Obama: A Clear Choice

Why in the world is the polling even close? Sure the economy is still screwed up.... but the damage was done under the watch of a Republican Administration. I guess I keep forgetting that the memory of the average American voter is extremely short.

A new comparison chart that I threw together...partly from scratch...and also using existing work. Re-use liberally.

(Click to enlarge)

The Bad Boy Debate

I was checking on some stats for the blog a couple of days ago..and found that an old post is still drawing hits. 6 years later...the bad boy debate still leads to a steady number of site visits. I have since posted 4 or 5 followups to this post... but nice to see that it still generates interests. Reading back over the comments is also interesting. The debate lives on. However, I think time has done more to support my argument.... I think the main question (is this happening...or is it just in our heads) has been answered. I think that particular argument has been won.

An Interview With Raphael Saadiq

 

Caught a great interview with Raphael Saadiq last week. Listen Here. He is one of the few Soul/R&B artists who I really appreciate from the current crop. I'm a bit of a music geek with mostly retro taste... give me 60's thru 80's and I probably don't need anything else. With the exception of Jazz, most of the accessible music of the last century that matters was made during that period (you could probably include part of the 50's in there was well).

I wasn't a huge fan of Saadiq early on. Was not a huge fan of 3T. I definitely don't care for the Hip Hop work (everyone who reads my blog regularly should know my feelings about Rap/Hip Hop by now). But I do like the solo work he did later on. The last few albums were great.

I was annoyed by parts of the interview where his work is referred to as "Black music". I just feel that it is a way to try to pigeonhole an artist. We are not in the era of  'race records' anymore...where there was a deliberate attempt to segregate music along racial lines. Yes, there is a rich musical history that Black Americans have helped to galvanize (for good or bad).... and Black Americans deserve credit... (especially for the good). But the term "Black music" annoys me. It makes it sound as if music made by Black musicians is somehow foreign to the American experience.... that it hasn't been part of the American soundtrack for the past 100 years. Furthermore... assigning it to a certain group...suggests that no one else can have it, use it, enjoy it, etc. Good music is simply good music. Soul/Neo-Soul/Blues/Funk music has no color. Bobby Caldwell, Joe Cocker, Michael McDonald, Teena Marie, Boz Scaggs, Mayer Hawthorne, Jamie Lidell, Mac Rebennack, Randy Newman and many others have proven that point.

Stop Looking at the National Polls – It’s All Local

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post has a piece on the likely “narrow” Electoral College path Mitt Romney will most likely follow in his White House pursuit.  But: it is important to remember that all politics is local. This is a key lesson when reading stories like this and all the future stories about daily tracking numbers, Obama’s approval ratings, or even the unemployment rate.

While many voters focus on the macro-level picture of the national economy, many others are concerned with politics and economics that are intensely local.  To many, the state of a person’s neighborhood is as important as what cable news is saying about it. This is why I prefer looking at state-level polling numbers like those found at Politico.

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