Tag Archives: African-American

September 16, 2012 · 5:40 pm

TEDDY,BOOKER T. AND BARACK: JOHN 8:32,By Louise Annarino,September 16, 2012

TEDDY, BOOKER T. AND BARACK: JOHN 8:32,By Louise Annarino, September 16,2012

 

Republican Teddy Roosevelt has always been one of my favorite presidents. His Rough Riders embodied his personality when he charged up San Juan Hill on his way to the presidency. He was a man of action, admired by most, resented by party bosses in New York who tried to derail his political influence. They failed. Recently, I have been reading about his dinner with Booker T. Washington in the private quarters of the White House. Mr. Washington had been advising President Roosevelt on government appointments in the South,both men trying to find a common ground for the benefit of African-Americans facing horrific back-lash after initial political successes. Washington hoped to ease into place judges and other government administrators who would chart a fair and just path through institutional racism which was openly being laid through every governmental body. Roosevelt hoped to turn around the animosity of the Southern electorate toward Republicans, whose first president,Abraham Lincoln, had ended slavery and in the southern mind destroyed the south. These two men were fighting the nascent southern strategy. It is the same strategy put in play against efforts to elect,and re-elect, President Obama.

 

One evening, Roosevelt invited Washington to family dinner where he intended to discuss such issues. The two men had engaged in this endeavor secretly, to avoid the anticipated antipathy to such cooperation. The outcry to this dinner throughout the country was not because of what the two discussed; but, that Washington was allowed to share the table of white man and his family, with his wife present, in the White House no less. The sin committed was the sin of social equality. White America could not accept the right of a Black man to enter the white house except as a servant to the white man.

 

Today, I listened to the Sunday morning talk shows, to talking heads discussing the insult to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because The Black Man did not invite the white man to the White House, the insult to Israel because the Black man did not follow the white man’s advice regarding handling Iran’s uranium enrichment activities. To be fair to Mr. Netanyahu, he is being used by the NeoCons to attack the Black man,and further their own agenda; but they are no friend to Israel,nor to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Using Israel and Iran as a political football is diplomatically dangerous. However, the need to dispossess the uppity Black man with the audacity (of hope) to dine (not set the table for others) in the White House, and invite whom he chooses to dine with him is just too easy a target for the right-wing ideologues, among which Netanyahu claims alliances.

 

This was not all which was discussed today. Megan McCain has joined Mr. Romney, Mr. Ryan et al in continuing the lie that President Obama apologized for and sympathized with those who attacked our embassies and killed our ambassador. Said a Romney Advisor: No Attacks If He Was Prez. Richard Williamson is a top foreign policy aide to Mr. Romney. Implying there would be no protests if Romney were in charge, he further stated  “There’s a pretty compelling story that if you had a President Romney, you’d be in a different situation…In Egypt and Libya and Yemen, again demonstrations — the respect for America has gone down, there’s not a sense of American resolve and we can’t even protect sovereign American property.”

 

This is hypocritical grandstanding considering that Mr. Williamson was an official in the Bush administration when embassies were engulfed by protesters offended by a Danish cartoon. President Bush rightly condemned the cartoon as “unacceptable” while repeating America’s dedication to free speech. Williamson was  a diplomat serving in the U.N. in 2003 when U.N. Headquarters in Iraq was savagely attacked which killed 22 people including its top envoy,causing with-drawl from Iraq for several years. Mr. Williamson applies a different test for President Obama than for himself or his party. This is the latest effort to paint Obama as un-American. It is the latest set of lies and distortions.

 

One hopes there is room for disagreements on foreign policy. One expects political attacks. One also expects some circumspection while our security apparatus hunts for American victims, and our embassies continue to go up in flames. Insight and wisdom must also be expected. Fairness and support toward our leaders in the field making the tough decisions moment-by-moment through a crisis is the least we should expect. Politics should never trump national security.

 

Attacks will soon enough be acceptable within the public discourse. However the political attacks must be truthful.Teddy Roosevelt would have agreed. The Kansas City Star reported his remarks on this subject on May 7,1918:

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand  by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should bespoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.”

Teddy Roosevelt learned much by listening to Booker T. Washington. In a letter to a friend he explained “I have always been fond of the West African proverb: “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” THEODORE ROOSEVELT,A LIFE,Nathan Miller, page 337. President Roosevelt’s speech “Citizenship In a Republic”,delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23,1910 could describe both men:

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.“

President Teddy Roosevelt could have been describing  Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, and Ambassador Christopher Stevens. He could also be describing the embassy staff in Egypt who tried to prevent an escalation of anger by issuing a statement,American diplomatic staff throughout  the world, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. President Roosevelt could also have been describing President Barack Obama, who speaks softly but carries the big stick of Commander-in-Chief who brought to justice Al Quaeda’s leaders including Osama bin Laden.

Will America face difficulties in this rapidly changing,inter-connected world? Of course. At its helm I prefer a person who leads with dignity,wisdom,and a big stick while speaking softly. For a soft voice calms a room to quiet for those wanting to listen and willing to learn the TRUTH about America. Those who lie lose the attention of truth seekers, the peace-makers of the world. Those who love freedom love truth: “For you shall know the truth, and the Truth shall set you free” John 8:32.

President Obama has avoided the trap of putting politics above national interest. He follows a long line of presidents, Republican- like Teddy Roosevelt, and Democratic-like Teddy’s cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who did likewise. Romney would be wise to follow their lead,but Teapublicans will never allow it.

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September 7, 2012 · 6:31 pm

REFLECTIONS ON AMERICA, By Louise Annarino,September 7,2012

REFLECTIONS ON AMERICA,By Louise Annarino,September 7,2012

 

Local newspapers used to have a society page, really a gossip page, wherein we learned who was engaged, had married, or celebrated a significant anniversary. Each story contained interesting details such as where the affianced couple met and when they planned to marry, the design of each bridal gown and the type of flowers in her bouquet as well as where the new couple would honeymoon, and the biography of the anniversary couple and their off-spring. Most stories were accompanied by a photo of the happy couple. Today, we see remnants of this practice in neighborhood news rags.

 

The items that interested me most were the 25 or 50 year anniversary photos which usually depicted the couple in two photos: their wedding announcement photo and their newly-shot anniversary photo. I was struck by how much the couple had come to look like each other over the course of living together 25 or 50 years. How did that happen? Another phenomenon occurs among women who live together. Their monthly menstrual cycles soon coalesce onto a common cycle. What happens when diverse individuals live together in common community?

 

General systems theorists would acknowledge these phenomena as examples of “reflection”. We experience reflection each time we look in a mirror. Spending years in close proximity we stop merely looking at one another and start looking like one another. Is this how America has absorbed so many varied cultures? By joining closely with one another, spending time together, really looking at one another, eating each other’s foods, singing each other’s songs, listening to each others stories, carrying each other’s burden,and celebrating each other’s success;is this how we have become one people?

 

The idea of a coloring of America, the changing demographics wherein white Anglo-Saxons are no longer the dominant cultural or political force frightens some of us so much that we miss the beauty of what we are becoming. When I looked at the photos of those married 50 years I did not see a man or a woman who had been lost to themselves, but a loving couple who had found themselves within the bonds of their relationship with one another. I did not see a loss to either of them, but a gain to all of our community. That is what made their anniversary meaningful enough to justify including their photos and stories in the newspaper. The entire community benefited from their union and we celebrated with them as a community.

 

Elizabeth Warren responded to Mitt Romney in her speech at the Democratic National Convention: “No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die. And that matters. That matters because we don’t run this country for corporations, we run it for people. And that’s why we need Barack Obama.” She reminded me that being human matters. People are not merely numbers. They have faces. We need to look at those faces.

 

Whenever we reduce persons to numbers we are doomed to failure. When our policies are solely designed to reduce the bottom line we are on the wrong track. Focusing solely on numerical/monetary deficits in federal,state,county,municipal or school budgets leads to disaster of the kind we experienced during the Bush Administration. We began to envision the American Dream as a numbers game, with Wall Street setting our goals. We conveniently forgot the persons behind the numbers. This led to a Republican policy failure which President Obama is turning around with a different policy.

 

Article 1,Sec.2 of The United States Constitution contained language which reduced persons to numbers to satisfy southern delegates who refused to sign the new document if it in any way impugned slavery. John Rutledge,the delegate from South Carolina spoke for the south when he insisted slavery was a question of property rights  and should be protected by the Constitution. He added, “religion and humanity have nothing to do with the question.” He asked the delegates to forget the faces of the slaves, and serve the bottom line of southern planters. Slaves were counted as 3/5 a person.

 

The 3/5th compromise was written as follows:

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.) Art.1,Sec.2

 

Bain Capital is an American success story if we only look at numbers. It is a failure when we consider the persons behind those numbers. Decisions which make the numbers work do not always work for human faces the numbers hide. “Counting the cost” means counting more than numbers. We cannot afford to ever treat human beings as mere numbers. It is a matter of religion and morality. It is why we are suffering through a severe recession; only saved from depression by FDR’s safety net and President Obama’s stimulus,his refusal to only consider numbers.This is what he means by a balanced approach.

 

Business is not governance. Business is only one aspect of governance. We bailed out banks and the auto industry because more was at stake than financial solvency of those institutions. We required the bail-out money be repaid as good business practice. Mr. Romney  states we should have let both fail because as an investment capitalist he only uses a bottom-line business model when making decisions. This will not work as president of a self-governing people. Faces matter as much as numbers.

 

Governance of human beings requires that our political leaders look at the faces of those they govern, and we look at the faces of those governing us. Sunshine Laws, Open Records Laws etc. recognize the right of the governed to look at the face of government. We have a right and a need to look at Mr. Romney’s tax returns, and a list of businesses in which he has/had an interest. After all, he has used his business experience as the basis for his readiness to lead the free world.

 

In his acceptance speech, President Obama talked about citizenship; and, this is what citizenship means.It means looking at one another, feeling each other’s pain, knowing the country’s economic numbers hide fellow-citizens faces behind each statistic,working together to do the hard work to keep enough jobs for every American at home, pay our fair share of taxes, and support one another no matter what the numbers say. Like those in the anniversary photos who faced years of struggle and moments of joy together while becoming more of each other, we will become a stronger, more encompassing, and more prosperous America by looking at, and looking out for one another.

 

This is how America moves FORWARD. President Obama reminded us last night, “We don’t turn back. We leave no one behind. We pull each other up.” This is what we do if we want a marriage to last. This is what we do if we want America to last.

 

 

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August 19, 2012 · 6:32 pm

TEAPUBLICANS:UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED,By Louise Annarino,August 19,2012

TEAPUBLICANS: UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED,By Louise Annarino,August 19,2012

It is not easy for me to type the word Republican in the same sentence with words like “racism” http://open.salon.com/blog/chauncey_devega/2012/08/17/niggerization_toure_was_right_about_romneys_race_baiting: Obama (notice a title is never used) is an angry black man determined to destroy Christian America from within with his Muslim socialism,“war on the poor”: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/the-gops-war-on-the-poor/260983/ Obama gives out checks to black people who want free stuff but don’t want to work, “war on women” http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/gop-women-problem-2012-4/index1.html America needs to turn back the Obama clock to days when women acted as women are supposed to act and let men take care of business,“attack on immigrants” http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/06/15/500607/mitt-romney-immigration-primary/ Mitt Romney would make life so miserable for immigrants they would “self deport” and Obama coddles them. “attack on education” http://www.alligator.org/opinion/columns/article_137d789e-8383-11e1-983d-0019bb2963f4.html Obama is uppity and overeducated.Not everyone needs an education, nor deserves one. Education should be privatized; ask your parents for a loan if you need financial help to pay for school.

I would like to believe this is not the position of the Grand Old Party- GOP. But, it has been for some time. I believe there are many republicans who are embarrassed by the current Republican platform, policies and candidates; who are ashamed of belonging to  party whose main goal is to make the black man a one-term president even when he adopts the very legislative approach sought by their once-heroes. Who no longer recognize the attacks being made, the lies being told, and the fostering of hate as defensible tactics. A political strategy based on racist ideology has been fully embraced by party leaders, who act as if they have little choice if the party itself is to survive. They seem almost eager to join the racists within their ranks. They seem to be in denial as they attack a black man defending himself against their racism as a racist himself. That is an old sorry tale. As Dan Rather would say “that dog won’t hunt.”

I believe in the power of words. It is time to embrace new terminology. From now on I will refer to the politicians who have embraced and use racism to “get out the republican base” as TEAPUBLICANS. I hope those republicans of good will, who are willing to join with democrats and independents to find solutions to serve the common good, who are willing to share in both sacrifice and success to lead America forward, and who refuse to wage war on fellow Americans to maintain unfair advantage-power-wealth will find a way to save the GOP. It is unsafe for the Republican Party to embrace the Teapublican Party in any way, at any level, at any speed. The Teapublican Party is headed for a crash. Republicans need to get out of the car and stand on their own. That is the only way the Republican Party will survive the years ahead.

Why do I care? Because I believe in a strong two-party system. Politics is a peaceful way to wage war and settle differences with one another. Politics no longer works when the parties no longer respect one another enough to fight the racist, sexist, ethnocentric, nationalistic, homophobic dark side of themselves. Teapublicans embrace false fear and false hate as tools. They walk on the dark side of life. If their fears were real and their hate justified, it would be a totally different story. But Teaparty hate is NOT based on reality: African-Americans are not scary, strong women are no threat, gay spouses won’t ruin heterosexuals marriages, immigrants don’t want your job. It is perhaps too late for republicans to “throw the bums out’ of the GOP;after all, their candidate for president and vice-president have stretched into ridiculous poses to adopt Teapublican positions and policies. But, it is not too late to get out of the car.

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August 18, 2012 · 7:07 pm

SYNERGY OR SERENDIPITY? RACISM IS ALIVE AND WELL IN OFFICES OF SECRETARIES OF STATE,BY Louise Annarino,August 18, 2012

SYNERGY OR SERENDIPITY? RACISM IS ALIVE AND WELL IN OFFICES OF SECRETARIES OF STATE,BY Louise Annarino,August 18, 2012

Synergy is two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.

The Suppression of the African-American vote deserves a blog entry all its own. I recently wrote about the general suppression of early voters in Ohio. Such behavior is disgraceful. But, suppression of the African-American vote is truly beyond the pale of thinking Americans.Perhaps no one is thinking. Perhaps the intent is not so deliberately racist as it appears. However, I find it difficult to believe what is happening in Ohio and simultaneously in so many states had not been planned.

General systems theory would remind me of serendipity; perhaps it is simply a “surprising happenstance” that the votes of those groups who so strongly supported Barack Obama in 2008 are being systemically suppressed throughout the country during the 2012 election. 95% of African Americans in the U.S., 97% in Ohio, voted for Barack Obama in 2008. “With population growth and increased voter participation among blacks, Latinos and Asians, members of all three groups cast more votes in 2008 than in 2004. Two million more blacks and 2 million more Latinos reported voting in 2008 than said the same in 2004. Among Asians, 338,000 more votes were reported cast in 2008 than in 2004.” http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1209/racial-ethnic-voters-presidential-election  An even higher turn-out among these groups is expected for the 2012 election.

It is estimated no fewer than 93,000 persons voted on the week-end before the November 2008 election. Since not all county election boards keep a daily tally of voters this number may be far lower than actual votes cast. There is no way to prove the race of voters on that or any other week-end. However, we do know that African-American churches “Souls to the Polls” projects bus hundreds of thousands of African-Americans to early voting after church services on Sundays, including the final Sunday before election day. We do know that getting to the polls, early or on election day is a struggle for single mothers, students, older persons, those relying on public transportation, and those working longer hours for less pay. We have a collective a memory of who was left standing in long lines, who had to leave the lines without voting in 2004; and who formed long lines throughout the interior hallways, and out the door to wrap themselves in a line extending around Veteran’s Memorial and into the parking lot on week-ends in 2008. African-Americans stood witness as far larger percentage of voters in-line than the percentage of African-Americans living in Ohio. For African-Americans, wek-end voting is a necessity, not a convenience.

The recent efforts in Ohio,Pennsylvania and other states to make it more difficult to vote are being justified using the same arguments which were used to deny African-Americans and women the right to vote; which later were used to impose a poll tax or literacy test to deny African-Americans their place at the polls. Now, we face a bigger hurdle. The systemic institutionalization of voting rules meant to turn voting rights into mere privileges as a means of controlling whose vote will get cast,and counted.

We elected an African-American president, while white men thought they could still hold onto power. Putting a woman, Sarah Palin,on the Republican ticket was not enough to overcome the changing demographic. What’s next, a woman president? An African-American woman president? A Latino, Latina or Asian president?

I believe what we are seeing is synergy, not serendipity. Racism coupled with the power held by state Republicans to regulate voting is threatening our elections. On NPR this morning a man was questioned about his opposition to congressional candidate Christie Vilsack. His reason for opposing her, “No way. It’s a man world”. It really isn’t; not any longer. The only way to keep the U.S. “a man’s world” is to suppress the vote of those who would easily and happily live in a multicultural America.

On August 6, 2012 The Honorable John Lewis (D-GA) stated on his facebook page: “47 years ago today, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. It is a shame and a disgrace that today we bear witness to a deliberate and systematic attempt to make it impossible for some among us to vote. It is an affront to those that suffered and struggled, and especially to those who gave their lives so that others would be free to choose their own elected leaders. We must resist every effort to make it harder and more difficult for people to register and vote.” Yesterday, I listened to an interview of Congressman Lewis on CNN where he was asked whether the racist environment during his civil rights days marching with Dr. King for the Civil Rights,where he was set-upon by dogs,hosed,beaten and jailed was worse than what we see and hear today. Congressman Lewis said  (I paraphrase) “It is the same. But then, it was only in the South. Today it is everywhere in the country.”

The struggle for the right of African-Americans to vote continues as we demand the restoration of week-end voting in Ohio, the removal of unobtainable documentation requirements for and end to voter ID in Pennsylvania, and a slew of other burdens and obstacles to voting across the country. If the vote of one person can be denied, the vote of every person can be denied. While it is clear what is being denied to African-American voters we must recognize it could also be denied to every voter, even to those like SoS Husted. He and his party may not always hold power. They should not forget they are simply one of us, as we are all part of the whole. The precedent he is setting treats the right to vote as a privilege to be controlled and doled out according to the whims of those in power. This is dangerous to all Americans.

Once again, African-Americans are on the front-lines defending the constitution we all love, witnesses to the need of those in power to oppress even it means their own self-destruction. We must stand together or we will fall together. As Sen.Robert Kennedy once said,  “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” African-American,white,Latino,Asian,men,women we must stand together against the folly we are witnessing.

 

 

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August 16, 2012 · 4:42 am

THE BIG LIE:IF YOU REALLY WANT TO VOTE YOU'LL FIND A WAY LIKE I DO, By Louise Annarino, August 15, 2012

THE BIG LIE:IF YOU REALLY WANT TO VOTE YOU’LL FIND A WAY LIKE I DO,By Louise Annarino, August 15, 2012

I was once a Legal Aid Attorney who helped those poorest among us, many of whom worked 2 part-time jobs and still were income eligible for our services because their income fell below the poverty line. Many of our clients were people of color;most were not. Most were first or second generation migrants to Ohio from West Virginia and Kentucky looking for a better life in the urban “north”. Many of my clients, African-American and white were born at home because they lacked health insurance and could not afford to buy it. Because they were born at home the only record of their birth might be their name entered in the family Bible. Some did not even have that. When I became Managing Attorney of the Senior Citizen Unit I often had to assist claimants for social security retirement who lacked the requisite birth certificate to prove their identity and age. We were able to provide the family Bible, or an affidavit from someone present at the birth as evidence. This was deemed sufficient proof. This effort took months, not days. Life lived in poverty means longer hours and more effort to accomplish what is easily done when one has sufficient income. Obstacles are everywhere and multiply in geometric progression for the poor,working poor, disabled and elderly.

Below is the link to the official Pennsylvania site for information on Voting ID requirements. It is too long and complex to include entire piece within this blog. Click to see what I mean. Notice it may take a person 2 visits to accomplish the task. While the cost for the ID may be waived when sought for voting purposes, the cost for substantiating documents is not waived, and they cost more than the photo ID does.( SEE full requirements at http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/voter/voteridlaw.shtml ) One might also need to bring a second resident to the location if they do have a mortgage, current dated rental lease, or utility bill; requiring the cost of transportation and scheduling coordination for two persons. Easy to get one of your children to go anywhere with you? What if you are a single working Mom and your children are too young to swear to the truth of your claim of residence? There is no one to affirm your residence.

How does one know where to go and what the hours of operation are? This,too is unclear and requires time to explore. What if the person in need of voter ID has no computer, nor access to one to get answers to such questions about the process.  Census data shows that 9.9% of Pennsylvanians do not speak English at home. Will they understand the complex instructions even if they are able to use a computer?(See more at  https://www.dot4.state.pa.us/locator/locator.jsp#top?20120815232903273=20120815232903273 ) Please note that the site stresses:

PennDOT Driver License and Photo License Centers only accept payment by check or money order. No cash or credit cards are accepted.

What if you do not have a checking account? What if you cannot convince a bank to provide you customer service  for a money order when you are not a customer? How much does a money order cost at a Pay-Day Loan ?

What if the person cannot travel by bus to the locations listed? Are cabs available and/or affordable? What if the person needing voter ID is disabled? Elderly? Blind? Nine locations in Pennsylvania have no such sites. Those which do are open 1 day a week.Pennsylvania has the fewest state workers in the nation. Who will be there to help move this process forward? (see Rachel Maddow 8-15-2012)

The judge in PA  found no discriminatory impact by the PA voter ID law even though evidence indicated more than half those affected are African-American. The African-American population of PA is only 11.3%, not more than 55%. Obviously, African-Americans are unfairly bearing the brunt of this law. 12.4% of all Pennsylvanians live below the poverty level. Per capita income is $27,049. ( see more at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/42000.html ) How can people with such income levels have time to take away from work and afford the cost of so doing? How?

The State’s attorneys who asked  Judge Simpson to refuse to block the voter ID law admitted “that they are ‘not aware of any incidents of in person voter fraud.’  Instead, they insisted that lawmakers properly exercised their latitude to make election-related laws when they chose to require voters to show widely available forms of photo identification.” Others argue that the same ID required to vote is required to buy beer. Really? Passports? Mortgage statements? Utility bills? One can buy a beer in numerous locations, even grocery stores. Voter Photo IDs are not so readily or easily available.(see more from Pennsylvania’s Republican viewpoint at http://www.humanevents.com/2012/08/15/pennsylvania-judge-refuses-to-block-voter-id-law/ )

The standard for an injunction is that the plaintiff  must establish that he is likely to succeed on the merits [i.e., win at trial], that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest. Judge Simpson found no irreparable harm even though 15% of Pennsylvanians lack voter ID, and it seems unlikely they will be able to obtain it before the November election. This is about more than the November election however. This is about the losing the RIGHT to vote and replacing it with the PRIVILEGE of voting, if one can afford it. That seems to place the issue squarely in the public interest,and in violation of the constitutions of  Pennsylvania and the United States of America.

And the competing interest to protect against voter fraud ? The “Brennan Center’s exhaustive research revealed that there is little to no reliable evidence of impersonation fraud. And, of course, this form of fraud is the only misconduct that the new voter identification requirements in HB934 will address.” (see more http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/testimony_on_pennsylvania_hb_934/ )

Of course this case will be appealed and the Justice department may file further action to protect African-American voters’ denial of equal protection. The uncertainty lies in the time it will take to correct the problem. Time is of the essence;not because those likely to vote for the Democratic party candidates and President Obama are being disenfranchised, but because hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens are being disenfranchised.

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July 31, 2012 · 3:26 pm

99 BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL,By Louise Annarino,July 30,2012

99 BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, By Louise Annarino,July 30,2012

Political ads once were pieces of artful rhetoric. Remember “A Town Called Hope” extolling the virtues of presidential candidate Bill Clinton? Most ads were likewise lovely to watch, whether one supported the candidate extolled or not. They were inspirational, clarified a candidate’s position and beautifully if not nicely done. Even the infamous nuclear explosion reflected in the iris of a child picking flowers as an attack on presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was lovely to watch. It was consider-over-the top because it exceeded the extant of Senator Goldwater’s stance on nuclear armament, and was quickly pulled from the market having been shown only once. But once was enough to create an image of a man willing to lead Americans and the world into nuclear armageddon.

Just once, we were exposed to an ad which distorted and demeaned a candidate. Once was too much for television executives who pulled the ad because of public outrage and dismay. Today, political ads of distortion and outright lies are repeated ad nauseatum like the song “99 Bottles of Beer On The Wall”:

 

99 bottles of beer on the wall,

99 bottles of beer,

Take one down.

Pass it around.

98 bottles of beer on the wall.

(repeat with 1 less bottle until no more bottles are left and end with)

No more bottles of beer on the wall,

No more bottles of beer,

Go to the store and buy some more,(KOCH Bros. et al)

99 bottles of beer on the wall.

The internet messaging of lies is even worse. At least the possibility of vetting an ad or disclosure exists within broadcast and print news departments.The internet is unfiltered. The race-baiting, homophobic, misogynist attacks against President Obama, his staff, appointees, and supporters goes unchecked.

I recently received an email message from a childhood friend with the same old attacks (i.e. Muslim foreigner,baby and jobs killer, hates business, caused recession, brings terrorist infiltrators into government, stupid liar and cheat) against President Obama with a new twist. At top of the page was a photo of suit-clad smiling white man claiming he was a classmate of the president’s at Columbia and knew Barry well, and who knew the items in content of piece used to attack were true. At the bottom was a Snopes link which he asserted proved the truthfulness of the email content. My friend pointed this out to me since I had on several prior occasions disproved her attack emails by replying with the facts to dispute her specific allegations, and often used Snopes as secondary source since she found it hard to believe my research data from NYT, London Guardian, BBC, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, LA Times, historical texts, US Constitution, specific laws and regulations etc. I checked the Snopes link. The question Snopes agreed to answer was “Is this person the source of these allegations?” The answer was “Yes, this person is the source of these allegations.” The truth meter read “true”. What!

I answered my friend that the only truth was that the man who claimed to tell these lies did tell these lies. That does not make lies true! This person asked me two years ago to NEVER send her any political information, nor my blog articles since she hates politics. I never send her a thing until she sends me a pack of lies. Then, I reconstruct each issue, provide her factual data and point out the mistruths. I honor every persons right to their own opinion; but, no one is entitled to their own facts! How can one answer such idiocy? Her behavior is not based on a search for truth so we can each make an informed decision with the needs of all sides considered; it is simply a need to be right and justify her hatred for President Barack Obama.

What is so disturbing is not simply the ads and e-mail/facebook messages themselves, but the willingness of people to share demeaning and untrue attack ads with no effort on their part to check for truthfulness. I can appreciate that not every voter is a political wonk, not many have the time to fully explore issues or candidates, and very few take the time to research before forming an opinion. What I cannot accept, what I refuse to accept, is that these voters believe their opinion is so sound as the opinion of the voter who does explore policies, records and world views of each candidate. It is not. They are not of equal weight. The uninformed opinion has less value. It is often wrong. It is often based upon lies and distorted reality. It is worthless.

I de-friended a person on FB yesterday after she began posting increasingly racist imagery on poster cartoons attacking President Obama, baby-killer comments and other derogatory attacks. I had repeatedly pointed out her racist content over the past weeks. I once asked her why all of her posts were anti-Obama and none pro-Romney. To all of which I received no response. I chalked up her behavior to ignorance, not ill intent. Yesterday, she posted another hate-filled photo attack. I ignored it at first. Later I saw her friend had commented with a question, “ But, who can we vote for? I could never vote for Obama whom I hate with a passion.” She replied to her friend, “I don’t know, but I hate him too much to vote for him.”  Those comments explained a lot. I have had enough of hate and hate merchants. They sell hate. I don’t think they can consciously admit why they are acting so, because at the deepest level they really do know why. We all know why. We just are too polite to mention it. I am not so polite; the reason is racism.

What happened to the American voter who sought to learn the voting record of a candidate, wanted to understand a candidate’s policies on various issues and why a candidate espoused those particular policies? What happened is that those Americans in either party are demeaned along with the candidate they support. They are called names: Obmanoids, Romneyites, babykillers, feminazis, even N*****lovers. This is unacceptable in any America past or present. Racism seems to trump acting with American value behaviors. We fought a civil war over this already.

What happened to American voters who believed in playing fair in order to elect the best candidate? What happened to the American voter who would rise in outrage over lies and distortions? Who would not tolerate attacks from either party on constitutionally protected race,creed,color, or religion? Where are these Americans? Where is a press corps, news executive, ad executive who refuses to air outright lies as political ads. Where is the journalist whose follow-up question challenges the lie which has just been told? Who refuses to allow a false premise as the basis of a response? Who can look a candidate in the eye while asking the question? Who can frankly challenge racist comments? Who can ask why being Black in America disqualifies every action taken by our president?

Racism is at the core of my understanding of what is going on here. It is not a means of avoiding valid attacks on our president, who has never claimed perfection, who only does the best he can with faint support by his own party and extreme refusal to participate in governmental action of ANY kind by the Republican party. Racism; not pure and not simple.

It is painful to watch newspersons obsequiously ask questions they know will not be answered, while Romney smiles with superiority. The smile is not one made in response to a good joke, or as a punch line on himself as President Obama often uses in response to uncomfortable questions. It is a smirk and a grin responding, “I’m not tellin’ and you can’t make me. Na, na, na, na,na na!” This same “na,na,na” attitude is heard coming from the mouths of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner; from every republican House Committee Chair. Have you been watching? Are you listening? “I can hang you from a tree in a political ad any time I choose. Na, na,na,na.na.na!” Oh, it is clear what has happened to American politics, and why there is so little public outrage.

I understand such intransigence by a candidate and his party supporters, supported by subliminal racism, makes it difficult to report the truth. But not impossible. I dread to imagine the softball questions posed to candidates in upcoming debates. I hope the debates won’t be just another round of 99 bottle of beer on the wall. I need a drink!

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July 13, 2012 · 2:48 am

ROMNEY VS. BIDEN AT N.A.A.C.P. CONVENTION,By Louise Annarino, July 12, 2012

ROMNEY VS. BIDEN AT N.A.A.C.P. CONVENTION, By Louise Annarino, July 12, 2012

Mitt Romney knew to whom he was speaking at the N.A.A.C.P. convention. He spoke to the moneyed-base of the republican party. He did not expect to win the support of the civil rights group with his “self-deportation” policy. Apparently, he would have been a proponent of the “back to Africa” movement  to solve the “problem” of slavery decades ago. Nor did he expect his attack on Obamacare to meet with applause. And, of course he knew the members of an organization which fought for civil rights and faced police dogs and water hoses, beatings-bombings-lynchings, and the murder of its icons would not sit quietly while he called the first African-American president a failure who betrayed them. He had to know his comments would fall like boulders into a sea of opposition. What he did not know is that his policies are racist. Not only his policies, but his very presence.

How can I say his very presence is racist? Because he gave the impression, through his own body language and tone, and the publicly made and well-played talking points used to paint him as brave for going into the sea of blackness, i.e. “We have to give him credit for even attending this event.” Why does he deserve credit for making an appearance and asking for the vote of African-Americans? He wants to be president. Why does he deserve credit for going before this group?  Did we say he deserved credit for appearing before any white group? What is he afraid of? More politically important, what does he want us to be afraid of? He is playing on our own fears, the fears of white Americans of all things black and of African-Americans in groups. Oh, we easily offer, “I have a friend who is African-American”, but how comfortable are we as a lone white person in a black group?

I don’t ask these questions lightly. I spent years on college campuses, among the defamed by Mr. Romney liberal elite, watching students, faculty and administrators separate along racial lines in campus dormitories, study halls, cafeterias, fraternities and sororities, parties and social events at all levels. And, I notice white people move near the emergency call button when a group of African-Americans enter an elevator. I notice white waitpersons avoid taking the orders of African-Americans in certain restaurants. I notice African-American children disciplined by white lifeguards for running at the pool, as a group of white children run past the scene. I notice a white car dealer mistaking an African-American customer in a business suit arriving to pick up his new Lexus for the part-timer newly hired to wash cars. I notice white co-workers inviting everyone but African-American co-workers to week-end party. Even my noticing this last incident is tinged with racism. Why would I think African-American co-workers would want to party with people who treat them badly every day of the week? Do I, like Mr. Romney, expect credit for noticing? Being a white racist is a role with strong cognitive dissonance.

Day after day, in small ways white people don’t even notice, our racism shines through. it is a constant struggle. And Mitt Romney’s advisers know it. When they say “give him credit” we respond positively to Romney. Why? Because we want credit for fighting our own racism. We feel wronged when someone like me alleges racism is an issue in this election. We cannot admit our racism even to ourselves, especially to ourselves. But, we will never overcome it by hiding from it;it will only make us vulnerable to race-baiting like that we watched from a candidate who braved appearing before the N.A.A.C.P.

No one gave Senator Joe Biden credit for appearing before the N.A.A.C.P. Why not? He presented himself differently. He did not anticipate anything special. He came as an equal. He came with a commonality of interest which transcends race, yet addresses  the results of racism. He did not view his presence as a gift deserving of thanks. He came with thankfulness and respect. There was a moment when his tone seemed obsequious, when he shouted out to his friend “Mouse”,but Senator Biden was no stranger within this group. Long ago, Joe Biden faced his own racism and embraced his responsibility to address the results of racism. Joe Biden is a member of the N.A.A.C.P. The lovely thing about sincerely reaching across racial boundaries is the generous acceptance one is given. Senator Biden was well received. Mr. Romney could have been well-received had his appearance been sincere. Given his true motivation, his appearance, with only three sets of boos, was very generously received.

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June 24, 2012 · 8:54 pm

DON'T PUSH HUMPTY DUMPTY OFF THE WALL by Louise Annarino

DON’T PUSH HUMPTY DUMPTY OFF THE WALL

Louise Annarino

June 25, 2012

Democratic republics in the West did not emerge in full blossom overnight; nor will they in the East. The seeds of power within people must be planted in good soil and be kept moist despite periods of drought. Those who feed the country’s growth are ever in danger of being choked by weeds. Egypt’s journey, and that of other nations seeking some form of democratic republic, is our own.

As we watch the Egyptian military generals write and rewrite laws to secure their power base in the face of shared power with a president and parliament not of their choosing, let us recall the first parliaments in England which were made up exclusively of the privileged few, heirs to the original land barons granted fiefs by their king for military service to protect and defend his crown, and more importantly, his crown jewels. The king was loath to part with his landholdings which generated his wealth. The barons agreed to supply a percentage of crops, minerals, forest, game and resources to the king in exchange for permission to act as lord over the serfs who were attached to the land, and to  supply troops whenever called upon to do so by the king. In this way, both the king and his barons grew excessively wealthy. Sound familiar?

In 1215 King John agreed to the Magna Carta, the great charter, which gave legal rights to the Barons and Earls and mandated that the king listen to them and follow their advice. Before the Magna Carta the king called a parliament at his whim with no legal obligation to follow the barons’ advice. The Magna Carta granted no rights to the serfs; but, merely became a tool of the landed gentry (who had personal armies supporting them) to control the king in order to protect their own interests. Sound familiar?

In 1265, following a war between Henry III and Simon De Montfort, De Montfort briefly established a parliament which also included  burgesses, representatives from each county,city and town until Edward I, who killed De Montfort in battle, called is first parliament in 1275 which included churchmen,two knights from each county, and two commoners from each town ( the house of burgesses). Since 1327 parliament set the pattern we know today: House of Lords, House of Commons, Monarch.

It took another hundred years to establish that Parliament’s House of Commons controlled granting money raised through taxation to the king (usually to wage war); and wrote statutes creating the law of the land, replacing the writ to the king for favor system of an earlier day.

Overthrowing the leaders of countries does not necessarily mean more power to the people. It took great Britain several hundred years and a civil war to do so. The United States, copied Great Britain’s lead, replacing the monarch with a president. The House of Lords became our Senate; the House of Commons our House of Representatives. There are those who pressured newly-elected President George Washington to accept the appellation Your Majesty. He insisted on Mister, in a new nation where all men are considered equal. And so we say, Mr. President when addressing him.

The U.S. shortened Great Britain’s time-line: 1776 – Declaration of Independence, 1789 – Constitution and first 10 Amendments ratified, 1789 – Judiciaries Act passed, 1803 – Marbury v. Madison. Hopefully, emerging democracies can shorten the time it takes to become nations of law and not men, and avoid civil war. Building a strong middle class will help.

The industrial revolution which began in the 1500’s with the guild movement solidified in 1760-1850. It is no coincidence that the movement to end serfdom occurred on the same time frame. Prior to industrialization in England, land was the primary source of wealth. “The landed aristocracy held enormous powers [through] the feudal system. However, a new source of great wealth grew from the Industrial Revolution, that which was derived from the ownership of factories and machinery. Those who invested in factories and machinery cannot be identified as belonging to any single class of people (landed aristocracy, industrialists, merchants). Their backgrounds were quite diverse, yet they had one thing in common: the daring to seize the opportunity to invest in new ventures. It was these capitalists who gave the necessary impetus to the speedy growth of the Industrial Revolution.”1

In the United States, the Industrial Revolution made the North economically stronger than the South, which barely maintained a landed gentry system on the backs of slave labor and that of poor white sharecroppers. The bloody rise of labor unions prevented this quasi feudal-serf system from taking root in the North. Despite fighting a Civil War to end slavery, and the efforts of labor unions, we still see vestiges of the old feudal system within our economic institutions, policies and practices both north and south. Since the election of our first African-American president those differences in how we choose to govern ourselves have become more overt. Ohio and Wisconsin, as well as every other state,thanks to ALEC, are fighting to protect unions, not just to protect the unions but to protect all workers from being reduced, once again, to serfdom. 2

In China, Thailand, Guam, Africa and all over the globe multi-national corporations are locking in workers for excessively-long shifts, with little or no pay. Human trafficking in workers, slave or forced labor, is on the rise world-wide in every imaginable  industry including my favorite – chocolate. 3

What is the connection here? It is that human beings seek power over their own lives. Money is power, so they seek money. The reason taxes are a big deal to both Tea Party Republicans and Liberal Progressives, The US Chamber of Commerce and the churches, Wall Street banks and non-profit organizations, Democratic and Republican parties, the upper class-middle class- and poor is because money buys power. Money bought the King. Money bought the Corporations. Money bought the politicians. We all want money because we all value power. Why? Power brings freedom: the freedom from want, the freedom of choice over need, the freedom of association, the freedom to say no just because we want to do so. If we truly believe we are all entitled to be free, then we must also believe we are all entitled to enough money to feel power over our own lives.

When we are without money for too long we feel powerless as a result. It is this feeling of being powerless which brings out our racism, sexism, homophobia etc. Those who feel powerless resent others who seem to be acquiring power. Hidden in our psyche is the racist belief that an African-American has no business being so powerful when white men now feel so powerless. That is the crux of this election. Even Roman Catholic bishops, losing esteem and power over their flocks due to their misogynist attitude toward women and their cover-up of pedophilia within their ranks are fighting for power by attacking President Obama. Even Christian church leaders accustomed to financial power and preaching its attainment as a Gospel truth, which fell apart in the recession, are attacking President Obama. They have no qualms viciously attacking him, trying to knock him off his game. Unfortunately, his game is governing this country we all love.

What can we do? We can stop attacking people who want power, who want money, who want to feel safe; who cannot feel truly free without these things. We all want these things. We all want freedom.

We can stop attacking each other lest we all end up “Humpty Dumpty”. 4  Despite British and American love of freedom, and each country’s Civil Wars to establish equality among all its citizens and clearly unified governance, neither would suggest civil war as a positive step. We can learn from these past divisive periods. History does not have to repeat itself around the globe, nor within our own borders. We can stop being so afraid that we needlessly try to knock one another off the wall. We can recognize that there is enough wealth to share so that all feel powerful and free.

We celebrate freedom in this country without understanding its roots. No banker, no corporate executive, no shareholder, no priest nor bishop, no Tea Bagger, no liberal, no politician, no judge, no citizen will feel free until they feel financially secure. This was the beauty of a strong middle class; it made everyone feel free. It was an imaginable state of being for the poorest citizen aspiring to move higher through education and hard work; and for the richest executive who fell from grace, a safe place to land. Without a middle class, no American feels free.Not the wealthiest, not the poorest, and not the middle class.

To America and to the world a message of freedom: Build and protect the common man’s wealth, the middle class. The BRITISH COMMONWEALTH is a not a fluke. American economic success since the Civil War is not a fluke. Stop seeking to be excessively wealthy; instead, seek to build wealth within the middle class, a commonwealth within and among nations. With commonwealth comes common power. With such a sense of power comes a sense of freedom and peace. The Eurozone is struggling with this concept as I write.

Look at what Britain accomplished. Look at what the U.S. accomplished. Those lessons will serve us well. this is what President Obama has been trying to remind us.  Destroying the middle class destroys our commonwealth, pushes Humpty Dumpty off the wall; and, neither all the king’s horses nor all the king’s men can put us back together again. Life is too fragile for such nonsense.

 

 

1. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html

2.http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed 

3.http://www1.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm “Presently, about 700,000 children and women are trafficked around the world annually. The UN says that profits for this trafficking amount to approximately $7 billion a year (Anti-Slavery International).”

4.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty  “In 1648 Colchester was a walled town with a castle and several churches and was protected by the city wall. The story given was that a large cannon, which the website claimed was colloquially called Humpty Dumpty, was strategically placed on the wall. A shot from a Parliamentary cannon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath Humpty Dumpty which caused the cannon to tumble to the ground. The Royalists, or Cavaliers, ‘all the King’s men’ attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall, but because the cannon was so heavy ‘All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again’. In his 2008 book Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes author Albert Jack claimed that there were two other verses supporting this claim. Elsewhere he claimed to have found them in an “old dusty library, [in] an even older book”,but did not state what the book was or where it was found. It has been pointed out that the two additional verses are not in the style of the seventeenth century, or the existing rhyme, and that they do not fit with the earliest printed version of the rhyme, which do not mention horses and men.”

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May 10, 2012 · 8:03 am

ABUSERS AND ENABLERS CAMPAIGN TOGETHER

ABUSERS AND ENABLERS CAMPAIGN TOGETHER

Louise Annarino

May 10, 2012

 

I received the following e-mail tonight: “Louise: Thank you for all the e-mails with information on the campaign you have sent us and others over the past 4 years. You kept us well informed. Unfortunately, Pres. Obama publicly admitted today his preference for same-sex marriages, (emphasis mine) which prevents us now to vote for him. So, please take us from your distribution list.” I must not have understood President Obama. I did not hear him say he preferred same-sex marriage. I am certain Mrs. Obama would have been surprised to learn of her husband’s preference, from these former Obama supporters. http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/09/politics/obama-same-sex-marriage/index.html

 

The President, like many others, has struggled with his own perceptions, misconceptions, and stereotypes of those who are gay,lesbian,bi-sexual or transgender (LGBT), His past reluctance is even more poignant given his racial heritage. There are those who say he should have known better, having experienced prejudice himself. Others are grateful he was willing to openly engage in the struggle to face down his own prejudices. His journey is one we can all learn from.

 

It is 2:34 a.m. I could not sleep and decided to write. I found the above note as I first sat down at my computer. I had not intended to write about the president’s announcement. I had been thinking I would write about the similarities between the way we treat President Barack Obama and how an abuser treats his victim. The above e-mail fits right in to the puzzle that is abuse.

 

Few of us are strangers to abuse and bullying. If we have not personally been abused, we are close to someone who has been. It is never easy to be the victim, nor to be close to a victim. An abused person seeks to escape the abuse in many ways: denial, deflection, perfection-seeking, appeasement, depression, hostility, violence against self and against others, even suicide. To get close to a victim and stay close is a struggle indeed. It is hard to watch someone be slapped mentally, physically, emotionally – often all three. It is harder to the one slapped.

 

So many have told me over the past few months that they can no longer watch television news programs, nor read the newspaper, nor read on-line missives which contain one demeaning slap against President Obama after another. Even liberal commentators on MSNBC spend much of their programming discussing the attacks. There is no escaping the hateful distortions of his record, personal beliefs, character and leadership. There is no escaping the outright lies meant to undermine the country’s confidence in him. The bullies cannot even credit him with the death of Osama Bin Laden, the resurrection of the auto industry, the steady creation of jobs, the lower cost of health care, the investment in green energy, the increased production and glut of oil and gas since he took office. These abusers credit him with nothing, not even his humanity. They hide their racism behind their abuse. No wonder it is hard to watch. No wonder we cringe in distaste.

 

Obama supporters know the attacks are meant to not only act as cover for those who oppose the president, and seek to destroy his presidency and his historical record; but, are also meant to turn his supporters away from him, to make any close contact with him so unbearably hard to stomach that even his supporters cannot approach him or his campaign. This is classic abuser behavior: Separate then attack,repeat,repeat,repeat. We see it. We know it. We hate it. We avoid it; and, in so doing doing we fail our president, our country and our selves.

 

An abuser is charming. He disarms any potential supporters of his victim with a story-line upon which he acknowledges a commonality with the victim’s friends and family. His remarks appear innocent; hidden behind his smile and slight chuckles is a comment assuming shared agreement with the victim’s poor behavior. He assures friends and family he does not blame them for the victim’s shortcomings. At the beginning of the abusive relationship, both the victim and supporters strive to please the abuser, catering to his whims, reaching “across the aisles” to make everyone feel better about what is fast becoming a “situation”, a falsity created by the abuser to separate the victim from his support group. By the time the supporters get suspicious, and uncomfortable enough to express their doubts about the abuser’s veracity, supporters have already ostracized the victim. Media personalities awoke too late to the abuse game being played out in public view.

 

African-Americans, Native-Americans, and others are not so easily duped. After all, they have been victimized by abusers for over 200 years. They understand the methodology of abuse and oppression. When I voice my outrage to white supporters they too often express a desire to avoid the election entirely. When I express my outrage to African-Americans they often tell me “shoot, this is nothing new; if my people got this upset every time, they would have committed mass suicide! You got to be tough.” They offer this wisdom, “Only white people can afford to get upset; we got to survive!” Those who think African-American voters will avoid voting for President Obama because of today’s announcement, do not understand the strength and wisdom of African-Americans to face down abusers. White supporters need to “get tough” and face them down, too.

 

We are right to feel uncomfortable. We are correct when we acknowledge the abusive behavior. We are justified in saying, “I can’t stand anymore of this!” but, we are wrong to abandon the victim so we can feel comfortable again. None of us should feel comfortable so long as any of us is being abused. That is why President Obama changed his position regarding same-sex marriage. Knowing members of the LGBT community continue to be abused made him more uncomfortable than his own discomfort with same-sex marriages, and his concern of potential political fall-out. He put aside his discomfort and chose to take the courageous path. It is time we all do so.

 

It is time we all acknowledge the abuse of others sanctioned by law, the ongoing victimization occurring daily in our local communities, and the abuse being heaped upon a president who continues to “do the right thing” while abusers attempt to undermine and destroy his every effort on our behalf, his personal integrity, even his personal safety. If you have ever suffered abuse or bullying you can see it as clearly as I can. It can keep us up at night, but it cannot stop us from supporting the LGBT community and President Obama.

 

 

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March 9, 2012 · 5:44 pm

WALKING WITH ANGELA: DAY 1

WALKING WITH ANGELA: DAY 1

Louise Annarino

March 9, 2012

 

We were walking home from Van’s market, just around the corner from our house. We had gone to buy a loaf of bread to make toast for breakfast, my older brother still asleep at home. The sun had not risen far this summer morning, the air still cool. I was only 4 years old, too young to run the errand on my own. Thus, I was skipping alongside my mother Angela, dodging the globs of shade cast by the sun trying to find its way through the dark leaves of the maple trees along our route. The contrast of the darkness and the light, ever moving, often capturing my dodging feet, raised a question which I posed to my mother, “Why are some people white and some people black?”.

 

Taking my hand in hers, Angela responded “God does not want us to be bored. If we all looked alike life would be very boring. He made some people tall, some short, some thin, some fat, some with red hair, some with blonde hair, blue-eyed and brown-eyed…and some white, some black. Aren’t you glad He did that?”

 

I nodded yes, “like a box of crayons, right?”

 

“What do you mean?” she asked. She wanted to be certain I understood.

 

“I have more fun coloring with a box of 64 crayons than the 8 crayon box,” I answered.

 

“Yes,” she smiled down at me, “Just like that!”.

 

And now, I understood the power and beauty of diversity; and the wisdom of a God who shared his many images within each of us.

 

Sean Hannity has been playing part of an early video of young Harvard law student who would one day become the 1st. African-American president of the United States, Barak Obama. Young student Obama was speaking as a class leader before his peers, of all colors. They had been gathering for months pleading for a more diverse faculty; a faculty lacking any African-American women, any Latino men or women. He spoke after one of 3 African-American male faculty members, took an unpaid leave in support of the students’ efforts. The students were grateful for his support.

 

Hannity’s clip simply shows young Obama’s comments commending Professor Bell as proof of President Obama’s divisive outlook and support of radicals. Hannity does not understand that diversity does not equal divisiveness; it equals inclusion. It is no more radical than liking more variety in one’s crayons.He has it exactly backwards. He does not know he should be dodging the dark side of the leaves; and, instead, dance in the light shining through the trees.

 

He should have taken a few walks with Angela.

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