The president and the preacher

Here's a bit of irony. On the weekend that Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the next president of the United States, his old pastor Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright will also be in Washington, D.C., speaking at the Howard University Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel.

Rev. Wright has a standing engagement to preach every Martin Luther King Birthday weekend. As fate would have it, that weekend coincides with the inauguration. Wonder if they'll have time to catch up. :-)

Obama Campaign Mulls What To Do With $30M Surplus

Here are excerpts from a Huffington Post article.

WASHINGTON — Democrats carrying significant campaign debt after winning a string of House and Senate races are grumbling about President-elect Barack Obama's financial reserves, saying the party's leader is sitting on a pile of cash while Democratic leaders are broke....

Obama's organization retains some $30 million after his successful presidential bid, but it's unclear how the Democratic president-in-waiting might use the money. Members of his party are doing their best to appeal for the funds without appearing greedy, ungrateful or hostile to their new leader....

The Democratic National Committee is carrying about $5 million in debt, with almost $12 million cash on hand. DNC officials say they expect to have the debt paid by the end of the year. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee carries some $19 million in debt and less than $3 million on hand. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is nearly $13 million in debt...

Obama raised more than $745 million during his marathon campaign, more than twice the amount obtained by his rival, Republican John McCain. In his latest finance report, Obama reported raising $104 million in more than five weeks immediately before and after Election Day...

Obama opted not to participate in public funding system. In exchange, he was able to continue raising money, while McCain accepted $84 million in taxpayer money, and the spending restrictions that went with it, through the public financing system...

Obama aides are aware of the stigma and don't want to appear inelegant or selfish. They are weighing whether to keep the money to build a massive grass roots program to support his agenda, or to cycle that money to the party apparatus. Both ideas have strong advocates, but it's unclear to those involved which way Obama will go...

Party officials around the country say the campaign leaders have signaled they shouldn't expect the money to come to them directly, if at all. Instead, many party officials expect Obama to use his funds to advance his own priorities, to support his massive Internet-based organization and to have cache for special causes. With almost 4 million donors, Obama's fundraising list could prove golden for future Obama-backed drives...

Don't worry, be happy

If I'm happy, you ought to be happy, too. That's assuming we are friends.

So says the result of a study in the British Medical Journal. The study of 4,700 people who were followed more than 20 years found that people who are happy or become happy boost the chances that someone they know will be happy. It doesn't stop with the people you know however, the happiness can persist through another degree of separation. When one person in a network becomes happy, the chances that a friend, sibling, spouse or next-door neighbor would also become happy increased between 8 percent and 34 percent.

Are you smiling yet? What about the person next to you.

The study confirmed what I've always sensed, that it is harder to be miserable around people who are joyful than people who are miserable. If you want to stay happy, it's best to avoid those who seem to wallow in unhappiness.

Could that phenomenon have been at work in the last election? I think we'd all agree that Barack Obama was the one candidate who always seemed to have a sunny disposition. No matter what was thrown his way, he seemed to always be able to summon a smile.

If you looked at his staff and supporters, they always seemed to be upbeat. By contrast, some of his opponents (who will remain nameless) seemed to be perpetually peeved and were always surrounded by a sour-faced lot.

Barack's attitude is in keeping with dreams of our founding fathers. Less than 100 words into the Declaration of Independence they not only proffered that our unalienable rights are life and liberty, but also the pursuit of happiness. Barack Obama might just remind us that happiness is not only good for campaigning but essential for governing.

The study also resonated with me because it reminded me of my Dad. He has got to be the most optimistic person I know. No matter what I've seen him go through, I've never seen him without his smile or without a word of positive encouragement. His optimism is so bad that sometimes we would get upset at him for being happy...when the situation called for some righteous indignation.

I'd like to think that I inherited some portion of his positive attitude...like his brown eyes and chubby cheeks. I'm still working on continuing his legacy of happiness, but I do know that whenever I go to my parents house, there is a joy that is unmistakable. There is no doubt that their joy transfers to anyone who enters their home.

The good news is that their joy and happiness is viral. They'll pass it to me, and I'll pass it to two friends. And so on. And so on. Pretty soon we will have infected everyone in our network. That's got to be a beautiful thing.

Ask Barack Obama. Ask my dad.

Time to retire the red button

I've just about had it with the red button. You know...the one at the end of every Barack Obama email that says "Donate Now?"

I have much love for Barack Obama. Back when he was the insurgent candidate, I gladly clicked the little red button and took "ownership" of the campaign. As he surged into the lead during the primaries, I was one of those millions pledging my love in small amounts.

He needed more money to stave off McCain, and I complied. Little by little, I registered my support and made my voice known.

But then something changed. McCain agreed to accept $80 million for his campaign, and Obama was still raising prodigious amounts of money each month. His fundraising crescendoed in September when he raised $150 million. He collected almost twice as much as McCain had for his entire campaign...in a month. Still the red buttons continued.

Just weeks were left in the campaign, and Obama was buying up blocks of TV time that competed with the World Series. Still he asked us to "Donate Now." I must admit that that little red button got less and less appealing to me. It seemed a bit much to ask me for more money when he was outspending the competition by record amounts.

Still they asked. Even though the campaign has ended, the red buttons persist. There is something unseemly about a president-elect begging for money. At that point, you are about to take control of the most efficient fundraising machine ever -- the IRS. I'm beginning to wonder if we can expect rebates from a campaign that expects a perpetual hand out.

It's about time for us to start emailing him our own little buttons. All this other bailing out is going on, and I'd like some of that action. Christmas is coming. Times are hard for everyone, and we need some help. Hey President-elect Obama:

Yes We Sang: Music fueled the campaign

Listen to this. One of the things I enjoyed about this past campaign was the way music played such a key role at influential points. Music, meet social networking. Now anyone can make music about the campaign...and they did. I thought it might be fun to go back and listen to some of the 2008 election tunes. Here they are by genre.

The most popular, I think, is the will.i.am song inspired by Barack's New Hampshire speech: Yes We Can.

How about the flighty Obama Girl's crush.



And the hip hop tribute?




Calypso? Try the Mighty Sparrow.



Speaking of Calypso, this is a cool biography song.




And the last Calypso song chides Sarah Palin. Priceless.



Of course there has to be a Rock and Roll version.




I found this one that I'd never heard before. Shhh... don't tell the King family.




Here's a find from one of our readers. You might remember the Robert Palmer tune from the late 80's. :-)

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

And recognizing that music plays such an important role, the Obama Campaign released their own soundtrack for the campaign. You can find it here: http://store.barackobama.com/Yes_We_Can_Voices_of_a_Grassroots_Movement_s/1037.htm

Know of another good one? Let me know.



Now I'm wondering. What kind of music can we expect to support Barack Obama as he governs?

Clinton drama drowns Obama

Just as I was starting to get over my Clinton fatigue, the duo stages a reprise.

For two years, the Obama campaign kept negotiations and decisions private until they were ready to make an announcement. They were disciplined and leak free. No more.

Word leaked last week that Hillary Clinton had been offered the Secretary of State position in the cabinet and, ever since, we have been subjected to a barrage of leaks and public hand wringing. No other appointment has generated this much debate and public negotiation. Bill needs to be vetted. He doesn't want to be vetted. He has lawyers negotiating. She has angst. She's not sure she wants the job.

Enough already. Make a decision and STFU. Geez... Do we really want her around the executive branch for the next four years?

Through all this drama, we barely hear the name of the president elect. He is absent from the debate. You have to think that is deliberate. He's letting her suck all the oxygen out of the room again. This is just like the way things went when he won the nomination and, for a week, all we heard about was how hard Hillary had it. How much time she needed to admit what we had all known for three months. Through that time, Obama was silent as well.

I'm not sure what his strategy is...but I hope he soon has Clinton fatigue like we have. End this drama.

Reign in the Kings - update

Last week, I blogged about Martin Luther King Jr's children squabbling over $1.4 million of their mother's belongings. Well this week they've found something to unite around -- other people's money.

AP News reported on Nov. 13 that the King Family Seeks to Cash in on MLK-Obama Items. The King kids realized that all kinds trinkets were selling with Dr. King and President elect Obama's likeness, and they were incensed.

As guardians of Dr. King's likeness, the children plan to zealously pursue anyone selling Dr. King's likeness to ensure they get their cut. Or... as one of them so articulately put it, "If you make a dollar, we should make a dime. That's not happening now."

Nice.

Hope we can believe in

With due respect and apologies to Barack Obama, we always hoped; we just never believed. That was your challenge.

I cast my very first vote in a presidential election for Jesse Jackson. I was a freshman at a historically black college, and Rev. Jackson was the first serious Black candidate for president that I had seen. When Jackson visited our campus for a campaign rally, he held court for almost an hour -- preaching to us in a way that only a Black candidate could. When he closed with his signature, "Keep Hope Alive!" we went nuts. We were proud. We were hopeful. But we never really believed he could be president.

Just an election cycle ago, there were whispers of a young African American senator from Illinois who might be well positioned to be president. We indulged the fantasy, but he is so young. And that name? He's talented but it wasn't likely. Not in America.

From our perch of disbelief, he seduced us with his electrifying 2004 convention speech, and our hearts yearned to believe. We swooned...cautiously. We'd been here before.

We're pretty used to seeing African Americans in the highest rungs of power. Ron Brown, Alexis Herman, Colin Powell, and Condoleeza Rice will no doubt make their way into Black History books. Logically, it should have been a short step from a cabinet member to the president, but we have learned not to believe.

Carter G. Woodson warned us a century ago that if you controlled a man's thinking, you don't have to worry about his actions. If a race or class of people believed they couldn't make a difference, or that people who looked like them could have a place in this democracy, that is the ultimate form of voter supression.

We saw the effects in this election cycle. Early in the primary, Obama polled poorly with Black voters, who never really thought he had a legitimate chance at being elected. We were hopeful but wary. Many opted for Hillary Clinton, the better known candidate. She had the more realistic chance of being elected, went the thinking.

In the midst of our skepticism, something stirred in Iowa, and we got our first permission to believe. Obama's candidacy became our generation's March on Washington. He empowered us to work for change. We emailed small contributions, volunteered in our communities, called voters across the country. As we took ownership of our campaign, the dream became more real every day.

This morning when the polls opened, I joined a line of African American voters that snaked around a soccer field, zigzagged through a parking lot, weaved into and out of a church sanctuary and ended at voting terminals in a church gymnasium. It was the last four hours of this incredible journey. Across the country, we were all coming together, White and Black, young and old, rich and poor, to send a message and claim our future.

There's only one reason we could do that. You asked us to hope. You taught us to believe. That is your legacy, Mr. President.

By the time we get to Arizona

For Barack Obama irony, if not victory, might await in Arizona. Depending on whose polls you believe, the Democrat could be on the verge of an electoral landslide. He has made significant gains in a whole range of battleground states and now turns his money and attention to Arizona, the home of his opponent, Sen. John McCain. 

I can't say that I blame Obama. The only thing better than a wipe out would be one that includes Arizona. That would be the ultimate poke in the eye, and McCain knows it. Now he has to divert funds allocated to other battles to defend his home turf. 

Here's the irony. If Obama is successful, the state that gave the most resistance to recognizing a Black man, Martin Luther King Jr., could be the state that plays a pivital role in electing the nation's first Black president.

I would find an Arizona victory satisfying since John McCain was one of the politicians who fought the passage of the King Holiday. In fairness, he has since apologized for his actions, but who cares?  Some of the things we see in this campaign expose a mindset that looks like the same old McCain. The McCain who only came around to support the holiday after increasing public pressure, the NFL cancelling a super bowl in Arizona, and an overwhelming 338 - 90 vote in the House of Representatives. When it became apparent that he was on the wrong side of history, McCain got on the bus.

Glad he found enlightenment, but it shouldn't have been that hard. Recognizing an American who stirred the moral consciousness of a nation, earned worldwide recognition for his nonviolent movement for equality and peace, and then gave his life as his last great act of sacrifice should have been a no brainer. Not for Arizona, however. They remained the symbol of an unnecessary battle.

Many from my generation will always remember that time period through the sentiment of Public Enemy's hip hop classic, "By the Time I Get to Arizona." It was one of the defiant and revolutionary expressions of the moment. Thanks to Chuck D, even though we bobbed our heads, we never really forgot Arizona. 

That was then, however. This is 2008. The holiday is official. Chuck D is main stream. Obama is playing offense. A man of color is returning to Arizona, not as part of a movement seeking acceptance, but leading a campaign exacting respect. 

Public Enemy's classic has made the journey with me from my walkman cassette to my iPod touch. Now I'm planning to take it into the voting booth. I'm hoping the verdict on an unfortunate time in American history can be reached by the time we get to Arizona.

Charge it to my head but not to my heart

Two weeks and two conventions later, this much is clear — Democrats love with their heads and Republicans love with their hearts.

How else do you explain Democrats working themselves up into a lather by repeating a litany of facts and stats to point out all the failures of the Right? Or the Republicans who gather to worship at the altar of 9/11, claim America as their exclusive own, and celebrate an anti-abortion neophyte as their next best hope? It's clearly a head vs heart phenomenon.

I admit that I'm biased. I do my political thinking with my head. I enjoy a little heart on the side, but I vote based primarily on what my head thinks. That's why I was completely miffed that a major party nominee could give an acceptance speech that paints no vision of the future, that offers no specific prescriptions for the nation's ills, or that looks longingly backwards while trying to convince us that they are the party of the future.

We can cede the hero argument to John McCain. John, 40 years ago, you were the man. You were a bad ass's bad ass. Lord knows not many of us could continue flipping the bird for five years at people who were treating us like a doggie chew toy. For me that would get old quickly. You win that argument hands down.

Forty years later however, you run under a theme called "Country First" that only talks about you the individual. Republicans are frothing and crying, and I'm scratching my head. You pick a running mate whose primary qualification seems to be that she is a spunky hockey mom of five kids with quirky monosyllabic names.

Speaking of running mates, how do you nominate someone and keep them from granting a single interview for a full 10 days now? How are you going to stare down Vladimir Putin when you can't even do a soft shoe with Wolf Blitzer?

How? Because she is an anti-abortionist. It seems a Republican could nominate an axe murderer as long as he/she was committed to overturning Roe v Wade. Speaking of the he/she story, how do you do you nominate a woman and laud it as a giant step forward for women and then have conventioneers wearing buttons that say "I'm voting for the hot chick from the cool state?" Isn't that one step forward and three steps back? That's like saying "I'm voting for the night-Black guy from the sunny state." Doesn't strike me as flattery.

Finally, if fighting your own party is such a great thing, why are you with them in the first place? What's wrong with a guy agreeing with the party he has chosen. Isn't that the point?

Of course these are all head arguments that only prove that when it comes to the Republicans, my heart just isn't in it.

The buck stops there

In the end, it's a question of leadership. Will you lead or be led. Do you have real accountability, or do you shift it to others.

The test of leadership, viewed through these questions, leaves doubt about Pres. Bush and Sen. McCain's fitness to lead. Specifically, their insistance that Gen. Petraeus' judgment be followed without question or debate, does not strike me as leadership. A true leader asks the right questions of his subordinates, and as the leader, makes a decision for which he or she is held accountable. Just the opposite is happening in Iraq.

Time and time again, we hear Bush and McCain say that they are following the decisions of commanders 'on the ground.' You have never Bush or McCain say that they took the commanders advice and made a decision that was counter to the recommendation. A true leader wants a recommendation from subordinates, but has a broader view from which to make decisions.

The advice of one subordinate can't be the right decision every time or the subordinate becomes the defacto leader. When challenged about a decision, Bush and McCain always defer to Gen. Petraeus as the one who should be held accountable.

This week we experienced a refreshing change when Sen. Obama visited with Gen. Petraeus and emerged from the meeting with a different response. Obama said he appreciated the general's advice, but his decisions would be based on a broader set of inputs. Leadership. I'll take your advice, but the decision is mine.

This is important because the Pentagon and military establishments are notorious for pushing their bosses in directions that favor the military. You can't really blame them. If your boss asked you how you were doing your job and what you wanted to do next, I'm sure the answer would be somewhat favorable to you. It's human nature. That's why a true leader shouldn't make decisions based on a single source of information. Obama gets it, and the concept confounds Bush and McCain.

In their minds, Gen. Petraeus should be responsible for making all the decisions and that's the problem. The buck stops there.

STFU Award: Jesse Jackson

Just when we thought we had recovered from Jesse Jackson's tasteless and crass comment about Barack Obama, he raises his outrageous behavior to an even more unacceptable level.

Last week we learned that Jesse Jackson was picked up on an open mic on the Fox News set whispering to another guest. Jackson was complaining that Barack Obama was talking down to Black people and Jesse wanted to cut Barack's nuts off. Jesse incredibly thought the microphone was off when he made the comments, violating what must be the must widely known rule in TV -- always assume the mic is on.

Once Jesse got word that Fox had recorded his comment, he immediately came out with a pre-apology. Before the piece even aired, there was Jesse Jackson groveling for any camera that would record him. He still loved Obama. It was the microphone's fault. Children are starving in Africa. OJ was framed. Geronomo Pratt was shafted. Anything to keep the conversation from going deeper than his apology and delving into why he felt the need to make the comment.

Today, Fox News confirmed that in that gaffe, Jesse called Barack Obama THE N WORD (gasp)!

Yep, the good Reverend wants to cut that nigger Barack Obama's nuts off. Damn microphone.

Now this is beyond outrageous. This is the same Jesse Jackson who crusaded against use of the word. He railed against Michael Richards (appropriately) and threatened to boycott Jerry, Elaine and George's DVD set.

Jesse still hasn't explained why he made the first comment about castrating Barack and now he denigrates him further. At this point Jesse, we don't need an explanation. It's pretty obvious; it is part of your character.

You try to appear pious in public but call Jews a racial slur, father a child out of wedlock, and make crude references about the first Black nominee of any major party. What excuse could you possibly have for a pattern of such unexcusable behavior?

It's time for you to stop parading yourself around as some spokesperson for the Black community. We reject and denounce you. We can do better. We are doing better. With the same Brother you are hating on.

Jesse Jackson for being a classless, insincere, destructive force in the Black community, the People's Pundit bestows upon you the STFU award. SHUT THE FUCK UP!

The dance Obama is doing

There's an old saying. When you get to the dance, you stick with the one who brung you there. For Barack Obama, it seems he was devoted to Democrats on his way to the dance, and once there, has begun flirting with everyone else.

The line of recent reversals of positions has been well chronicled. Faith based organizations, FISA, gun control, campaign finance, all casualties of the deliberate pivot right. While some recasting as a centrist was expected, Obama is doing it on all the issues that are near and dear to his base.

In addition, he has rejected comments from Gen. Wes Clark, that from all accounts were accurate...and being used in Obama's defense. He slammed MoveOn.org's Petraeus ad, even though the group has mobilized three million people to work for Obama's election.

So now his supporters are miffed and his enemies are gleeful. I'm not sure what Obama is thinking, but someone should tell him that people who flirt with others at the dance usually go home alone.

This was the moment

It's been a couple of days since Barack Obama's triumphant acceptance of the presumptive Democratic nomination, but I had to hear the speech one more time. This was the moment.

How Obama courts the Clintonites

I know Hillary Clinton supporters say they won't vote for Barack Obama in the Fall, but John McCain yesterday made it easier to bring the Clintonites back home.

In a speech laying out his judicial philosophy, McCain all but promised judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

He didnt say it explicitly, but he used all the code words as he addressed the largely conservative crowd.

So now the question would be to Clinton supporters, who are largely activist women, do you really want to play a role in reversing a woman's right to choose what to do with her body?

You might think Obama is an empty suit, but you can count on him to fight for the issues you support most passionately. Think about it.

-Sent from my mobile device.

Clinton: Nuke, nuke Iran

I shuddered when I heard John McCain singing, 'bomb, bomb, Iran,' but I never thought he would be outdone by a Democrat.

Repeating a line that most people seemed to miss during the Philadelphia debate, Hillary Clinton promised to nuke Iran if it threatened Israel. And when asked if that's what she really meant to say, she took it up a notch and said the US could obliterate them:

"The question was, 'If Iran were to launch a nuclear attack on Israel, what would our response be?' And I want the Iranians to know that if I'm president, we will attack Iran" to retaliate against an Iranian nuclear hit on Israel.

She added: "And I want them to understand that, because it does mean that they have to look very carefully at their society. Because whatever stage of development they might be in their nuclear weapons program in the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

Wow! Whappened to diplomacy?

Obama took a more restrained view in the Guardian's report.

Obama, responding to Clinton's interview, said: "One of the things that we've seen over the last several years is a bunch of talk using words like 'obliterate'. "It doesn't actually produce good results. And so I'm not interested in sabre-rattling."

So now I'm wondering, what in the world would cause her to say something so hawkish that she is even appearing to be to the right of McCain? Is this her attempt to triangulate his message? Am I the only one who finds this just a little bit disconcerting? You'd think promising to nuke a Middle Eastern country would be the lead story, but it still seems to be buried. What gives?

Obama's debate debacle; grappling with the gotchas

I think we were beyond the halfway point of last night's debate when Charlie Gibson announced that 'now we will move to the issue Americans care most about, the economy.'

An interesting admission from anchors who seemed to glee in the endless stream of gotcha questions. From bitter, to Rev Wright, to Bosnia sniper fire, the debate seemed to deliberately avoid anything that looked like a substantive issue.

Too bad for Obama because he never fares well in those kinds of formats. Positioning himself as the gentleman of the race, he clings (yes, I said it) to being civil when the situation clearly calls for a street fight. A gentleman will never hit a lady, even if she is backhanding him with the broad side of a shovel.

I've often wondered why, after leading for so long, he can't or won't knock her out already. If Clinton had the advantages that Obama has presided over for the last few months, I'm sure she would have ended him in a grand a brutal fashion by now. Obama's the guy in the coliseum who has his opponent down on her back and rather than deliver the final blow, he turns and walks away. Everyone in the stands knows that were the situation reversed, she wouldn't hesitate to lower the hammer.

Clinton smells blood. The beating Obama got last night will pale compared to the beating to come. That is, unless he learns to shed the nice guy image and fight back. We all want to think optimistically about the new, diplomatic era of politics, but it ain't here yet. And you won't get to the big dance until you master the old fight.

I guess this is what the ABC anchors realize when they tossed both candidates into the ring and let them pummel each other for the first half of the debate. It's not the substance we hoped for but it's probably a fight they were destined to have.

I like the way Gail Collins sums it up in a NY Times op-ed:

I know it’s been a hard couple of weeks, people. You were all excited about this election and now you feel like someone who got all dressed up for a great event and wound up at a B-list party with a cash bar. You never want to hear the words “bitter” or “Bosnia” again. And the only political story that you’ve really enjoyed lately is the one about Cindy McCain’s list of favorite recipes being cribbed from The Food Network.

We, too, sing America

I love America, and I agree with Reverend Wright. Whether or not the main stream understands or realizes it, I don't think I am different from many African Americans.

In fact, I'd argue that many African Americans experience a different kind of patriotism than our white counterparts because our history and experiences are so vastly different. This is what many people who scratch their heads at Rev. Wright fail to understand.

Generally speaking, African Americans don't wear flags on our lapels or post bumper stickers on our cars to display our patriotism. In barber shops and basements, we often speak harshly of this country. But we pledge allegiance, pay taxes, vote reliably and serve in our military. And when we see injustice, we forcefully speak out against it.

Jeremiah Wright was not the first to damn American. In 1852, Frederick Douglass was asked to give a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. At Rochester's Corinthian Hall, Douglass delivered a biting oratory, in which he told his audience:

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

This is the same Frederick Douglass who later wrote that "Truth is of no color. God is the father of us all, and we are all brethren." The same Douglass who conferred with presidents and became the first African American to be nominated as vice president.

Slavery and Jim Crow have long since been banished, but many of Douglass' sentiments remain with America's sons and daughters of color. The feelings often simmer beneath the surface. We know better than to voice them around the water cooler at work, but when we are among "family," we let our guard down and speak more honestly.

And when that frank talk bubbles up to the surface and out in the open, a confused majority wonders, "why?"

Our history and allegiances are complex. Shortly after Douglass' speech, African Americans in the 10th Cavalry of the U.S. Army earned the name Buffalo Soldiers, serving with distinction for a country that frequently treated them with indignity. In fact, there is no war in American history in which African Americans did not participate.

I think I am fairly safe in assuming that many of them often damned America in the same hearts that pumped the blood they willingly spilled for it. The two emotions can co-exist and have a long history of doing so in the black community.

But this is 2008. This is the America where black men could rise to lead institutions such as Beatrice Foods, American Express and Aetna. It is the America where Robert Johnson and Oprah Winfrey could lift themselves from poverty to billionaire status. It is the America where a second generation African immigrant could be a serious contender for president.

It is also the same America shamefully exposed during Hurricane Katrina.

So when Barack Obama said that he could no more distance himself from Rev. Wright than he could from the black community, we understood.

Can you rise to the level of presidential contender in the United States yet still feel at home in a community that would curse it?

Absolutely. Sometimes when a wound heals, a scar remains. Sometimes pain outlasts forgiveness. And sometimes, when we still see symptoms of the old sickness, we rise up with righteous indignation and curse the sinner as well as the sin. It doesn't mean we don't hope or that we don't love.

Patriotism is not the absence of criticism. The mouth that damns America can still speak for the heart that loves it. For Frederick Douglass, for Rev. Jeremiah Wright and for generations of African Americans in between, love is not blind. That's the complexity of African American patriotism.

I, Too, Sing America
by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Hillary channels Rocky

Maybe someone forgot to tell her how the movie ends.

Yesterday Hillary compared herself to Rocky Balboa, the fictional gritty boxer from Philadelphia.

Speaking on April 1 at an AFL-CIO event at a downtown Sheraton, Mrs. Clinton suggested that Mr. Obama lacked the stomach for a prolonged primary fight.

“Senator Obama says he’s getting tired of it—his supporters say they want it to end,” said Mrs. Clinton. “Well, could you imagine if Rocky Balboa had gotten halfway up those Art Museum stairs and said, ‘Well, I guess that’s about far enough?’ That’s not the way it works. Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing the fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up.”

Rocky? Really Hillary? Will someone tell her the movie didn't end when he ran up the stairs? The movie ended when he got pummeled to death and lost to Apollo Creed, a Black man. Let's not make too much of analogies to that movie, shall we?

Clinton propses bowl off, Insert groan here

You knew it was coming, folks. After Obama's abysmal attempt at bowling (37 points in seven frames), Hillary Clinton today challenged Obama to a bowl off. It was utterly predictable, not very clever, full of cliche's and plays on words, and a pretty sad April Fool's joke. You even hear the polite applause and laughter.

Just in case you were wondering if Hillary was capable of exercising any kind of restraint, the pandering continues...