In Pursuit of Perfection

US Permanent Military Presence in Iraq

Jeremiah Wright: Full Context

I've been spending the week doing something that I bet a lot of the opinion makers and radio talking heads will never do:  looking for full versions of Jeremiah Wrights sermons.  How can we speak so authoritatively, so definitively, on things we know so little about.  10 days ago, we knew nothing of Jeremiah Wright.  Today, we've labeled his messages "hate speech" and placed him on par with the KKK, a group that has murdered innocents and hanged their bodies in trees as threats to others who desire equality and freedom in America.

If you are getting your information from CNN and Fox News, you are misinformed.

"A More Perfect Union"

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” 

Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy.  Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787. 

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished.  It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations. 

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time. 

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States.  What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

Barack Obama is a half-rican: A Fair and Balanced Perspective

Who is Barack Obama's Mother Really

A quality piece, thoughtfully written with the normal assumptions left out.

Geraldine Ferraro’s Contempt For Black People

Another killer from BP!

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position.” - Geraldine Ferraro, Daily Breeze, March 7, 2008.

One thing that I must say about the Republican Party is that their collective contempt for the black community is worn on their sleeve. Relatively speaking this contempt is held in the open for all to see. In the eyes of the typical Republican Party member the black community is not entitled to any special treatment from its government. A Republican president would rather spend a half trillion dollars and four thousand American lives in a battle of ideology to help the people in a country on the other side of the world than spend a dime building schools specifically for the black community. A Republican in the White House would rather give a corporate entity like Blackwater or Halliburton special treatment in the form of “no bid” federal contracts worth tens of billions of dollars and handsomely uplifting the profits of these companies during a time of war before they would help people in the black community during times of peace. A Republican controlled American government would rather give tax cuts worth more than four trillion dollars to billionaires and millionaires before they would give a black family the opportunity to apply for health insurance for their children. The Republican Party makes no attempt to appear to be a friend of the black community.

Continued...

Obama Campaign Headquarters in Texas Vandalized

Care of WOAI NBC 4 in San Antonio.  I was sad to see this and want to direct as much attention to these kinds of incidents as possible.  No doubt there will be others, but that's no excuse for any of us to accept this kind of base reprisal.  Let's be vigilant in our condemnation of these acts.

Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors -- Quick Post

Just got back from the Board of Supervisor's meeting at the Chesterfield County Government Complex.  Glad I went.  The meeting began with a presentation by Jack Clifford on the 2008 Presidential Primary.  I'll have more thoughts later tonight, right now I'm heading out to work.  Right now I want to ensure that everyone knows about next week's hearing at the State Board of Elections.  Taking place on March 5th, this meeting will be open to public hearings and it is vitally important that as many people attend as possible!  There is a doubt in Mr. Haake's mind at this point, whether he will attend next week's meeting.  Please contact Mr. Haake and let him know your opinion on the matter.  I'll have a more complete report in the morning!  My previous thoughts are here.

Lawrence C. Haake, III
Chesterfield County General Registrar
PO Box 1690
Chesterfield, VA 23832
(804) 748-1471
(804) 751-0822
Hours 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Monday - Friday

Getting to Know Amiri Baracka

I'm getting to know the great Black poet Amiri Baracka.  And I'm enjoying it.

Black Agenda Report 02/20

 

Recycling the Pain of Lynching

For some in America, there can be no acceptance of Black opinions on majority held beliefs.  To acquiesce in any way for them would be to accept 'surrender'.   However, let me add my voice to the growing number of Americans who are saying, "Enough."  No more undercover references to symbols of intimidation as if they are not such.  Fox News is a bastion of offensive symbols, personalities, and faux "current events" topics all discussed in the very disingenuous guise of news reporting.  For me, when I am making points on very strongly held opinions in hot button categories, I make sure to distinguish my opinions from those who are simply out to be bigoted, offensive, and divisive.  If you truly disagree with these approaches, then do the same.

If you don't believe me, here's Mr. Bush's take on it.