Posts Tagged ‘President Obama’

In this 24-hour news cycle, ostensibly we should be inundated with more news, information and substantive analysis, which would provide a solid foundation to measure the performance of politicians.

Instead, we seem to get bogged down in soundbite minutia, to the point we miss the obvious.

For example, when President Obama spoke about immigration reform while in Cartagena, Colombia last month, the rest of us were still too busy cackling over the absurdity of the Secret Service prostitution scandal. The real news was that President Obama promised immigration reform in the first year of his second term.

Yes, he’s running for re-election and is seeking to shore up his Latino support, but seemingly, the tired meme of President Obama not being the president of “just” (insert group) but of “all Americans” was nowhere to be found in an editorial sense.

But that’s ok, President Obama did sing for us. That should count for something.  Sales of Let’s Stay Together jumped 490%.  Al Green should definitely be voting for President Obama.

Even more recently, Vice-President Joe Biden offered personal and sincere sentiments, supporting the legalization of gay marriage. Predictably, the nation then turned to look at President Obama to see if he would either embrace, distance or dance around his Vice-President’s stance.

We’re still waiting…as the president is still “evolving.”

The LGBTQ community and also African-Americans in support of Gay marriage have not made any distinction that President Obama isn’t “just” the president of the LGBTQ community. This is not to cast aspersion on any community but let’s be honest about the shifting rationale as to what is fair in terms of criticism of President Obama and fair relative to African-American expectations.

In 2011 President Obama endured considerable criticism from high-profile members of the African-American community for allegedly not doing enough to address issues of specific relevance.

Depending on how cynical one wishes to be, President Obama wasn’t the president of just General Motors but of all Americans when he bailed it out. The president spoke at the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department Legislative Conference a few weeks ago again pledging to work on the behalf of unions.

Again pledging…

I’m still waiting on someone to say that President Obama isn’t the president of just the unions, but of all Americans. I shudder to think what would be said if President Obama pledged to work on behalf of African-Americans or promised to work on African-American specific issues during the first year of his second term.

Don’t say “but that’s different.” It’s NOT different at all. It’s EXACTLY the same, just with a different set of expectations for African-Americans.

President Obama has endured multiple tar baby references from elected Republican officials and presidential hopefuls. Senator and former GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan all found a way to creatively use “tar baby” and “Barack Obama” in the same sentence. I can’t seem to find any tar baby references in connection with other presidents, much less three times in reference to just one. Oh…a “coincidence” to be sure. But the moment President Obama cares to comment on the arrest of Dr. Henry Louis Gates or the death of Trayvon Martin, he supposedly is using race to “divide” America?

Really?

The inconvenient truth about being the first Black president is the Black part. It seems America wants all of the credit for electing a man of color to the Oval Office but wants no part of the reality that race still matters in America. Electing a Black man president renders race moot no more than electing a woman would render gender moot. If you don’t believe me, I’ll refer you to Pakistan, Argentina, Liberia and Great Britain as examples.

You can’t have it both ways America.

You can’t elect an African-American and also refuse him the right to remember he’s African-American. In the same way, if Mitt Romney were elected, we should not expect him to forget he’s Mormon or for Barney Frank to reject he’s gay while in office.

Such truths highlight the difference between Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and why history reveres the former and is largely indifferent to the latter.

Nobody expected Sarah Palin to present herself in a genderless fashion or deny addressing issues of greatest importance to women. I remember too many “lipstick on a pig,” “hockey mom” and “Mama grizzly” references for anyone to argue otherwise. Nevertheless, Palin was running to become VP of all Americans, not just women as it were.

Or put another way…

To suggest that incidents such as Republican operative Rusty DePass referring to Michelle Obama as a gorilla don’t indict the idea of a post-racial America is a joke. To argue there is no racial connection between Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s birther crusade and the preceding illegal immigration one in Arizona is another unfunny joke.

African-Americans have a duty and a right to be vocal in regards to its community’s needs. There is no other single constituency who will vote for Barack Obama in November to the tune of 90%. Not the LGBTQ community, not Latinos, not unions and arguably not even registered Democrats as a whole…and he’s promised the world to all of the aforementioned.

We as African-Americans should be sober in our assessment of whether President Obama has met our community’s expectations. If the Latino community can predicate their support of Barack Obama around the community-specific issues of the DREAM Act and immigration reform, then we in the African-American community should not settle for platitudes of rising tides lifting all boats in relation to Black unemployment…which is double the national rate.

As long as the LGBTQ community can frame their support of Barack Obama around such community-specific issues as DADT and gay marriage legislation; it is more than reasonable for us in the African-American community to apply pressure on the issues of inner city crime and public education.

The reality is that crime, education and unemployment are all inextricably linked. Another reality is that from a community perspective, Mitt Romney is not in any way a better alternative in addressing these issues. Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon us as African-Americans to make sure that President Obama earns our votes and is consistently reminded that being the first African-American president only means something as long as he is unafraid to acknowledge it through governance.

 

 

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly.  Tune into The Mo’Kelly Show Saturdays from 6-9pm PDT on KFI AM640.  Contact Mo’Kelly at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Something tells Mo’Kelly that President Obama just locked up the Star Trek Convention vote in November.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – An upstate New York man is accused of threatening to kill President Barack Obama and elementary schoolchildren in Saratoga County.

Prosecutors say the U.S. Secret Service and local authorities collaborated to arrest Brent Dickinson of Saratoga Springs.

The county district attorney’s office said Saturday the 33-year-old man “intended to murder” the targets of his threatening messages. They said the U.S. Secret Service intercepted two threatening messages posted by Dickinson on a White House message board Friday.

Dickinson was arraigned in Saratoga Springs City Court on charges of making terroristic threats.

He was taken to city jail after bail was set at $50,000. It wasn’t immediately known whether he had an attorney.

A message left at a number listed for Dickinson’s possible relatives was not returned Saturday.

SOURCE

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Nothing needs to be said by me…

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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PART ONE

 

PART TWO

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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What is there for the President to “get” exactly? This is coming from the same man who said that the poor should blame themselves…for being poor. If we follow Cain’s twisted logic to its ultimate conclusion, then personal accountability is the only variable in prosperity; not presidential economic policy.

The truth of the matter is that retired presidents get a pension near $200,000 annually, a secret service detail and guaranteed speaking engagements for the rest of their lives, north of $50,000 per appearance. Cain’s cynical rhetoric aside, no president is ever “out of work” or “looking for a job” after leaving the White House, be it after one or two terms.

Just putting that out there.

His tweet is disingenuous in every way and comes from someone who’s earned more than $250,000 in 2011 alone as an author and motivational speaker.

Cain himself really doesn’t even have a job, truth be told. When he’s not embarrassing himself trying explain his stance on abortion or insulting Black voters, his time is largely free to schedule at his whim.

Cain wants to have it both ways. Out of one side of his mouth, he will allege that jobs and prosperity go to the hardest-working and most deserving. If true, then there is no economic crisis in America, capitalism is a finely-tuned meritocracy and has rewarded the cream of America’s crop accordingly.

Out of the other side of his mouth, he argues that America is in need of a president who implicitly understands the fundamental tenets of business and job creation. The contradiction must be highlighted. Why the need for job creation if the poor and unemployed are to blame for their own plights? If people are “choosing” to be poor, then no amount of job creation would change this fact.

Here’s another question…

If Herman Cain’s economic plan of 9-9-9 was so well-thought-out, why did it only take all of two news cycles to expose it as of disproportionate, negative impact to the poor? Going further, how did it only take one more news cycle for him to fundamentally change his economic plan to “9-0-9,” to adjust for this revelation?

Had he not done the simple math or were the majority of Americans in his socioeconomic blind spot?

Ultimately, it says that Cain is the one who “doesn’t get it.” He didn’t figure the poor into his economic plan because he is blind to them. The essential argument of the Occupy Movement is that there are far more people living in poverty than there are living in penthouses. Cain’s supposed bailiwick is economics/job creation. Yet, he gleefully suggests that the poor are such by their own choices. One can’t claim to love America while simultaneously showing contempt for such a wide swath of its people.

Bank of America, after receiving some 20 billion in federal aid will be laying off some 40,000 employees AND has raised its fees. Meaning, BofA not only took away 40,000 jobs, but also increased their ex-employees’ cost of living in the same month. According to Cain’s logic, we should blame those who were terminated, and further loosen the supposed shackles on big business.

I’ve never sold a slice of pizza in my life, but I am clear Herman Cain is nowhere close to understanding the economic issues of America.

And I haven’t even touched on his undying admiration for former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who universally has been blamed for leading our economy down the destructive path of deregulation and the consequences which resulted.

Herman Cain is hijacking the presidential process to sell more books, book more speaking engagements and ultimately raise his national profile…not unlike Sarah Palin’s political involvement in recent years.

Our responsibility as voters is to recognize it for what it is and stop buying into the farce that he is in the running for the Republican nomination or is anything other than a snake oil salesman, peddling the racism that Republicans want and need to hear.

This supposed campaign is not about becoming president, this is about becoming the next Sarah Palin.  It’s about being quotable, controversial and ultimately cartoonish.  Such behavior and commentary aren’t even close to becoming electable and the GOP surely is not going to stand for two Black men squaring off in November 2012 for the White House.  Cain’s sideshow antics should be seen for what they really are and be treated accordingly.

 

 

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal.  Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly and contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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In a new interview, Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry questions the authenticity of President Obama’s birth certificate.

Really Rick…you couldn’t just go along for the sake of your presidential aspirations?  You had to go birther on us?

How “Republican” of you…

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An excerpt of an exchange in a Parade magazine interview details his dinner with Donald Trump and the conversation regarding the birth status  that went down on the birth certificate issue:

But you’ve seen his (President Obama’s birth certificate).

I don’t know. Have I?

You don’t believe what’s been released?

I don’t know. I had dinner with Donald Trump the other night.

And?

That came up.

 

Perry said that Trump doesn’t believe the document released by the White House is “real.” Asked if he agrees with the sentiment, the Lone Star State Republican said, “I don’t have any idea. It doesn’t matter. He’s the president of the United States. He’s elected. It’s a distractive issue.”

Leading up to the release of Obama’s “long form” birth certificate in April, Trump captured headlines and sparked controversy with his persistence in raising doubt over the president’s birthplace.

Trump went as far to release his own official birth certificate. Upon the release of the president’s birth certificate, Trump said that he was very “proud” of himself.

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Full story HERE.

 

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal.  Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly.

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