A Response to Raw Dawg Buffalo
I've been annoyed--like seriously fucking annoyed--at the aftermath of Obama's election. The Gollums are just downright blatant; one guy in Jersey had his home-made front-lawn Obama sign turned into a burning cross on his front lawn overnight. It's bullshit. This was a democratic, American election people... your candidate lost. Get over it. And get used to a new administration; this is America. That's what the democratic process is supposed to be about.
Hell... I had to deal with my disappointment at another four years of Bush. You'll be alright. I was.
So Raw Dawg posted something, and I responded and it got long... so I brought it back over here:
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Jersey Girl pretty much summed up my position on Obama, how I felt about his policies, his ability to rally people, and his message of hope for change, and I will add this... as I've said before the man has demonstrated an ability to plan ahead. Far ahead. Personally I think he's been planning on the White House since he wrote "Dreams of my Father", and personally I think that's why he wrote it. He's a thinker, yes... but he IS able to find and rally people who can "do", and this something I find refreshing. They executed the hell out of his campaign. I don't think he was any more or less "fluffy" than McCain who never said anything concrete. Other than we were going to stay in Iraq. But McCain couldn't keep that rally going. That speaks volumes. And no matter what the Red States think or how racist and oldschool they may be... they have a Brown Face now they have to look at, and that's good for them. And long over due. For the first time they really have to acknowledge the true face of America.
Can Obama fix everything? Probably not. Did he really know what he was in for till the day after he was elected? Ha ha, probably not. I daresay when they start briefing him on what REALLY goes on behind closed doors he's gonna start saying "Oh shit, what'd I do?" But he has as much chance of succeeding or failing as anyone else, and it kinda pisses me off that people claim they're just being objective and looking at the facts, cuz I suspect that a great proportion of people's visceral dislike of the man is just plain old racism. And African Americans can be just as racist against "our own". Some of "us" plain ol' just don't like looking at ourselves. We can justify that shit all we want to, or deny it if we want to, but it's a fact.
And it REALLY pisses me off folks are quick to point out the Dow fell the day after his election. But had it not dropped the week before? All of a sudden, Obama was supposed to change the world in a day?
Seriously. The day after the '04 elections when I realized we had another 4 years of Bush I can't describe to you how betrayed I felt. Cuz Bush wasn't' working before...and to go through that shit again? And people have the audacity to think McCain was gonna fix the direction we're in???? With that Palin behind him? Please. So if people are having a hard time adjusting to Obama as president "based on his policies" I say, oh well. Get over it. The rank and file of us had to be fucked over by GW for eight years. You'll survive. Or not. It's always about survival of the fittest anyhow.
Right now, I'm at the bottom of the economic food chain. I'm talking to you from the bottom looking up. I write well and I have a computer and the internet, but I'm a stone's throw from destitution and I'm the one sitting in the foodstamp office and figuring out how I'm gonna pay my light bill and the rent. And the way I see it... it's all politics. It's all bullshit. You can sit and argue the politics and the policies and how they look on paper... but the bottom line is, no matter who's in the White House, they're not running the show. None of them are. Those few quiet multi-billionaires the world over are the ones running it... it just depends on their agenda--the price of oil or pharmaceuticals or defense missiles or pork bellies. And it's gonna take a LOOOONG TIME before that shit trickles down to my level. Obama's face in the White House isn't going to change that.
But what was more important in this election was breaking the legacy of slavery. Of letting little brown babies of all hues see that "ceiling" shattered. That it's cool to be intelligent. That succeeding or failing as an individual depends on you--you are not a slave to circumstance or the color you were born.
And for the world to stop thinking that all America does is talk shit and doesn't even apply our own "democratic-everyman is equal" stance to ourselves. How could we really tell people they shouldn't kill each other based on religious views or ethnicity when there is inequality in our own country?
Hope and faith are very very important.... whether you believe in God or call yourself and Atheist or Polytheist or whatever... the human ability to hope was being destroyed by those folk who are "objective" and "factual". And you "thinking, rationalizing" types need to go back to that once in a blue moon. It's not always all about "facts". There is always that chance that something unexplainable can happen.
Once in a generation some one comes along and changes the way we think, changes what our expectations are, changes what we think about ourselves and our relationship to the rest of the world; MLK, Brother Malcom, Ghandi... ultimately, did they change the world? Did they REALLY make a difference in the long run? That's debatable, depending on how you look at it. There is still racism and poverty and war and genocide. But it DOES makes us stop and think, question what we know.
We needed to remember that right in through here. And we needed to be reminded that Hope is not "childish" or "stupid" or that it doesn't count for anything in the face of "data" and "facts".
Business can--and will--continue as usual... but we needed to stop and question ourselves.
Hell... I had to deal with my disappointment at another four years of Bush. You'll be alright. I was.
So Raw Dawg posted something, and I responded and it got long... so I brought it back over here:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Jersey Girl pretty much summed up my position on Obama, how I felt about his policies, his ability to rally people, and his message of hope for change, and I will add this... as I've said before the man has demonstrated an ability to plan ahead. Far ahead. Personally I think he's been planning on the White House since he wrote "Dreams of my Father", and personally I think that's why he wrote it. He's a thinker, yes... but he IS able to find and rally people who can "do", and this something I find refreshing. They executed the hell out of his campaign. I don't think he was any more or less "fluffy" than McCain who never said anything concrete. Other than we were going to stay in Iraq. But McCain couldn't keep that rally going. That speaks volumes. And no matter what the Red States think or how racist and oldschool they may be... they have a Brown Face now they have to look at, and that's good for them. And long over due. For the first time they really have to acknowledge the true face of America.
Can Obama fix everything? Probably not. Did he really know what he was in for till the day after he was elected? Ha ha, probably not. I daresay when they start briefing him on what REALLY goes on behind closed doors he's gonna start saying "Oh shit, what'd I do?" But he has as much chance of succeeding or failing as anyone else, and it kinda pisses me off that people claim they're just being objective and looking at the facts, cuz I suspect that a great proportion of people's visceral dislike of the man is just plain old racism. And African Americans can be just as racist against "our own". Some of "us" plain ol' just don't like looking at ourselves. We can justify that shit all we want to, or deny it if we want to, but it's a fact.
And it REALLY pisses me off folks are quick to point out the Dow fell the day after his election. But had it not dropped the week before? All of a sudden, Obama was supposed to change the world in a day?
Seriously. The day after the '04 elections when I realized we had another 4 years of Bush I can't describe to you how betrayed I felt. Cuz Bush wasn't' working before...and to go through that shit again? And people have the audacity to think McCain was gonna fix the direction we're in???? With that Palin behind him? Please. So if people are having a hard time adjusting to Obama as president "based on his policies" I say, oh well. Get over it. The rank and file of us had to be fucked over by GW for eight years. You'll survive. Or not. It's always about survival of the fittest anyhow.
Right now, I'm at the bottom of the economic food chain. I'm talking to you from the bottom looking up. I write well and I have a computer and the internet, but I'm a stone's throw from destitution and I'm the one sitting in the foodstamp office and figuring out how I'm gonna pay my light bill and the rent. And the way I see it... it's all politics. It's all bullshit. You can sit and argue the politics and the policies and how they look on paper... but the bottom line is, no matter who's in the White House, they're not running the show. None of them are. Those few quiet multi-billionaires the world over are the ones running it... it just depends on their agenda--the price of oil or pharmaceuticals or defense missiles or pork bellies. And it's gonna take a LOOOONG TIME before that shit trickles down to my level. Obama's face in the White House isn't going to change that.
But what was more important in this election was breaking the legacy of slavery. Of letting little brown babies of all hues see that "ceiling" shattered. That it's cool to be intelligent. That succeeding or failing as an individual depends on you--you are not a slave to circumstance or the color you were born.
And for the world to stop thinking that all America does is talk shit and doesn't even apply our own "democratic-everyman is equal" stance to ourselves. How could we really tell people they shouldn't kill each other based on religious views or ethnicity when there is inequality in our own country?
Hope and faith are very very important.... whether you believe in God or call yourself and Atheist or Polytheist or whatever... the human ability to hope was being destroyed by those folk who are "objective" and "factual". And you "thinking, rationalizing" types need to go back to that once in a blue moon. It's not always all about "facts". There is always that chance that something unexplainable can happen.
Once in a generation some one comes along and changes the way we think, changes what our expectations are, changes what we think about ourselves and our relationship to the rest of the world; MLK, Brother Malcom, Ghandi... ultimately, did they change the world? Did they REALLY make a difference in the long run? That's debatable, depending on how you look at it. There is still racism and poverty and war and genocide. But it DOES makes us stop and think, question what we know.
We needed to remember that right in through here. And we needed to be reminded that Hope is not "childish" or "stupid" or that it doesn't count for anything in the face of "data" and "facts".
Business can--and will--continue as usual... but we needed to stop and question ourselves.
Comments
I acknowledge that this is historic and that i am proud - but i will not give up thinking about the problem because i am critical of anyones, even the presidents elects proposals - i am a scientist and look at problems that way. Thjis economy is a serious problem to mme. has nothing to do with hope but rather solutions - is that wrong?
onclude it will not work. The same as I did when Paulson and Bernake said what the would do to fix it - and said it would not .
I also wrote that the dow drop was not based on him as punits suggested but rather a lack of consumer confidence - read red rum
but he is the president and i am proud, but i will evaluate his proposals as i did thoes before him and thoes who come after, if i am alive, the same - with reason and based on reading what they propose, say and write
Secondly, "This economy is a serious problem to me. has nothing to do with hope but rather solutions - is that wrong?" Yeah... lol. It IS wrong. Because it has everything to do with hope. Hope is what challenges you to think creatively, to explore. Sometimes, facts are facts but there's something in there, a gut feeling, a hunch, hope... that dares you to try something different. And that's all I'm tryna say. You're a scientist, but I'm an artist and while it helps me to be more factual sometimes, I'm telling you it's helpful to be a little more in tune with that tiny little voice in your heart.
And Bigbear, lol, I'm already working on that...
i support obama and look forward to his policies and actions as a president, mostly inpart by his ingenuity in consolidating a voter base. I am in awe of his ability to be poised in the face of adversity, and i think that hope that he has infused is imperative for our youth.
our youth need something to look to, and someone to look up to. our generation was in need of an organic and authentic leader and that man has been elected as president. as much as i respect dr martin luther king jr, and el hajj malik shabazz, i am grateful to be alive and be in the presence of this leader today in my lifetime, i think each generation needs a leader to carry the torch.
the dow will continue to fluctuate and the so called housing crisis is really a balancing act of a previously over inflated market and economic trends are cyclical...this too shall pass.
don't blame it on obama just because he was man enough to take the job of cleaning up someone elses mess.
sorry i blogged in your comment section!
I wish more people would focus on the fact that NO president, black white or otherwise will be able to pull America out of the sinkhole Bush left us in IMO the first term. I'll be more interested in how we all fare in say 2013 (granted Obama can repeat what he did just days ago).
All I can say is, in my lifetime, I've always done better, had more and slept easier whenever a democrat was in office, black, white or otherwise.
Obama will mainly be holding our hands in sympathy in the next few years because we are FUBAR. Hopefully he can do damage control so it won't be worse than it could be, or would have been if McCain had won.