Who's In Charge Here!?

I have one simple question. Who runs the Republican Party? Who runs it?

People could give me the full list of the usual suspects (Lott, McCain, Palin *snigger*, Romny, Huckaby, Joe the *insert occupation here*, etc) and I’d just be shaking my head. Those fine people, while still being heavy weights in the game, are just politicians who failed to bring home the championship belt. The Elephants suffered a crushing defeat the night of November 4th, 2008 and their generals have not really made any big news since.

So I ask again, who is in charge of the elephants?

Is it Michael Steele? No! It is certainly not Michael Steele. Steele is at best a figure head (a last ditch effort of a dying party desperately trying to stay relevant). He is essentially a Palin*. Yeah sure, they’ll let him drive the Cadillac around, but they won’t ever let him take home the keys. Here’s an example of my point...

Steele's Remarks:


Limbaugh's Retort:


Steele of course, promptly apologizes!

I am of the opinion that Steele is well aware of the game being played here (I’ll give you a hint, its not checkers) and what piece he represents. That is why he sent Darth Rush (kidding) that hasty apology for his comments on the D.L Hughly show.

The leader of the Republican Party is not Rush Limbaugh either. He is of course an immensely influential man and certainly Politicians are wary of going toe to toe with him, but he doesn’t lead the Republican Party (or the conservative movement for that matter). He can’t possibly be the leader of…well…anything, because he can’t lead. Rush is no more than a mouth piece, the voice of plebeians in the Red States of America in the form of a rich fat balding white man with drug issues. steele was right about Rush just being an entertainer with a gift of being able to move the masses with his rhetoric. A leader on the other hand is someone who not only moves the people, but has a vision/goal for those people and convinces them to follow him/her in order to accomplishing that vision/goal. I don't believe Rush has the ingredients to be such a person.

So who’s in charge of the GOP? Who is the man (or woman) behind the curtain? Someone please let me know!

-Noface

* A term that denotes a person who is the embodiment of the Republican’s version of a winning strategy successfully used by the Democrats, yet with moderate success (when compared to the Democratic success) or no success at all. Named after the governor of Alaska, who appears to have only been chosen as a running mate for John McCain in response to the nearly successful primary campaign of Hilary Clinton.

Stimulus Package: Stimulating Dissent

The stimulus package (stim-pack for short) was recently passed and signed by the President this week (no thanks to all of the republicans in the house and most of them from the senate). This is the first major bill passing into law under the new administration coming after the first (failed) attempt at bipartisanship on the part of the White House. I will be honest; I only have a general idea of how the stimulus package will be implemented. I do believe that this country's economy needs some kind of government spending to "stimulate" growth in our ailling economy (and attention to our infrastructure is long over due). This however is naught more than a shot in the arm to keep us going long enough for those in charge to devise long-term strategies to get us out of the recession. In that sense, the passage of the bill is good news and I am hopeful that this all will work on some level (hey, things can only get better from here right?). This post however is not about the package itself (we’ll have a chance to see and discuss the outcome of this package in the months to come). My focus is on all of the drama surrounding the passing of the stim-pack.

The republicans were a trip weren’t they? It is as if they did not get the memo about this being a new day and the old game of political posturing won’t cut it in these serious times. The Democrats were not any better. They already seem to be taking it for granted that they have a majority in both houses and that they can get almost any bill passed with little involvement from the other side. The only person that seemed to truly want bipartisanism in the passing of the stim-pack, was the new President. He seemed genuinely interested in ideas from the other side and making certain concessions just to get more elephants on board.

I applaud the President for extending a hand to the other side of the aisle, but like the saying goes, you can lead an elephant to water but you can’t make him drink. In fact it seems that, opposition to the bill was the Republican game plan from the start. Admittedly, the majority party in both houses of congress could have included the minority in the creation of the stimulus bill (that type of partisan exclusion will not help you in the future Speaker Pelosi), but I’m getting the impression that the GOP would not act much differently than the way they are acting now. They seemed too focused on what they felt was wrong with the bill instead of offering ideas (besides FREAKING tax cuts) on how to make the bill better. They knew that this thing would pass with or without them, so now they are hoping that it will fail so that they can say "I told you so!" This strategy does not seem to be working, as current approval ratings for congressional Republicans are pretty low while the congressional Democrat's approval ratings are getting a boost (whether deserved or not).

My advice to the GOP in the house and the senate is; next time the President offers an olive branch and starts talking about bipartisanship, you all should act more like legislators and less like politicians (yes there is a difference). Yes, you can and should stand by your principles, but you should not be too afraid of pissing off your own party to make compromises for the good of the nation (and its economy). Scoring political points (or missing political points if you will) at a time like this is akin to cutting off your nose despite your face (and to no avail).


Also, what the hell is this about?


*Cartoon courtesy of the New York Post


-Noface

P.S If you want to see for yourself where all of the stim-pack money is going click here.

AT FIRST GLANCE...

Take a look at this video from that ever present den of madness (no pun intended [you'll understand later]) YouTube...



After seeing that video, what was your first impression? Were you dismayed, appalled, disgusted, and/or entertained? Is this another example of black folks acting like niggers (something that we definitely do not need in this exciting yet perilous era of a new America)?

How did you feel about the young lady verbally abusing the elderly woman? Did she seem like your average hood rat acting a fool in public? Was she on drugs? Was she just another part of the criminal element terrorizing an honest law abiding citizen?

Well, before you make any further judgments on this matter, I would like for you to take a look at two other videos that are related to the one embedded above.






After seeing these two videos, have your opinions changed on the matter?

You see, I had already formulated the title of this very blog post ("Niggers in 'Post-Racial' America" if you were wondering) when I went on YouTube to search for other videos and comments in response to the first one posted above. That is when I ran across the two other videos that forced me to change my whole program and take a hard look at myself.

I was all ready to label the woman who according to her family suffers from a very real and very serious mental disorder, as a representative of every thing that is ghetto. She was even singing the Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em’s one (and hopefully only) hit “Crank Dat Soulja Boy”. It was perfect! She was the poster child of what was wrong with our urban (i.e. black) youth. I did not even consider that there may have been something deeper going on with this young woman (maybe I didn’t even want to). In my mind, the young lady was either A) Ignorant or B) on drugs, there was no option C.

Now knowing that this you lady may be suffering from Bipolar disorder, I had to rematch the first video with a new perspective and thus had to change the title of my blog in order to reflect a judgment of myself rather than a complete stranger.

To be honest, I’m glad that I was shown to be wrong and “ignorant” of what was really going before I had actually published this post. I’m really thankful that this video (oddly enough) gave me some incite on myself and how I am not above prejudging others (like everyone else), convinced that the qualities that I project on to them are the correct ones (whether I’m wrong or not).

I don’t know about you, but this Noface still needs a lot of work. Thus, I should refrain from judging others while I search out and deal with my own faults and shortcomings.

-Noface

Poetry Session #3

View From The Mountain Top

We stand as a witness, man in all shades of American
Coming both male and female with belief that we can
Overcome and indeed overrun the dysfunction of the old ways
That sought to deny the causes of freedom rides in the old days
That corrupted the ballot when it could not use the bullet
When change came from the courthouse and the pulpit
When our lightning rods were struck and a movement got stuck
A social conscience deadening and threatening to self destruct
Turmoil that seems ages ago, but all true sages should know
That the story is not finished for we still have pages to go
This has been a long time coming, but it is here now
I will not say that we have arrived, but we’re near now
Closer than ever before because never before have we seen
A clearer representation of the incarnation of a King’s dream
A dream too long deferred but at this moment much preferred
Over a nightmare with but a single flare of hope, burning undeterred
Seen from the mountain top by a prophet and revolutionary King
As bells in the valley of the Promised Land sound with freedom’s ring
It’s a view from the mountain top that we can all now see
The visible truths infused with the palpable power of “we”
Swirling around Uncle Sam’s first black son
A view from the mountain top of a people as one

-Noface

MY PRESIDENT IS BLACK!

The following song has a refrain that we can all sing along to, come Tuesday...




Have fun celebrating folks and remember to be safe out there.


-Noface

IT'S '09 AND WE STILL CAN'T TRUST THE POLICE!

Wow! What a way to ring in the New Year (with gunshots sending bullets into the back of another unarmed black man)!




The video speaks for itself (pffft...so did Rodney King video and look at how that turned out)!!

Sometimes I wonder if the boys in blue are using us as target practice. Now of course, I'm not saying that all cops are like that *insert expletive here* BART Cop in the video, but as a black man, one never knows which kind of officer he is going to encounter when the cops come by. From the video, the victim, Oscar Juliuss Grant, appeared to be doing everything he could to show that he was not resisting and not a threat to the police yet he was still pinned down and handcuffed. Even after that this *insert multiple expletives here* BART Cop just steps back and murders (yes, murders) him execution style. The saddest part is that a little girl lost her father on New Year’s Day because of the actions of those who are sworn to protect and serve. Be safe out there folks and watch your backs (literally).

-Noface

BURRIS BURNED!!!

Well, it looks like Burris was not allowed on to the Senate floor to be sworn in with all the other senators. At least he didn't make a big scene (that's always a plus, right?). You can read the full story here.

I'm not going into a long tirade about ethics, proper conduct, the injection of race, or anything else that is seriously irrelevant to the Burris Situation at THIS moment (they certainly were important before today and will be relevant again tomorrow). At this moment, it’s all about the law. As it stands (as far as I know) the Senate has no legal basis or authority to deny Burris the seat formerly held by President-elect Barrack Obama. This move by the Senate was a bold one, but ultimately it may not work (because of a little thing called the law).

So what happens now? Well, I'm reminded of those old Looney Toons cartoons where Bugs Bunny manages to get Daffy Duck's bill blown to the back of his head. The little black duck rearranges his bill back to its proper position and declares, "Of course you know, this means War!" This does indeed mean war. If Burris had the moxy to accept an appointment from a Governor(whom by all accounts, he barely likes)under investigation for corruption concerning that very same appointment, travel all the way to D.C. from Illinois, walk up to the capitol building, and attempt to be sworn in; then I'm sure he's not finished with this issue just yet. Indeed, as I said before, this is a matter of law and this is going to the court (Supreme Court if all bets are sound).

Should Burris fight for his seat? I personally feel that Burris should have never even accepted the appointment and the fact that he did points to a flaw within himself that makes him unfit to take Obama's former Senate seat in this manner(a little extreme and judgmental I know, but that's how I feel and Burris has not done anything to change my disposition about him). Despite my feelings about what Burris should have done, I also want the law to be respected and authority (or lack thereof) to be recognized. Yes, Burris should fight for his seat and obtain a small victory in what I predict to be a long defeat (only so that a precedent will be set and that the boundaries for the Senate concerning this matter are clearly defined).

-Noface