Ain’t no stopping us now!

Here’s the senator’s new 2 minute ad!!!

It’s great to see my money being put to good use!!!

Obama / Biden ‘08

Obama came into tonight’s debate with his work cut out for him.

He was going up against a vastly more experienced politician with a long track record of aggressiveness and a lack of congeniality. Aged, yes, but feisty and energetic as ever, and a self-professed man of great ambition. Despite the hype, the maverick in him died long ago, assassinated, I suspect, by the scorn he contracted in his bitter battle with the Bush/Rove machine back in 2000, and has been replaced by something altogether unattractive: anger and cynicism; evidenced in the way he has run his campaign, or has allowed his campaign to be run, ironically by the same people responsible for slaying the Maverick in him.

Though I still retained a residual respect for the man from his past efforts to make amends for his dirty deeds earlier in his career,  over the course of this current presidential campaign he has made it abundantly clear to me that he will say and do anything to win the prize. Not exactly unusual traits in a politician and, granted, these tactics are the necessary tools of bad politicians, but I actually hadn’t placed him in either of those slots until recently.

And, perhaps neither had Obama. So, in preparation for this debate with the the Politician-formerly-known-as-a-Maverick, from all appearances, Obama, and his team of strategists, decided to pace themselves. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post about the Japanese admiration for Obama, it’s based on what they perceive as his zen-like patience.

I used to love Mike Tyson. He’d get in the ring with some fighter who’d been hyped up beyond recognition and upon the ringing of the bell, proceed to whip his ass like he’d raped his grandmother.  And from the look on McCain’s face throughout the debate, he was probably trying to channel his inner-Tyson.  He appeared to have built Obama up as this nemesis worthy of his rage, and since fury directed at your opponent (I’m sure his staff warned him) does not play well in an essentially civilized debate, he focused all of that unwarranted wrath into facial expressions, condescension, and accusations just seething with contempt. If he had unleashed that anger in Obama’s direction (he couldn’t even look at Obama)  he would have had to protect his ears. I’m sure Holyfield wishes he had. I could imagine Iron Mike at home watching the debate saying, “damn, now that’s an angry motherfucker! Don King must be his campaign manager!”

Close, but no cigar. These guys play for higher stakes than Don.

I’m sure Obama’s efforts to be Mr. Congeniality weren’t helping the matter , either. Can you imagine during “The Rumble in the Jungle” Muhammad Ali clinching George Foreman and whispering in his ear, “hey George, I jogged by a great African-Chinese Restaurant while I was out training to whip yo’ ass. So, after I whip yo’ ass, what say we go grab some Congolese Chop Suey?”

I think Richard Pryor actually said it best when he was talking about Muhammad Ali. Listen:

Obviously, it’s not all relevant, but the part where Pryor is talking about Ali’s tactic of tying a fighter up and then sending him away with a blow. That’s what Obama seemed to be doing tonight. For example, the tie-up / clinch would be Obama saying, “I think Senator McCain is absolutely right on that we need responsibility…” Then, like Rich said, “Take that with you.” Well, the “Take that with you,” line would be the words that follow the agreement:  “…but we need it not just when there’s a crisis. I mean, we’ve had years when the reigning economic ideology has been what’s good for Wall Street, but not what’s good for Main Street.” Words tying McCain to Bush. John McCain probably didn’t even register that sting. All he heard was the, “He’s right” part. Everything after that was Charlie Brown’s teacher.

So, Obama gave him a few more including this one: Now, John mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he’s absolutely right. Here’s the problem: There are so many loopholes that have been written into the tax code, oftentimes with support of Senator McCain, that we actually see our businesses pay effectively one of the lowest tax rates in the world.

Maybe McCain felt that one. Maybe not. I’m pretty sure he felt the next one though:

“And, you’re absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent in what they say. But, you know, coming from you, who, you know, in the past has threatened extinction for North Korea and, you know, sung songs about bombing Iran, I don’t know, you know, how credible that is.”

McCain had no response.

There’s actually a pattern to these attacks. Obama would recognize that McCain has good ideas but then demonstrate that good ideas aren’t enough because when it came time to execute, McCain couldn’t do it because he was either a poor leader, tethered to the failed Bush Ideology or it wasn’t in the best interest of the lobbyist who had access to him or it wasn’t in the best interest of his corporate contributors and McCain was protecting their interests to the detriment of the people he allegedly is fighting for.

Despite appearances and recent lapses in judgment, John McCain really wants and frankly expects to win this election, and truly believes he is the better man. But, I suspect he is going to wake up tomorrow with welts and bumps all over his body from the stings that Obama applied tonight, and, though I don’t think any of the stings contained a strain of politicized malaria, he should consider himself lucky that they didn’t because he might not wake up at all.

…IN A DEBATE,

…that nonsense expressed with a great deal of, well, aggression has the potential to be more sound bytable than facts told didactically.

…having been to a place is more important than having good judgment about how to tackle the issues presented by that place.

…eye-contact and agreeing with your opponent are signs of weakness if you want to be viewed as the kind of leader that a country scared to death of terrorism needs.

…if he doesn’t see the the three letters KG and B in the eyes of Putin then he is a little naive about Russian aggression and how to tap into the lingering Red fear of Americans who lived through but don’t quite understand the ramifications of the Cold War.

…that speaking to foreign leaders who have not done what we, in our role as World-renown and respected  do-gooders, have insisted that they do is legitimizing the illegal behavior of that leader and tantamount to appeasement.

don’t you just love debates?

I love the way McCain lowers his voice when he wants to belittle Obama. And have you ever seen such contempt? My God, does McCain hate Obama? Does he think that Obama doesn’t deserve to be on the same stage with him? What’s up with him?

Honestly, who looked more “presidential” out there?

Well, Katie surprisingly showed no deference for She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in her interview the other night on CBS. Surprising because I was sure that Katie was in the neo-con bag after that crazy edit job CBS pulled a few weeks ago (you remember…the one about the surge) and got hardly a slap on the wrist from the rest of the MSM for it…Not even my boy, the old reliable Keith Olbermann fooled with it much. Guess it was designated a honest accident by Tom Brokaw and Matt Lauer and the rest of those conservative hacks at NBC, and he was called off…ANYWAY (don’t get me started)

Well, Lord Pal…I mean, You-Know-Who seemed at times more like a House-elf than a soceress who can give 30 minute speeches without the use of cuecards or teleprompters. See for yourself:

Everytime she gives an interview it gets clearer and clearer why McCain didn’t want her out there. Maybe she needs another blessing from the Good witch hunting Thomas Muthee because I think if she has another disaster like this interview the Conservative coven and her cult of personality are going to come-a-calling.

By the way, why isn’t this Muthee story on every station all day every day for two months? I guess that’s a rhetorical question. It’s because it’s not really important what and how she worships, only that she clearly loves her country (married to a secessionist) and has small town values (shoots mooses, breeds teenage moms, builds bridges that go nowhere, etc…) Right!

Is it me or do Palin and McCain together remind you of Dobby and Kreacher?

Well, since McCain thought it was time to go for a racial bounce to his numbers, with a flurry of ads tying Barack to a number of shady characters, all of a particular shade, black, in order to change the topic to, hell I don’t know, what do y’all think?

Rachel (very calmly…God I love her style) decided to actually stay on topic and deal with an issue that directly relates to our current economic woes and how McCain handled a previous crisis with remarkably similar elements.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Keating five and S&L scandal of the 80’s please check out this segment from the Rachel Maddow Show:

Myth of a Maverick! Great name for a book

Well, he done gone and pissed off the Letterman! Not happy!

take a look:

Ironically, I was just working on my Top 10 list of reasons why McCain is keeping a barrier between the press and his vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. I had gotten as far as number 10: She’s the Energizer Snow Bunny of the Republican Core constituency* She keeps lying, and lying and lying…

Now i feel so yesterday (But I ain’t giving up on my list)

Maybe I’ll make a list of reasons why McCain wants to suspend his campaign, or is afraid to debate Senator Obama or the ultimate top 10 list.

Gotta think about this a little!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ADVISE EVERYONE YOU KNOW THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT GO TO THE POLLS WEARING ANY OBAMA SHIRTS, PINS OR HATS, IT IS AGAINST THE LAW AND WILL BE GROUNDS TO HAVE THE POLLING OFFICIALS  TURN YOU AWAY.

WEARING PARAPHERNALIA IS CONSIDERED CAMPAIGNING  AND NO ONE CAN CAMPAIGN WITHIN X AMOUNT OF FEET OF THE POLLS. MANY PEOPLE ARE NOT AWARE OF THIS LONG STANDING LAW, AND YOU CAN BET IT WILL BE ENFORCED THIS YEAR!

PLEASE DON’T WEAR OBAMA GEAR OF ANY KIND TO THE POLLS!!  JUST A REMINDER! PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION JUST IN CASE THERE ARE FOLKS WHO DON’T KNOW THE LAW…

I’ve read several stories on the subject recently. There are stories about buttons being allowed in certain areas, but I don’t think it’s worth the risk, do you? You can go home after you vote, get Obama-down, head to toe and dance a jig on the roof if you like. Just be aware of the fact that there are going to be A LOT of disenfranchised voters out there, for various reasons, virtually out of our control. There always has been and there always will be. But, this particular one is definitely in your hands! Don’t victimize yourself!

Sorry to sound like such an alarmist, but I have been reading stories about the various methods and frauds utilized to disenfranchise predominantly minority voters, and some of them are ultimately avoidable with a little knowledge and preventative action on our part!

So, find out what you can, and share what you learn with other voters!!!

This message was approved by yours truly (-;

Obama/Biden 08

Because, if it does then McCain is officially on the path to once again becoming a maverick.

After reading this scathing ed-op by George Wills: Will’s ed-op and a recent Wall Street Journal article: McCain’s scapegoat I’ve come to believe that either John McCain is trying to re-establish his maverick status by doing dumb shit that no one, not even his own party, can possibly support him on or this is all a master plan (which would mean Rove’s doing) to re-establish his maverick status and his fellow Republicans have been instructed to launch attacks at his ideas, for a while- just long enough for everyone to get a whiff of what McCain’s cooking – then bam! He can say “See, I told y’all I was a maverick” if and when he gets something right.

I don’t think it will work, if it’s true.

what do y’all think?

I’ve noticed some disturbing trends lately and though I haven’t fully analyzed what’s happening- it’s happening so quickly- I know something is going on.

It started not long after the Palin selection. Once the questions began to circulate regarding how thoroughly she’d been vetted.  Was she a wise choice, a cynical choice…was she even his choice? And if not his, whose?  It’s been widely reported that McCain’s close friend Lieberman was his first and true choice, so why the flip? Doesn’t she cancel out McCain’s experience argument? What the hell is he up to?

So, while Palin rabble roused the crowds taking that same convention charm and those same convention lies (thanks but no thanks, I put it on ebay, 20% of US energy is from Alaska) on the road whipping up record crowds (for a republican, and when the numbers weren’t inflated, that is)) into a frenzy, the McCain campaign waged war on the MSM to protect her from candidate stumping questions like “Who is Pastor Muthee? and can you really pray the gay away because my daughter likes ice hockey and rough tackle football and…” or “Who’s the president of Japan? (that’s a trick question…japan has a Prime Minister and currently there isn’t one (-: )  Yes, tough questions had to be put off until the troops were rallied and the candidate had time to go over her Cliff’s Notes. Once the base was fired up, given the raw meat of a liberalized MSM to chew on, and the media properly admonished for a lack of deference for the 1/2 term governor of Alaska, and the lefties bitch slapped with their own rancid sexism,  they released her from the candidate protection program into eager, gaping jaws of the journalistic pit bull: Charlie Gibson? Geezus, why not go straight to O’Reilly or Brokaw. Anyway, that’s not my point.

I think McCain was on such a high that he actually began to believe his own press. He must’ve felt like a genius…”How can I put Country First if I’m not in the White House? First things First! WIN!” It’s a pragmatic yet cynical approach to victory, but it can and may very succeed. I think the American people want a real leader who sticks to his guns no matter their popularity, but that’s just me and I’m not a politician.  Anyway, he was so high, riding this wave of euphoria that his base had finally come home, that he felt he could, well, lie. The press has a long tradition of accepting lies from politicians, especially Republicans (lately) and especially the ones who they imagine might become the next president.

But…well, we know what happened. Sarah kept lying, McCain kept lying, the press kept digging, Palin’s numbers kept falling, and those conservatives who saw through McCain’s blind spot in his acquiescence to whomever recommended this woman, started to talk about it. They fucked up his high but good. And then, something strange happened: Karl Rove joined the ranks of the MSM criticizing McCain.

WHOA!!!!

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Is he criticizing his own strategy? The modified kitchen sink? The old “turn every weakness into a strength and vice versa” move? I was stumped! While he was dodging and ignoring congressional subpoenas was he hatching a new strategy? I mean, he is smart enough to know if it’s not broken don’t fix it, which means he might be smart enough to see when shit is broken. Has he conceded that his strategy, while effective  for well over a decade, may have lost some of its kick? And, if so, what’s he up to now?

I suspect THIS is the new strategy: Enable and empower the media to call out McCain on all his bullshit, which they have been doing with greater and greater fervor of late, by flooding the airwaves with it. And then, with a swift move, totally disarm all of them with some crazy event, and then tell the republican base and anyone else that’ll listen, “you see, the MSM is ALL liberal. Don’t Truss It!” And FOX will truly become the only station trustworthy to many people, fair and balanced, and even more popular than it is now. Will Independents fall for this? A few, sure, if every time they turn on MSNBC or CNN or ABC and even PBS and see nothing but stories about how McCain is a slipping and getting old like Sam Donaldson suggested yesterday. Yep, McCain may have been instructed as part of this new strategy to lie his ass off and make the most offensive ads, and act like he’s a little senile, while his staff insidiously work in the race thing he’s been trying to stay directly from.

I guess dragging the race thing directly into this race was inevitable and I have every confidence that Team Obama had anticipated this move. If the speech he gave in Philadelphia during the Reverend Wright nonsense was any indication, he is more than capable to deal with it, but I’m a little concerned.

And I hope I’m wrong.

What do y’all think? Like my girl Rachel says “Somebody talk me down!” )-;

Obama/Biden 08

The best thing about living in Japan, for me, was the support for Barack Obama.

Yes, Japanese people are overwhelmingly xenophobic and many are racists as well (I didn’t know there was a difference until I came here), so when I first began to notice the support that Obama had here, starting during the primaries, frankly, I was shocked.  I had to get to the bottom of it because it just didn’t jibe with what I had concluded about Japanese people through living with them over the past 5 years.

I have a bunch of private students. In fact, over the course of my stay here, I would say I’ve had about 50 or so. I teach them English and they pay me money…it’s a very cozy arrangement, and everybody’s happy. From time to time, before, during or after lessons, we get into discussions about various things. Cultural comparisons, language issues, and even political issues if their English skill level is high enough (cuz my Japanese still sucks!) I love these moments much more than than the teaching, to be honest.

During these sessions, I’ve learned a great deal. Several students I’ve been teaching for years and so we’re practically friends (aside for the financial side) or at least I’ve established a trust that enables them to step out of their cultural shells of politeness and actually say what they are really thinking and feeling.  They show their true faces. It actually has a name. They call it Hon’ne (pronounced hone-nay-here’s an explanation from wikipedia)… With hon’ne unleashed, I’m freed up to get the true answers to the questions I have.

Being a black man in Japan means you look like every famous black person in Japan. When I arrived here, and for about a year afterwards, it was Bob Sapp, a famous K-1 fighter. Then there was Bobby Ologun, another K-1 fighter and comedian from Africa.  Then Billy Blanks, of Billy’s Boot Camp fame. :

Bob Sapp Mask

Bobby Olugun mask

Billy Blanks (not a mask)

(Is it me or are those mask a little creepy?)

All were and are extremely popular here. I don’t think I favor any of them but I’ll let those of you who know me be the judge of that. For those of you who don’t …well, I am black and I do keep my hair bald usually.

I guess what I’m avoiding saying is no one says “hey, Obama!” when I walk down the street. Not that I favor him either but geez, I’d rather be associated with him then any of those other guys; 2 of which are clowns, so buffoonish I can hardly stand to see them.

Anyway, I ask my students, how do they feel about Obama. The general consensus was: He’s great! It’s amazing what he is trying to accomplish and they sincerely wished him the best. One student who confessed to me that Japanese people, in general, hold a very low opinion of black people, and view them as a people to either be pitied (africans) or feared( Americans) but if Obama gets elected, the Japanese impression of black people will change.

I appreciated his honesty. I knew he was right. Japanese, like people all over the world, recognize that although America is a multi-racial society, throughout her history, the dominant race has always been white, and the leadership as well, and that leadership, while having done some good around the world has also done a great deal of damage as well i.e. Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And he, meaning they (for, unlike Americans, in an homogeneous country like Japan, one Japanese person’s thoughts and feelings can pretty much sum up the nation’s thoughts and feelings, I’ve found, felt that an Obama presidency would mark a drastic change and a profile upheaval for black people.

He also told me something else I found striking. He said the perception of Obama, based on his speeches, his manner, and his grace, reminded them of an Asian. His patience, especially in the face of the types of attacks he’d endured during the primary and even currently, they find extremely admirable, almost Confucius like. It’s a trait that they had not previously acknowledged in African Americans. Conversely, he found African Americans in general to be easily excitable, impetuous, and decidedly impatient.

“Based on what?”

“Based on movies and TV shows…”

I see.

Well, then came Sarah Palin, making a big splash at the Republican convention, with her Alaskan whine, her excessive un-blinking decisiveness, her problematic relationship with the truth, Hockey Mom sporting a $2500 Valentino Garavani jacket, and…and…oh hell, $400 MP-704’s made by Japanese Frame Designer Kazuo Kawasaki.

Kazuo Kawasaki

Unless you’re from an island (not Manhattan) l can’t tell you how much impact something like this can have on an island nation. The world is recognizing one of their own. He might have taken back the Sumo championship from them damn Mongolians. He might have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize for ecological innovations. Usain Bolt knows what I’m talking about. He’s more popular than King Sellasie in Jamaica right now.

Kawasaki said in an interview that he shares what he sees as some common political sentiments with Palin, “I am quite right-wing,” he says.

Well, anyway, the above notwithstanding, Obama is still very popular here (in Japan), but right now he has to take a backseat to the woman sporting a Japanese native’s handiwork. Maybe someone should call her out for not buying good ole North American EyeWear frames.

Japanese frames? How unpatriotic is that?? Next she’ll be refusing to wear a flag pin…

Palin with Un-American frames (-;

Wait a minute…she isn’t wearing a flag pen, is she?

Alaska First (-:

Obama/Biden 08

for more stories about Japan go to: Loco in Yokohama