The End of Racism...

I caught a couple quick hits from sources that proclaimed after the inauguration of the first African American President that "racism is finally over."

When I first heard that bit -- I contemplated for about 4 seconds and then shock my head in disbelief. While there's a LOT to be said for the first African American President, we are still a very long ways off by officially calling racism over. One definitive clear sign was the whole "Barack, the magic negro" insensitive race-laden fiasco that they tried to pass it off like it was some kind of "joke." Well, I didn't laugh then, nor do I laugh now. Nor do 99% of African Americans that would find that little "parody" to be funny.

That's where the wheels start coming off the whole "racism is finally over" bit. Merely achieving "the first African American President" or being the "first African American (insert job title here)" has absolutely no relevance on the levels of by which we can accurately measure racism in this country.

That said - the election and inauguration of President Obama does remove one more barrier, one more obstacle. It truly is a momentous occasion given our incredibly violent and morally reprehensible racial history over the tenure of our country. From slavery to the White House - we've made progress, wonderful progress. But we still see racial divides when it comes to our neighbors, our court system, our schools, our society.

But in the era of personal responsibility, President Obama is a beacon that social change doesn't come from the outside in -- but from the inside out. Thus he is calling out every American - not just black, white, brown or red - to be better. To do better. To work better. To learn better. To make better decisions. To be responsible. To care. To take pride. To take come together for a common goal of being better.

It's still a color issue in this country when minority children still have a difficult time getting the education they need to make it in society. It's not always the school's fault - because most all of this starts at home, with our families and inside ourselves. Because we are in control of our destinies. We need to embrace what we can do - and continue to remove the obstacles and barriers that have held this country back from greatness.

The inauguration of President Obama was a first and very necessary step on that path - and we've come a long way, but we still have a ways to go.

The Dawn of a New Era

This past week - we witnessed history.

This past Tuesday, both Darby and I got up early so that we could watch the celebrations festivities all day long. We weren't disappointed. The TV remained on until the President and the First Lady finally called it a night - returning to their new home and the beginning of what is destined to become the change that America has been demanding.

Our credibility took a major step forward to being restored.

What President Obama accomplished during the first week of his brief tenure was to help restore our international credibility that had been victimized and abandoned by the previous administration. We returned to our core principles established by our founding fathers and restored our place as what a civilized society actually looks like.

In the midst of this transformation, we witnessed a President who articulated the structure of what he wants to do, how he intends to get it done while shoring up support from both sides of the aisle to try and make it happen. A true case for bi-partisanship -- and signs that the GOP will be nothing more than petty obstructionists as our lingering crises worsen.

So much for that ol' republican mantra: "Country First" ....

For those that continue express their disdain and pompous arrogance -- wishing for President Obama to fail -- let's just say that those folks continue to spout their poisonous perspective on deaf ears. The majority of Americans, by an overwhelming margin -- are ignoring the naysayers, hypocrites and punditry. That's because they can finally understand that the venomous hatred they have been ingesting all of these years has finally been weened from their bodies.

Change is finally upon us -- and the majority of Americans are very thankful that it's arrived.

So when President Obama made his case to the GOP by uttering the simple two word phrase: "I won" -- it wasn't because he was showing off or being flippant. That's what we would've expected from the last administration. No. President Obama was sending the GOP a clear message: "The American people have spoken - and they want change now."

But the task and list facing this new administration is incredibly long. The inefficiency and corruption widely ignored by the Bush administration is going to take a very long time to undo. But we have a President who is not only keen on making a difference, but he's getting traction to getting things done.

A completely refreshing change after just a mere 5 days in office.

We have a man of vision...
A man of dedication and ...
A man who is willing, able, realistic and energetic about the problems he's facing.

This country has been in complete neglect for the last 8 years -- and it's going to take a lot more than a can of paint to fix her. Those that blindly supported and followed the previous administration as it irresponsibly led this country to the pit we're finding ourselves -- maybe it's time for you to seriously reconsider the company you're keeping, or the punditry you keep subscribing to -- as they are the complicitors to this disaster. Simply subscribing to the bottom denomination is not what this country needs. I don't care how plain spoken or how much you identify with your candidate of choice -- we need someone smart, competent and has a healthy sense of morality.

The air has been changed America -- may the new dawn emerge better than what we've endured the last 8 years.

Free Speech -- quashed....

I was reading an article online tonight that made be cringe a bit. Apparently a student authored an email or some other posting wherein she expressed her displeasure about a decision made by her administrators on a project. The administrators ultimately stripped her of her position as school secretary -- and forbade her to include her name on the ballot for the next school year. The student was ultimately elected as a "write-in" candidate, but administrators forbade her from accepting office.

The Burlington School district lauds the Judges ruling as this case has been going on for the last two years.

The question of whether or not the student authored the posting on campus or not -- was summarily dismissed by the Judge because of today's technology that can immediately notify people when postings are made. (huh?)

Whether the student had any merit to her "douche bag" comment or not -- doesn't make any difference. The right to free speech is not singled out whether or not it was a right of popular opinion or not. In fact, our freedom of speech protects us to say as we want, what we want, however we want -- regardless of its popularity, its vulgarity or its content.

If the opinion was housed on school servers, websites, boards and the like -- then administrators are within their right to remove such postings that are inviolate of the terms and use agreement. But if the student did it from home -- then the school appears to be in violation of her 1st amendment constitutional rights.

"Mr Burris, party of one, your seat is ready..."

What in the hell are Democrats thinking?!?

They put on one theatrical showing at the Capitol by denying Burris the Illinois seat -- and then the next DAY they say now they're going to seat him. The overreaching argument made by Diane Feinstein is nothing short of laughable. Believing that the Burris situation would underscore every other gubernatorial appointment is incredibly out of the context of the charges and possible impeachment facing Blagojevich and the "highest bidder" scheme he allegedly was focused on. Diane -- to the best of my knowledge, no other governor is under such scrutiny linked to a Senate seat -- so your argument falls flatly in the face of reason.

This is crazy!!

Admittedly - I haven't done my homework on Mr. Burris' background, but from my twitter friend @verucablue's impressionable statement Roland simply isn't fit the bill and doesn't sound like the best person for the vacant Senate seat. So I had to ask "why him?" and the answer came back to me lightning fast: because no one else wanted a tainted seat like this.

It's the equivalent of playing political Russian Roulette -- because the likelihood of Blagojevich being removed from office is incredibly great. Thus anyone who accepted the appointment is also going to be tainted.

The defense of Mr. Burris relies in the "letter of the law" which is accurate. There are no current mechanisms to deny the likes of Blagojevich (or any other governor by the sounds of it) to appoint someone while under criminal investigation for selling a U.S. Senate seat. The "letter of the law" doesn't have any immediate remedy to stop Blagojevich from appointing anyone he saw fit. The only remedy would be weeks or months away as the Illinois state house and senate are proceeding with their impeachment proceedings for the embattled governor.

It's a gaping hole in the Illinois Constitution that I suspect will be remedied at some point in the coming year. Because if there's no mechanism in place to stop a Governor from invoking some very wild ideas while looking at his political death-clock.

I do believe that Blagojevich will be removed from office and any recognizable form of his political career will effectively be over ... but the repercussions of his actions will remain in place. If in fact Mr. Burris was pulled from the mid-to-lower deck of qualified applicants to serve the people of Illinois -- then it's the people of Illinois who have every reason to be upset.

The issue isn't about race, but whether or not the best qualified person is in the position to do the best possible job for the people of Illinois. It's a stain that will remain on him for the rest of his political career. Mr. Burris doesn't seem like the best option for Illinois as much as he was possibly their only option with the tainted mess Blagojevich has made here.