I recently read an article from CNN (Typically a very liberal/democrat anti-republican source). It is analyzing the declarations of Donald Trump and Barrack Obama on immigration and crime rates.
You can read that article HERE.
CNN's Levels of ratings and my perception of their meaning:
TRUE - meaning completely factual and in no way false or misleading or skewed
MOSTLY TRUE - some falsehood but very very little and is not misleading or skewed
TRUE BUT MISLEADING - this is where things get creatively skewed and falsehood begins to creep in at an alarming rate but not enough to call it completely false.
FALSE - completely untrue and fabricated
IT'S COMPLICATED - the situation is far more than true or false.
I was first disturbed and moved to blog by a one-sentence brush off of the method of detection of illegal immigrants - "The best measure that we have of how many people try to enter the country illegally is how many are apprehended each year."...
WHAT?! That is absolutely ridiculous! That is no way to measure anything. Basically Border Patrol is saying that unless they're caught, they don't exist. THAT method is misleading. But for the sake of argument, we will accept this method because its what we have. And we're going to give our president who relies on these numbers a leg up.
So here we go!
OBAMA -
"Well it turns out that the rate of illegal immigration into the US today is lower by 2/3 than it was when Ronald Reagan was president. And far fewer undocumented workers crossing the border today than we did in the '80s or '90s when George Bush was president." -- CNN calls this TRUE.
Oh Lord Almighty, give me strength to not rip this man a new ass hole!
Number 1, the "system" for these calculations and figures is flawed beyond belief. It's only accounting for those CAUGHT. Number Two, the problem is, the ones NOT being caught. Three, did we ever stop to think they're getting smarter about getting in and hiding? Four, did we ever stop to think that the entitlement-generation wants the paycheck and does not want to do the work for said check? Five,Trump's stance (see below) that Mr. Obama is criticizing is that we're not doing enough to keep them out let alone get them out once they're here. Five, this "they don't exist until they're caught" mentality is devastating - much like there are no such things as terrorists until they fly a plane into a building, shoot up a Christmas party or night club, or ram a truck through a large crowd of people. -- I call this TRUE BUT MISLEADING. The only reason I am not calling it false, is because (like I said earlier), this is the system we have. Although, I feel if the system is false and flawed, any claims made using them are therefore false and flawed. But let's give our president the benefit of the doubt.
TRUMP -
Brings up the statistic of 180,000 criminals who are illegal and AT LARGE. If you know they are here, they should have been sent away immediately, not out roaming freely. CNN registered this as TRUE.
TRUMP -
Then we touch more on the tens of thousands who have been apprehended so far in 2016 and told "OK, go back home now" and then they are released to go home. do they go home? Hell no. the run deeper into the country. CNN gives this a TRUE BUT MISLEADING because the number is incredibly up, but there is no evidence they wish to share about releases.
An illegal immigrant in January 2016 killed a girl in a car accident. CNN gives this a FALSE because the man had been in the country since 2013 and was not a prior criminal. Let's go back to the Border Patrol Statistics - they don't exist until caught. Therefore; he wasn't really here or counted until 2016. I give this a TRUE rating and I'll even give a MISLEADING to be fair on the 2013 thing. The point here is, had this man been sent away and our borders secured, this girl would not have died.
OBAMA -
The violent crime rate is down. CNN says TRUE.
Violent crime is defined as "murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault". It does not take into account the riots and destruction of property. It does not take into account simple assault. It does not take into account a lot of things. IF this were to be called true, it needs to be called true but misleading. Again IF you wish to call it true. IF we are talking "violent crimes" as defined above it is TRUE AND MISLEADING. If we talk the state of the country as a whole, I feel it is clearly FALSE.
I give CNN credit here for stating that the reduced violent crime rate was already on a downward trend PRIOR to Obama taking office; therefore, he should not receive credit. I give Mr. Obama a TRUE BUT MISLEADING against his claim that violent crime is the lowest its been in decades during his presidency. It may be true, but he implies he did it which is FALSE.
TRUMP -
Makes the claim that crime and violent crime is up in America's top 50 cities. CNN simply said that this was TRUE.
Amongst the president's attempts to derail and chastise Donald Trumps points, he did make one thing abundantly clear - he is an idiot. From my perception of this ordeal, the president is more false and misleading than Mr Trump. He lied to get elected, he lied and mislead while in office, and he will continue to be an idiotic and lying human being long after he gets thrown out on his ass come January 2017.
I leave you with this - The definition of insanity is performing the same tasks in the same manner and expecting different results. Wake up America and actually support CHANGE in our government.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
Fundamental Right - 1 Man, 1 Vote
There is a lawsuit going on right now, where a Republican delegate of Virginia wants to "vote his conscience" instead of "voting as a representation of the people".
As those who have followed the Republican election know, there are some very goofy rules and regulations regarding the distribution of delegates across the various states.
Winner Take All vs Proportioned Delegates (aka Pledged Delegates)
Some states (each GOP decides which), award their delegates via a Winner Take All method. For example, if a state has 100 delegates and candidate A wins 53% of the vote, and candidate B wins 46% of the vote and 1% are for candidate C, then Candidate A wins all 100 delegates. Other states have a Proportioned method. Using the same percentages above, A would only get 53 delegates, B would have 46 and C would have 1. Some may not even award C with any, but give it to one of the others.
Voters vs Caucuses
There are two separate ways in which to vote. First is the quick and easy, unmuddled everyone goes out and votes. The other method is that you have to attend a state convention (Caucus) and vote there. Clearly, I am for the every person has a say method. However, those who really want to be heard, would surely make attendance at a convention in their state happen.
Pledged and Unpledged Delegates
In addition to "pledged" delegates (explained above), most states also have "unpledged" or "free" delegates. These delegates are voted for by the people or are automatically selected in some cases where there were just enough delegates to fill the positions. These delegates can vote however they want during the national convention, and delegates are not bound to any candidate. When voting, devoted voters knew who each delegate supports and whom to put their vote behind going to the convention as an unpledged delegate.
Carroll Correl and His Adult Sized Temper-tantrum
He is is PLEDGED delegate for the great state of Virginia. His job? Vote for who the citizens of the great state of Virginia wanted him to vote for. Problem? He doesn't like who the citizens want him to vote for. Solution? Throw a tantrum and file lawsuits so you can vote for who you want to vote for, CLEARLY!
Virginia has 49 Pledged Delegates which are distributed Proportionately. There were 1,012,807 votes cast this year. Approximately every 20,670 votes is worth 1 delegate. Trump won the state with 17 delegates (355,960 votes). Mr. Correl is a supporter of Ted Cruz, who only won 8 delegates (173,193 votes). For Mr. Correl to say "I don't want to vote for Donald Trump" is to say that the over 20,000 votes which he represents are pointless - he would essentially be voting 20,000 times by doing whatever he wanted. Mr. Correl knew prior to the election what his job was to do. Mr. Correl knew he had to vote as the people wanted. Mr. Correl knew Virginia had no unpledged delegates. Mr. Correl assumed he would be voting for "his guy". When it came down to the nitty-gritty, Mr. Carroll Correl has definitely made a bad ASSumption.
Looking further on the flip side - what if Cruz had won the state and a Trump co-chairman was designated a Cruz delegate. What if that person wanted to vote for whomever they wanted to? Your pants would be all in a bunch because "Cruz won fair and square, to hell with your ideals, do your job and vote Cruz". THIS is why our party is crashing down around us. We need the elitist pigs to unite with everyone else under one republican banner and move forward.
I hope that the judge decides that he (Mr. Correl) had his right to vote as a delegate and a representative of the people and that free speech has nothing do to with this issue. If he has a problem, send in an alternate so he does not have to go against his "personal ethical beliefs".
Updates will be posted as they occur!
UPDATE: [7/14/2016]
A technical "win" for the opponents of Virginia law. The law stating that Virginians MUST vote in a winner take all fashion was found unconstitutional. Why do I call it "technical"? Because Virginia is a proportional state. MEANING - the delegates are allowed to vote for whomever they wish so long as the overall 49 votes are assigned proportionally to the ACTUAL election results. If Sandy Loo is a delegate who does not like Cruz - she would then vote for Trump and Mr. Correl would be free to vote for Cruz. Now how I read this - if everyone is pretty set in their delegation and no one wants to swap with Mr. Correl, he's then pretty S.O.L..
See the excerpt from CNN News:
As those who have followed the Republican election know, there are some very goofy rules and regulations regarding the distribution of delegates across the various states.
Winner Take All vs Proportioned Delegates (aka Pledged Delegates)
Some states (each GOP decides which), award their delegates via a Winner Take All method. For example, if a state has 100 delegates and candidate A wins 53% of the vote, and candidate B wins 46% of the vote and 1% are for candidate C, then Candidate A wins all 100 delegates. Other states have a Proportioned method. Using the same percentages above, A would only get 53 delegates, B would have 46 and C would have 1. Some may not even award C with any, but give it to one of the others.
Voters vs Caucuses
There are two separate ways in which to vote. First is the quick and easy, unmuddled everyone goes out and votes. The other method is that you have to attend a state convention (Caucus) and vote there. Clearly, I am for the every person has a say method. However, those who really want to be heard, would surely make attendance at a convention in their state happen.
Pledged and Unpledged Delegates
In addition to "pledged" delegates (explained above), most states also have "unpledged" or "free" delegates. These delegates are voted for by the people or are automatically selected in some cases where there were just enough delegates to fill the positions. These delegates can vote however they want during the national convention, and delegates are not bound to any candidate. When voting, devoted voters knew who each delegate supports and whom to put their vote behind going to the convention as an unpledged delegate.
Carroll Correl and His Adult Sized Temper-tantrum
He is is PLEDGED delegate for the great state of Virginia. His job? Vote for who the citizens of the great state of Virginia wanted him to vote for. Problem? He doesn't like who the citizens want him to vote for. Solution? Throw a tantrum and file lawsuits so you can vote for who you want to vote for, CLEARLY!
Virginia has 49 Pledged Delegates which are distributed Proportionately. There were 1,012,807 votes cast this year. Approximately every 20,670 votes is worth 1 delegate. Trump won the state with 17 delegates (355,960 votes). Mr. Correl is a supporter of Ted Cruz, who only won 8 delegates (173,193 votes). For Mr. Correl to say "I don't want to vote for Donald Trump" is to say that the over 20,000 votes which he represents are pointless - he would essentially be voting 20,000 times by doing whatever he wanted. Mr. Correl knew prior to the election what his job was to do. Mr. Correl knew he had to vote as the people wanted. Mr. Correl knew Virginia had no unpledged delegates. Mr. Correl assumed he would be voting for "his guy". When it came down to the nitty-gritty, Mr. Carroll Correl has definitely made a bad ASSumption.
Looking further on the flip side - what if Cruz had won the state and a Trump co-chairman was designated a Cruz delegate. What if that person wanted to vote for whomever they wanted to? Your pants would be all in a bunch because "Cruz won fair and square, to hell with your ideals, do your job and vote Cruz". THIS is why our party is crashing down around us. We need the elitist pigs to unite with everyone else under one republican banner and move forward.
I hope that the judge decides that he (Mr. Correl) had his right to vote as a delegate and a representative of the people and that free speech has nothing do to with this issue. If he has a problem, send in an alternate so he does not have to go against his "personal ethical beliefs".
Updates will be posted as they occur!
UPDATE: [7/14/2016]
A technical "win" for the opponents of Virginia law. The law stating that Virginians MUST vote in a winner take all fashion was found unconstitutional. Why do I call it "technical"? Because Virginia is a proportional state. MEANING - the delegates are allowed to vote for whomever they wish so long as the overall 49 votes are assigned proportionally to the ACTUAL election results. If Sandy Loo is a delegate who does not like Cruz - she would then vote for Trump and Mr. Correl would be free to vote for Cruz. Now how I read this - if everyone is pretty set in their delegation and no one wants to swap with Mr. Correl, he's then pretty S.O.L..
See the excerpt from CNN News:
At issue in the lawsuit was a previously ignored part of Virginia election law that mandates delegates to the national convention to vote in a winner-take-all fashion, instead of proportionally as Republicans had planned. Judge Robert E. Payne said Monday the winner-take-all portion of the state law was unconstitutional and can't be enforced.
The ruling means that Republicans can vote how they have always intended to — with the state's 49 delegates bound to vote proportionally based on the March 1 results — without fear of criminal prosecution. Though the chances of prosecution were always remote: state officials said before the ruling they had no plans to prosecute anyone for how they voted at the GOP convention.
CLICK HERE to read the full article from CNN News.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Making America Great Again... what does that really mean?
Over the last several weeks, I have seen blog after blog and report after report slamming Donald Trump (yet again) over his "Make America Great Again" slogan. I can understand the reasons why people are so very against this slogan and I feel their offense is unfounded and stemming from a misunderstanding that; no, people are not out to destroy your way of life (although those same people wish to strip others of their rights such as guns and freedom of speech - but that's another post altogether).
This post was brought on by my recent viewing of Scandal Season 5 Episode 20 ("Trump Card") [episode title is a double meaning!]. In this episode, Hollis Doyle (Scandal's billionaire businessman running for president) is being dragged through the mud. Hollis is intended to be a mirror of Donald Trump. Shonda Rimes (an outspoken supporter of Hiliary and the BLM movement) is firmly against Donald Trump and his run for president. Thusly, she embellished Hollis Doyle to become what she believes to be the true face of the evil, sexist, racist, bigotted, immoral, etc. Donald Trump. For the following quote, simply replace Hollis Doyle with Donald Trump and you will see the summation of what I am debating here today. Everything in this fictional character's speech, mirrors all the negative notions and claims against Mr. Trump.
"Hollis Doyle is a disgusting piece of trash.A relic. A man, like many other white men who have had a free run at prosperity and opprotunity. For whom discrimination and injustice are as foreign to them as the Muslim immigrants that they want to ban from our country. And now that they don't have a free run, they're lashing out. To be honest, I can't believe it took him blatently expressing his racism for you all to start asking these damn questions.
He ends every speech with 'Dare to be great again!'. Huh? What? Should we return to slavery? Jim Crowe? In today's America my gay friends can get married. In today's America, I can vote. Fifty years ago, in Hollis Doyle's lifetime, that wasn't the case. In today's America, my parents don't have to recruit a white couple that worked along side them at the cereal plant to apply for a mortgage because banks wouldn't lend to folks with brown skin. In today's America, we have the Brandon Bill; which means, I may not have to tell my future son that he could be murdered by law-enforcement just for asking why he was pulled over.
Black Lives do matter, because young black people are under attack. Immigrants, too! The fact that Doyle insists on saying that All Lives Matter when talking about this movement really pisses me off. It's like walking up into someone else's funeral and screaming, 'Why are you not crying for my daddy? He's dead, too.' Well, yes he is, and that is sad. But, that is not the topic of the conversation. Go stand over there and let the adults talk.
Hollis Doyle is a thug. A Punk. And the people who support him are thugs or punks. Or they condone his behavior. They are not Americans. The idea that this country belongs to one kind of person is the least American idea that anyone has every had. In fact it is the opposite of the ideals of this nation. Nothing needs to be restored. Nothing needs to made great again. We are a better Nation than we were 20 years ago. Than we were 50 years ago. Than we were 100 years ago. Than we were at our founding. That is the point of America. We are a country where we are always greater than our past.
I am proud to live in a nation where a black man has a legitimate shot at the white house. That is American greatness."
Topic One: The Privileged Whitey and Their "Free-Run"
Without saying it, the accusation that anyone whom is white and upset at the condition of America is strictly upset because they're not the center of attention like they have been for 275 years, and must now compete with persons who are black, latino, asian, and whatever other ethnicity is not called white. The reason people are offended by the BLM movement and any other organization promoting a non-white persons is because they no longer have the "free run" or "easy ride" through life anymore.
To that I say, the Irish are so very thankful for their free and easy ride - being the pastiest of white-folk. I could not begin to imagine what their lives of slavery (equal or greater to the African American Slave Era) would have been like, had they not been white.
Topic Two: Again?
This is the sticking point of the slogan. People accuse by saying we cannot look backwards, and that no one can quite pin point which "era" of American history in which to return. Because this entire phrase is misunderstood, the nay sayers begin offering their own suggestions. Like in the work of fiction, it has been suggested that maybe we should go back to slavery, or severe acts of violence on people, or when people who were homosexual had less rights, which leads us to the civil war or post-Korean War eras. Others say things like, pre-9/11 or the last time the economy was fantastic - which leads us to the Clinton era.
The intended perception (as I perceive it as a non-racist, pro-life, pro-2nd, white Christian woman) is that we start ranking America among the superpowers, again. It does not mean jump in a time machine and transplant an entire era exactly as it was. It means to have America placed back on the list of top nations.
The education of this country is deplorable. It is not necessary for students to know how to write in cursive and it is acceptable for a large population of early 20-somethings to be on SSI because they don't know how to read or write and are not being made to better themselves adult-education facilities. It would be absurd for us to think that someone who is illiterate is capable of working on a road crew or turning a sign that says "Stop" or "Slow". There are people I personally know on SSI, who watch the children of friends as long as the friends don't try and sign up for the government assisted child care program that will PAY the person on SSI (yes, employee these people). Why don't sign up for it? Because then they will lose their SSI benefits. They make their friend pay them upwards of 900$ a month for watching three kids (parents must provide food too), so they can make the 900 plus their 800 from the "gob-mint" VS the child care support that will just cover the 900 for the other struggling family. Today's America is one where ~109,631,000 are receiving government assistance (SSI/SNAP/Cash Assistance/LIHEP, etc) and 105,862,000 people worked full-time in the USA. [NOTE: I understand that children and seniors are listed among the 109billion; however, I also believe that if you cannot take care of your own children, you need to give them to people who can - Uncle Sam is not your baby-daddy... also, retired citizens should not retire unless they can afford it.] If we stopped to educate our children, or demanded that those on SSI or other disabilities better themselves through education, our country would be a much BETTER place.
The economy is in the toilet. Inflation is on the rise, Unemployment is only down because people on it have spent too much time on it and have fallen off the "claimable" list. And then after a year of working, they "get fired" and hop on UE for another 13-26 weeks. The minimum wage is not the problem, it is the work ethic of the country. The country's deficits and debt are astronomical and government spending is absurd. Today's America is an America where as a country we are floundering. Instead of unchecked, unsupervised, unregulated UE, how about we put men and women to work for the government like during the Great Depression building things and cleaning things in order to receive their UE check. Not only would the government be getting something out of the people it's freely paying, it would get projects like bridges and renovations completed. That would surely make our country BETTER.
Our technology and drive to push scientific boundaries is severely decayed over the decades. Bringing the the forefront of technology BACK to America would make our country BETTER.
Our healthcare system stinks! Obama-care, for all its fantastic ideas - low premiums, open access to health care providers, employers taking care of their employees, they fell short and pushed the country further into economic crisis.
The AGAIN is not referring to stepping back in time to an era which homophobia, bigotry, racism, sexism, and all the other bad ism's ran a muck - we wouldn't be stepping any further back than a day or two ago. It refers to returning America to a state of power where it is once AGAIN greater than other countries - not because we are America, but because we are actually a greater place.
It just so happens that AGAIN must be achieved through closing our borders - we can't support and care for our own citizens, removing people from assistance who have been free-riding it for so long, stopping the government from spending needlessly, and so many MANY things proposed through the GOP, and specifically the Trump Campaign.
Topic Three: The Perception of BLM
Keeping this to a minimum, the BLM Movement has become the new form of "Black Power" in America. It is a supremacy group, and anyone who says that the message is not being misunderstood must realize this truth - perception is truth. BLM supporters are enraged when they are met with the phrase "_____ Lives Matter" in response to their rhetoric. They say responding with ALL or BLUE or RED or whatever Lives Matter is detracting from an epidemic of violence against the African American population. The message is that there is an implied "too" at the end of the BLM title. This is a creative response to the dog-whistle politics being played by this movement. The perceived truth is that ONLY BLM, and not BLM, too. This perceived truth is supported by the BLM leaders and supporters ENCOURAGING violence against people, businesses, police, and anyone else who is not black.
In the speech above, the example is given in Shonda's stab to Donald Trump, "It's like walking up into someone else's funeral and screaming, 'Why are you not crying for my daddy? He's dead, too.' " The BLM Movement and their negative rhetoric are the ones bursting into all of our lives saying "why don't you care that my life sucks too?". Excuse me, but it would be racist of me to say that all your problems are because you are black and not because of dealing drugs, shoplifting, destruction of property, and all the other mistakes you have chosen to make in life. It's okay to be "Bout Dat Lyfe" until you actually have to live that life - you can't have it both ways. Act like a thug, live like a thug, accept the consequences of the thug lifestyle - whether you are black, white, yellow, purple, blue, or green. It's not because you are black its because you are an idiot.
Topic Four: We ARE A Better America
I fully agree that the late-20th and early-21st centuries have had a tremendous impact on the progression of our social culture. More and more people are gaining the rights that every person should be able to enjoy. Voting, working (and for fair equal wages), being able to be "who you are" and not get denied use of whatever restroom or bakery you see fit. Yes, in the last 240 years we have become a better country with inclusive-to-more-of-our-own-citizens laws. What would make the current social climate even better is if hate speech would not be used when accusing people of using hate speech. [Whitey won't let me eat in their diner because I'm chinese, or Chink won't hire me because I'm black and drooping is how I express myself] In these examples, the government would fight against the diner owner and the business person - but those who were denied can use racial and ethnic slurs in their description of their "abusers".
Hypocacy is the ONLY thing stopping our current social climate from being the best in history. Christians who condemn sinners yet continue sinning in the same way themselves, ethnic groups who refer to other ethnic groups by derogatory slurs but demand that they be respected, Politicians who call for us to embrace equality and the freedoms spelled out for everyone in the Constitution but are pushing for the obliteration of rights that could pose a threat to themselves when they begin their coup.
We may be better, but we are not great by any stretch of the imagination.
ULTIMATELY...
Because people choose to see racism and hatred before anything else, we are left here screaming that a man is a bigot and racist and sexist and unamerican; instead of seeing that he wants his country to be the greatest ever - all eras wrapped into one and exemplifying a culmination of American history.
This post was brought on by my recent viewing of Scandal Season 5 Episode 20 ("Trump Card") [episode title is a double meaning!]. In this episode, Hollis Doyle (Scandal's billionaire businessman running for president) is being dragged through the mud. Hollis is intended to be a mirror of Donald Trump. Shonda Rimes (an outspoken supporter of Hiliary and the BLM movement) is firmly against Donald Trump and his run for president. Thusly, she embellished Hollis Doyle to become what she believes to be the true face of the evil, sexist, racist, bigotted, immoral, etc. Donald Trump. For the following quote, simply replace Hollis Doyle with Donald Trump and you will see the summation of what I am debating here today. Everything in this fictional character's speech, mirrors all the negative notions and claims against Mr. Trump.
"Hollis Doyle is a disgusting piece of trash.A relic. A man, like many other white men who have had a free run at prosperity and opprotunity. For whom discrimination and injustice are as foreign to them as the Muslim immigrants that they want to ban from our country. And now that they don't have a free run, they're lashing out. To be honest, I can't believe it took him blatently expressing his racism for you all to start asking these damn questions.
He ends every speech with 'Dare to be great again!'. Huh? What? Should we return to slavery? Jim Crowe? In today's America my gay friends can get married. In today's America, I can vote. Fifty years ago, in Hollis Doyle's lifetime, that wasn't the case. In today's America, my parents don't have to recruit a white couple that worked along side them at the cereal plant to apply for a mortgage because banks wouldn't lend to folks with brown skin. In today's America, we have the Brandon Bill; which means, I may not have to tell my future son that he could be murdered by law-enforcement just for asking why he was pulled over.
Black Lives do matter, because young black people are under attack. Immigrants, too! The fact that Doyle insists on saying that All Lives Matter when talking about this movement really pisses me off. It's like walking up into someone else's funeral and screaming, 'Why are you not crying for my daddy? He's dead, too.' Well, yes he is, and that is sad. But, that is not the topic of the conversation. Go stand over there and let the adults talk.
Hollis Doyle is a thug. A Punk. And the people who support him are thugs or punks. Or they condone his behavior. They are not Americans. The idea that this country belongs to one kind of person is the least American idea that anyone has every had. In fact it is the opposite of the ideals of this nation. Nothing needs to be restored. Nothing needs to made great again. We are a better Nation than we were 20 years ago. Than we were 50 years ago. Than we were 100 years ago. Than we were at our founding. That is the point of America. We are a country where we are always greater than our past.
I am proud to live in a nation where a black man has a legitimate shot at the white house. That is American greatness."
Topic One: The Privileged Whitey and Their "Free-Run"
Without saying it, the accusation that anyone whom is white and upset at the condition of America is strictly upset because they're not the center of attention like they have been for 275 years, and must now compete with persons who are black, latino, asian, and whatever other ethnicity is not called white. The reason people are offended by the BLM movement and any other organization promoting a non-white persons is because they no longer have the "free run" or "easy ride" through life anymore.
To that I say, the Irish are so very thankful for their free and easy ride - being the pastiest of white-folk. I could not begin to imagine what their lives of slavery (equal or greater to the African American Slave Era) would have been like, had they not been white.
Topic Two: Again?
This is the sticking point of the slogan. People accuse by saying we cannot look backwards, and that no one can quite pin point which "era" of American history in which to return. Because this entire phrase is misunderstood, the nay sayers begin offering their own suggestions. Like in the work of fiction, it has been suggested that maybe we should go back to slavery, or severe acts of violence on people, or when people who were homosexual had less rights, which leads us to the civil war or post-Korean War eras. Others say things like, pre-9/11 or the last time the economy was fantastic - which leads us to the Clinton era.
The intended perception (as I perceive it as a non-racist, pro-life, pro-2nd, white Christian woman) is that we start ranking America among the superpowers, again. It does not mean jump in a time machine and transplant an entire era exactly as it was. It means to have America placed back on the list of top nations.
The education of this country is deplorable. It is not necessary for students to know how to write in cursive and it is acceptable for a large population of early 20-somethings to be on SSI because they don't know how to read or write and are not being made to better themselves adult-education facilities. It would be absurd for us to think that someone who is illiterate is capable of working on a road crew or turning a sign that says "Stop" or "Slow". There are people I personally know on SSI, who watch the children of friends as long as the friends don't try and sign up for the government assisted child care program that will PAY the person on SSI (yes, employee these people). Why don't sign up for it? Because then they will lose their SSI benefits. They make their friend pay them upwards of 900$ a month for watching three kids (parents must provide food too), so they can make the 900 plus their 800 from the "gob-mint" VS the child care support that will just cover the 900 for the other struggling family. Today's America is one where ~109,631,000 are receiving government assistance (SSI/SNAP/Cash Assistance/LIHEP, etc) and 105,862,000 people worked full-time in the USA. [NOTE: I understand that children and seniors are listed among the 109billion; however, I also believe that if you cannot take care of your own children, you need to give them to people who can - Uncle Sam is not your baby-daddy... also, retired citizens should not retire unless they can afford it.] If we stopped to educate our children, or demanded that those on SSI or other disabilities better themselves through education, our country would be a much BETTER place.
The economy is in the toilet. Inflation is on the rise, Unemployment is only down because people on it have spent too much time on it and have fallen off the "claimable" list. And then after a year of working, they "get fired" and hop on UE for another 13-26 weeks. The minimum wage is not the problem, it is the work ethic of the country. The country's deficits and debt are astronomical and government spending is absurd. Today's America is an America where as a country we are floundering. Instead of unchecked, unsupervised, unregulated UE, how about we put men and women to work for the government like during the Great Depression building things and cleaning things in order to receive their UE check. Not only would the government be getting something out of the people it's freely paying, it would get projects like bridges and renovations completed. That would surely make our country BETTER.
Our technology and drive to push scientific boundaries is severely decayed over the decades. Bringing the the forefront of technology BACK to America would make our country BETTER.
Our healthcare system stinks! Obama-care, for all its fantastic ideas - low premiums, open access to health care providers, employers taking care of their employees, they fell short and pushed the country further into economic crisis.
The AGAIN is not referring to stepping back in time to an era which homophobia, bigotry, racism, sexism, and all the other bad ism's ran a muck - we wouldn't be stepping any further back than a day or two ago. It refers to returning America to a state of power where it is once AGAIN greater than other countries - not because we are America, but because we are actually a greater place.
It just so happens that AGAIN must be achieved through closing our borders - we can't support and care for our own citizens, removing people from assistance who have been free-riding it for so long, stopping the government from spending needlessly, and so many MANY things proposed through the GOP, and specifically the Trump Campaign.
Topic Three: The Perception of BLM
Keeping this to a minimum, the BLM Movement has become the new form of "Black Power" in America. It is a supremacy group, and anyone who says that the message is not being misunderstood must realize this truth - perception is truth. BLM supporters are enraged when they are met with the phrase "_____ Lives Matter" in response to their rhetoric. They say responding with ALL or BLUE or RED or whatever Lives Matter is detracting from an epidemic of violence against the African American population. The message is that there is an implied "too" at the end of the BLM title. This is a creative response to the dog-whistle politics being played by this movement. The perceived truth is that ONLY BLM, and not BLM, too. This perceived truth is supported by the BLM leaders and supporters ENCOURAGING violence against people, businesses, police, and anyone else who is not black.
In the speech above, the example is given in Shonda's stab to Donald Trump, "It's like walking up into someone else's funeral and screaming, 'Why are you not crying for my daddy? He's dead, too.' " The BLM Movement and their negative rhetoric are the ones bursting into all of our lives saying "why don't you care that my life sucks too?". Excuse me, but it would be racist of me to say that all your problems are because you are black and not because of dealing drugs, shoplifting, destruction of property, and all the other mistakes you have chosen to make in life. It's okay to be "Bout Dat Lyfe" until you actually have to live that life - you can't have it both ways. Act like a thug, live like a thug, accept the consequences of the thug lifestyle - whether you are black, white, yellow, purple, blue, or green. It's not because you are black its because you are an idiot.
Topic Four: We ARE A Better America
I fully agree that the late-20th and early-21st centuries have had a tremendous impact on the progression of our social culture. More and more people are gaining the rights that every person should be able to enjoy. Voting, working (and for fair equal wages), being able to be "who you are" and not get denied use of whatever restroom or bakery you see fit. Yes, in the last 240 years we have become a better country with inclusive-to-more-of-our-own-citizens laws. What would make the current social climate even better is if hate speech would not be used when accusing people of using hate speech. [Whitey won't let me eat in their diner because I'm chinese, or Chink won't hire me because I'm black and drooping is how I express myself] In these examples, the government would fight against the diner owner and the business person - but those who were denied can use racial and ethnic slurs in their description of their "abusers".
Hypocacy is the ONLY thing stopping our current social climate from being the best in history. Christians who condemn sinners yet continue sinning in the same way themselves, ethnic groups who refer to other ethnic groups by derogatory slurs but demand that they be respected, Politicians who call for us to embrace equality and the freedoms spelled out for everyone in the Constitution but are pushing for the obliteration of rights that could pose a threat to themselves when they begin their coup.
We may be better, but we are not great by any stretch of the imagination.
ULTIMATELY...
Because people choose to see racism and hatred before anything else, we are left here screaming that a man is a bigot and racist and sexist and unamerican; instead of seeing that he wants his country to be the greatest ever - all eras wrapped into one and exemplifying a culmination of American history.
Jesse Williams and the BET Blackitarian Award
Much has been said by many people regarding this speech. And the majority of them have been severely racially biased - on both sides of the fence. The problem, though? It is a racist speech. A racist speech, on a racist network, promoting a racist award.
The BET Humanitarian Award. "It is given to a celebrity philanthropist who donates their time and money to a charitable cause." [Wikipedia "BET Awards"] This is a very noble award to win. It clearly represents the definition of humanitarian - concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare. A philanthropist donating time and/or money to a cause would fall under that category. Jesse Williams rightfully deserves this award. He has donated of himself to the promotion of discontinuing the "schoolhouse to jailhouse" track that so many young black men are forced into because of certain areas and regions in our country working against them. He is working to improve and change the social climate of young black men and women - to give them the same opportunities he had access to. Making their black lives matter more to them than being a poor and uneducated thug in the ghetto. He also marches with those who march in these justice-forsaken areas. He works with civil rights lawyers and is dedicated to equality - true equality; where all people have a fighting chance from birth and not an up-hill climb.
The speech Jesse Williams gave at the awards began in such a way, it indeed spoke to the continuing efforts in these philanthropic areas. "Now, this award – this is not for me. This is for the real organizers all over the country – the activists, the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the families, the teachers, the students that are realizing that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do.
By saying these things, he is emphasizing how the perpetuation of the "black and thug" culture will come to an end. Once those in these situations get out of them and actually care to get out of them, his philanthropic mission will have been achieved. By saying "we can and will do better for you", he is promising to make that nurturing mean something when their friends, family, and children succeed because of who they are and not their physical traits. In doing this, a flawed system will crumble and true equality - with persons of all colors respecting and deserving of respect - will be reached throughout the USA and not just in most places.
THAT is a real winner of a Humanitarian Award.
Now, if you proceed to listen to the rest of the acceptance speech, we go from a Humanitarian to a Blackitarian (concerned with or seeking to promote black welfare over all others and as a superior class of persons).
This is where I begin to separate in thought with Mr. Williams.
"Now, what we’ve been doing is looking at the data and we know that police somehow manage to deescalate, disarm and not kill white people everyday. So what’s going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country or we will restructure their function and ours."
At this point, we have turned the switch from "break the stereotype by not being the stereotype & be better people" to "whitey with a badge will kill you if you so much as look at them slightly angered and are black". Jesse Williams has taken this from a cry to promote a better social atmosphere among the black community through is philanthropy to blaming every white person in the country.
He goes on to say:
"There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of. There has been no job we haven’t done. There is no tax they haven’t leveed against us – and we’ve paid all of them. But freedom is somehow always conditional here. “You’re free,” they keep telling us. But she would have been alive if she hadn’t acted so… free."
But so has everyone else. This point where he has reached an "US" and "THEM" line in the sand is the reason there is such a problem in the country today. During an episode of Grey's Anatomy, Maggie and Amy were talking and Maggie explains that to be black, you always have that little voice in the back of your mind saying, "it's because I'm black". She explained also that it is like how women have that small voice in the back of their head saying, "It's because I have a vagina". If that is the truth, then people who are hearing that voice need to get over themselves and quit accusing everyone who is not black of being a racist... because that in itself is racist. As a woman, I do not hear that little voice accusing people of being sexist pigs. I was not raised to think that way; therefore, I do not think that way. A contributor to the perpetuation of racial divides and inequality, is assuming people are racist because they are white. I refuse to hate someone based on their race. I also refuse to tolerate someone because of the color of their skin. I (and many others) judge based on a person's character - I (and many others) would appreciate the same gesture.
As for conditional freedom, look around you. If you are white, Christian, pro-gun, republican, female, pro-life, or for Donald Trump, you might as well unplug because if anyone finds out, you will get electronically lynched - because you are not allowed to have your own ideas or voice them. I do agree that the Tamir Rice situation could have been handled better. On the heels of a BLM snippit in his speech, "but she would have been alive if she hadn't acted so... free", begs the question - freedom to steal? freedom to loot? freedom to wave around a weapon look-a-like? freedom to be high-up and commit armed robbery? Freedom does not mean doing whatever you feel like, acting like a "thug", and expecting to not get arrested; expecting not to get injured or even killed for violently resisting. I don't care what color your skin is. If you are breaking the law and you resist, you have made your choice and sometimes the consequence is death.
Thus, Jesse Williams is the clear winner of not only the Humanitarian Award, but the Blackitarian Award as well. He has some fantastic ideas, and those few places in the country which are unjustly oppressing minorities need looked at. But this should not be a strict Black vs White, Us vs Them fight. THAT is what perpetuates racism and violence between the two. We are more equal than you think and everyone is tired of the race games.
For Extra Reading...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/police-kill-more-whites-than-blacks-but-minority-d/
The BET Humanitarian Award. "It is given to a celebrity philanthropist who donates their time and money to a charitable cause." [Wikipedia "BET Awards"] This is a very noble award to win. It clearly represents the definition of humanitarian - concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare. A philanthropist donating time and/or money to a cause would fall under that category. Jesse Williams rightfully deserves this award. He has donated of himself to the promotion of discontinuing the "schoolhouse to jailhouse" track that so many young black men are forced into because of certain areas and regions in our country working against them. He is working to improve and change the social climate of young black men and women - to give them the same opportunities he had access to. Making their black lives matter more to them than being a poor and uneducated thug in the ghetto. He also marches with those who march in these justice-forsaken areas. He works with civil rights lawyers and is dedicated to equality - true equality; where all people have a fighting chance from birth and not an up-hill climb.
The speech Jesse Williams gave at the awards began in such a way, it indeed spoke to the continuing efforts in these philanthropic areas. "Now, this award – this is not for me. This is for the real organizers all over the country – the activists, the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the families, the teachers, the students that are realizing that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do.
It’s kind of basic mathematics – the more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize.
Now, this is also in particular for the black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you."
By saying these things, he is emphasizing how the perpetuation of the "black and thug" culture will come to an end. Once those in these situations get out of them and actually care to get out of them, his philanthropic mission will have been achieved. By saying "we can and will do better for you", he is promising to make that nurturing mean something when their friends, family, and children succeed because of who they are and not their physical traits. In doing this, a flawed system will crumble and true equality - with persons of all colors respecting and deserving of respect - will be reached throughout the USA and not just in most places.
THAT is a real winner of a Humanitarian Award.
Now, if you proceed to listen to the rest of the acceptance speech, we go from a Humanitarian to a Blackitarian (concerned with or seeking to promote black welfare over all others and as a superior class of persons).
This is where I begin to separate in thought with Mr. Williams.
"Now, what we’ve been doing is looking at the data and we know that police somehow manage to deescalate, disarm and not kill white people everyday. So what’s going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country or we will restructure their function and ours."
At this point, we have turned the switch from "break the stereotype by not being the stereotype & be better people" to "whitey with a badge will kill you if you so much as look at them slightly angered and are black". Jesse Williams has taken this from a cry to promote a better social atmosphere among the black community through is philanthropy to blaming every white person in the country.
He goes on to say:
"There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of. There has been no job we haven’t done. There is no tax they haven’t leveed against us – and we’ve paid all of them. But freedom is somehow always conditional here. “You’re free,” they keep telling us. But she would have been alive if she hadn’t acted so… free."
But so has everyone else. This point where he has reached an "US" and "THEM" line in the sand is the reason there is such a problem in the country today. During an episode of Grey's Anatomy, Maggie and Amy were talking and Maggie explains that to be black, you always have that little voice in the back of your mind saying, "it's because I'm black". She explained also that it is like how women have that small voice in the back of their head saying, "It's because I have a vagina". If that is the truth, then people who are hearing that voice need to get over themselves and quit accusing everyone who is not black of being a racist... because that in itself is racist. As a woman, I do not hear that little voice accusing people of being sexist pigs. I was not raised to think that way; therefore, I do not think that way. A contributor to the perpetuation of racial divides and inequality, is assuming people are racist because they are white. I refuse to hate someone based on their race. I also refuse to tolerate someone because of the color of their skin. I (and many others) judge based on a person's character - I (and many others) would appreciate the same gesture.
As for conditional freedom, look around you. If you are white, Christian, pro-gun, republican, female, pro-life, or for Donald Trump, you might as well unplug because if anyone finds out, you will get electronically lynched - because you are not allowed to have your own ideas or voice them. I do agree that the Tamir Rice situation could have been handled better. On the heels of a BLM snippit in his speech, "but she would have been alive if she hadn't acted so... free", begs the question - freedom to steal? freedom to loot? freedom to wave around a weapon look-a-like? freedom to be high-up and commit armed robbery? Freedom does not mean doing whatever you feel like, acting like a "thug", and expecting to not get arrested; expecting not to get injured or even killed for violently resisting. I don't care what color your skin is. If you are breaking the law and you resist, you have made your choice and sometimes the consequence is death.
Thus, Jesse Williams is the clear winner of not only the Humanitarian Award, but the Blackitarian Award as well. He has some fantastic ideas, and those few places in the country which are unjustly oppressing minorities need looked at. But this should not be a strict Black vs White, Us vs Them fight. THAT is what perpetuates racism and violence between the two. We are more equal than you think and everyone is tired of the race games.
For Extra Reading...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/police-kill-more-whites-than-blacks-but-minority-d/
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