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More Election Residue


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It may be over, but it ain't done as the media and the internet are still abuzz with post mortems about the result of the presidential election. Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel minced no words in a Fox News interview, when he told Sean Hannity to "shut the f**k up, you lost!". My kind of guy. Another one of the more interesting reactions was that of a FaceBook poster, who opined:

"While Romney lost, the Republicans outperformed in the Congressional elections. One would have expected many more losses with a victorious Democratic President, but there were basically no "coat tails" to Obama's victory...the Congressional Republicans are, if anything, more "conservative" than Romney tried to be. This seems to imply that it is not the policies that were rejected, but that Romney was rejected personally, or that people personally like Obama, even as they disagree with some of his policies and, thus, elect a Congress designed to thwart him. This election, in my view, does little to tell us about policy, as it was, essentially, a draw."

A thought-provoking article that appeared in the Daily Currant on November 7th.

"Conservative political pundit Pat Buchanan stoked controversy today by claiming that Barack Obama's reelection has 'killed White America'.

The paleoconservative nativist is no stranger to racial controversy, having previously been accused of writing books with racist and anti-semitic undertones.

But the former Nixon advisor was more explicit on the G. Gordon Liddy Show this morning. When asked for his reaction to Obama's victory, Buchanan replied brazenly:

"White America died last night. Obama's reelection killed it. Our 200 plus year history as a Western nation is over. We're a Socialist Latin American country now. Venezuela without the oil."

Stunned by his clear racisim, Liddy tried to walk his guest back from the ledge:

"With what you just said right there...You seem to imply that white people are better than other people. That's not really what you're saying is it?"

"Of course that's what I'm saying," Buchanan replied "Isn't it obvious? Anything worth doing on this Earth was done first by white people."

"Who landed on the moon? White people. Who climbed Mount Everest? White people. Who invented the transistor? White people. Who invented paper? White people. Who discovered algebra? White people."

"And don't give me all this nonsense about Martin Luther King and civil rights and all that. Who do you think freed the slaves? Abraham Lincoln. A white guy!"

"But we're not led by Lincoln anymore, we're led by an affirmative-action mulatto who can't physically understand how great America once was."

"I cried last night G. I cried for hours. It's over for all of us. The great White nation will never survive another 4 years of Obama's leadership"

Liddy tried to reason with Buchanan, reminding him that he shares similar positions with the President on Afghanistan, Iraq, and relations with Russia:

"Of course I agree with half of what he does," Buchanan answered, "He's half white! That's not the half I'm worried about."

Buchanan served as a speechwriter in the Nixon White House. He was fired as an MSNBC analyst this year following the publication of a book many considered to be racist."

A side bar of the presidential election.

The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus, a four-star general who led U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and was thought to be a potential candidate for president has once again raised the question as to why men disgrace themselves, sacrificing everything, career, reputation, family, future just to sample a different brand of nookie... Power and prestige cannot stifle the primitive urge of the male of the species to lust after a female. Some can resist consummating their desire. Others can't. So long, Dave. Hope our esteemed President Obama fares better than you and can declare that he has "99 problems, but a bitch ain't one of 'em."

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These pieces deserve large reach than my meager platform can provide.

I honestly can not believe a sentient being could publicly utter the words you have ascribed to Pat Buchanan.

Matt Henson (A Black man) was the first to reach the top of mt Everest. White people did not "discover" algebra or paper and more than they discovered America.

Sure there have been great white people who accomplished a lot, but to take credit for everything and take credit away from everyone else is evil. Why evil people are given a platform is what makes TV worse that a boob tube but an instrument of evil. It sounds like you give Liddy to much credit. He should have cut his mike and booted off the show after conveying such stupidity.

Let me see if I can find a video clip -- I just not believe someone would say those things without being called on it...

As far as Petraeus - who gives a shit. If he sucked at his job that is one thing, but forcing him to resign because of an affair, really?! What am I missing here (I've ignored the coverage of this, so I may be ignorant of some important aspect).

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I pasted and cut the Pat Buchanan article verbatim. I got to it with a face book link. Elsewhere, on the net there were articles saying that Fox Commentators Bill O'Reilly and Republican strategist Bill Morris essentially agreed with Buchanan, declaring that Obama's election is the beginning of the end for white America.

Matt Henson was a member of the expedition to the South Pole. Mt. Everest is in Nepal in Tibet and Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the top of it. Whatever. As to other claims made by Buchanan, as the saying goes, the victors are the ones who get to write history. He was so irrational, ol Pat may have been drinking when he did this interview. Apparently the idea of white people losing ground is very discombobulating to the guy.

Regarding Petraeus, as head of the CIA, he set himself up for blackmail by engaging in an extra-marital affair and secret information could've been compromised. This was especially relevant with the CIA being criticized over the murders in the American Embassy in Libya...

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I'm glad I was not on Fox news mistaking Henson accomplishment I would have been portrayed as an uneducated Black ignoramus :(

Regarding Patreaus' infidelity when you compare him to President Bill Clinton I don't understand the reaction.

Is the thinking that Patreaus is the fall guy for the Libyian fiasco? Surely there were other causes besides who Patreaus was sleeping with.... If that is the case we are obviously being distracted from the real reason.

Swallowing the Blue Pill... The NY Giants are getting their butts kicked in Cincy!

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...Dallas and Philly are tied. ...Al Sharpton is not for sale is a great leader of Black people

Seriously Below is the actual interview which that site based it's "story". You know that website is one of the MOST frustrating example of what the Black internet has become. They call themselves a "news" site, However all they have done is copied content from a real content provider and used it to stimulate controversy -- pathetic!

I'm not so concerned, and no one can know, Cornel West motivation for pushing the president. Speculation is less important that what he says or due. I agree with West assessment of Obama. So when West says,

"I think that it’s morally obscene and spiritually profane to spend $6 billion on an election, $2 billion on a presidential election, and not have any serious discussion—poverty, trade unions being pushed against the wall dealing with stagnating and declining wages when profits are still up and the 1 percent are doing very well, no talk about drones dropping bombs on innocent people. So we end up with such a narrow, truncated political discourse, as the major problems—ecological catastrophe, climate change, global warming. So it’s very sad. I mean, I’m glad there was not a right-wing takeover, but we end up with a Republican, a Rockefeller Republican in blackface, with Barack Obama, so that our struggle with regard to poverty intensifies."

I have zero problem with it it is not controversial is is largely true. That bullshit website stirs controversy instead of examining West positions and adding value to the argument. This is an interesting quote from the inteview:

President Obama said to Harry Belafonte, according to Harry, "Why don’t you and Cornel West cut me some slack?" Harry Belafonte responded, "What makes you think we’re not?"

Here is a transcript of the entire interview

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I'm just sitting here shaking my head. I know what white supremacy is about for sure. I see it every day, but to see it spewing mess such as the nuttiness from Buchanan. Donald Trump needs a berth in a state mental hospital. Unbelievable.

It does seem like a draw. There is so much being revealed, or brought out again but in bolder relief. The excitement Obama continues to inspire in black folk despite his unwillingness to "go there" with our toughest issues is so full of both heartache and struggle. Any one of us who came up in urban communities in the last fifty years or so--sixty in my case-- probably knows folk who didn't make it or ain't making it, and some of them are our relatives. I'm one of those black folk in academia with only a paycheck and no generational moolah backup. All that and who's gonna be first to reduce his/her carbon footprint? I wear a size 13 in some shoes. & the older you get the more thermal clothing and heat you need, especially in Boston where racism can easily go to 100 below everybody's zero.

If the president can come out snorting and say Herman Cain was wrong--poor people are not poor because it is their fault, if he could stand up from jump street for folk who are being crushed, it would be a beginning...a battle for sure but with some clarity and fortitude that would inspire folk.

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It's amazing to witness the U.S. white man come to the realization that he's not going to be in power anymore. But you would think that some of these high-profile whiteys would try to act like professional adults since they've known for some time that this day would soon be here. I suppose we should be compassionate towards them because we know what it's like to be powerless, second-class citizens :(

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Afaa, I consider your contribution here an honor.

Your point that it would be "...a battle for sure but with some clarity and fortitude that would inspire folk." is so on point. At least it would inspire me.

The generational back up is a very, very big deal. Consider the life stye of a family of 4 in NY City and AGI of $200K. This family could very well be living paycheck to paycheck. Housing in a decent place, in a decent neighborhood, is extremely expensive. Education for two kids outside the woefully inadequate public schools rivals the tuition at many colleges. Now take a vacation or enjoy some of the amenities the city has to offer you could very easily be living beyond your means.

This same family is subject to the AMT (something I would not wish on my worse enemy). Basically the tax forms go out the window, many of your deductions vanish and you pay a MUCH higher rate.

Now the average income for a family of 4 in NYC is something like $48K. Give that income to a family without inherited wealth and you can begin to appreciate that life is a daily struggle. Inadequate or often nonexistent health care, a couple of weeks off a year, locked into a poorly performing public school, substandard living conditions, no pension, higher levels of crime, poorer services, etc.

Now this family may pay very little or nothing in taxes -- may even qualify for an Earned Income tax Credit (Actually a payment from the Feds over and above one's tax liability). But this family is getting reamed out by taxes everywhere; sales tax, tolls, city taxes, state taxes, government fees, etc, etc.

When a Warren Buffet says he paid 17% in taxes or about $7MM, this is misleading because he also gives away several billion dollars a year. If we factor in these billions his tax rate is negligible.

That would be like me making a donation of $30,000 to my favorite charity and giving the government $70 in taxes the same year. It sounds absurd, but the tax law is written in a way that this is legal. However if I tried that stunt I'd be in a cell next to Wesley Snipes.

We tax income very harshly. We do not tax wealth or the income generated by wealth very much. Rich people's wealth is not generated by a weekly paycheck.

Anyone who makes more than $110K in 2012 will notice that at some point in the year their check will increase by 6.2% because they have paid the max on social security. Most Americans will never this this bump in take home pay because they do not make more than $110K.

The problem is that people who make millions of dollars a year, or as much a Warren Buffet, pay the exact same amount as someone making $110K. The family making $48K a year pays 6.2% of their income, while the family making $4M per year pays only 0.0017% for the same benefit -- a benefit not likely to be needed by a family with the wherewithal to generate that much income year.

The tax rate on people like myself is oppressive, when you compare to people like Warren Buffet I consider it criminal.

Will an Obama or anyone take up this fight?

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Anyone heard about this yet?:

"In the wake of last week's presidential election, thousands of Americans have signed petitions seeking permission for their states to peacefully secede from the United States. The petitions were filed on We the People, a government website."

http://news.yahoo.co...-190210006.html

All I keep thinking about are those "oh, they mad? they mad..." banners that were circulating on Facebook. smh.............like some people say about slavery, "get over it"...

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Mzuri, I think we should make a distinction between rich White men and your garden variety working or middle class white man.

For you see the rich white man is still firmly in power and control.

It is really the masses of white folks who have lost power. Indeed the power they had was largely an illusion, based upon the false impression they were superior to Black and other minorities by virtue of simply being white. These white are simply realizing it now because the latest election results make this plain.

The problem we as Black people have is that we think an Obama presidency was giving us some measure of power. Unfortunately blind Obama worship make this hard to see.

The issue is about power, class and wealth. Race is simply a convenient tool for keeping the masses detracted, fighting amongst ourselves.

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I was watching that docu-drama "The Men Who Built America" which covers the stories of Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, & others. After seeing that, I think for the most part, these extraordinarily rich people in power have had a habit of not dwelling all that much on what's going on down in the "regular" world.

By that I mean they operate on a different playing field. Their spats & competitions with each other have led to domino effects that at times have cost innocent American bystanders (of all races) their lives and jobs. But the insanely rich don't appear to take the losses to heart. They don't really care.

We average folk are probably no more "real" to them than the starving kids in other countries that you see on late night television with the lone spokesman walking through the village asking for your 35cents a day. You know they're there, but you tend to forget to sign up to help them out.

And Troy, you're right. These uber wealthy folk are going to be just fine. The slap in the face of reality does not belong to them...they are so far removed from it, it aint even funny. That realization is coming out now & yep, ppl are mad. But what did they expect? Did they REALLY think they were part of the inner circle? Ha!

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I'm a firm believer in time being the great equalizer. Things gradually evolve as the exception becomes the norm and, one day, without realizing it, change will have inevitably occurred, swept ashore by the tides of time that overwhelm "the best laid plans of mice and men".

The fall of the Roman Empire was a slow process that ended not with a shout, but with a whimper, the dying gasp of a mighty force that came together and - fell apart. The twilight of the gods is on the horizon and night will fall on the United States of America. Only time will determine whether the dawn of a new day will be for the better or for the worse...

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You are right, Troy. Rich white ppl continue to control corporate America. But they don't head the federal government, which has the power to tax and imprison them. The Koch brothers et al couldn't buy the presidency this time around, after expending so many millions helping to establish the tea party, donating to colleges to indoctrinate students to their way of thinking, trying to suppress the vote, influencing the news (Rupert Murdoch-Fox News, WSJ), etc. It irks the hell out of them that they didn't get their way, and "them" is a very long list.

For me, Obama's re-election is, among other things, a morale booster. After all the maligning he endured about being born in Kenya (as if his white mama really traveled to Africa to give birth), his religion, his intellect, etc., these persistent insults against Obama have taken a toll on all of us. Some of us may not think that it's had a negative impact on us as individuals, but it has. And I am so relieved that the truth has prevailed.

I predict that there won't be another white (man) president for many years to come. I could be wrong, but I believe that position will be held by minorities/women for the next few cycles, and corporate America will be helpless to change that.

WriterGirl - I also saw parts of "The Men Who Built America" and couldn't help but notice that the way corporate moguls operated 125 years ago (by bribing ppl to get their man McKinley into the White House) is the same exact thing that's going on in the present. It's crazy. As to the secession petitions, I'm in Texas and Rick Perry's been talking that nonsense for a few years now, so we are used to hearing it. It's not happening. Those ppl need to get a grip.

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Never underestimate the power of the enemy. The rich Republican hierarcy is making plans to fall back and re-group, planning to learn from their mistakes. Obama may not be for sale, but senators and congressmen are and if they can be bribed then, in effect, the government will be bought, as the documentary suggested. That being the case, the president is in danger of once again being nothing more than someone who inspires pity on the part of his empathetic supporters.

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Mzuri, actually my point is the rich do own the government. You mentioned the Koch brothers not being able to buy the presidency, but president does not run the country. If the brought off Republicans can continue to stonewall Obama for another 4 years, folks like the Koch Bros may still ultimately get what they want.

Besides Obama got a billion bucks to run his campaign. Where do you think he got that money? I pretty sure it wasn't us. Who is Obama beholden too, Wall Street bankers, the insurance lobby, the military industrial complex?

I also don't think the ultra rich running our corporations and government are a unified force -- they are fighting amongst themselves probably more so than since the Civil War. You and I are merely confused pawns and collateral damage.

If anything is to change there will need to be enough people, of all colors, willing to make the some real sacrifices. Obama can't do it; he simply does not have the power or the conviction from what I see. At this point, I'll be glad if Obama can help avoid the fiscal cliff and keep many of us working stiffs from realizing the nightmare of the Alternative Minimum Tax.

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Once again Romney has proven how out of touch he is. In his latest sour grapes rationale, he blames Obama's re-election on the "gifts" he promised to Blacks and Mexicans and women and young people, overlooking that he, himself, offered gifts to the 1% he represents. The gratutity he promised to the rich was no tax increase. And to add insult to injury, he bestowed on the beleaguered middle class the privilege of shouldering the burden of the wealthy, hoping to hoodwink them into thinking that by enabling the upper class to keep its money, others would benefit. Or is it as if corporate America isn't the biggest beneficiary of the welfare gift so despised by the Republicans.

Entitlement is a bitch. It is what motivates people to believe that who they are, automatically qualifies them to preferential treatment in the course of having their wishes and demands fulfilled. This mind-set is prevalent among the rich but applies in many cases to the poor, as well as the young. But the rich don't only talk it, they can walk it. Those in the middle are just shit outta luck, or "s-o-l" as we used to say, back in the day.

Romney and company have been thwarted because they were too full of themselves. Now they can't believe that they got beat at their own deceptive game. Payback is also a bitch.

And as the great American experiment plays itself out, and capitalism maintains its grip, the idea that this country is a democracy continues to be a joke. The electoral college belies this claim, considering how it voids millions of votes. And as far as "all men being created equal", forget it. A white baby born with a silver spoon is his mouth is way ahead of the game when it comes to a black baby born with crack in his veins. Even the probability of this happening favors the rich, thanks to the ramifications of the racism that shouldn't exist in a democracy. Others claim that America is actually a republic -. as in Republican; the party of the rich.

The American dream? Lotsa luck. But, like the ol song goes, "...aint we got fun? The rich get richer, and the poor get children." And these children, who are concentrated in the great population centers of the electorlal map, can vote. Take that, Mitt Romney! A black man is still sitting in the white house. A moral victory is better than a humiliating defeat, as you have proven.

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Everybody seems to be touting Hillary. She certainly has accumulated the credentials. In the present, however, she seems weary and burnt out. But if she resigns as secretary of state, that will allow her some R&R time. The only problem is that in 2016 she'll be 69 years old, and there's no guarantee she won't be on the brink of dementia. :wacko:

A woman president would be the next logical sequence after a black one. And a smart move would be for her to choose a Hispanic running mate. Eat your heart out, Pat Buchanan. :P

Or can we discount the possibility that a Jew will run for president and select a gay person to be the vice-president. :rolleyes:

No need to anticipate an Asian president because China is already underwriting America. <_<

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