Any coach who is not coaching for the right reasons does the kid, the coaching and the sport a disservice.

There is a distinct difference between whistle blowing and snitching.  Whistle blowing is done to expose corruption, where there are victims and a greater good can be accomplished.  Snitching as it relates to this story specifically reeks of jilted lovers and bitchassness.  For Cobb to participate in the game and then turn ‘state’s evidence’ because he obviously feels he was being set aside, shows a sign of immaturity not becoming a person of his age and experience.  I mean what’s next, keying Ben’s car or flattening his tires?  Perhaps spray paint ‘cheater’ on his hood?

Fact is if you are for the kid, then regardless of the uproar and the commotion that goes on before a draft, the kid whom you were there for is going to remember you.  *though he technically owes you nothing*

Ben McLemore

Ben is going to be fine.  I pray the best for him going forward.   Unfortunately the other kids who played at Kansas are going to suffer.  Kids who are going to Kansas as freshman are going to suffer.  The NCAA is a horrifically exploitative institution as it is.  This only gives them red meat to go after more black kids and the programs they play for.  If you don’t believe me, Google Johnny Manziel and you will find it’s clear he violates every rule in the book!  But nothing is going to happen to Johnny Football you best believe that.  *By the way, I don’t think anything bad should happen to Manziel, the problems are the NCAA rules not the player enjoying the fruits of his success and the value he brings to a program.

I can’t even say how disappointed I am to read these stories.  I’ve always respected Cobb as a coach with a brilliant basketball mind. Yet If I had a son who was an up and coming potential player, or an average player, no way I would let him within 100 feet of him.  Most of the coaches I see in the game are not just competitive, but also caring, compassionate men and women who love the kids they serve.  I plan to be one of those coaches next year.  The others are bloodsucking mercenaries looking for fame and glory off the backs of the young people they are supposed to nurture and look after.  In this fashion, they are worse than the NCAA.

I wanted to be a professional baseball player.  A series of unfortunate events made that a challenge I did not overcome.  As an adult I took up the game of basketball.  There were two reasons for this. 

1) I wanted to compete like I did in baseball.

2) It was easier to get 2-20 guys to play hoops than it was 18 to play baseball on any given day.

I’d played hoops growing up on the playgrounds or in gym class.  But I never went out for the team.  I pretty much started from scratch.   The guys I hung out with played often. In the summer, we played 5 nights a week.  Some of those guys were pretty damn good too.  Most were better than me.  I hung around getting ‘next’ or lobbied to get myself on a team.  Most times I came early to make sure I played before the well known ballers got to the court.  If my team didn’t win, my other four teammates would get picked up but that may have been the end of my night.  Having that feeling of desperation, I had to figure things out pretty quickly. 

I started with what I had.  I was fast, intelligent and fiercely competitive.  Scoring wise I had a quick first step and got to the hoop at will with only a right hand.  But that wasn’t my focus.  I worked on my defense, passing and setting picks.  Furthermore, I did what nobody else wanted to do, took on the best offensive player on the other team.  I took plenty of licks too.  Sometimes the game was over with before it even got started.  As time went on I got better at it though.  I became that guy that no offensive juggernaut my size or slightly above wanted to see.  They knew I would be on them like white on rice.  My goal was to shut them down.  For the upper echelon players, my goal was to bide my time, play my role and make an impact at a critical point before the final score was decided.  For example; if the game went to 12, even if my man scored 8, my goal was to make him miss or make a mistake at 10 or 11.  If the game was close my team still had a chance to win.

This happened more times than I can say.  And yet, as my game grew my status seemed stifled.  A playground full of guys can see me dominate defensively, hit a few jump shots and still leave me standing on the sidelines if my previous team lost.

After a while, my intensity and almost hatred of sporting perceptions of disrespect increased.  Since I wasn’t from the area that I lived in at the time, some of the guys would pick lesser players than me just because they knew them better.  Being picked last when I wasn’t the 10th best player on the court drove me harder.  My quiet yet burning mantra would be: “I know my own captain don’t respect me.  But I ended up with this team.  So fine.  YOU (the other team captain) on the other hand are going to regret that you didn’t pick me.  I’m going to make your life hell!  And most of the time I did just that.  Nothing gave me more joy and inner satisfaction that winning those games.

Fast forward 20 some years later, that chip never left my shoulder.  Among ‘serious hoopers,’ talent wise I was a serviceable basketball player.  I never tried to be Jordan but I knew my role and I knew how to win.  By this time I could score too.  I spent years in high level competition and seldom had my confidence shaken.  At this time, my mindset was to take on whatever role I sensed my team needed to help us win.  In my late 30s I started going to this gym on Monday and Wednesday nights.  There were many hoopers and wanna-be-hoopers.  Most of them at least a decade younger than me.  The games were intense.  One of my most memorable hoops moments happened as a result of me getting my lunch handed to me.  In this particular game I was matched against a local legend.  He was major in college and played in the pros too. I competed against this dude as hard and as smart as I could.  He shook me loose once and after that he never took an open shot against me.  I was all but in his shorts.  None of that mattered.  He ate me for lunch.  Tore my ass to pieces scoring at will.  I may have been in his mix, but he disposed of me like a professional assassin.  I walked away feeling good.  I knew he earned every basket he got. I was beaten by a much better man that night.  Charge it to the game…it happens.

But what happened the next time out is what surprised me.  The same player that busted my ass two nights before picked me on his team.  Me!  Of all the guys on the court I was the FIRST one he picked.  Not only that, I brought that same intensity and confidence with me and we rolled off 6 straight games that night closing the gym undefeated!  Every time I shot the ball, my nemeses from two nights ago would yell, “BUCKET” or “That’s Three!” and start running back to play defense before the ball even went in the goal.  And he was right.  I was on fire.  I still played the same level of defense and brought the intensity the whole night.  I’m thinking to myself; ‘Now that this guy had showed me respect, I couldn’t let him think he was wrong about me.’  He laid back and managed his game.  Scored when he felt like it which wasn’t much. He had fun watching me do my thing.  It was a night I’ll never forget.

The point of this entire story is this: Sports are often a reflection of life.  Sometimes it’s not about the Xs and O’s.  Its about NUTS!  Who’s got them, who doesn’t.  Playing basketball this way served as one measurement of my manhood.  Basketball in itself is just a game.  But it wasn’t about the game or whether I won or lost.  It was about testing my abilities and my will to overcome challenges and shortcomings.  It’s survival of the fittest.  Like rams butting heads or a pack of lions in a pit duking it out for respect and pissing all over to claim a piece of territory.  I’ve played lesser and greater players than myself over the years.  But my most satisfying victories came against guys that on paper I had no business being able to compete with.  For them, perhaps it was just another game.  For me, it showed me that I had what it takes to make it in the world.  That meant I could survive competition and adversity in the workplace.  That one day, I could be happy and live my dreams in life.  I too can be a winner!  I don’t think as men, we really know who we are and what we have within till we get into that den and see what we are made of.  My parents weren’t able to instill a winning attitude in me growing up.  Playing sports was partially how I gained that extra inner confidence.  I never saw myself owning my own business, but now I do.  And I am just getting started.

To have skill and expertise is great!  Education is priceless!  Connections are essential.  However, we can never underestimate the basic qualities of sheer effort, heart, desire, determination. There is a difference between winning and being a winner, losing and being a loser.

A man who won’t quit, cannot be stopped!  He’s just going to keep on coming till he get’s what he came for!

BUT…the REAL problem with the Lakers is this ego-maniacal coach ‘Antoni (no D)  This dude didn’t learn in NY that you can’t take pieces and make them what you want them to be instead of maximizing what you got and be successful.  The fact that Pau Gasol is playing on the perimeter like Leandro Barbosa is mortally stupid!

‘Antoni’ was on the bench this past summer when Pau dominated the post the likes of Tyson Chandler during the gold medal game of the Olympics.  And yet, here he is hanging out like a lost child around the three point line.  Why in the hell would he NOT put Pau in the post with Dwight?  You know why?  Cause we are all fuckin’ idiots and he’s the smartest dick in the room…or so he thinks!

Say what you want about Kobe.  The bottom line he is is one of the greatest to ever lace them up.  He is all balls cold blooded killa 24-7.  His game while undisciplined a year or so ago when he was hurt, is as efficient as ever nowadays.  His fundamentals are flawless, and as he showed us last night with that flying stuff over CP3, can still rise up for the congregation when he needs to.  Obviously he’s too smart and likes ‘Antoni too much to criticize him publically.  But I sure as hell hope he’s in ‘Antoni’s ear in private.

I watched the game last night knowing that the Lakers were not going to win.  I had no doubt no matter how great Kobe played.  The Clips are doing their thing, playing to their strengths.  Not my boys.  Nooooo we are playing 2005 Suns style with a damn near 39 year old Steve Nash without the side parts he had in Phoenix.

Speaking of Gasol, he’s only won 2 championships right?  And how many has ‘Antoni won?

I’ve loved the Lakers since I watched my first NBA game in 1979.  Been with them through the ups and downs, never been fair weather.  Unfortunately the wisdom of the father (Dr. Jerry Buss) did not fall upon the son, (Jim) The way he tried to punk Phil Jackson while placing ‘Antoni in the mix after already hiring a no fit Mike Brown, shows that he is not invested in winning like his daddy.  While Dr. Buss built The Lakers into a dynasty, one of the most respected and revered sports organizations in the history of sports, Jimmy uses it as a toy; something to make him feel powerful and meaningful despite his obvious impotence.

He’s Commodus, wishing he was Maximus.  And thus… the Lakers are dead team walking getting fed to the lions on a nightly basis.

Sometimes, I’m amazed at how many times we don’t think things through as a nation, as a people.  As advanced and thirsty for knowledge as we can be in other areas such as technology and science, we seem to be willingly prehistoric, simple and horribly less evolved when it comes to the subject of faith and religion than any other.

This all tends to create a major cluster-fu#! of ideologies.

Take this shirt for instance. (pictured below) After the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, pictures like these flooded
Facebook and other social media timelines.  Let’s break down the dialogue and see if it jives with anything more than an ideological and political smokescreen:

Dear God, Why do you allow so much violence in our schools?

Signed a concerned Student

Dear Concerned Student: I’m not allowed in schools.

God

This sort of message comes from the perspective of some Christians.  It’s directly related to the Supreme Court’s Ruling in 1962 via the Establishment Clause of the Constitution that made it illegal for the government to endorse religious practices in public schools. Since that decision the cries have been frequently ongoing from the conservative right lamenting that this law is somehow an affront to God.

The two scenarios are as follows:

1) That this law literally takes God’s divine presence out of public schools.

2) That tragedies are God’s punishment to the law.

Let’s examine scenario #1: This is the message of the t-shirt.  When I grew up in church I was taught that God was omnipotent.  That God’s presence is everywhere in the earth and the universe for that matter.  I was taught that the presence of God dwells not in buildings, but in the hearts of man. (Acts 7:48, Ephesians 3:17)

When I was in school, I prayed all the time.  I prayed to pass a test that I studied hard for, (or didn’t).  I prayed at lunchtime before consuming some of the worst foods that could be served to children.  My faith in the Divine was always within me.  There was no law that could ever legislate that away.  And so it is today.  If one honestly believes God to be all powerful, then to say God could literally be limited in some way by government is ridiculous.  It’s impossible, illogical and totally antithetical to any form of sound teaching.  I mean either God is or is not who those who follow God say God is.  And if God is, then how in the hell can one keep God out of schools or any other place for that matter.

Banning public school endorsed religious expressions actually does more to protect students of faith.  Seeing that not all Christian sects share the same specifics, how are children who aren’t raised Christian supposed to function healthily in a hostile Christian environment.  Are Muslims or Hindu’s going to get to pray their way too without ridicule?  (Well all know the answer to that!) And what about those whose parents don’t subscribe to prayer at all?

How can one expect to learn math and English if there is constant fighting about Muhammad vs. Jesus?  Since we obviously can’t play fair and respect anyone else’s views, as far as the classroom goes I’d rather keep faith expressions where they belong, in the privacy of hearts, and minds.

The latest example of the 2nd scenario comes from James Dobson who said that the shooting was a result of God’s judgment or revenge against the nation for allowing gay marriage and abortion.

There are so many things wrong with this kind of rhetoric.  It bastardizes the hurt of the families in Connecticut.  Dobson is doing what others like Pat Robertson have done for decades.  Blaming high profile crimes and natural disasters on God’s so called hate of ‘fags’ and a nation that has turned it’s proverbial back on God.  Its ignorant and blasphemous!  These false “profits” (yes I spelled it correctly) are in effect blaming God for evil; for slaying adults and children as some sort of payback.  Dobson is making himself out as God’s henchman.  Like a gangster movie where the muscle comes to extort the local business owner.  “The boss says if you don’t pay him his cut, well, I hope you have fire insurance.”

This is part of the reason why there are so many of the so called nones in the nation today as illustrated in the CBS piece.  People have grown tired and irritated of religious zealots with these hair brained ideas about who and what God is.  To these idiots, God is a finger waging children slaying gladiator out to uphold all things politically conservative.  These same ‘profits of rage’ never speak of hunger, poverty, racism, classism, racial injustices, cheating and lying preachers as reasons for ‘god’s punishment.’

If their theologies were true of God’s punishment of America, there wouldn’t be a nation on earth that doesn’t proclaim to be a Christian one in existence today.  Their God would have already destroyed them.  That would include Israel in that they don’t believe Jesus is The Messiah.

Religion: The Enemy of Faith

These religious wars have always been around and will always be.  Unfortunately faith and relationship with The Divine has gotten a bad name.

I have faith in The Divine.  I believe that I am an extension of The Divine.  I believe I have been created, that I have a purpose in this life and what I do, and how I relate to others who were created by The Divine matters.

My mother is a great woman of faith.  She will swear that who and what I am now is a direct result of years of nightly prayers for me.  Who am I to argue with that?

I, and many people like myself are people of faith who don’t subscribe to the character of The Divine being defined for us by people whose ideology are so flawed that only their own arrogance keeps them from recognition.  I support a faith that loves all of man kind.  A faith that comforts the lonely, feeds the hungry and have compassion on the sick.  I support a faith that protects, nurtures and trains children to inherit the next generation and take it as far as they can.  I support a faith that loves justice and compassion equally; that explores the individual and the collective benefactors of the human and humanity.  And I’m good with that.

It’s pretty simple folks… If you don’t like the president or the country that much, Canada is to the North, Mexico to the South.  If you can afford it, there are other nations not connected to the mainland.  Hit the road Jack… and don’t cha come back no more no more no more no more!

Last night, when CNN officially called the election, announcing that Barack Obama had won a second term, I immediately burst into tears. I don’t mean I got a little teary-eyed, or that my throat closed in a little with the emotion.

Literally, truly, I was bawling tears of joy.

My reaction surprised me. Not the happiness- I knew I’d be thrilled if my President was re-elected- but my deep and utterly overwhelming emotional response caught me off guard.

I’ve always supported Obama, ever since I’ve known who he was. Like me, Obama is bi-racial, has a background in the United Church of Christ, and was raised by his white mother. We’re kindred spirits, it seems. When Barack Obama was elected President four years ago, it had a deep impact on me. I thought, “Now, when I tell my two beautiful Black-Women-in-Training that they can be anything they want to be when they grow up, I can finally mean it.”

What I only recently realized is how afraid I was. I was hearing- whether I wanted to or not- constant banshee cries from the Tea Party and racist right-wing America about how horrible Obama is; I listened to co-workers, friends and in some cases even family railing against him, calling him a nigger socialist, aradical Christian, a terrorist Muslim, anti-American (hell- they didn’t even believe he is an American) and anything else derogatory they could come up with. I watched the members of the Republican Party dole out more hatred and disrespect on their President’s head (he wasn’t just my President, after all) that it broke my heart, and I started to hurt.

For the first time in my life, my leader- my representative- was someone I truly related to on multiple levels. My love and respect was deep and unerring- and people hated him because he is black. When they realized they couldn’t get away with saying that out loud, they flipped the script and began to lie, accusing Barack Obama of horrible things, and none of it was true. I listened to elected officials tell the entire world that their number one priority was to make sure Obama was a one-term President- not dealing with failing banks, a corrupt Wall Street, rising unemployment, a healthcare crisis, ending the wars or bringing our troops home- but removing the Negro from office.

I began to feel afraid. I started to believe that maybe it was all a fluke. Maybe it wasn’t a sign of progress after all, that we’d managed to elect him. Maybe it was merely a case of the perfect storm- a crazy set of circumstances. Perhaps the nation simply refused to take its chances on another G.W. Bush, instead choosing- fleetingly- to vote a monkey into office out of desperation, so long as he name wasn’t Bush.

I didn’t think we could do it again. It was so sad, listening to Mitt Romney try to campaign “for the people” of America. If he wasn’t outright offending half of the nation, he was changing his mind, flip-flopping, and pandering to those who understood his fears better than anyone- White America. I knew the only reason the GOP could run an absolute parody of a politician like Mitt Romney and still have a close election was because of racism.

Pure and simple.

I really believed the hate mongers had it this time.

I thought they’d won.

When it dawned on me- slowly, after I realized Obama had taken Ohio on election night- that they hadn’t won at all, I was overcome. Hate and bigotry did not win last night. Yet again, Americans chose Barack Obama.

It was not a fluke.

We did it on purpose.

Congratulations, Mr. President. Yes. We. Did.

Still, I don’t mind acknowledging that this election was different than any other I have been involved in. The first time Barack Obama was elected it was special.  It was unbelievable to me. I never thought I would see a person of color in the White House.  And for those thinking that’s all I’m about, you would be wrong.  In other words, I could have voted for a Colin Powell presidency, while Clarence Thomas’ supreme court appointment and Herman Cain’s candidacy can go kick rocks!  Most people who look like me can joyfully celebrate accomplishments by people of color from a historical perspective of where we’ve come from, but we are not hung up on color for the sake of color sake.  As the old folks used to say, “Everyone who’s my skin folk, ain’t necessarily my kin folk.”  I voted for The President the first time because I believed in his vision and what he stood for.  His skin color was a caveat, not even close to a deciding factor.

That being said it wasn’t hard at all to recognize and understand all of the racist vitriol surrounding the White House since Obama was elected four years ago.  From the beginning as surprised as I was that he was elected, for racist Caucasians, they were equally enraged.  Rush Limbaugh exclaimed, “I hope he fails!”  Joe Wilson went ballistic with his “You lie!” blast in a display of disrespect to the office never seen before.  Mitch McConnell let it be known that his #1 priority was making The President a one termer.

John Boehner stood opposite whatever President Obama stood for, even if Obama changed to Boehner’s position.

The First Lady couldn’t even promote fighting childhood obesity without being attacked.

Jan Brewer put her finger in the face of The President as if she was ready to scrap!

I could go on.  But let me get to my points.  I’m exhausted.  The President, myself and a whole lot of black folks, progressives etc. have taken a lot of shit over the last four years.  We have heard it all.  Now it’s our turn.  Others can say what they need to, but I will speak for myself!  In my Cee Lo Green voice, I present “F#@! YOU” notices to the following:

Mitch McConnell: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!  Try working for the American people and not against the black guy for a change!

John Boehner: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! Focus more on helping our nation and less on your tan!

Rush Limbaugh: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!  Looks like YOU failed! Send your Mexican nanny to the pharmacist for more drugs you fat assed blubbering dope fiend!

Todd Akin: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! Guess the women of Missouri “did that thing” to shut your ass down!

Tavis Smiley and Cornel West: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!  Yep I said it.  You have toured the nation perpetrating the fraud about a “Black Agenda” while you never asked Bush, Clinton or any other president to do the same. My president cares for all people… including black people.  It was insulting and ignorant that you tried to lay ever problem within the African-American community as his feet and expect him to focus on those and those alone.  You both are frauds!

Fox News: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!  Hey look at it this way, your ratings will remain steady with the racist who will tune in and hear you whine, lie and avoid the real issue which is that White male domination is blowing away with the wind.  Another generation and a half, and you may only have 7 viewers listeners using a CB radio!

Sara Palin: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!  How’s that for “shuckin’ and jiving?”

Business Owners who threatened their employees: That what foul what you did trying to intimidate your workers.  Quite desperate too!  None of Obama’s policies hurt your businesses especially.  You get every tax break in the world!  If you fail, its more likely because of your shotty business decisions. F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!

People who said Colin Powell voted for Obama because he was black:  Yea, how many of you voted for McCain and Romney because they were white?  Yea that’s what I thought…. F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!

Republicans, those who tried to disenfranchise minority voters: Them days are over!  We aren’t allowing you to get away with that any longer!  Get a clue!  You lost in every court, including the Supreme Court!  And the only people who were caught attempting to commit voter fraud were REPUBLICANS!  F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! 

Franklin and Billy Graham: (And all the other radical white and black evangelicals) You actually sold out your Christianity for racism.  I guess you can put Mormonism back on the cult list now!  F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!

Mitt Romney: Oh yea I ain’t forgot about you geechie!  F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!… sincerely the 47%!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a 4:20 flight to catch to Denver.

Holla!

While winding down both mentally and physically I took in the show.  And these are my observations:

1) Mitt Romney was as feisty as a horny young teenager.  He was so excited and wide-eyed,  that if I didn’t know better, I’d say he sniffed a few lines before coming on stage.  The look on his face said from the beginning he was prepared, had a game plan, and was confident he could execute it.  Since he’s had plenty of time to prepare, he had his talking points queued up.  The second portion of his strategy was to bulldoze his way through the moderator, filibuster, redirect the narratives and keep the POTUS on the defensive.  This was a clever strategy and it partially worked.  Sure he lied about a shitload of topics, but that’s besides the point.  Folk like me and every other politically astute viewer noticed the many lies he told regarding the policies he has campaigned on for months.  Romney fork-tongued his way through his presentation as if he were Lord Jeffrey Amherst, and the 47% of us Americans were actually the original Native Americans he was offering a nice set of blankets to in the winter of 1763.  Of course he was going to leave out that little thing about the smallpox.

2) To the novice, much of the this strategy worked.  However, part of it was because the narrator Jim Lehrer got owned by the ‘Mittster!’  Every time Lehrer even suggested that Mitt’s time was up or that it was time to move on, Romney told him to STFU and let him talk.  Lehrer was bitch-slapped to biblical proportions.  I’m sure Lehrer had way more questions on his little cue card than he got out.  In the words of Lauryn Hill, Romney defecated on his Lehrer’s microphone rendering him huddled in the corner naked and in the fetal position.  Lehrer need Mackenzie from The Newsroom to call upon his inner Will McElroy giving him instructions and direction to move him along.  But alas, instead of the microphone of an executive producer, all that we could see in Jim’s ear was Mitt’s dick!  Plain and simple.  Romney even threatened to put Lehrer out of job by cancelling funding for PBS.  How gangsta is that?  Lehrer was all but tossing Romney’s salad as if he was some old felon on Oz looking for protection.  This was really obvious as at one point when Lehrer actually tried to press on the time, it was when the president talked at 1:55 of his two minute time limit.  I just shook my head.

3) The president looked tired in my opinion.  Some of this is understandable in that he does have shit to do being the president and all.  The last time we saw Obama in a debate, it was between he and Senator McCain and neither of them were president.  Therefore they both had ample time to prepare their talking points.  Obama’s moonlighting as a debater came through.  Not that he didn’t make his points and tell the truth.  But in that he often stumbled over his words while doing so.  He wasn’t so professorial as some have said in my opinion, he just wasn’t terribly passionate.  So while he wins on the facts, again his target has to be the people who aren’t astute; Who don’t pay attention to the day to day but are tied up in their own lives until the election comes around.

As an Obama supporter, I ain’t mad at him.  If he’s going to pick a time not to shine then the first debate is definitely the one to do it in.  There are still two more to go.  No one knew how Romney would perform or what his game plan would be coming into the debates, other than him lying and flip flopping.  The president has seen Romney’s best shot.  There is no doubt in my mind about that.  The next time Obama will definitely have his fight face on and be ready for battle.  No way I believe this next moderator is going to be the p#ssy that Lehrer was.  Otherwise, it’s like boxing; you see what the opponent is doing, adjust and fight the fight the way you trained in the first place.  I’m confident that is what we will see in the next two debates.

Sure he’s pretty slick, but he certainly didn’t appear to be an off the chain loony like some of the previous candidates, i.e. Rick ‘Niggerrock’ Perry, Rick ‘No Birth Control’ Santorum, Michelle “Blame Obama for Everything” Bachmann and Herman “999 White Honeys I Screwed” Cain.  Romney seemed like the reasonable choice among republicans.  Much of his policies and politics in Massachusetts were fairly moderate for a Republican.

Since becoming the Republican nominee, I’ve done 180 on Mitt.  I’ve always said I don’t mind having a president whose policies I may differ with as long as I believe he/she truly cares about the nation and wants to serve it’s citizens.  Yes, one has to be ambitious to want to be the president, but ambition as the sole motivation presents a clear and present danger to the citizens of whom this person seeks to govern.

Mitt Romney is very rich. I’m perfectly fine with that.  However, when one has such a monetarily prosperous upbringing, it can be difficult to be in touch with or understand the plight of those who aren’t so prosperous.  Even that in itself shouldn’t be punished.  What is problematic instead, is when that same person has no interest in being made aware this plight.  What is downright unacceptable and morally reprehensible is when this same person goes out of his way to judge, demean and attack said people.  This is what we have in Mitt Romney.

Every time Romney opens his mouth regarding the majority of Americans he says something that either shows his willful ignorance or complete disdain for those who are not like him.

To college students at Otterbein University in Ohio he told them that if they don’t have the money to start a business to, “borrow money from your parents.”

****Keep in mind that the median family income for the 89 counties in Ohio is less than $60,000 per year. 

When he showed up in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, (I have no idea why because he couldn’t do anything about it) he consoled Jodie Chiarello, 42, who lost her home in Isaac’s flooding by telling her, “There’s assistance out there,” go home and call 211.”

**Well, he must meant her SECOND or third home.  Well as it turns out she doesn’t have one of those.

Now in speaking at a private fundraiser he really let his true feelings known.

Exhibit A: On the disadvantages of being a rich White male in America:

“My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico. And had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this… But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there a number of years, and I mean I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino.”

**Apparently he believes this so much he painted his face in such a dark brown so that he can look the part!.  It’s hard to imagine this rich white man actually wants us to believe that he think he would be better off if he were Latino.  How amazing is that?

Exhibit B: On people who are not the wealthiest and richest in America:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what.”

…”So my job is not to worry about those people, I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independents that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not, what he looks like.”

Juxtapose that to what President Obama said about those not voting for him in 2008, “What I said on election night was, even though you didn’t vote for me, I hear your voices, and I’m going to work as hard as I can to be your president.”

Look, this guy doesn’t want to show us his own personal tax returns over the last decade because he’s afraid of what they will reveal.  He has a shitload of off shore accounts to hide his personal fortune, and not only criticizes 47% of Americans who cannot afford to hide what little money they have in Switzerland or the Cayman Islands, but admitted that he doesn’t cares about them anyway!

As far as I’m concerned, the dye has been cast!  This is a guy who after passing universal healthcare in the state he governed, that the emergency room is an acceptable plan for folk who don’t have insurance now.  This is clearly THE most expensive way to handle ‘healthcare’.  Not only that, this defeats the purpose of the emergency room…which is to treat emergencies!  It’s not healthcare!

So memo for a few groups out there.

Racist White Conservatives: You can continue to believe the hype and buy into this racial crap if you want to.  But if you aren’t making serious bank Mitt’s policies are not going to pay dividends for your family!  Would you rather have a money in your pocket with a black man as president, or be broke as a joke with a white one?  I know many of you would take the former, but I’m appealing to some of you who have better sense and will think about your finances and get over losing the Civil War!

Black Conservative Christians: I’ve already talked to you before.  The bible says to get wisdom, and with that get understanding.  Mitt isn’t going to overturn abortion. And he can’t outlaw homosexuality.  That horse it out of the barn!  You’re going to have to deal with gays and lesbians for the duration.  Regardless of what you believe personally or scripturally, you still have a responsibility to vote on more than social issues.  We are already making less than white folks as it is for the same jobs. Unemployment and incarceration hurt us more than anybody else.  Don’t be fools and end up more jobless and broker than ever, only to end up praying in church to God about delivering you from financial ruin!  So many of the challenges we face are not the devil, it’s you and us making decisions totally opposite of what is in our own best interest.

Pastors, if your congregation ain’t working, ain’t no tithes and offerings coming through the door!  Smarten up and lead the people with a purpose beyond what mainstream White Christians and White Christian radio is telling you!

To the rest of us, I say make sure you get out there and vote for Barack Obama.  Make sure your friends and family members are registered to vote and do the same!  Don’t take anything for granted.  Mitt, the hard right Republicans and The Tea Party are not playing with you.  You better take this seriously and understand the ramifications of the times we are living in.  This is indeed war on American and American families!  You best to soldier up unless you want to get run over!

Think about yourself and your families! Participate in the destinies of our lives so that we can have the best possible chances at thriving in our America too!