Top ten take aways from final debate
October 16, 2008
Per usual, below are my top ten take aways from last night’s final debate between Senator Obama and Senator McCain.
1. Obama nailed McCain on the Lily Ledbetter case where a woman was underpaid compared to her male counterparts. If you are an undecided woman and don’t know McCain’s stance on furthering gender inequity, get it together.
2. How many times was McCain going to interrupt Obama? Show some respect.
3. John, you referenced Joe the plumber 21 times. Personal anecdotes are good when you use them sparingly. No one person in America represents everyone.
4. How can we live in a country where quality education is an afterthought?
5. McCain, please stop rolling your eyes sista girl!
6. Did McCain really put women’s health in air quotes? That line would have worked had he actually explained how “women’s health” could be used in an extreme case to justify abortion. It came off as very dismissive and insensitive.
7. I loved Obama’s comeback on pointing out the need for funding to support kids with special needs. McCain, you can’t do this with an across the board spending freeze now can you?
8. Did you peep how McCain tried to briefly mention Ayers while looking at Bob and not Obama? It seemed like a throw away line so that his campaign could say, “See we did it.” BTW, Obama did not bring up Keating, Alaska Independence Party, seven houses, etc…..in a word classy.
9. Republicans need a much better line on the economy than cutting taxes. You can’t get a return on anything you don’t invest in right? So when all you do is cut taxes, the economy really doesn’t grow and you find yourself in situations like we are in now when people need the government’s help, but the “beast” as it were is so starved that it really can’t do anything and we continue the cycle of cynicism.
10. McCain came across as erratic. This is a time for reasoned, steady leadership and dear friend, you didn’t do that tonight.
GOBAMA
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Getting shot for Barack…
October 7, 2008
Keep your head up fam, we are living in perilous times and if folks are being shot for wearing Obama T-shirts, it is up to us to not go forth with a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind. If this is any preview of an October surprise, then I suggest folks watch V for Vendetta. h/t to Baratunde from Jack and Jill Politics.
Keep your head up fam, we are living in perilous times and if folks are being shot for wearing Obama T-shirts, it is up to us to not go forth with a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind.
UPDATE: What kind of world are we living in? The few times some crazies threatened to assassinate Obama, I had already sort of mentally and emotionally prepared so I wasn’t that affected. And reading this story, I am thinking about how when people feel like they can’t hurt you, they hurt the ones closest to you. I am currently thinking about the four Black girls that died in the bombing Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. God please replace my rage with love. My people have suffered too much. Tears. Slavery, Disrespect. Spat upon. Raped. Pillaged. Fear. My people only want to leave the world better than they found it and for centuries, we have to sacrifice for shit that makes no sense. I will stand up Lord. I pray that your angels are round about me and keep me safe, my family and my friends, as we continue to fight for a better world.
Man shot three times in street by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:01 PM on 07th October 2008
A man told today how he was shot three times in a London street for wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt.
Dube Egwuatu was buying a mobile telephone top-up card in an off-licence when the gunman confronted him and glared at the top, which carries an image of the Democrat US presidential candidate underneath the legend ‘Believe’.
The man then launched into a tirade of racist slurs, shouting ‘I f***ing hate n*****s’ and urging 36-year-old Mr Egwuatu to leave the shop with him.
Respect: Dube Egwuatu wearing the Obama T-shirt that provoked a racist attack
The man then left the shop but when Mr Egwuatu re-emerged, the attacker was waiting for him in broad daylight with a threatening-looking dog and holding a gun behind his back.
Realising what had sparked the increasingly violent assault, the terrified Mr Egwuatu zipped up his jacket to cover the image of Mr Obama and walked to his car.
But the shaven-headed man, who was white, followed Mr Egwuatu and after pulling open the passenger door pointed the gun at him.
After pleading with the man to leave him alone, the married former street warden put the keys in the ignition and turned the engine on.
The attacker then fired the gas-powered ball-bearing pistol three times, hitting the civil servant in the face, hand and shoulder.
Fearing for his life and bleeding heavily, Mr Egwuatu raced away in his car and found somewhere safe to call for help.
He was taken to hospital and later sent to have a piece of metal removed from his jaw.
Mr Egwuatu, a data analyst with Croydon Council, said: ‘The venom in his voice was frightening. Read more
Border politics
October 1, 2008
I supported Bush going into Afghanistan because I thought we were going to capture bin Laden and those responsible for 9/11.
But now I am worried when I hear Barack Obama and others talk about the infamous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This border by all accounts is the headquarters for evil and apparently everyone knows it but I guess we need more than seven years to figure out how to maneuver those mountains. I have a problem with Obama’s hubris regarding the launching of targeted attacks against al-Qaeda and the Taliban if the Pakistan government is not cooperative. The problem with this logic is that it sounds reasonable on face value but if President Obama were to decide that the Pakistani government is not doing all it that it can to help root out bin Laden and company, he would have already the justification for launching full attacks against Pakistan. This is because there is not a large intellectual gap from not being cooperative to being part of the problem.
Bush had a tricky relationship with Pakistan’s former President Musharraff because Musharraff was a dictator that promised to help to the US in the so-called war on terror. Of course, we have little or nothing to show for it but now that the US doesn’t have to pretend to like Musharraff, there is a window of opportunity to do what the neocons probably wanted to do all along; maintain a significant troop presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. This strategy ensures that America can keep a strategic base near China and Russia, further isolate Iran, and bolster the mutually assured destruction principle with respect to Israel.
I think Obama should not trade Iraq for Afghanistan. In Iraq, we were supposed to secure the weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist, and then it turned into a war against Iraq, and then we had to stay to catch the terrorists that migrated to Iraq, and now we have to stay in Iraq to not only rebuild the country, but establish a democracy. Senator Obama, I understood the Afghanistan theater to be focused on holding those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. We don’t need to occupy Afghanistan (like we are doing in Iraq) to achieve this goal. Let’s get back to basics.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Historic moments and historic movements - Obama edition
August 25, 2008
What’s up fam,
Things are about to get really interesting here at The SuperSpade. Our very own Garlin will be attending the DNC National Convention and giving us behind the scenes insights. My hope is that each of you take time to reflect on how far we have come and how far we have to go in this country to not just work out our racial issues but to deal with pressing issues included but not limited to recidivism, war, global warming, oil dependence, and the economy rooted in the progressive movement. Read more
Obama does the right thing
June 19, 2008
Breaking News: “Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday called and apologized to the two Muslim women who say they were told they could not stand behind the candidate at a rally in Detroit on Monday because they were wearing traditional hijab.”
Just yesterday, I wrote that Obama’s campaign wrong and that he needed to call these two women (one of whom I know incidentally) and apologize, so I will take some satisfaction in helping put pressure on Obama to do the right thing.
This is a teachable moment because for starters, how you campaign is a good indication of how you will govern. If Obama, through his campaign is willing to take the low road by offending the Arab-American community, then what would prevent him from doing so once he got elected? And contrary to popular belief, holding Obama’s feet to the fire will not cause him to lose the election.
In his stump speech, Obama tells people that he is a better candidate after going against Clinton in all fifty states (save MI and FL). In the same way, Obama will be a better candidate for making those two calls. Not for nothin’ we are talking about making two phone calls and I know Obama is busy but he ain’t THAT busy. And now, his campaign will be much more sensitive to offending various constituency groups not just during the campaign but translate these lessons into governing the country.
Why is it so outrageous for people to think that Obama should be held accountable to a higher and dare I say progressive standard?
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
How you win matters
June 18, 2008
What’s up fam,
I went to the Obama rally that was held in Detroit and it was a great event. My homegirl Monique Perry (a fellow Detroit native I have known since high school and went to the University of Michigan with me) pumped up the crowd and encouraged folks to register and organize. Obama thanked her on national television. Let’s get em’ Mo and GO BLUE! Obama gave a relatively standard stump speech but it surely didn’t sound like one. The brother has conviction and I am happy to see him as the Democratic nominee.
However, I was grieved to learn that someone from Obama’s team “barred two Muslim women from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.” For context, the city of Dearborn which borders Detroit is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country so you really can’t be in Detroit and avoid the Arab-American community. And can we way hijjab instead of headscarves? Ok, thanks.
Now if Obama personally called the Detroit reporter and apologized for calling her sweetie the same day the incident happened, his staff needs to find these women’s numbers and make sure Obama himself apologizes. I say that because anybody who knows me, knows that I am all about process and how you win is very important.
I actually think that Obama should have over-indulged himself in the Arab-American community to demonstrate that he is secure enough in himself to be photographed with Arab-Americans. Doing so would not only send a strong message to Arabs across the globe that we are all deserving of respect and it would help end the post-911 classification of the Arab community as “them”. This is a moment where the Obama campaign can continue to do the right thing and not what is politically expedient. How you win matters.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
