Sunday, April 22, 2012

Anti-Obama Political Attacks Most Commonly Used by Opponents

These Commonly Used Attacks against President Obama shows the ugly side of our politics today

When Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected president on Nov. 4, 2008, the world largely viewed it as a boon to race relations. After all, if the country could transcend its ugly racial history to elect a biracial black man president, wasn’t it a sign that the U.S. had come full circle as far as race relations were concerned? While no one of sound mind argued that Obama’s historic election meant that racism had vanished in the U.S., many did regard it as a sign that strife between the nation’s racial groups had dissipated to such a degree that Americans were willing to cross the color line in the voting booth, a remarkable achievement considering that race has traditionally colored election outcomes.

Since President Obama has taken office, however, he’s been the target of racist illustrations, conspiracy theories and so forth. Can you name any of the tactics used to attack Obama on the basis of race? The list below outlines three of the most racist political attacks against President Obama.

The Birther Debate

Throughout his presidency, Barack Obama has been dogged by rumors that he’s not really an American by birth. Instead, the “birthers” as the people spreading this rumor are now known believe that the president was born in Kenya. This is presumably because, although Obama’s mother was a white American, his father was a black Kenyan national. His parents met and married in the United States, though. This is why the birther conspiracy is largely considered silly at best and racist at worst

That’s because so-called birthers have consistently neglected to accept as valid the documentation released by Obama that proves he was born in Hawaii.  The birther movement “has little to do with reality and everything to do with the strangeness of Obama’s background. When Donald Trump repeated the claims of birthers, the president responded by releasing his long form birth certificate.


Political Caricatures of Obama

Before and after his election to the presidency, Barack Obama has been painted time and time again as subhuman in graphics, email transmissions and posters used to undermine him. While it’s nothing new for politicians to be turned into caricatures, the ones used to criticize Obama frequently have racial overtones. The president has been portrayed as a shoeshine man, an Islamic terrorist and a chimp, to name a few. The image of his altered face has been shown on a product called Obama Waffles in the manner of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.

The depictions of Obama as ape-like have arguably sparked the most controversy, considering that blacks have been portrayed as monkey-like for centuries to suggest that they’re inferior to other groups. Still, remember when Marilyn Davenport, an elected official in the Republican Party of Orange County, Calif., circulated an email depicting Obama and his parents as chimps, she initially defended the image as political satire.

The “Obama Is Muslim” Conspiracy

Much like the birther debate, the debate over whether Obama is a practicing Muslim appears to be racially tinged. While the president did spend some of his youth in the predominantly Muslim country of Indonesia, there’s no evidence that he himself has practiced Islam. In fact, Obama has said that neither his mother nor his father were particularly religious. In his 1995 memoir Dreams From My Father, Obama describes his decision to become a Christian during his time as a political organizer on Chicago’s South Side. He penned the memoir long before he landed onto the national political scene and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, giving him little reason to declare himself a Christian if he were really a Muslim.

Like the birther movement, the Muslim conspiracy movement against Obama highlights the fact that the president’s different. He has a “funny name,” a so-called exotic upbringing and Kenyan heritage. Rather than point out their distaste for these differences, some members of the public find it convenient to label Obama a Muslim, which serves to marginalize him and undermine his fitness to lead the nation.

Not every attack against President Obama is racist, of course. Some of his detractors take issue with his policy alone and not with his skin color. When the president’s opponents use racial stereotypes to undermine him or suggest that he’s lying about his origins because he’s different, biracial, bred outside of the continental U.S. and born to a Kenyan father with a “strange name” an undercurrent of racism is often at play. As former President Jimmy Carter said in 2009: “When a radical fringe element of demonstrators begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

2nd Congressional District Delegates to DNC Convention (Dawson)

This morning down in Terrell County (Dawson) democrats from all over the 2nd Congressional District made their way to Dawson to elect Delegates to the DNC Convention this summer.

It was a standing room only crowd as the candidates made 2 Minute speeches in a effort to appeal to those in the audience to garner his/her vote to become a delegate to DNC Convention

The winners were:

Kattie Kendrick-2nd Congressional District Chairwoman (Peach Co)

Vivian Creighton Bishop-Municipal Court Clerk (Muscogee Co)

Dr. Constatce Burkes-Dougherty County Democratic Party Chairwoman (Dougherty Co)

Retiring State Rep. Lynmore James (Macon Co)

State Rep. Winfred Dukes (Dougherty Co)

Congratulations to them all!

                                    
                                                      
                  

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Democratic Delegate Convention for the GA 8th & 2nd Congressional Districts

Congratulations to the following people who have qualified as candidates for the Democratic Delegate Election for the 8th Congressional & 2nd District.
The 8th District selecton process will be held at the Double U Business Center on this Saturday, April 21, 2012. Registration is from 8am to 12pm and the election will begin afterwards. There will be no drop in or absentee voting, nominations from the floor or admittance after 12pm. Each candidate will have the opportunity to give a 2 minute speech and speeches will be given in alphabetical order. 
The nominees are:


Johnathan Abel
Lonnise Andrews
Paul W Bronson
Sharon J. Brown-Willis
Kimberlyn Carter
Suzanne Favors Clay
Thomas Chase Hagood
Sarah M. Hunt
Donna M. Lawrence
Christine Redding-Louder
Basil S. Lue
Tara L. Martin
Fenika Miller
Mary Joan Neville
Patricia Y. Ogletree
DuBose Porter
Willie Fred Swann
Mary Whipple Lue

The 2nd Congressional District Democratic Delegate Selection Caucus
April 21, 2012  Doors open at 8:00 a.m.
Voting starts at 12 noon, must be in line by noon to vote
Location:  Terrell County Commission Building 955 Forrester Drive,  Dawson, GA (Behind Hardees on U.S. 82 and 520)
The nominees are:
Vivian Creighton Bishop

George Brown Jr.
Constance Mae Burkes
Cheryl L. Copeland
Rep. Winfred Dukes
Bobby Le Fuse, Jr
Joyce Gibson
Rep. Lynmore James
Kattie Kendrick
Samuel E. Worthy
Only six will be selected as delegates to the 2012 DNC in Charlotte this summer

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Myths About The Poor

Myth #1. The poor are poor because they are lazy. This is the biggest myth of all. The typical“poor” person in America works 40 or more hours a week. He also spends countless hours commuting to and from work and tending other tasks because when you’re poor you have to do everything for yourself. And the jobs they typically have are among the most physically demanding there are.

Myth #2. The poor are poor because they are irresponsible with their money. It is true that most poor people have what is known as “bad credit.” But what is one to do when your monthly expenses constantly outpace your income. I’ve heard Republicans complain that if poor people would stop spending their money unnecessarily and put some away they wouldn’t be so poor. Gees, how clueless can you get. Poor people pay their bills until there isn’t anything left. They agonize every single month over what to pay and what not to pay. There’s no “what do we do with the left over money” because there isn’t any.

Myth #3. The poor are subsidized by welfare. Wrong, most people who are counted as “poor” don’t get any public assistance at all because they don’t qualify. Those who do mostly receive some kind of food assistance, but only of they are severely disabled or have children. And the vast majority of those people work full time at jobs like police officers, firefighters, and members of the U.S. military. I personally believe that welfare does not subsidize the poor; it subsidizes the employers who refuse to pay an equitable wage.

But there other reasons the Right-Wing have such disdain for the poor. These reasons have to do with the habit of dehumanizing your enemy in order to ease your conscience. And the best way to do this is to invent myths about your enemy and then repeat them until you believe them yourself

I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point, although my views are generally conservative, I have a deep passion for issues dealing with the poor. No one asked to be poor...Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor, Being poor is seeing how few options you have, Being poor is a six-hour wait in an emergency room with a sick child asleep on your lap, Being poor is relying on people who don’t give a damn about you. Republicans, stop being so damn hard on the poor at a time when everyone....EVERYONE is having a hard time with the ongoing sluggish economy & the lack of jobs being created at this juncture. No one wants nor asked to be poor!

Monday, April 2, 2012

(GA Sen-8) Bikram Mohanty to Run for Georgia State Senate 8 District


Tonight down in Valdosta, Bikram Mohanty (D) announced that he will seek the State Senate 8 District seat currently held by former democrat, turned Republican Tim Golden. Stay tuned for developments on this race

2012 Was Just a Preview of the on coming Georgia GOP Freight Train...

If you want to know why people call politics the “second oldest profession” and view politicians with similar regard to used car salesmen, they need only look at the new mantra of bills that was passed since last year legislative session by the ruling Georgia GOP. Charter School amendment that seek to override local school boards in whether of not a charter school should or should not be created regardless what board members or citizens living in a area may think, an Illegal Immigration Bill that hurts, not helps Georgia Agriculture which resulted in millions of dollars lost in crops, stricter restrictions on the Hope Scholarship which a student must make a 3.7 GPA just to qualify. (That hurts rural students) etc, etc, etc. Now legislation such as the Tax Reform Bill & drug Testing for anyone receiving assistance are what I call good legislation. House Bill 677 that would require drug tests for parents who apply for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits on the surface seems wrong, but there are many who get assistance who don't have families who use that for other means such as drugs, illegal purchases & even on a woman for the night. (I'm just telling it like it is) Too often greed has been a more important factor than need in determining who benefits from food stamps. The original intent for this was to provide for people who were destitute who had no other means for feeding themselves. But beside those. this session was just a preview of the Georgia GOP Freight Train that's already going at Maximum speed & lord knows if they get a super majority in both chambers, that train will be in overdrive with no one to stop it in its tracks, including the governor. Any & everything will be passed & constitutional amendments will be plenty. Everything from public schools to agriculture will be greatly affected & voters better wake up before its too late!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

State Rep. Sistie Hudson (D-Sparta)....The End of a Era & The Beginning of Another One

Last Thursday we saw the retirement of long time Rural Democrat Sistie Hudson (D-Sparta)


Hudson who was elected in 1996 will be returning home to run for Hancock County Commissioner, which is the poorest county in the State of Georgia, with Randolph & Macon Counties after that. She has been in public service going on 30 years from City Councilwoman to State Representative. Her experience on the county level & state level will be a huge asset in her quest to get Hancock County moving in the right direction. If there's one person who can grab the bull by the horns & give Hancock the shot in the arm it desperately needs, its Helen Hudson, b.k.a "Sistie" to many of us.


Hudson was the last remaining Conservative' Blue dog Democrats remaining in the House of Representatives after the massacre 2010 elections for the Georgia Democratic Party. Her charm, wit, blossoming personality & work ethic will be sorely missed in the democratic caucus & the legislature as a whole.


Hudson now will run for the County Commissioner's seat (which she served from 1995-96) which is elected by a countywide vote. Hancock County residents need to ask themselves... Are WE better off today than we were last year or the year before, or the year before that? The answer is so easy.....NO!


Voters up there will have the chance to do something about come July 31 & that's to elect Sistie Hudson as the next Chairman of the Hancock County Commission.

These Democratic Women Are Rising Stars and Their Futures are Bright

  Former State Senator and potential '26 gubernatorial candidate Jen Jordan Tift County Board of Education member Pat McKinnon State Rep...