The Simplification of Barack Obama

I don't like it when I hear Barack Obama referred to as "black." To me he is a black person and a white person at the same time. As a person who has a Filipino mother and a white father, I find it very difficult to think of myself as one race or another. Race is more than how you look to another person. If anything, race should be more about how you look to yourself. When a person thinks of their life experiences, they can think about the relatives they grew up with and the foods they ate and the places they visited and the values cherished in their culture. These things make up race as well.

Growing up in a mixed-race household can be confusing for different reasons. I never had the problem (though I have heard about it) of not being "white enough" or "Filipino enough" to others. My relatives on both sides have always been very loving and accepting. But as a kid, I didn't really know how to explain "what I was" to other kids. They expect a simple answer and my answer wasn't that. ("You see, my dad met my mom when he was in the Peace Corps in the 60s...") As a kid, I did want a simple answer too. I would ask my mom, "What race am I? I don't want to be 'other.' I just don't." She had no simple answer for me either.

Eventually as I got older, I realized some things. I was especially specialized - half-white, half-Filipino; Catholic mom, Jewish dad. I didn't have a natural cohort of people who were just like me. A different strategy emerged - I would walk around comfortably among many different kinds of people. This came easy because, due to my diverse background, I spent time among many different kinds of people. My inherent differences made me different to other people but it also made them different to me. My unending curiosity made other people so interesting to me. And I know one thing that breaks the ice with strangers is to show an interest in them.

I relate to Barack Obama in that he seemed to have the confusion as a kid that I had. His parents came from vastly different backgrounds like my parents did. Mr. Obama said his grandmother opened up to him to say that prejudice still lingered in her thoughts. It must be jarring when a person from a previously unknown country (his dad from Kenya, my mom from the Philippines) is introduced into the family. I do know that whatever reservations existed when my mom entered my dad's family were gone as soon as they got to know my mom. (And definitely by the time they tasted her cooking.) I will not say I am a Barack Obama supporter yet but I do like how he seems to fit in everywhere. Probably because he comes from everywhere.

Barack and I have benefited from having many different kinds of relatives. We both have traveled to our respective ancestral homelanda. We ate different kinds of foods and learned about various religions. All these things define our race. I am Filipino and white. He is black and white.

Regular Human Emotions Invade the Sterile Emotionless World of NPR

I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to hear some actual anger expressed on NPR yesterday afternoon. At issue was whether a boycott of some sort should be undertaken against the Chinese Olympic Games due to China's terrible human rights violations. In one corner was Anita DeFrantz, an U.S. rower who couldn't participate in the 1980 Olympic Games because the United States boycotted the Games in Moscow that year. And in the other corner is Canadian human rights lawyer David Kilgour.

Sit back, listen to the story and hear the sparks fly.

Reason #116 the Democrats Need to Choose a Nominee (and Soon)

Not a lot to say here.....

Dumb and Dumber

I came across this video on YouTube not five minutes ago. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) seems to have made it his mission in life to criticize Senator Barack Obama for not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. Mr. Kingston made this profound argument while not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. How stupid can one person be?

But wait. There is more. After I watched this video, I realized I had heard the name "Jack Kingston" before. In fact, I had blogged about him over at "American Sweatpants." In a post dated December 6, 2006, I wrote about how some Republicans were angry that the new Democratic leadership wanted to impose a, heaven forbid, 5-day work week. Rep. Kingston said at the time, "Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

Uh, okay, Rep. Kingston. Try not to think too much because you might hurt yourself. Why don't you go take a nap or something?

Mike Huckabee Stands Up for Barack Obama

Barack Obama has gotten in some trouble due to the comments of his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Video of Reverend Wright emerged last week that showed him making what could be construed as anti-white and anti-American remarks. While I disagree with some of Reverend Wright's sweeping statements, Mike Huckabee has placed Reverend Jeremiah Wright's comments in some historical context. Here is a quote from Huckabee:

And one other thing I think we've gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say "That's a terrible statement!"...I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only Conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told "you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus..."

And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.

The One Example of a George W. Bush Profile in Courage

In an admission that will surprise no one, I admit that I have a lot of liberal friends. And not just since I moved to Seattle. When I lived in Houston, most of my friends were liberals. Most of them were so liberal that I came off looking like Rush Limbaugh in comparison. To be compared to Rush, man, them fighting words to me. I mean, my worse enemies can't accuse me of being a rich dilettante with a recreational drug habit, what with the thousands of dollars I owe in student loans.

Let me preface what I am about to say by saying I have been against George W. Bush since at least 1997. (I will also admit I voted for him in 1994, when he first ran for governor. Fool me once, that whole spiel.) There have been times when I have defended things George W. Bush has done. I like that he tries to treat immigrants fairly. He has gotten a lot of static from his own party because of "his support for the wetbacks." But what do I get for pointing out that, in this single instance, President Bush was a profile in courage? My liberal friends say that there must be this hidden agenda. They don't know what it is but it is there. Being a native Texan, I feel like I have my finger on the pulse of how people in Texas regard immigrants. Especially those from Mexico.

Our policy in Texas? We live right by each other. The white community and the Hispanic community are so intertwined that to begrudge one group means you are begrudging yourself. The two groups are intertwined by marriage, work, school, church and just plain friendship. The stories I have heard of George W. Bush being raised among Hispanics reminds me of myself. My elementary school had three white kids. Me. My brother. And my sister. Did I ever feel like a minority? No, because the friendships I had there never allowed that thought to form in my head.

When Republicans demonize Hispanics, I become a bit discombobulated. Hispanic people have been a big part of my social and professional life. My years as a teacher in a mostly Hispanic high school in inner-city Houston are very precious to me. I suspect George W. Bush knows what I am talking about here. I bet he wonders just like me how Republicans can be so hateful. And so politically stupid.

Going the Distance

Over the last few weeks, it has become quite clear that in order to run for president you are not only responsible for what do and say but what anybody you've ever been associated with does and says.

As a result of all this , I've learned that if I ever want to run for president or the school board, I need to distance myself from the people in my life that have said or thought something racist, sexist, unpatriotic or offensive. I want this to be clear and unequivocal so that the MSM can not search into my past and knock any future candidacy of mine off message due to these shady associations. So in addition to distancing myself from anybody that has ever said or thought something racist, sexist, unpatriotic or offensive, I'm going to distance myself from anybody that has ever witnessed somebody else say something racist, sexist, unpatriotic or offensive.

So here goes....

I officially renounce, denounce and reject:

Everyone.

Moore for President 2016.

I'm Josh Moore and I approve this message.

The Florida Question

The Democrats face a tricky situation regarding the Florida and Michigan primary results. Both states decided to jump ahead of their assigned slots in the primary schedule as determined by the Democratic national party. As punishment, both states were stripped of their delegates.

Back when these primaries were held and their delegates subsequently stripped, there was some thought that these two states wouldn't matter much because it was assumed that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would be the clear winner in the race to win the Democratic nominee. That has not happened. Michigan and Florida may be the tipping points to put one of these two over the top.

So we see people down in Florida trying to solve this problem.

Why does the input of the Obama and Clinton campaigns matter in how Florida Democrats decide how to solve their primary problem? It seems to me that both of these campaigns could have motives that would go against the interest of the people in Florida. For example, Barack Obama would be happy to split the Florida delegates half-half even though this isn't necessarily how Floridians would vote. (Hillary Clinton, at this point, would be favored to win the Florida primary if another one was held.)

I would think Florida Democrats would just decide how they want to run their own primary, the opinions of the Obama and Clinton campaigns be damned.

Reversal of Fortune

I remember the campaign where I first started following politics as intensely as I do now. I picked my candidate for a variety of reasons but mostly because I admired his competence and his ability to work really hard. A few of my former graduate school buddies and I had peculiarly discovered all at the same time an interest in politics. We all started having frequent jam sessions about this particular presidential race. I tried making the case for my candidate but due to my inexperience with politics and because of my candidate's low-key personality, my arguments never really won any converts.

My candidate lost that November. I was a little sad but had learned that candidates seen as "boring" or "pedantic" or "stiff" had an extra burden they had to overcome. I was able to admit at the time that I didn't find my candidate all that likeable. But he wasn't going to be my friend. I wasn't ever going to drink a beer with my candidate. But I knew my candidate would intensely think about the problems facing our country. That was a quality I was looking for when I decided who I was going to vote for.

My candidate's name was Al Gore.

Today he is seen as the greatest guy ever. I saw him give a speech in Houston in 2006. Everyone sitting by me laughed loudly at every joke Gore said. When he was talking about something serious, they listened intently. When he ended his speech, there was a minutes-long standing ovation. "Boring" and "pedantic" and "stiff" weren't going to be words thrown around to describe this speech. Al Gore had been reborn as Justin Timberlake. He was bringing wonky back.

My, how times have changed.

We are all so willing to make snap judgments about a person. We hold these judgments to be self-evident. But sometimes, we are proven to be spectacularly wrong. Al Gore is proof of this. I am happy for Gore. I liked him back in 2000 when it wasn't yet cool. He was a good person back then too. Nice to see some people jump on the bandwagon after the fact.

Hillary Clinton will undergo a Gore-like transformation too, I think. Now it is held that she is a shady character who helped preside over that terrible decade known as the 1990s. She is seen as promising "more of the same" of the Bush/Cheney years. (Strange since I thought the Clintons and the Bushes were rivals.) Clinton seemingly doesn't even know the definition of the word "change." (Ironic since if she was elected, she would bring the most "change" to the all-boy's club known as the United States Presidents.)

Clinton's place in history, whatever happens with her run for the presidency, will be to stand on the pedestal of great women leaders like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul and Victoria Woodhull and Rosa Parks.

Some of us are "Hillary Clinton" early adapters. We get what she is saying. And what she is trying to do. The others? They will come around.

Anthony Palmer for President

Long before this blog came into being, I had been thinking about starting a blog focused on politics with my friend Josh Moore. Josh and I both followed politics rather closely and had thrown it out there that a political blog is something we should do together. (Plus readers at my regular blog, "American Sweatpants," were getting annoyed by all the political stories getting in the way of my humorous anecdotes about life and stuff.) Whenever Josh and I would get together, one of us would ask the other, "Weren't we talking about doing a blog together?" But we weren't doing it. We needed some kind of impetus to get us started on gitting r done.

That impetus arrived a day, a few months back, that I read a blog called "The 7-10" for the first time. It was written by a fellow named Anthony Palmer. How I found this blog is something that has been lost to history. Though I do remember being impressed from the very first post I read. The blog was simple, really. All Anthony was doing was offering really insightful stuff about the people running for president. He had opinions and then explained how he came to these opinions. Anthony's insights stayed with me. (Quite an accomplishment considering my legendary bad memory.) There have been occasions when I would quote him to other people when my clarity of thought wasn't quite there. To sum up, Anthony was offering newspaper-quality editorials without any of the self-aggrandizement we can associate with many members of the media.

Today I came across a post on Anthony's blog that mentioned he was trying to win political blogging scholarship. Anthony is a doctoral student in journalism with a concentration in political communications. I am a big believer in collecting college degrees, having three of them myself. I also know how expensive school is. (If I ever have kids, I hope they support me in my old age by helping me pay down my student loans.) To win this scholarship, Anthony must win an online poll pitting him against two other political blogs. You can vote for Anthony and his blog at this here website.

Good luck, Anthony. Let us know how things turn out, my friend.