I’m not an emotional person. When you get to my age, have buried your parents, endured a divorce and suffered your fair, or unfair share of hurt and pain, you learn to process disappointment with a certain sense or resignation; yet I cried when I heard the news about Michael Jackson’s passing.
I cannot begin to describe the profound sense of sadness or emptiness I experienced, the only thing I could liken it to, is losing a close friend, or someone in my own family. The truth is, in many ways I had; after all, we had all grown up with Michael and his brothers.
The news hardly got out before the media hysteria was in full effect and I switched from network to network to watch all the announcers jockey to see who could break the story faster and with their own spin. In the midst of the mayhem, I kept looking for a black face who would not only know the words that poured out so vociferously from these media darlings, but who, more importantly understood the meaning behind those words.
I didn’t want someone who could spew the Michael Jackson story as some late breaking, headline grabbing story of the century, with an eye toward embellishing themselves, or prefacing their next career move. I wanted someone who could tell me with emotion in their voice and the same profound sense of sadness I was feeling, that we had just lost Mike, a beautiful and rare talent. It’s never enough to know the words, without knowing the meaning behind the words.
I had just turned 15 when I moved to the United States, it was the year after Dr. Martin Luther King had been killed and several cities still bore the scars of the riots that had ensued. I remember my father took me to Newark, New Jersey to show me some of the areas that had been burned to the ground, I am still not sure why. Maybe he wanted to introduce me to the dynamics of race in America, or what anger looked like. This was also the year when the Jackson 5 made their debut and as they say the rest was history.
My friends will tell you that my favorite expression is “God has a sense of humor” because he always seems to have a way of overturning what we have come to accept as the norm and set things on their heads. I say that because by the time I got ready to graduate high school the Jackson 5 were more than a household name in America and in fact when they played Madison Square Garden in New York there was total pandemonium in the city. Imagine that, less than 5 years after that awful day in Memphis a group of 5 black brothers brought the Big Apple to a standstill. How could someone who wasn’t even born at that time now tell me about Michael Jackson as if I am a novice.
Clearly the press thinks very highly of itself because they are always creating their own version of reality and telling us who we should be in awe of. With Mike we did not need their help, his talent emanated from somewhere deep inside and left us truly awestruck in ways they can only now struggle to understand in a vain attempt to put into words the feelings that Mike engendered in us all, when all they need to do is just shut up, listen, watch and marvel.
I would like to tell them; we don’t need a lesson in Michael Jackson from you. We are the ones who bought the albums, danced to the music and bought every issue of “Right On” as soon as it hit the newsstand, as we decided which brother we liked the most or which ones we had crushes on. We learned all the dance moves, wore the funky clothes and watched Mike grow before our eyes until his talent propelled him to a solo career. We don’t need any “breaking news” to tell us about Mike.
We were with him when this same media tried to destroy him with their quest for the inglorious details of the charges against him, which we did not believe for a second. And we even felt his pain on the most intimate level as he endured his own psychic trauma as he sought to bring his music to an even wider audience, even as forces such as MTV, Motown and even well intentioned family members tried to deny or contain this talented man, who broke through all the boundaries that others tried to set for him.
Mike was ethereal, gentle, calculating and supremely talented. His music flowed through him like an endless stream, one he could not contain but simply channel. He was our Mike and we knew his pain even as he morphed before our very eyes into this new and strange being. And he was strange, I say that without judgment because he was not like us and I have no idea what it was like in his world, how lonely, how isolated. I only know that my eight-year-old grandson was mesmerized when we dug out an old video of “Free Willie” to watch one cold Saturday evening and he saw Mike perform the theme song. This was the first time he had ever seen Mike but I quickly had to find other videos on You Tube for him to watch, such was the power of the man.
I am told Einstein operated on a level so much above our understanding that he would go to work wearing two different socks; clothes were so irrelevant to him. I would like to think Michael operated on the same level, his only sadness being, in his humility; he still cared what we thought about him, wanted us to love him back.
Mike has left us now, I am sure I will cry some more in the days to come and I hope his funeral doesn’t become a three ring circus because he deserves better than that from the people who really admired him, not the ones who came late to this party, even if they are holding microphones.
I learned some things during the Bush years that I have really come to appreciate. Probably the most important is that I am a lot less emotional than I used to be. After seeing first hand how Bush and his cohorts used emotions to whip their evangelical followers into a religious fervor totally hijacked the lines between church and state, I made a promise to myself that I would undertake a personal transformation, turn down the rhetoric and start assuming a more pragmatic and careful assessment of situations and arguments being presented to me. I might add here that this is a lesson the GOP has clearly not learned as they keep fielding people like Joe the plumber, the infamous Sarah and the bellicose Rush, all of whom are meant to foment a rebellion of sort, because God knows they are the only ones’ who truly have their finger on the pulse of the “American people.”
I often wonder who these people are to whom they are referring, because clearly I have never met them. I suspect they live in some alternate universe where hyperbole is the norm and where they only get trotted out when needed to illustrate the universality of an idea, no matter how inane. What I have found to be true is there is no universal idea that holds true for any of the Americans I know or interact with, which is after all the beauty of this country.
Of course pulling back to an observant sideline is by no means an indication that I am in a retreat mode, or about to give ground on things I feel strongly about, far from it. Rather it’s about learning how to choose my battles; knowing which fires are worth putting out and which should be put out in short order. Which brings me to Tim Geithner.
My curiosity as to what about this man so scares the GOP and the cable show pundits that they seem to be on an all out witch hunt for his head, sent me to the internet in an effort to educate myself about Mr. Geithner. What I learned was most interesting beginning with his qualifications. Clearly this is not someone who just came out of nowhere to his new role as Secretary of the Treasury
On January 26, 2009, Timothy F. Geithner was sworn in as the 75th Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury.Before his nomination to the Treasury, Secretary Geithner served as the ninth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he began on November 17, 2003. Secretary Geithner first joined the Department of Treasury in 1988 and worked in three administrations for five Secretaries of the Treasury in a variety of positions. He served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs from 1999 to 2001 under Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.He was director of the Policy Development and Review Department at the International Monetary Fund from 2001 until 2003. Before joining the Treasury, Secretary Geithner worked for Kissinger Associates, Inc.Secretary Geithner graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in government and Asian studies in 1983 and from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with a master’s in International Economics and East Asian Studies in 1985. He has studied Japanese and Chinese and has lived in East Africa, India, Thailand, China, and Japan.
In fact CNN, a network that always seems alternately to always be looking for a bandwagon to jump on, or whipping people into a frenzy with their over the top style of reporting, seemed to agree: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/20/news/newsmakers/geithner.questions.fortune/index.htm
When Obama announced in November that he intended to nominate Geithner, financial markets rallied. Observers applauded Geithner’s experience, including the six years he has spent as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.” I find it interesting that all that good will has faded in just a matter of months as we have been subjected to the onslaught of pop culture journalism. Which makes the excerpt from Yahoo news even more meaningful in light of my premise that emotionalism has no place in serious media because it is a weapon that undercuts serious journalism. I like to think of Charlie Rose as the antithesis of much of the hot air that permeates cable news, and the excerpt describing Mr. Geithner as a “thoughtful man” is precisely what we miss when we run headlong after sound bites and the people who perpetrate them. From Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20090312/ts_ynews/ynews_ts254“To be fair, Geithner gave a fuller accounting of himself and his ideas in an hour-long interview on PBS’ “Charlie Rose” a few days later. The thoughtful man sitting across the table from Rose seems a far cry from the dithering caricature being pilloried in the media.” So what is my point. At the end of my research is that those who would like to have Mr. Geithner’s head, are the ones who most fear the fact that he is right. That he will actually help the Obama administration turn the economy around to one that is more responsible, equitable and accountable and not given to playing Russian roulette with people’s future.
It is imperative that we not lose sight of the much larger picture, in that removing Mr. Geithner will open the door of attack against the very foundation on which President Obama is defining his presidency.
Comparatively speaking, my co-workers and I are not high rollers, when our 401k’s take a hit, it means something, especially since most of us are in our 50’s. What I don’t need, however, is someone who is full of spit, vinegar and hot air trying to sell me a quick fix for getting us out of this hole. Personally, I am more comfortable with Mr. Geithner at the helm of this present economic nightmare. Emotions might have worked before, they shouldn’t this time, and they won’t if people step back from the bait, educate themselves and start questioning the credentials and motives of some of these people who are doing all the talking. I have found a good place to start is turning off most of the cable shows and turning on the Newshour which seems to be one of the few places that provides a balanced assessment on the state of the economy without the yelling and posturing.. At the end of the day, if I have to thank George Bush for anything, it is for making me less emotional and more pragmatic. As such, I think I will stick with Mr. Geithner who has demonstrated much grace under pressure, as he has withstood the onslaught of those in Congress who are jockeying for points they hope will play well with their constituents during their next campaign; all at the expense of this decent man who is solid and more knowledgeable on the subject, than anyone else in the room and is using a methodical approach to finding a solution that will be sustainable and not just a temporary fix. After all the man has children too, I would think he has a vested interest in what happens to their future. For those who truly need a media darling and the surrounding hoopla, well he sort of looks like Warren Beatty.
The other day while walking down the hallway at work a black lady passed me with the most alarming shade of yellow hair that I had ever seen. I didn’t laugh; my response was actually something closer to an ache in my chest, especially when I saw the sideways glance of the other mainly, white people who also passed her, followed by their cynical smiles. To them this woman, who seemed to more clearly identify herself with Anna Nicole, was nothing more than an object of ridicule.
I have always found it quite interesting that while for so many years we have touted the banner of being beautiful people, we spend a small fortune at the hairdresser or beauty supply stores purchasing the items we think we need to be beautiful. It is as if no one has taught us or our daughters that true beauty comes from a sense of confidence that shines from the inside out and is not a race to the finish line to see who will be the most eye popping.
I can’t blame my sisters. For years we listened to the Wesley Snipes of the world tell us about our attitudes, even as we watched our men leave us to find those who wore their confidence effortlessly and seemed to be more “polished” than we could ever be. Only a few seemed to understand or care that on this journey of life, we also needed their support and appreciation to boost our self esteem, so we too would be polished and confident. Thankfully the times are changing and I now see more and more young black women who are stepping forward, head held high to claim their place in the world.
And then there’s Michelle. The First Lady of these United States who has obliterated all the things so many people have said for so many years and all the sideways glances and all the ridicule, to show us what a force all black women could be given a chance and the right role models. One has to stand in awe of the woman behind Michelle who kept her daughter focused and steadfast in the face of so many negatives.
Like Michelle’s mom, I too am old enough to remember when Essence was The Magazine for Today’s Black Woman” because white cosmetics companies shunned the publication like the plague. Of course that was before black woman started coming into their own and their earning power began to increase. I remember when all we had was Posner’s and Fashion Fair because, aside from the various companies promising us long hair if we used their pomades, no one catered to us. No one saw us as beautiful, or that our self esteem was taking a beating. We were never the object of love and desire on the screen; we were loose women, loud over bearing women, or maids, deserving only abuse and subservience. Yet, in spite of all the negatives, Mrs. Robinson raised a daughter who stood straight and tall, believed in herself, looked the world in the eye and didn’t flinch for a second. It is almost as if she knew she was rearing a First Lady.
So thank you Mrs. Robinson for giving us Michelle because we are grateful on so many levels, that I personally could not even begin to tell you. I only know that because of you our loads are a lot lighter these days and there is more of a spring in my step because the future is brighter and like Michelle my girls can also look the world in the face without flinching.
I plan to buy a home this year, not a house but a home. A house is something you buy, possibly with an eye toward reselling at some point in the future; some of which has been done recklessly both on the part of the buyers and unscrupulous financial institutions in the past few years.
At 54 I am purchasing a home, because with you in office I now feel safer and more confident that I finally have an advocate; someone who is working on my behalf and who will do his level best to ensure my home, my job and the laws that protect me will be fair, just and equitable for me and for the people of this great country.
I have heard your critics, those determined to wring the life and vitality out of something they can’t even begin to understand, even though the common people clearly do. Mr. President you won the election which means you won the hearts, support and goodwill of the American people. We needed a champion and we chose you, not because you are a “rock star” but because we were sick and tired of being serfs in the American feudal system. You won because we wanted to exhale and this is what the GOP does not understand. We might not have the advance degrees but we know what relief feels like and that is what we voted for. To go against you now means turning our backs on our own self interests and going back into a dark, abusive, one sided relationship. Why would we do that when we can finally feel the sun on our faces.
So the GOP is out in a fury trying to create their own self fulfilling prophesies insinuating that “the American people have doubts.” That’s interesting, because no one I have spoken with at work, church or even socially has any doubts about the necessity of the stimulus. The fact that the stock market rose preemptively last week after the dismal news about job losses, indicates that they are of the mind that clearly the Senate now “gets it” and will vote to pass this Bill. That there is still ongoing discussion, only highlights the disconnect between Washington and Main Street and shows that this is more about politics than the people.
We understand fully that the Republicans are between a rock and a hard place in that if the stimulus is passed and the economy begins to turn around they will be have a lot of explaining to do next election; which is why they are insisting on actions they know will impact people like me in a negative way. Cutting back on aid to the states means my local taxes will go up, while services like fire, police, trash etc. will be reduced and which will provide them with fodder for their next campaign in their districts. This is both mean spirited and cynical.
My singular hope is that a lot of the rhetoric being tossed around on the Senate floor will resurface in campaign ads during the next election so people like Lindsey Graham who complained about the bill “stinking up the place” will have to explain his reasoning to his constituents, whom I hope, will in turn ensure he knows first hand what it feels like to lose his job.
On the other hand, I also understand that you are gracious enough to give credit where credit is due to those Republicans who rose to the occasion, put country first and in the spirit of bipartisanship helped to pass the Bill. I also understand, however, that there is a time and a place for everything and if your offer of bipartisanship is rejected as it was in the house, that you are under no obligation to keep casting your pearls, or going to anyone hat in hand, especially when you already have the strong support of those of us who don’t get our opinions from talk show blowhards.
In closing Mr. President, might I again restate that I plan to buy a home this year, possibly a new car, after getting comfortable with a new house payment, that I plan to plant a rose garden, do some traveling and have a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family. My friends, family and I pray for you daily that God will protect you and your family, grant you wisdom and order your steps as you work on behalf of his people. “Seeing you are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, I pray you will set aside all the distractions and run with patience the race that is set before you.”
So the Republicans are voting against every measure put forward by President Obama from stemming the downward spiral of the economy to delaying the switch to HD television, what a shock!
It’s not as if we didn’t see this coming, they are so discombobulated at the moment that they even have McCain warning the President to back off Rush Limbaugh and oh yes electing a new Republican Chairman in the form of a black man they think will help them redefine and launch their desperately needed outreach to the people they have treated like (with apologies to Barbara Striesand) “the pimple on the nose of life’s complexion” for more years than we care to remember. Good luck on that, wonder if Rush will have him on his show.
Here’s what I think after standing in the cold on the National Mall in the middle of an energized, joyful sea of faces, if I were a Republican I think I would find ways to work with the President, to do otherwise will seem petty and trifling. Our President is a very cool under pressure individual who is always surveying the landscape, who has extended the hand of cooperation if not friendship, not out of weakness, but out of the desire to give them an opportunity to say we found these solutions together.
At the end of the day, however, these elected officials have to remember they did not vote for President Obama the American people did and as such it is incumbent on him to work for the ones who put him there and not the ones who are trying to make a name for themselves by opposing him.
It is evident from listening that some of the objections to the stimulus plan have not been thought out and is just plain desperate. What is the use of touting tax cuts over spending when the unemployment numbers are astronomical. What will tax cuts do if you are unemployed and not paying taxes? So who exactly are the Republicans proposing these tax cuts for, more for the richest Americans no doubt.
And while we are on the subject, might I just ask where were these super geniuses when Bush was driving the economy off a cliff. After all they were the majority party, why didn’t anyone speak up then. The country has been in a recession since 2007 why are they just finding their voices now to oppose the President.
I will tell you why, because the Republicans have always been known more for pomp and pretension, self righteousness and keeping themselves sanitized from the common people, rather than meeting people in the very real world where real men and women struggle daily with real issues and have to make real and very painful choices in order to make ends meet. So while they puff themselves up with their petty outrage and look for things to nitpick and argue about whether the President has disrespected the Oval Office because he doesn’t wear a jacket, they miss the point that he is about the business of the people, something that should be near and dear to their hearts as duly elected officials. Personally I couldn’t care less if the President showed up for work in a kilt as long as he does what he promised to do.
My heart has been so full that words have failed me, which is saying quite a lot for someone known to be quite opinionated. It has in fact, taken me this long to get my thoughts together, to the point where I can attempt to write something coherent. The week has been surreal, spiritual, inspirational and overwhelming, as I have absorbed the enormity of Barack Obama sweeping into office on the hopes, prayers and collective exhale of a people who refused to be denied for one more day.
One could almost hear the crackling and crumbling of some old long established social edifices, carefully constructed over the past 8 years and designed to rob people of their dignity. For 8 years we cautiously challenged, questioned and voiced discontent under our breath, for fear of being spied on, vilified, rendered or labeled unpatriotic through rumors and innuendos. When Senator Obama in his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention declared firmly “Enough!” My blood surged, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I too felt feisty. After all what had I done to deserve this feeling of disenfranchisement in a country that I have given the better part of my life to. Enough!
So I went out and registered voters and attended meetings and talked to neighbors and challenged those who would have me believe that voting for Senator Obama was somehow passing the mantle of power on to the shoulders of a faithless someone, who would lead us all down the path to destruction; as if somehow the madness of the past 8 years had been some idyllic sojourn in a far away and undisturbed nirvana. Beg your pardon, not when I was paying $40 to put half a tank of gas in my Honda. Enough!
On November 4th, 2008 America came of age. Fundamentalists and Liberals both of whom had negated the ability of the common man to think for himself and who tend to paint with a wide brush of generalization, have learned a hard lesson, that there is no monolithic voting block and since we never had a chance to check their credentials, we really couldn’t care less for their expert advice or analysis. The time had come for those who once held sway to learn a few lessons, that people are as diverse as their own life experiences and as the vote in California clearly showed, are able to dissect the issues and vote for what they feel is important to their lives and against the rest.
And while the pundits tried to contain their cool exterior as the election approached, their growing sense that something incredible was unfolding in front of their eyes was palpable. When the day arrived it left the Republicans stunned and questioning their long held tenets, in an attempt to try to make sense of the tsunami that rolled over them. Enough! Church going people who had once clung to the Republican party as the “party of God” now openly questioned the hypocrisy of the “do as I say, but not as I do” theology and finally started asking the hard questions about how a party that purports to represent the will of God, could be so callous in its treatment of the poor. Why is it that when we work hard and complain when our money buys less and less, all of a sudden we are a “nation of whiners.” Why the faces of the crowds at their rallies did not represent the reality of the diversity in the United States and why if they lay claim to being the earthly representatives for the Prince of Peace, can they also be in bed with the National Rifle Association and other extremist groups that so readily identify with their mandates.
In short we looked at all the rhetoric and none of it added up, not Joe the Plumber, not the Pit-bull with lipstick, not the tired old lines, and not the “he wants to spread our wealth around” argument made any sense, even as we looked at our own resources and wondered what wealth he was talking about. And so we voted collectively, for an imperfect man who looked like us and empathized with us, and said things that made sense.
On the most basic levels, we understood what Senator Obama meant when he spoke, even if the media, always anxious for some sensational story, didn’t. We voted for him because while he was like us, he was so much smarter than us, so we made him our champion and on January 20th, 2009 the transformation will be complete. And if prayers and goodwill still go up to God as a sweet smelling savor, then Senator Obama as he assumes the mantle of power to work on our behalf, will be in good stead because I am sure the blessings will come down on him.
This is a country that revels in great oratorical homage and introspection, usually after something tragic or unseemly has occurred. Tributes can go on for what seems an eternity, as if a superfluity of words can make up for the fact that many times the ones paying homage, are the very ones who savaged the character and good name of injured person while they were hail and hearty. At the end of all the sanctimonious posturing I am usually left hoping that someone will have the courage to rip the façade off the false platitudes and deliver the type of brutally honest message like Princess Diana’s brother gave in her eulogy.
I say all that because I am shocked and alarmed at the level of the attacks both Palin and McCain have launched at Senator Obama. I have lived in the United States for almost 40 years, having arrived shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. I remember distinctly my father taking me to Newark to show me the buildings that had been burned to the ground in the outpouring of grief and anger after that fateful time in history. And while I’m not sure what his point was in taking me there, it was an eye opening experience that I have never forgotten.
Forty years later, I can say times have changed, I live in Alabama and while I exercise caution in going out at night, it is nothing more than the prudence I would practice if I lived in any city, in any country. I am, however, aware as I drive by homes with rebel flags displayed, that there are still areas where resentment still simmers and that not everyone wishes me well. I am sure Sarah Palin and John McCain are also fully aware of this fact, which is why I find their behavior over the past few days totally reprehensible and even more so because members of their own party who should be speaking up have chosen not to.
The United States is a country of laws where people are allowed to agree and disagree on a variety of issues, without the type of vitriol being spouted at these campaign events. When is it ever acceptable in a civilized society for anyone to yell “Off with his head!” or “Kill him” or “Traitor!” without being called out by the speaker. Is this the level to which this country has sunk? And what about those “decent” people who espouse such “conservative Christian” values, why have they not spoken out and distanced themselves from this type of onslaught. Are they not aware of the quote by English philosopher Edmund Burke, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ Is this what the Republican Party has become, are they once again reverting to their once shameful history, as a haven for perpetrators of this type of evil. Is this what is meant by “appealing to the base.” Are those code words for the type of incendiary violence Palin and McCain hope will resurrect itself, while they wait passively, speech at the ready for something disastrous to happen, so they can pay homage in dubious tributes and expressions of grief. Yes I’m saying it! And I’m saying it now! Because I’m angry, I’m not running for office and I don’t feel the need to be diplomatic, or mince my words.
God forbid anything untoward should befall the Senator from Illinois and God forbid any of these unrighteous, vile perpetrators of this type of malevolence should be allowed to grace the front door of the White House, because it would indeed send the strongest message to the world that we have sold our souls and that we are indeed a nation of violent men, who will use whatever method is at hand in order to secure victory, no matter what the cost.
Remember when you were in school and you had that big test and you crammed and crammed and crammed and then the day of the test you rushed into the classroom full of short term answers that you couldn’t wait to get on paper, because you knew as soon as the test was over those answers were gone and as long as you passed you would be satisfied. If that scenario sounds like Thursday night’s debate you would be correct because it is quite evident that after being sequestered for 4 days Sarah Palin came on stage “chock full” of short term answers that she could deliver with her smiles, winks and hockey colloquialisms without the slightest indication that she even understood the subjects, or could engage in any meaningful dialogue.
My God does John McCain have no shame, does he not realize that this is a technological age, that people from all over the globe tuned in to watch the “gosh golly darn, betcha” repartee of a woman so completely out of her element that she is a total embarrassment. I have known several Ambassadors from small island states in the Caribbean who could run circles around this woman on many fronts including foreign policy and economics. Am I to understand that in this the richest country in the world, this is the best McCain could find to present to the rest of the world. Does he not realize we’ve all seen this movie before.
I am grateful Joe Biden stood his ground and used the 90 minutes to educate the American people on McCain’s history in the senate, which it was evident Palin knew very little about. I couldn’t, however, help feeling a level of sympathy for Joe, in that after all his years of service to this country, he was asked to take part in this ridiculous charade. Sad too that McCain will continue putting the country through this embarrassment, instead of admitting what we all know, that she is in fact his exit strategy and the only way he can lose this election while saving face.
There is a new trend among Evangelicals in the US that is most interesting. It seems all at once all, realizing that the demographics of the United States is changing, many of the churches have now started including the word “International” in their names. This is most interesting and I must admit I have actually visited a couple. What is most apparent, when visiting these churches, however, is that there is little new or “International” for that matter. The hierarchy of the church is not representational of the congregation, in fact the only time you really see an “international” face is in the choir, taking the offering or guiding visitors to their seats. Other than that the old guard is still very much in place.
My friend in Florida attends one of these churches and I remember when she came home after services the Sunday before the 2004 elections with a very forlorn look, to announce that we had just lost the election. As you recall the movie “The Passion of The Christ” had been released that year and church members had flocked in droves to see it. Turns out that on this particular day, her church and many others had received a video from a conservative group that was to be played on the precise Sunday before elections. The video featured Jim Caviezel who played the role of Christ, basically telling people how to vote, because to do otherwise meant voting against their families and would be outside the “will of God.” In short, for those who could not separate an actor from his role, “Jesus” was in effect telling them to vote for George Bush.
This type of Republican strategy is nothing new and is in fact what you expect from a group whose target is always the emotional appeal and who thinks that being an “intellectual” is somehow a bad thing. What is mind boggling is the fact that many Jamaicans have bought into this type of madness. Even today in 2008, after all that has transpired and the fact that we know unequivocally that Bush took this country to war and destroyed thousands of lives based on a lie, these folks still cling to him as if their life depends on him. My family member in Atlanta told me just a few weeks ago that the church they attend in Atlanta is still espousing the Republican worldview. These people still clearly believe George Bush was put in office “for a time such as this” and that the Republicans are on a crusade to save the world.
After many heated discussions I have pretty much given up on them because the Republicans clearly have the perfect scam going. Yell abortion! or gay marriage! and watch otherwise rational people flock to the polls to vote against their own best interests, while the “good old boys” laugh all the way to victory. I have not met one of these conservatives, Jamaican or otherwise, who has yet been able to address the hypocrisy of a party that claims to be so moral, yet would ridicule Barack Obama for working as a community organizer to make people’s lives better.
None have been able to show me one former Republican President who has done anything for anyone since leaving office, even as examples abound for Democrats such as Jimmy Carter who works tirelessly for Habitat for Humanity and Bill Clinton whose work in Africa is well known. Who’s kidding whom here? I thought Christians were identified by their works not words. And while we’re on the subject of abortion, no one has been able to explain what makes one life sacred and another not. I am pro life except in instances of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is in danger, yet no one can tell me why we fight to protect the unborn, yet treat the lives lost in Iraq as if they have no value, are they just “collateral damage.” Are Iraqis not also made in God’s image? And why does being a card carrying member of the National Rifle Association make me a better Christian, am I not called to be salt and light to the world. While we’re talking inconsistencies, let’s not forget Cheney’s daughter, a lesbian who along with her partner have adopted a child, why is that discussion off limits, even as papers Michelle wrote in college are being scoured for anything incendiary. I wonder had it been Chelsea Clinton or Amy Carter instead of Palin’s daughter who got pregnant, would they too have been defended by Focus on the Family and other members of the religious right, or would it have been chalked up to “well after all they are Democrats and one really can’t expect any better.”
Personally I think we’re in a dangerous place when we think we understand the mind of God so well that we can appoint ourselves arbiters of his will. The God I serve has many times used imperfect humans like David, or even Rahab the harlot, who found her place in the lineage of Christ, not because they were touting their own self righteousness, but because they were willing to surrender themselves in total humility and be used for God’s glory. This Republican God who wields power with arrogance, I can say without a doubt, I have never met. There are things you learn while growing up in Jamaica, including a strong sense of self and a large dose of common sense. No one ever wants to be asked “you fool, fool.” To see my people fall time and again for what amounts to nothing more than a ruse is truly disappointing.
