http://www.lipulse.com/ en info@lipulse.com Copyright 2015 2015-05-11T13:29:00+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/election-day-2012-what-does-it-mean http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/election-day-2012-what-does-it-mean#When:22:53:44Z Barack Obama has won! But Election Day 2012…What does it really mean? While we are very focused on the fact that President Obama will remain in the White House for another four years, the Election Day results are full of complicated victories and valuable lessons. It would be so easy to assume to take Election Day at face value. I would argue it would be dangerous to do so. Barack Obama’s victory in the Electoral College will look like a landslide, but an examination of the popular vote indicates a much closer race. Further, the results also show a very polarized nation. The Obama campaign is a study of modern political science and demography. They understood what groups constituted their base, and then they pursued them relentlessly. One group that didn’t fall into the Obama base in large numbers was white men who didn’t work in the auto industry. Married white women also were not big supporters of Obama in 2012. As America’s first Black president anticipates his second term, this nation must confront its resurgent comfort with racism and negative racial rhetoric and imagery. As a candidate, Mitt Romney has the opportunity to repudiate the nasty and unnecessarily inflammatory racial and racist rhetoric spewed by his campaign surrogates. But Romney looked the other way as John Sununu, Newt Gingrich, and Donald Trump took to social media and traditional media in a game of racist one-upmanship with each other. The role of the Latino community will take on mythic proportions as the story of the 2012 Elections will be retold…and rightfully so. After being discussed in a manner that was either dismissive or disgusting during the GOP primaries with talk of “self-deportation” or electrified fences, the Latino community was waiting for someone to say something reasonable. The executive order around the DREAM kids was policy change that the Latino community could believe in. The LGBT community also knew it had a friend in President Obama, despite earlier frustration with him. President Obama repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a policy that institutionalized keeping active duty military personnel in the closet. Conversely, a deployed soldier was booed during a GOP debate for asking a question. But the LGBT community and the world knew President Obama has the inclusive spirit contemplated when we say “We the People” when he expressed his personal support for marriage equality. Women make up over 50% of the registered electorate. The first official act that President Barack Obama did was to sign the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier to sue based on gender discrimination. So Barack Obama hit the ground running where women are concerned and never stopped. The GOP presented themselves as the perfect foil to Obama, especially in the past two years. There were some, including me, who thought that this year was going to become the Year of the Women. Sandra Fluke was called a “slut” by Rush Limbaugh. Mitt Romney offered some lukewarm response and Barack Obama called Ms. Fluke personally. There are myriad compelling cross currents involved in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The landmark legislation of the first term of Obama Administration, Obamacare, is extremely beneficial to women, whether it is for our own care, the care of a child, or the care of an aging, sick parent. The Affordable Care Act is now safe from threats to “repeal and replace.” The election of 2012 is noteworthy for women because it is the year that we rejected efforts to destroy progress and go back to a time when women had little control over their bodies and their earning potential. Throughout the country there were candidates for the House of Representatives and US Senate who expressed extreme views that would have endangered the physical and economic lives of women. Those candidates LOST! The idea that in 2012 there was a debate about the definition of rape is offensive and shocking. Let’s clear it up once and for all: Rape is rape because no means no. The law is clear about abortion, but the procedure should be available since it’s legal. The law is settled, let’s move on. I think paycheck fairness is one area where we could focus our energy instead. The fact that the Violence Against Women Act remains in limbo is unacceptable. But there are 20 women in the US Senate now, a record. Let’s hope that makes a difference and we can focus on issues that really matter to women. President Obama will probably have the opportunity to appoint another Supreme Court justice. I think it would be amazing to see the first Black woman take her place in the highest court in the land. But there are many other firsts that could be achieved…first Asian-American, first Native-American, first open LGBT justice…there is need for diversity on the bench and President Obama is the person to achieve that goal. The Obama campaign probably knew whether you preferred Coke, Pepsi or 7-Up. But the one thing they didn’t know was whether you would be subject to voter suppression or voter intimidation. This trend toward shaping the outcome of the election by controlling who can access the polls must stop. All of American benefitted from the fact that the efforts in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and other states were not successful. The people who would have been disproportionately impacted would have been the elderly and college students. The folks who invested the country and to whom we owe a debt on one end, and on the other end, we have the generation we are trying to teach the value of civic engagement and instill the habit of voting…these are the targets of the GOP campaign of voter suppression. It is shameful. There is such hope for our country because groups like the NAACP and the Advancement Project successfully fought these voter ID laws and state officials. Here’s what was amazing, voters were energized by the obstacles, not discouraged. It didn’t matter what they need to get to do it, they were going to vote. We need to remember that every Election Day and have the same passion and commitment. Passion and commitment… In the final analysis, that was what made the difference. This election was the most expensive election in American history on the federal, state and local levels. At the top of the ticket, almost $2 Billion was spent in pursuit of the White House, with the Romney campaign spending over $1 billion. This campaign was the first presidential campaign is the post-Citizens United world. The big money interests didn’t disappoint. The dumped money into the Romney campaign as though they thought they were buying tickets to the opera… Maybe they were. But all the money the world can’t buy passion and commitment. As Election Day drew closer, television ads lost their effectiveness, but passion and commitment motivated tens of thousands of volunteers who fanned out across the country to phone bank, knock on doors, and show up at rallies to support President Obama. Negative ads might move the news cycle, but a Get Out the Vote strategy moves voters. Barack Obama won. This is great news for the country…all of the country. There are some folks who would have you believe that this is only good news for the people who want free stuff. Absurd. It’s time for the country to unite behind this president…for real this time. The “Fiscal Cliff” and potential sequestration loom on the horizon if all of us don’t get our act together and move forward. The time for fighting is over. The time for unity has arrived. This is the United States of America, and we have just re-elected our president. You may not respect the man, but respect the office. Election Day 2012…What does it mean? It means that we have to see that the country is changing is some wonderful ways…we embraced our better angels. But after some rest, it is time to get back to the work of restoring the nation economically, recovering from Sandy, fixing big issues like immigration, education and climate change and setting the course for a secure future. On another day, there will be an autopsy on the Romney campaign, but not today. Today it is sufficient to say that President Obama won and GOP must do some soul searching about its tactics and its lowest common denominator assumptions about the country. We all voted. The votes are counted. The work begins. Let’s do what Americans do…Thrive. Barack Obama has won! But Election Day 2012…What does it really mean? While we are very focused on the fact that President Obama will remain in the White House for another four years, the Election Day results are full of complicated victories and valuable lessons. It would be so easy to assume to take Election Day at face value. I would argue it would be dangerous to do so. Barack Obama’s victory in the Electoral College will look like a landslide, but an examination of the popular vote indicates a much closer race. Further, the results also show a very polarized nation. The Obama campaign is a study of modern political science and demography. They understood what groups constituted their base, and then they pursued them relentlessly. One group that didn’t fall into the Obama base in large numbers was white men who didn’t work in the auto industry. Married white women also were not big supporters of Obama in 2012. As America’s first Black president anticipates his second term, this nation must confront its resurgent comfort with racism and negative racial rhetoric and imagery. As a candidate, Mitt Romney has the opportunity to repudiate the nasty and unnecessarily inflammatory racial and racist rhetoric spewed by his campaign surrogates. But Romney looked the other way as John Sununu, Newt Gingrich, and Donald Trump took to social media and traditional media in a game of racist one-upmanship with each other. The role of the Latino community will take on mythic proportions as the story of the 2012 Elections will be retold…and rightfully so. After being discussed in a manner that was either dismissive or disgusting during the GOP primaries with talk of “self-deportation” or electrified fences, the Latino community was waiting for someone to say something reasonable. The executive order around the DREAM kids was policy change that the Latino community could believe in. The LGBT community also knew it had a friend in President Obama, despite earlier frustration with him. President Obama repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a policy that institutionalized keeping active duty military personnel in the closet. Conversely, a deployed soldier was booed during a GOP debate for asking a question. But the LGBT community and the world knew President Obama has the inclusive spirit contemplated when we say “We the People” when he expressed his personal support for marriage equality. Women make up over 50% of the registered electorate. The first official act that President Barack Obama did was to sign the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier to sue based on gender discrimination. So Barack Obama hit the ground running where women are concerned and never stopped. The GOP presented themselves as the perfect foil to Obama, especially in the past two years. There were some, including me, who thought that this year was going to become the Year of the Women. Sandra Fluke was called a “slut” by Rush Limbaugh. Mitt Romney offered some lukewarm response and Barack Obama called Ms. Fluke personally. There are myriad compelling cross currents involved in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The landmark legislation of the first term of Obama Administration, Obamacare, is extremely beneficial to women, whether it is for our own care, the care of a child, or the care of an aging, sick parent. The Affordable Care Act is now safe from threats to “repeal and replace.” The election of 2012 is noteworthy for women because it is the year that we rejected efforts to destroy progress and go back to a time when women had little control over their bodies and their earning potential. Throughout the country there were candidates for the House of Representatives and US Senate who expressed extreme views that would have endangered the physical and economic lives of women. Those candidates LOST! The idea that in 2012 there was a debate about the definition of rape is offensive and shocking. Let’s clear it up once and for all: Rape is rape because no means no. The law is clear about abortion, but the procedure should be available since it’s legal. The law is settled, let’s move on. I think paycheck fairness is one area where we could focus our energy instead. The fact that the Violence Against Women Act remains in limbo is unacceptable. But there are 20 women in the US Senate now, a record. Let’s hope that makes a difference and we can focus on issues that really matter to women. President Obama will probably have the opportunity to appoint another Supreme Court justice. I think it would be amazing to see the first Black woman take her place in the highest court in the land. But there are many other firsts that could be achieved…first Asian-American, first Native-American, first open LGBT justice…there is need for diversity on the bench and President Obama is the person to achieve that goal. The Obama campaign probably knew whether you preferred Coke, Pepsi or 7-Up. But the one thing they didn’t know was whether you would be subject to voter suppression or voter intimidation. This trend toward shaping the outcome of the election by controlling who can access the polls must stop. All of American benefitted from the fact that the efforts in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and other states were not successful. The people who would have been disproportionately impacted would have been the elderly and college students. The folks who invested the country and to whom we owe a debt on one end, and on the other end, we have the generation we are trying to teach the value of civic engagement and instill the habit of voting…these are the targets of the GOP campaign of voter suppression. It is shameful. There is such hope for our country because groups like the NAACP and the Advancement Project successfully fought these voter ID laws and state officials. Here’s what was amazing, voters were energized by the obstacles, not discouraged. It didn’t matter what they need to get to do it, they were going to vote. We need to remember that every Election Day and have the same passion and commitment. Passion and commitment… In the final analysis, that was what made the difference. This election was the most expensive election in American history on the federal, state and local levels. At the top of the ticket, almost $2 Billion was spent in pursuit of the White House, with the Romney campaign spending over $1 billion. This campaign was the first presidential campaign is the post-Citizens United world. The big money interests didn’t disappoint. The dumped money into the Romney campaign as though they thought they were buying tickets to the opera… Maybe they were. But all the money the world can’t buy passion and commitment. As Election Day drew closer, television ads lost their effectiveness, but passion and commitment motivated tens of thousands of volunteers who fanned out across the country to phone bank, knock on doors, and show up at rallies to support President Obama. Negative ads might move the news cycle, but a Get Out the Vote strategy moves voters. Barack Obama won. This is great news for the country…all of the country. There are some folks who would have you believe that this is only good news for the people who want free stuff. Absurd. It’s time for the country to unite behind this president…for real this time. The “Fiscal Cliff” and potential sequestration loom on the horizon if all of us don’t get our act together and move forward. The time for fighting is over. The time for unity has arrived. This is the United States of America, and we have just re-elected our president. You may not respect the man, but respect the office. Election Day 2012…What does it mean? It means that we have to see that the country is changing is some wonderful ways…we embraced our better angels. But after some rest, it is time to get back to the work of restoring the nation economically, recovering from Sandy, fixing big issues like immigration, education and climate change and setting the course for a secure future. On another day, there will be an autopsy on the Romney campaign, but not today. Today it is sufficient to say that President Obama won and GOP must do some soul searching about its tactics and its lowest common denominator assumptions about the country. We all voted. The votes are counted. The work begins. Let’s do what Americans do…Thrive. Balancing the Scales, 2012-11-09T22:53:44+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/stormy-weather-dont-know-why-some-folks-think-climate-change-is-a-lie http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/stormy-weather-dont-know-why-some-folks-think-climate-change-is-a-lie#When:20:34:31Z It is late October. Our thoughts should be on Halloween, Election Day, Thanksgiving or the many other fall rites of passage as we barrel toward Christmas and winter. But for those of us on the East Coast or who have loved ones on the East Coast, all we can think about is stormy weather. Hurricane Sandy is lumbering toward the New York Tri-State Area with the icy, yet plodding, determination of “The Godfather’s” feared enforcer Luca Brasi. A hurricane in New York in LATE OCTOBER? I don’t know why some folks think climate change is a lie. Although the technical dates of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane seasons are from June 1st to November 30th, it is extremely unusual that a hurricane would manage to make its way up the Atlantic Coast at this time of year. I am no meteorologist, but from what I understand, arguably, the water should normally be too cold to allow a hurricane to intensify. Sandy is intriguing because she is appears to be something of a weather hybrid, a Frankenstorm - she’s both a hurricane and a traditional Nor’easter associated with this time of year. No matter how you classify this storm, Sandy is dangerous. If Sandy weren’t dangerous, then the federal government and New York-based financial trading floors wouldn’t have closed today. If Sandy wasn’t a substantial storm, towns along the coast of New Jersey and the south shore of Long Island wouldn’t have been evacuated. If Sandy didn’t give us something to be fear, then several states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, as far north as Maine, and as far west as Ohio would not have declared a state of emergency prior to the storm making landfall. Sandy is enormous and slow-moving. Every report I hear makes her sound more and more ominous. Whether you planned to move about by planes, trains, or automobiles, if you haven’t gotten where you are going, forget about it. Although the major New York airports are open, the runways are flooded, and the terminals are eerily empty. The Midtown, Holland, Lincoln, and Battery Tunnels are either closed or about to be closed. The New York MTA has taken the virtually unprecedented step and shut down subway service. The MTA hasn’t halted service since…LAST YEAR when Hurricane Irene blew into town. As Yogi Berra said, this is deja vu all over again. Mass transit shut down. People price gouged panicked consumers trying to get gas and D-Cell batteries. There was the near certainty that the power would go out, but the equal uncertainty about when the lights would come back on. Some folks spent weeks without power in the wake of Irene. Property damaged. Businesses lost money. The estimates said that there was a total of $15.8 BILLION of damages due to Irene. But it was summer. It seemed reasonable to experience a hurricane, even one so horrible with such prolonged and expensive devastation, in the summer. It is autumn now. It doesn’t seems reasonable that the entire Eastern Seaboard is bracing for a tropical storm so big and complicated that it has been called the Frankenstorm. As much as I hate snow, isn’t that more appropriate for this time of year than a hurricane? At a certain point, we have to start asking questions because things seem different from what we remember. In my opinion, we are long past that point, but maybe the one-two punch of Irene and Sandy will be the wake-up call that some folks need to begin to think about these issues. We just had the warmest year on record, with wildfires and droughts and reminders that the climate is changing. 2012 was also the year that a former climate change skeptic, who is funded by the Koch Brothers, came around and accepted what many of us already knew: Global warming is occurring and greenhouse gases from man-made emissions is the primary cause. If you read this before the storm, please learn the hard lessons taught by Katrina and Irene – there is no valor in riding out the storm in the path of danger. If you are told to evacuate, please gather your loved ones, your pictures, and your important documents (e.g.,birth and marriage certificates, insurance documents) – AND GO! If you don’t have to evacuate, look in on neighbors who are older or unwell to make sure they are okay. Check www.ready.gov for additional emergency information. I don’t know why some folks think climate change is a lie. But today it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you, my family and friends are safe. In the face of this very stormy weather, my prayers and good thoughts are with you. Be safe. It is late October. Our thoughts should be on Halloween, Election Day, Thanksgiving or the many other fall rites of passage as we barrel toward Christmas and winter. But for those of us on the East Coast or who have loved ones on the East Coast, all we can think about is stormy weather. Hurricane Sandy is lumbering toward the New York Tri-State Area with the icy, yet plodding, determination of “The Godfather’s” feared enforcer Luca Brasi. A hurricane in New York in LATE OCTOBER? I don’t know why some folks think climate change is a lie. Although the technical dates of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane seasons are from June 1st to November 30th, it is extremely unusual that a hurricane would manage to make its way up the Atlantic Coast at this time of year. I am no meteorologist, but from what I understand, arguably, the water should normally be too cold to allow a hurricane to intensify. Sandy is intriguing because she is appears to be something of a weather hybrid, a Frankenstorm - she’s both a hurricane and a traditional Nor’easter associated with this time of year. No matter how you classify this storm, Sandy is dangerous. If Sandy weren’t dangerous, then the federal government and New York-based financial trading floors wouldn’t have closed today. If Sandy wasn’t a substantial storm, towns along the coast of New Jersey and the south shore of Long Island wouldn’t have been evacuated. If Sandy didn’t give us something to be fear, then several states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, as far north as Maine, and as far west as Ohio would not have declared a state of emergency prior to the storm making landfall. Sandy is enormous and slow-moving. Every report I hear makes her sound more and more ominous. Whether you planned to move about by planes, trains, or automobiles, if you haven’t gotten where you are going, forget about it. Although the major New York airports are open, the runways are flooded, and the terminals are eerily empty. The Midtown, Holland, Lincoln, and Battery Tunnels are either closed or about to be closed. The New York MTA has taken the virtually unprecedented step and shut down subway service. The MTA hasn’t halted service since…LAST YEAR when Hurricane Irene blew into town. As Yogi Berra said, this is deja vu all over again. Mass transit shut down. People price gouged panicked consumers trying to get gas and D-Cell batteries. There was the near certainty that the power would go out, but the equal uncertainty about when the lights would come back on. Some folks spent weeks without power in the wake of Irene. Property damaged. Businesses lost money. The estimates said that there was a total of $15.8 BILLION of damages due to Irene. But it was summer. It seemed reasonable to experience a hurricane, even one so horrible with such prolonged and expensive devastation, in the summer. It is autumn now. It doesn’t seems reasonable that the entire Eastern Seaboard is bracing for a tropical storm so big and complicated that it has been called the Frankenstorm. As much as I hate snow, isn’t that more appropriate for this time of year than a hurricane? At a certain point, we have to start asking questions because things seem different from what we remember. In my opinion, we are long past that point, but maybe the one-two punch of Irene and Sandy will be the wake-up call that some folks need to begin to think about these issues. We just had the warmest year on record, with wildfires and droughts and reminders that the climate is changing. 2012 was also the year that a former climate change skeptic, who is funded by the Koch Brothers, came around and accepted what many of us already knew: Global warming is occurring and greenhouse gases from man-made emissions is the primary cause. If you read this before the storm, please learn the hard lessons taught by Katrina and Irene – there is no valor in riding out the storm in the path of danger. If you are told to evacuate, please gather your loved ones, your pictures, and your important documents (e.g.,birth and marriage certificates, insurance documents) – AND GO! If you don’t have to evacuate, look in on neighbors who are older or unwell to make sure they are okay. Check www.ready.gov for additional emergency information. I don’t know why some folks think climate change is a lie. But today it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you, my family and friends are safe. In the face of this very stormy weather, my prayers and good thoughts are with you. Be safe. Balancing the Scales, 2012-10-31T20:34:31+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/romney-sutra-the-numerous-tortured-political-positions-of-mitt http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/romney-sutra-the-numerous-tortured-political-positions-of-mitt#When:18:54:33Z All three presidential debates have taken place. We have seen Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. There are less than two weeks left until Election Day. We should have a very clear sense of what policies the candidates are proposing, the direction they want to take the country – we should have a full measure of each man running for the office of President of the United States. But we don’t for one of the candidates, Mitt Romney. The full measure of Mitt is lost in the numerous tortured political positions of the Romney Sutra. It is confusion, entitlement, hypocrisy, dishonesty, chaos and deception. It is amazing that we don’t know Willard Mitt Romney. He has been running for president since mid-way through his term as governor of Massachusetts, probably before. He began to run for Election Day 2012 on February 7, 2008, as he was suspending his 2008 Presidential Campaign. We have tried to vet Mitt Romney. There are the political masochists who watched all or most of the GOP Presidential Debates – all 20 of them. If the debates were challenging for the viewer, imagine what they must have been like for Mitt Romney. From May 5, 2011 to February 22, 2012, Mitt Romney pulled, twisted, turned, and stretched himself into so many different political positions that I wonder if he recognized himself.  In the course of those debates, the only constant was his steady march to the right. Romney struggled to make the GOP believe that he is “severely conservative.” I suppose STAUNCHLY conservative wouldn’t have been enough. Even linguistically, Romney comes across as lacking authenticity and sincerity. There was no amount of pandering that was too callow. Who can forget Romney pandering to the non-voting trees in Michigan as being just the right height? I know the folks in the South felt an instant kinship to Romney when he started referring to them as “y’all,” and telling them about his breakfast of “cheesy grits.” During the primaries, there were certain groups who should have paid very close attention to what Mitt Romney said, or equally important – didn’t say. Seniors, women, Latinos, LGBT, public service employees, college students: you should have been listening to the various contradictory positions that Romney took on the issues of importance to you. Blacks, veterans, the poor, the sick and disabled, the middle class with a job, cities, alternative energy (e.g., wind and solar), etc. if you were marginalized or excluded from Mitt Romney’s political discussion, you will be totally excluded from a Romney Administration. You probably won’t even get a binder… But the pandering couldn’t remove the taint of his previous remarks and his record. Or could it? A senior Romney advisor, Eric Fehrnstrom, told us they would just shake and reset after the primaries, like an Etch-A-Sketch. Six months earlier, they telegraphed the desperate dash to the middle they were going to make in the first presidential debate, but all of us, President Obama included, were still unprepared when it came. But I am certain that the people of Massachusetts were not surprised at all. The people of Massachusetts should know him best, right? He has lived there since he moved there to attend Harvard Law School and Business School. Bain Capital is headquartered there. Mitt Romney was governor of the state. With that much history in the state, you would think he would be way ahead in the polls in his home state. You would be wrong. According to the Real Clear Politics Average of Polls, President Obama is ahead of Mitt Romney by a staggering 16.3%. Romney’s poll results are as bad as dating your best friend’s ex. But for folks who aren’t from the Bay State, we must stop and ask why? The citizens of Massachusetts DID have the chance to vet Mitt Romney. They saw him in action. Was he able to create millions jobs? Did he mystically change the political culture of the capital? Did he turn water into wine? The short answer is no, not so much. Governor Romney’s Bain Capital years… key evidence for his ability to turn-around failing circumstances – well, we have to take his word for it because many of those businesses either went bankrupt or they are privately-held, so we can’t see their books. We certainly haven’t been offered the opportunity to review the books of Bain Capital during the time that Mitt Romney was running the place. We have only seen two years of tax returns. Why shouldn’t we trust what Mitt Romney has told us about his tax returns? He contorted himself into a convenient shape on this issue to help himself when he was running for governor. Once he won, we discovered that the information he gave the citizens of Massachusetts was false. By his own father’s standards, Mitt Romney has fallen short by his failure to produce multiple years of tax returns, which is sad and ironic since George Romney initiated the practice in 1967. If you don’t know who Barack Obama is, love him or hate him, then you haven’t been paying attention. He told us more than we needed to know in the two books he wrote and published about himself BEFORE he became president. The President and First Lady continue to do an amazing job of raising well-adjusted, intelligent and poised young ladies in the white-hot glare of the fishbowl of the White House. But President Obama isn’t running to be Dr. Healthcliff Huxtable, a/k/a Bill Cosby, the office pursued is President of the United States. The track record he has established in his first term is full of hits, but if we are honest, it has not been an unqualified success. I could take an entire blog just listing accomplishments achieved during the Obama Administration. But here is Pundit On Point Cliff Notes version: Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created; automobile industry revived; two women, including the first Latina, appointed to the US Supreme Court; after a century of effort, healthcare reform created; end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Iraq War ended; and the man responsible for 9/11, Osama bin Laden, was brought to justice. There is so much more. Ask the Dream kids, senior citizens, students with federally guaranteed student loans, women who heard Barack Obama state “rape is rape,” and the LGBT community who heard our president say he supported marriage equality. There is more work to be done on the economy. No one is saying otherwise. But President Obama has been steady. In fact, it has been this type of even-keeled leadership that has provoked endorsements from conservative and careful sources, such as the Salt Lake Tribune and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Governor Romney has tried to strike all of the poses, but he has only succeeded at looking cheerlessly ambitious, while leaving us questioning his motives and sincerity. Pro-Choice v. Anti-Choice. Varmit Hunter v. Gun Control. Misogynist v. Binder-holder. Neo-Con Hawk v. Peacenik Dove. Severely Conservative v. Moderate. All of this hypocrisy is trapped in one person. If you are everywhere in your principles, then you will get nowhere. As all of our parents told us, if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. We live in a time when the President of the United States must stand for more than their own ambition. Listen to the hint the people of Massachusetts are sending. The Romney Sutra, with its numerous, tortured, political positions, will not unite and elevate our nation. Whether you agree or disagree is immaterial. The solution is simple – VOTE.     All three presidential debates have taken place. We have seen Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. There are less than two weeks left until Election Day. We should have a very clear sense of what policies the candidates are proposing, the direction they want to take the country – we should have a full measure of each man running for the office of President of the United States. But we don’t for one of the candidates, Mitt Romney. The full measure of Mitt is lost in the numerous tortured political positions of the Romney Sutra. It is confusion, entitlement, hypocrisy, dishonesty, chaos and deception. It is amazing that we don’t know Willard Mitt Romney. He has been running for president since mid-way through his term as governor of Massachusetts, probably before. He began to run for Election Day 2012 on February 7, 2008, as he was suspending his 2008 Presidential Campaign. We have tried to vet Mitt Romney. There are the political masochists who watched all or most of the GOP Presidential Debates – all 20 of them. If the debates were challenging for the viewer, imagine what they must have been like for Mitt Romney. From May 5, 2011 to February 22, 2012, Mitt Romney pulled, twisted, turned, and stretched himself into so many different political positions that I wonder if he recognized himself.  In the course of those debates, the only constant was his steady march to the right. Romney struggled to make the GOP believe that he is “severely conservative.” I suppose STAUNCHLY conservative wouldn’t have been enough. Even linguistically, Romney comes across as lacking authenticity and sincerity. There was no amount of pandering that was too callow. Who can forget Romney pandering to the non-voting trees in Michigan as being just the right height? I know the folks in the South felt an instant kinship to Romney when he started referring to them as “y’all,” and telling them about his breakfast of “cheesy grits.” During the primaries, there were certain groups who should have paid very close attention to what Mitt Romney said, or equally important – didn’t say. Seniors, women, Latinos, LGBT, public service employees, college students: you should have been listening to the various contradictory positions that Romney took on the issues of importance to you. Blacks, veterans, the poor, the sick and disabled, the middle class with a job, cities, alternative energy (e.g., wind and solar), etc. if you were marginalized or excluded from Mitt Romney’s political discussion, you will be totally excluded from a Romney Administration. You probably won’t even get a binder… But the pandering couldn’t remove the taint of his previous remarks and his record. Or could it? A senior Romney advisor, Eric Fehrnstrom, told us they would just shake and reset after the primaries, like an Etch-A-Sketch. Six months earlier, they telegraphed the desperate dash to the middle they were going to make in the first presidential debate, but all of us, President Obama included, were still unprepared when it came. But I am certain that the people of Massachusetts were not surprised at all. The people of Massachusetts should know him best, right? He has lived there since he moved there to attend Harvard Law School and Business School. Bain Capital is headquartered there. Mitt Romney was governor of the state. With that much history in the state, you would think he would be way ahead in the polls in his home state. You would be wrong. According to the Real Clear Politics Average of Polls, President Obama is ahead of Mitt Romney by a staggering 16.3%. Romney’s poll results are as bad as dating your best friend’s ex. But for folks who aren’t from the Bay State, we must stop and ask why? The citizens of Massachusetts DID have the chance to vet Mitt Romney. They saw him in action. Was he able to create millions jobs? Did he mystically change the political culture of the capital? Did he turn water into wine? The short answer is no, not so much. Governor Romney’s Bain Capital years… key evidence for his ability to turn-around failing circumstances – well, we have to take his word for it because many of those businesses either went bankrupt or they are privately-held, so we can’t see their books. We certainly haven’t been offered the opportunity to review the books of Bain Capital during the time that Mitt Romney was running the place. We have only seen two years of tax returns. Why shouldn’t we trust what Mitt Romney has told us about his tax returns? He contorted himself into a convenient shape on this issue to help himself when he was running for governor. Once he won, we discovered that the information he gave the citizens of Massachusetts was false. By his own father’s standards, Mitt Romney has fallen short by his failure to produce multiple years of tax returns, which is sad and ironic since George Romney initiated the practice in 1967. If you don’t know who Barack Obama is, love him or hate him, then you haven’t been paying attention. He told us more than we needed to know in the two books he wrote and published about himself BEFORE he became president. The President and First Lady continue to do an amazing job of raising well-adjusted, intelligent and poised young ladies in the white-hot glare of the fishbowl of the White House. But President Obama isn’t running to be Dr. Healthcliff Huxtable, a/k/a Bill Cosby, the office pursued is President of the United States. The track record he has established in his first term is full of hits, but if we are honest, it has not been an unqualified success. I could take an entire blog just listing accomplishments achieved during the Obama Administration. But here is Pundit On Point Cliff Notes version: Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created; automobile industry revived; two women, including the first Latina, appointed to the US Supreme Court; after a century of effort, healthcare reform created; end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Iraq War ended; and the man responsible for 9/11, Osama bin Laden, was brought to justice. There is so much more. Ask the Dream kids, senior citizens, students with federally guaranteed student loans, women who heard Barack Obama state “rape is rape,” and the LGBT community who heard our president say he supported marriage equality. There is more work to be done on the economy. No one is saying otherwise. But President Obama has been steady. In fact, it has been this type of even-keeled leadership that has provoked endorsements from conservative and careful sources, such as the Salt Lake Tribune and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Governor Romney has tried to strike all of the poses, but he has only succeeded at looking cheerlessly ambitious, while leaving us questioning his motives and sincerity. Pro-Choice v. Anti-Choice. Varmit Hunter v. Gun Control. Misogynist v. Binder-holder. Neo-Con Hawk v. Peacenik Dove. Severely Conservative v. Moderate. All of this hypocrisy is trapped in one person. If you are everywhere in your principles, then you will get nowhere. As all of our parents told us, if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. We live in a time when the President of the United States must stand for more than their own ambition. Listen to the hint the people of Massachusetts are sending. The Romney Sutra, with its numerous, tortured, political positions, will not unite and elevate our nation. Whether you agree or disagree is immaterial. The solution is simple – VOTE.     Balancing the Scales, 2012-10-26T18:54:33+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/an-open-letter-to-barack-obama-after-the-debacle http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/an-open-letter-to-barack-obama-after-the-debacle#When:22:43:28Z Dear President Obama: I was raised to believe that it’s not nice to talk behind people’s backs, so I am bringing my concerns directly to you. When I say, with all due respect, I sincerely mean it. And so it is with all due respect that I must discuss Wednesday’s debate with you. I have watched you with admiration since you delivered the Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. And while I have some policy concerns (e.g., the ongoing housing crisis, aspects of Wall Street reform, and the NDAA), I do believe that you are the best candidate for these times. The interests of the middle-class, the elderly, Generation X and Y, college students, veterans, women, immigrants, the LGBT community…well, 99% of the country are better served by the policies advanced by the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, many of our concerns weren’t discussed in the debate because Gov. Romney hijacked the debate with lies and talk about Big Bird. You can change that by making sure Gov. Romney is accountable for his past statements and explicit about his future policies. However, Mr. President, you understand as well as anyone that politics has become as much about perceived style as it is about policy substance. Wednesday night, Sir, you were a policy wonk in the worst sense of the word. Wonks can often present policy in a manner that is dry and uninteresting, without regard for whether the audience is engaged or interested. You are known as “No Drama Obama.” Awesome, but no drama cannot be confused with no life or no preparation. Mr. President, on Wednesday night, you appeared both lifeless and unprepared. I don’t believe that the demands of the office have sapped you of your charm and star power. But it’s not me you need to convince. What happened? Was last night a part of a larger strategy? Have you been watching Muhammad Ali fights? Do you want us all to recall that larger than life figure in American culture, is that why you hung back evoking images of Ali doing his classic “Rope-A-Dope?” Are you trying to make Romney the dope? It’s an interesting idea, but you run the risk of looking like a dope yourself since there is no margin for error as the clock winds down toward Election Day. Put up your dukes, Mr. President. If you are fighting for us, then fight. Was it a legal strategy? Were you trying to offer testimony on the record so that you can impeach him and expose his perjury later? Oh, you were trying to give him enough rope to hang himself. But then why didn’t you immediately go back and point out the lies? President Obama, you know that in the 24-hour news cycle a lie repeated loud and often enough becomes the truth. It is your responsibility to make sure that the truth comes to light - not just for your sake, but for the sake of the American voter. Mr. President, I do not understand how you could let Mitt Romney hit the American public with lie after lie, and then run from his own record. How could you let him lie about issues important to all of us, from taxes to Obamacare to Medicare to Dodd-Frank? There were so many lies that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would tell us that it’s so complicated that they couldn’t go into now…it was that many lies. But you let those lies go unchallenged. Was it a lack of preparation or a lack of political bloodlust that caused you to be so polite? To quote Mitt Romney, “this ain’t bean bag.” Politics, like life, is a full contact sport. Sir, while you were factually correct, debates aren’t watched for facts, they are watched for style. The folks who think you lost the first debate believe this because they preferred Romney’s style, certainly not because his performance has held up to fact-checking.  Please be our prosecutor. On direct examination of Romney, insist on specifics, and when those details don’t make sense – CALL HIM ON IT! Democrats will love you for it, and Independents would respect you for it. And as you prepare for the next debate, I encourage you to remember that Mitt Romney is taking great pains to make sure that he is prepared. Leave nothing to chance. Prepare, and then prepare some more. Don’t give talk of inadequate preparation any oxygen. And as we saw Wednesday night, you must be prepared for anything, ranging from poor moderation of the debate to Mitt Romney 75.0, yet another version of your opponent as he shakes the Etch-a-Sketch. Don’t let it escape America’s notice that Mitt flips, flops, flips, then does a double twisting back lay-out, and the truth is nowhere in the vicinity. Whoever was responsible for prepping you for Wednesday night’s debate is guilty of political malpractice, which is a charge I normally level at the Romney campaign. Don’t allow it to become a habit that I can make such an assertion stick about your campaign. Since discussions of the debate have been overwhelmed with sports metaphors, Sir, it’s time for you to get your game face on. You must treat the next two debates like Game 7 of the World Series or World Championship or the last quarter of the Super Bowl. It is now or never. So Mr. President, you have to leave it all out there on the floor. And Mr. President, you seemed joyless and almost pained in parts. Have some fun in the dismantling of the deceitful mass of political contradictions that is the Romney/Ryan ticket. Please remember the one thing you have that Gov. Romney doesn’t…likeability. Most of America likes you, and no one likes a liar. Expose him for what he is. After the debacle, everyone has 20/20 hindsight. We all are full of critique, disapproval and judgment about your performance. But after the debacle, you, Mr. President have begun to make lemonade out of the lemons on the campaign trail with a fire and crisp delivery that was absent on Wednesday. But most important, after the debacle, you can review and assess to make sure that you don’t have a repeat of the Denver Debate in your upcoming encounters with Gov. Romney. One thing is clear after the debacle; the biggest losers of the night were Jim Lehrer, the American voter and the TRUTH. You have two more chances to make it up to the American voter and the truth. I hate debacles, but I love a good debate. Bring it! And please, next debate, look into the camera and speak directly to us. We’re listening. Respectfully yours, Pundit On Point Dear President Obama: I was raised to believe that it’s not nice to talk behind people’s backs, so I am bringing my concerns directly to you. When I say, with all due respect, I sincerely mean it. And so it is with all due respect that I must discuss Wednesday’s debate with you. I have watched you with admiration since you delivered the Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. And while I have some policy concerns (e.g., the ongoing housing crisis, aspects of Wall Street reform, and the NDAA), I do believe that you are the best candidate for these times. The interests of the middle-class, the elderly, Generation X and Y, college students, veterans, women, immigrants, the LGBT community…well, 99% of the country are better served by the policies advanced by the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, many of our concerns weren’t discussed in the debate because Gov. Romney hijacked the debate with lies and talk about Big Bird. You can change that by making sure Gov. Romney is accountable for his past statements and explicit about his future policies. However, Mr. President, you understand as well as anyone that politics has become as much about perceived style as it is about policy substance. Wednesday night, Sir, you were a policy wonk in the worst sense of the word. Wonks can often present policy in a manner that is dry and uninteresting, without regard for whether the audience is engaged or interested. You are known as “No Drama Obama.” Awesome, but no drama cannot be confused with no life or no preparation. Mr. President, on Wednesday night, you appeared both lifeless and unprepared. I don’t believe that the demands of the office have sapped you of your charm and star power. But it’s not me you need to convince. What happened? Was last night a part of a larger strategy? Have you been watching Muhammad Ali fights? Do you want us all to recall that larger than life figure in American culture, is that why you hung back evoking images of Ali doing his classic “Rope-A-Dope?” Are you trying to make Romney the dope? It’s an interesting idea, but you run the risk of looking like a dope yourself since there is no margin for error as the clock winds down toward Election Day. Put up your dukes, Mr. President. If you are fighting for us, then fight. Was it a legal strategy? Were you trying to offer testimony on the record so that you can impeach him and expose his perjury later? Oh, you were trying to give him enough rope to hang himself. But then why didn’t you immediately go back and point out the lies? President Obama, you know that in the 24-hour news cycle a lie repeated loud and often enough becomes the truth. It is your responsibility to make sure that the truth comes to light - not just for your sake, but for the sake of the American voter. Mr. President, I do not understand how you could let Mitt Romney hit the American public with lie after lie, and then run from his own record. How could you let him lie about issues important to all of us, from taxes to Obamacare to Medicare to Dodd-Frank? There were so many lies that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would tell us that it’s so complicated that they couldn’t go into now…it was that many lies. But you let those lies go unchallenged. Was it a lack of preparation or a lack of political bloodlust that caused you to be so polite? To quote Mitt Romney, “this ain’t bean bag.” Politics, like life, is a full contact sport. Sir, while you were factually correct, debates aren’t watched for facts, they are watched for style. The folks who think you lost the first debate believe this because they preferred Romney’s style, certainly not because his performance has held up to fact-checking.  Please be our prosecutor. On direct examination of Romney, insist on specifics, and when those details don’t make sense – CALL HIM ON IT! Democrats will love you for it, and Independents would respect you for it. And as you prepare for the next debate, I encourage you to remember that Mitt Romney is taking great pains to make sure that he is prepared. Leave nothing to chance. Prepare, and then prepare some more. Don’t give talk of inadequate preparation any oxygen. And as we saw Wednesday night, you must be prepared for anything, ranging from poor moderation of the debate to Mitt Romney 75.0, yet another version of your opponent as he shakes the Etch-a-Sketch. Don’t let it escape America’s notice that Mitt flips, flops, flips, then does a double twisting back lay-out, and the truth is nowhere in the vicinity. Whoever was responsible for prepping you for Wednesday night’s debate is guilty of political malpractice, which is a charge I normally level at the Romney campaign. Don’t allow it to become a habit that I can make such an assertion stick about your campaign. Since discussions of the debate have been overwhelmed with sports metaphors, Sir, it’s time for you to get your game face on. You must treat the next two debates like Game 7 of the World Series or World Championship or the last quarter of the Super Bowl. It is now or never. So Mr. President, you have to leave it all out there on the floor. And Mr. President, you seemed joyless and almost pained in parts. Have some fun in the dismantling of the deceitful mass of political contradictions that is the Romney/Ryan ticket. Please remember the one thing you have that Gov. Romney doesn’t…likeability. Most of America likes you, and no one likes a liar. Expose him for what he is. After the debacle, everyone has 20/20 hindsight. We all are full of critique, disapproval and judgment about your performance. But after the debacle, you, Mr. President have begun to make lemonade out of the lemons on the campaign trail with a fire and crisp delivery that was absent on Wednesday. But most important, after the debacle, you can review and assess to make sure that you don’t have a repeat of the Denver Debate in your upcoming encounters with Gov. Romney. One thing is clear after the debacle; the biggest losers of the night were Jim Lehrer, the American voter and the TRUTH. You have two more chances to make it up to the American voter and the truth. I hate debacles, but I love a good debate. Bring it! And please, next debate, look into the camera and speak directly to us. We’re listening. Respectfully yours, Pundit On Point Balancing the Scales, 2012-10-05T22:43:28+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/romney-and-libya http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/romney-and-libya#When:20:17:13Z It was one of the most effective ads of the 2008 election cycle. The 3AM phone call… Who would you want to have answer the call about an unnamed international crisis occurring in some far-flung corner of the globe? Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain tried to make the case that Barack Obama wasn’t ready to answer the call. They were wrong. In 2012, with the body of Osama bin Laden at the bottom of the ocean, and several of his confederates only identifiable by DNA, if sheer terrorist body count alone is the marker, then Barack Obama has done a remarkable job. The president must do more than wage war; he must also fight for peace and diplomacy. There again the president is doing his best in a complicated and dangerous world. It is why folks like J. Christopher Stevens and the three other diplomatic staff who lost their lives were so invaluable to the United States, Libya and the world. But I understand, and I hope all of you do as well, that the responsibility of the president is extremely complex. As president, you are the steward of the nation. Like a shepherd, you must guide and encourage, but you are ultimately responsible for the well-being of the entire group, so you won’t sacrifice them for the sake of profit or your own vanity. Yes, the president is the steward of the nation. After September 11, 2001, we recognize the importance of having a wise, decisive steward of the nation who would act when told there is an imminent threat on American soil. But rehashing that aspect of American history is best left for another day. Today is about September 11, 2012, and the rash behavior of one man who wants to be President of the United States. On September 11, 2012, as we remembered the fallen, and later as events unfolded in Libya and Egypt, another man displayed why he DOES have the temperament to continue to serve as the steward of our nation, while another man showed us that his overweening ambition and scant judgment leave him ill-equipped to serve as president. You see, Mitt Romney has been trying to hold up his experience as a “Master of the Universe” as the key reason he should be president. But a “Master of the Universe” doesn’t care about the well-being of everyone, he only cares about himself. He assesses every opportunity to determine whether he can advance his own agenda…to score points and appear larger to the markets, the press, the stockholders – and to his own ego.. The truth and consequences are usually the first victims in the vainglorious campaign of a Master of the Universe. If I was a “Master of the Universe,” I would demand that Mitt Romney turn in his membership card, keys to the clubhouse, and banish him forever,  Romney is making high powered business executives seems feckless, opportunistic, soulless, mean, dishonest, and shifty, which isn’t easy. We thought that kind of behavior of dominated by career politicians like Paul Ryan. These men and women – Masters of the Universe – like to give off the appearance of talking first and thinking second, but they are very deliberate when it comes to money and the management of risk. It is with the human cost that things tend to fall apart. We saw it with Romney’s handling of the tragic events in Libya. He couldn’t keep politics out of it, even for a moment. Mr. Romney didn’t express respect for a career diplomat or concern for his family as a starting sentiment. No, instead, Mr. Romney smirked and sneered, as he tried to convince America that he understood foreign policy by displaying a lack of understanding of human interaction. Craven and opportunistic are words that keep coming to mind to describe Mr. Romney as a politician, especially after today. The video that arguably sparked all of this trouble is stupid and worthless. What all of the folks, and Harvard Law School graduate Mitt Romney, should remember is that the First Amendment doesn’t provide for absolute and unrestricted free speech rights. Hate speech isn’t protected, nor is the equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theatre. Religious freedom is in the First Amendment, along with Freedom of Speech. So when some jerk makes a dumb, low-rent video that infringes on another group’s religious freedom, we all forget that religious freedom and respect should be afford to all Americans, not just Christians and Jews. What was most striking was that Romney displays he forgot the Bill of Rights, because he was most interested in the potential opportunity to score political points rather than soothing the frayed nerves of a nation. He didn’t seem to realize with each word he said about President Obama, he made his opponent appear more presidential and his own candidacy seem less prepared to lead during times of crisis. The situation in Libya and Egypt is delicate. On September 11, Romney prematurely released a statement WITHOUT THE FACTS. If you are a Master of the Universe, that is perfectly fine. If you are the steward of the nation, lives can be lost because of your bad judgment and impetuousness. Whatever points Mr. Romney thought he would gain were lost because we all saw his maneuver for what it was, a Master of the Universe who was out of his depths. It is disgusting to try to jump into a foreign affairs crisis for political gain. It is inexcusable to try to spin the loss of life from this crisis, which Romney didn’t seem to understand, for political gain. Even when it was clear that he had spoken too soon and without the facts, while the situation was unfolding a Ambassador Stevens was still missing, Gov. Romney would not admit his mistake. Instead, he “doubled-down.” Again, this choice made him appear less presidential, not more so. Gov. Romney could have admitted the error of releasing his statement while the events were unfolding, expressed his deepest sympathies for the families of those who lost their lives, and pledged his support to President Obama during this time as we seek to bring the perpetrators of this vile act to justice. And then, he could wait because if President Obama rebuffed him, the President would have looked less than presidential. But as has been the case with Mitt Romney, this political wound was self-inflicted. But for the voter, it was quite revealing. Mitt Romney has displayed how he would take the country back to the failed policies of the Bush Administration in foreign policy, but worse…The Romney Doctrine of foreign policy would be the Bush Doctrine on Meth. At least George W. Bush had a father who could counsel caution and moderation on the world stage. After over a decade of war, it is time for America to move away from guns and towards butter. Romney is an uninformed Master of the Universe who should go back to the realm where his attitude and approach can win the day – Wall Street and private equity. I would rather let Romney play in that murky pool where, although his haphazard ways have consequences, he wouldn’t get Americans killed. Masters of the Universe operate from hubris and self-interest. A steward of the nation operates with determination and concern for the collective. We need a man who will worry about the collective.  Last week, Mr. Romney showed us that he isn’t that man. Let Romney have his universe. Give President Obama the nation. It was one of the most effective ads of the 2008 election cycle. The 3AM phone call… Who would you want to have answer the call about an unnamed international crisis occurring in some far-flung corner of the globe? Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain tried to make the case that Barack Obama wasn’t ready to answer the call. They were wrong. In 2012, with the body of Osama bin Laden at the bottom of the ocean, and several of his confederates only identifiable by DNA, if sheer terrorist body count alone is the marker, then Barack Obama has done a remarkable job. The president must do more than wage war; he must also fight for peace and diplomacy. There again the president is doing his best in a complicated and dangerous world. It is why folks like J. Christopher Stevens and the three other diplomatic staff who lost their lives were so invaluable to the United States, Libya and the world. But I understand, and I hope all of you do as well, that the responsibility of the president is extremely complex. As president, you are the steward of the nation. Like a shepherd, you must guide and encourage, but you are ultimately responsible for the well-being of the entire group, so you won’t sacrifice them for the sake of profit or your own vanity. Yes, the president is the steward of the nation. After September 11, 2001, we recognize the importance of having a wise, decisive steward of the nation who would act when told there is an imminent threat on American soil. But rehashing that aspect of American history is best left for another day. Today is about September 11, 2012, and the rash behavior of one man who wants to be President of the United States. On September 11, 2012, as we remembered the fallen, and later as events unfolded in Libya and Egypt, another man displayed why he DOES have the temperament to continue to serve as the steward of our nation, while another man showed us that his overweening ambition and scant judgment leave him ill-equipped to serve as president. You see, Mitt Romney has been trying to hold up his experience as a “Master of the Universe” as the key reason he should be president. But a “Master of the Universe” doesn’t care about the well-being of everyone, he only cares about himself. He assesses every opportunity to determine whether he can advance his own agenda…to score points and appear larger to the markets, the press, the stockholders – and to his own ego.. The truth and consequences are usually the first victims in the vainglorious campaign of a Master of the Universe. If I was a “Master of the Universe,” I would demand that Mitt Romney turn in his membership card, keys to the clubhouse, and banish him forever,  Romney is making high powered business executives seems feckless, opportunistic, soulless, mean, dishonest, and shifty, which isn’t easy. We thought that kind of behavior of dominated by career politicians like Paul Ryan. These men and women – Masters of the Universe – like to give off the appearance of talking first and thinking second, but they are very deliberate when it comes to money and the management of risk. It is with the human cost that things tend to fall apart. We saw it with Romney’s handling of the tragic events in Libya. He couldn’t keep politics out of it, even for a moment. Mr. Romney didn’t express respect for a career diplomat or concern for his family as a starting sentiment. No, instead, Mr. Romney smirked and sneered, as he tried to convince America that he understood foreign policy by displaying a lack of understanding of human interaction. Craven and opportunistic are words that keep coming to mind to describe Mr. Romney as a politician, especially after today. The video that arguably sparked all of this trouble is stupid and worthless. What all of the folks, and Harvard Law School graduate Mitt Romney, should remember is that the First Amendment doesn’t provide for absolute and unrestricted free speech rights. Hate speech isn’t protected, nor is the equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theatre. Religious freedom is in the First Amendment, along with Freedom of Speech. So when some jerk makes a dumb, low-rent video that infringes on another group’s religious freedom, we all forget that religious freedom and respect should be afford to all Americans, not just Christians and Jews. What was most striking was that Romney displays he forgot the Bill of Rights, because he was most interested in the potential opportunity to score political points rather than soothing the frayed nerves of a nation. He didn’t seem to realize with each word he said about President Obama, he made his opponent appear more presidential and his own candidacy seem less prepared to lead during times of crisis. The situation in Libya and Egypt is delicate. On September 11, Romney prematurely released a statement WITHOUT THE FACTS. If you are a Master of the Universe, that is perfectly fine. If you are the steward of the nation, lives can be lost because of your bad judgment and impetuousness. Whatever points Mr. Romney thought he would gain were lost because we all saw his maneuver for what it was, a Master of the Universe who was out of his depths. It is disgusting to try to jump into a foreign affairs crisis for political gain. It is inexcusable to try to spin the loss of life from this crisis, which Romney didn’t seem to understand, for political gain. Even when it was clear that he had spoken too soon and without the facts, while the situation was unfolding a Ambassador Stevens was still missing, Gov. Romney would not admit his mistake. Instead, he “doubled-down.” Again, this choice made him appear less presidential, not more so. Gov. Romney could have admitted the error of releasing his statement while the events were unfolding, expressed his deepest sympathies for the families of those who lost their lives, and pledged his support to President Obama during this time as we seek to bring the perpetrators of this vile act to justice. And then, he could wait because if President Obama rebuffed him, the President would have looked less than presidential. But as has been the case with Mitt Romney, this political wound was self-inflicted. But for the voter, it was quite revealing. Mitt Romney has displayed how he would take the country back to the failed policies of the Bush Administration in foreign policy, but worse…The Romney Doctrine of foreign policy would be the Bush Doctrine on Meth. At least George W. Bush had a father who could counsel caution and moderation on the world stage. After over a decade of war, it is time for America to move away from guns and towards butter. Romney is an uninformed Master of the Universe who should go back to the realm where his attitude and approach can win the day – Wall Street and private equity. I would rather let Romney play in that murky pool where, although his haphazard ways have consequences, he wouldn’t get Americans killed. Masters of the Universe operate from hubris and self-interest. A steward of the nation operates with determination and concern for the collective. We need a man who will worry about the collective.  Last week, Mr. Romney showed us that he isn’t that man. Let Romney have his universe. Give President Obama the nation. Balancing the Scales, 2012-09-19T20:17:13+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/tale-of-two-douglases-gabby-vs.-alyssa http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/tale-of-two-douglases-gabby-vs.-alyssa#When:22:57:27Z During the London Olympics, I was enthralled by the historic achievements of Gabrielle Douglas. Golden Gabby made history as she was winning gold medals. And she was poised in the face of the white-hot media glare. Even when others lost their minds over, of all stupid things, her hair, Golden Gabby stayed elegant, poised and mature beyond her years. In the time since the Olympics, Golden Gabby’s future is secure due to the promise of many lucrative endorsement deals. But she appears to remain what she was, a sweet, extremely focused, loving teen aged girl. Last week, we were introduced to another Douglas girl, Alyssa Douglas. I don’t know very much about Alyssa. Like Golden Gabby, she is a teen age girl, 16 years old to be exact. She is from a town near Cincinnati, Ohio. It is my understanding that she aspires to be a hairdresser. I also know that she spews violent, hateful rants about the President on Twitter. I include her name because she removed any privacy concerns when she published her violent post on Twitter. I reconsidered posting her photograph, which is easily found. Just because this child is irresponsible with her privacy, I won’t pile on since I already find her judgment flawed. If you want to know what she looks like, you can do the same Google search I did. But I will tell you that Alyssa is white. Yes, last night Alyssa Douglas took to Twitter to post a simple one line tweet that defies logic and common sense: “Someone needs to assassinate Obama…like ASAP. #DieYouPieceOfShit” Alyssa Douglas’ Twitter account has been removed, but the damage has been done. I understand that for a time, she was actually GAINING Twitter followers for dumping that kind of random violent ideation onto the Twitterosphere. Wow. Does this CHILD realize what she has done? I bet Golden Gabby, who experienced the savage effects of Twitter and Facebook, understood what this stupid child did. But even if Alyssa did not understand the consequences of the stupidity at the beginning of the day, by now I am certain she is grasping the severity of the situation. You see, the Secret Service doesn’t like it when folks threat the President of the United States…even if those threats are issued on Twitter. A man was recently jailed for threatening the President on Twitter. Frankly, I hope they throw the book at this girl. At the age of 16, you are old enough to understand that your actions have consequences. As for the folks who would tell me that I have no sense of humor because Alyssa was only joking. My response is simple. You are right. I have no sense of humor when the life of a man with a wife and two children is concerned. Since someone issued a similar threat against Gov. Romney, I have the same no nonsense attitude. A call to arms to kill a public official is NEVER FUNNY. It’s stupid, reckless, and potentially criminal. We live in a society where it is easier to buy a gun than it is to vote. In our country, a deranged young man, who would go on to leave a trail of devastation in his wake, was able to buy SIX THOUSAND ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION on the internet without raising any red flags. Have you bought cold medicine lately? It’s almost as difficult to do as voting, but guns and ammo… And in that environment, a 16 year old child takes to Twitter calling for the killing of our President. The Secret Service has already been to her home. In fact, I hope she spent the entire day getting to know them. I hope she was scared the entire day. Alyssa’s parents don’t escape my notice in this. Hate like what young Alyssa is spewing is learned. So I say, cart the whole stupid family off to jail, just to be safe. Two girls both 16 years old… Gabby has already accomplished more than many would ever dare to dream, and in the process, she has gained international fame. She represents the very best of aspiration, faith and diligence. We know that Gabby was surrounded by love and support, even when things were challenging. Alyssa is at the other end of the spectrum. By her small and hateful thinking, which she had the bad judgment to post to Twitter, she may become infamous maybe on an international scale…for wishing a man dead. The irony is that the man she is wishing dead is internationally famous as a champion for hope and change. Alyssa strikes me a symbol of how entrenched racism and hate are…even in someone so young. I want someone to ask Gov. Romney what he thinks about the tale of two Douglases. I wonder if there is any honesty left in him to recognize how much his dog whistle politics probably played a part in the downfall of Alyssa, and that Gabby succeeded in spite of them. During the London Olympics, I was enthralled by the historic achievements of Gabrielle Douglas. Golden Gabby made history as she was winning gold medals. And she was poised in the face of the white-hot media glare. Even when others lost their minds over, of all stupid things, her hair, Golden Gabby stayed elegant, poised and mature beyond her years. In the time since the Olympics, Golden Gabby’s future is secure due to the promise of many lucrative endorsement deals. But she appears to remain what she was, a sweet, extremely focused, loving teen aged girl. Last week, we were introduced to another Douglas girl, Alyssa Douglas. I don’t know very much about Alyssa. Like Golden Gabby, she is a teen age girl, 16 years old to be exact. She is from a town near Cincinnati, Ohio. It is my understanding that she aspires to be a hairdresser. I also know that she spews violent, hateful rants about the President on Twitter. I include her name because she removed any privacy concerns when she published her violent post on Twitter. I reconsidered posting her photograph, which is easily found. Just because this child is irresponsible with her privacy, I won’t pile on since I already find her judgment flawed. If you want to know what she looks like, you can do the same Google search I did. But I will tell you that Alyssa is white. Yes, last night Alyssa Douglas took to Twitter to post a simple one line tweet that defies logic and common sense: “Someone needs to assassinate Obama…like ASAP. #DieYouPieceOfShit” Alyssa Douglas’ Twitter account has been removed, but the damage has been done. I understand that for a time, she was actually GAINING Twitter followers for dumping that kind of random violent ideation onto the Twitterosphere. Wow. Does this CHILD realize what she has done? I bet Golden Gabby, who experienced the savage effects of Twitter and Facebook, understood what this stupid child did. But even if Alyssa did not understand the consequences of the stupidity at the beginning of the day, by now I am certain she is grasping the severity of the situation. You see, the Secret Service doesn’t like it when folks threat the President of the United States…even if those threats are issued on Twitter. A man was recently jailed for threatening the President on Twitter. Frankly, I hope they throw the book at this girl. At the age of 16, you are old enough to understand that your actions have consequences. As for the folks who would tell me that I have no sense of humor because Alyssa was only joking. My response is simple. You are right. I have no sense of humor when the life of a man with a wife and two children is concerned. Since someone issued a similar threat against Gov. Romney, I have the same no nonsense attitude. A call to arms to kill a public official is NEVER FUNNY. It’s stupid, reckless, and potentially criminal. We live in a society where it is easier to buy a gun than it is to vote. In our country, a deranged young man, who would go on to leave a trail of devastation in his wake, was able to buy SIX THOUSAND ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION on the internet without raising any red flags. Have you bought cold medicine lately? It’s almost as difficult to do as voting, but guns and ammo… And in that environment, a 16 year old child takes to Twitter calling for the killing of our President. The Secret Service has already been to her home. In fact, I hope she spent the entire day getting to know them. I hope she was scared the entire day. Alyssa’s parents don’t escape my notice in this. Hate like what young Alyssa is spewing is learned. So I say, cart the whole stupid family off to jail, just to be safe. Two girls both 16 years old… Gabby has already accomplished more than many would ever dare to dream, and in the process, she has gained international fame. She represents the very best of aspiration, faith and diligence. We know that Gabby was surrounded by love and support, even when things were challenging. Alyssa is at the other end of the spectrum. By her small and hateful thinking, which she had the bad judgment to post to Twitter, she may become infamous maybe on an international scale…for wishing a man dead. The irony is that the man she is wishing dead is internationally famous as a champion for hope and change. Alyssa strikes me a symbol of how entrenched racism and hate are…even in someone so young. I want someone to ask Gov. Romney what he thinks about the tale of two Douglases. I wonder if there is any honesty left in him to recognize how much his dog whistle politics probably played a part in the downfall of Alyssa, and that Gabby succeeded in spite of them. Balancing the Scales, 2012-09-12T22:57:27+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/capital-punishment-killing-them-softly http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/capital-punishment-killing-them-softly#When:17:13:31Z By the time a person ends up on death row, he or she has failed several times, which resulted in the ultimate catastrophic failure, such as the taking of another’s life. But at the risk of sounding like a bleeding heart liberal, society has failed a death row inmate as much as they fail themselves. Before the death penalty is imposed, the convict is already dead – society is killing him softly before our eyes. Capital punishment crops up periodically. Texas, the most proficient executor of executions, is the reason that folks are questioning capital punishment again. On Tuesday, August 7th, Texas executed Marvin Wilson, a severely mentally disabled man with an IQ of 61, despite the fact that the US Supreme Court had previously held that death wasn’t an appropriate punishment for “a mentally retarded criminal.” But in the end, the Supreme Court denied Wilson’s request for a stay, and Texas killed him softly, as they had killed six inmates before him this year, and nine inmates on death row scheduled to die after him in 2012. Marvin Wilson wasn’t the only high-profile execution in recent months. On September 21, 2011, the state of Georgia executed Troy Anthony Davis, a man convicted for the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. On the same day, Lawrence Brewer was also executed for the racist, hate crime that was the killing of James Byrd. The Davis execution drew national and international attention, including a last-minute delay of execution from the US Supreme Court. The Brewer execution occurred with less fanfare and controversy, but the same result—a state-sponsored murder, I mean, execution. The death penalty has become an applause line. Last summer, Texas Governor Rick Perry received the loudest applause of the evening when his record-breaking number of executions was mentioned during the GOP Presidential Debate at the Reagan Library. At a time when we need jobs and a reinvigorated economy, we all should have noted that response with concern. As we think about this issue, the Bill of Rights starts us off on the right track. The Eighth Amendment seems clear. It states: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Cruel…if it’s cruel for a criminal to take a life, does it suddenly become okay when the state takes a life? The short answer is that it doesn’t. The hypocrisy and moral equivocation required to make this argument work isn’t worth the effort. Unusual…One death due to capital punishment, is one too many for me. Killing another person should always be deemed unusual, regardless of how commonplace the practice becomes. For a brief shining moment, the United States was on the right side of this issue. In 1972, the US Supreme Court put a temporary end to the death penalty in the Furman v. Georgia ruling. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, “ In the Furman decision the Supreme Court set the standard that a punishment would be “cruel and unusual” if it was too severe for the crime, if it was arbitrary, if it offended society’s sense of justice, or if it was not more effective than a less severe penalty.” But we didn’t stay on this path for long. By 1976, the Court ruled that capital punishment was constitutionally permissible. We’ve been holding state-sponsored murders ever since, with some quibble about how we choose to conduct these state sponsored murders. The death penalty dates back to ancient Babylon and the Hammurabi Code. We live in the immediacy of the digital age, yet we employ a penal practice that dates back to the 18th Century B.C.? The impact of race and class on who receives the death penalty cannot be overstated. Nor can the fact that there is no “do-over” for an innocent man who is executed. Troy Davis’ guilt was an open question due to valid issues that created a reasonable doubt. Lawrence Brewer’s guilt was never in question. Marvin Wilson’s severe intellectual limitations with an IQ of 61 were not in question. The victims’ families will never get their loved ones back, so the vengeful, blood-lust for execution doesn’t fix the ultimate problem for them. But society has a larger problem: as the last Western, industrialized nation to employ capital punishment, should we be proud of this dubious accomplishment? I say no. The death penalty has no place in 21st century America. The men and women on death row are in a hopeless situation. But it is nothing new for most of them…they are dead before they get to the death chamber. We have already killed them softly with neglect and hopelessness. The injection is a mere formality. “Like” PunditOnPoint on Facebook and Follow @PunditOnPoint on Twitter By the time a person ends up on death row, he or she has failed several times, which resulted in the ultimate catastrophic failure, such as the taking of another’s life. But at the risk of sounding like a bleeding heart liberal, society has failed a death row inmate as much as they fail themselves. Before the death penalty is imposed, the convict is already dead – society is killing him softly before our eyes. Capital punishment crops up periodically. Texas, the most proficient executor of executions, is the reason that folks are questioning capital punishment again. On Tuesday, August 7th, Texas executed Marvin Wilson, a severely mentally disabled man with an IQ of 61, despite the fact that the US Supreme Court had previously held that death wasn’t an appropriate punishment for “a mentally retarded criminal.” But in the end, the Supreme Court denied Wilson’s request for a stay, and Texas killed him softly, as they had killed six inmates before him this year, and nine inmates on death row scheduled to die after him in 2012. Marvin Wilson wasn’t the only high-profile execution in recent months. On September 21, 2011, the state of Georgia executed Troy Anthony Davis, a man convicted for the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. On the same day, Lawrence Brewer was also executed for the racist, hate crime that was the killing of James Byrd. The Davis execution drew national and international attention, including a last-minute delay of execution from the US Supreme Court. The Brewer execution occurred with less fanfare and controversy, but the same result—a state-sponsored murder, I mean, execution. The death penalty has become an applause line. Last summer, Texas Governor Rick Perry received the loudest applause of the evening when his record-breaking number of executions was mentioned during the GOP Presidential Debate at the Reagan Library. At a time when we need jobs and a reinvigorated economy, we all should have noted that response with concern. As we think about this issue, the Bill of Rights starts us off on the right track. The Eighth Amendment seems clear. It states: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Cruel…if it’s cruel for a criminal to take a life, does it suddenly become okay when the state takes a life? The short answer is that it doesn’t. The hypocrisy and moral equivocation required to make this argument work isn’t worth the effort. Unusual…One death due to capital punishment, is one too many for me. Killing another person should always be deemed unusual, regardless of how commonplace the practice becomes. For a brief shining moment, the United States was on the right side of this issue. In 1972, the US Supreme Court put a temporary end to the death penalty in the Furman v. Georgia ruling. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, “ In the Furman decision the Supreme Court set the standard that a punishment would be “cruel and unusual” if it was too severe for the crime, if it was arbitrary, if it offended society’s sense of justice, or if it was not more effective than a less severe penalty.” But we didn’t stay on this path for long. By 1976, the Court ruled that capital punishment was constitutionally permissible. We’ve been holding state-sponsored murders ever since, with some quibble about how we choose to conduct these state sponsored murders. The death penalty dates back to ancient Babylon and the Hammurabi Code. We live in the immediacy of the digital age, yet we employ a penal practice that dates back to the 18th Century B.C.? The impact of race and class on who receives the death penalty cannot be overstated. Nor can the fact that there is no “do-over” for an innocent man who is executed. Troy Davis’ guilt was an open question due to valid issues that created a reasonable doubt. Lawrence Brewer’s guilt was never in question. Marvin Wilson’s severe intellectual limitations with an IQ of 61 were not in question. The victims’ families will never get their loved ones back, so the vengeful, blood-lust for execution doesn’t fix the ultimate problem for them. But society has a larger problem: as the last Western, industrialized nation to employ capital punishment, should we be proud of this dubious accomplishment? I say no. The death penalty has no place in 21st century America. The men and women on death row are in a hopeless situation. But it is nothing new for most of them…they are dead before they get to the death chamber. We have already killed them softly with neglect and hopelessness. The injection is a mere formality. “Like” PunditOnPoint on Facebook and Follow @PunditOnPoint on Twitter Balancing the Scales, 2012-08-10T17:13:31+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/golden-gabby-dream-realized-new-dreams-born http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/golden-gabby-dream-realized-new-dreams-born#When:17:21:54Z In 2012, it is a complicated time for Blacks in America. Hate speech spills out over the Internet like acid, working to burn and destroy everything in its path. A young Black man was gunned down in April for “walking while Black.” The first African-American President of the United States is disrespected by political rivals who would question his patriotism rather than challenge his policy. There are still so many of society’s peaks, political, economic and social for the Black community to reach, even for one of us, despite the fact that so many are so familiar with life’s valleys. Yes, it is a complicated time to be Black in America.  But today is simple. It is simple because of yesterday. Yesterday and today are about a young woman, named Gabrielle Douglas, who picked up the team, formerly known as the “Fab Five,” but rechristened by their hero and leader as the “Fierce Five” and carried them to the peak of Olympic glory – team gold in women’s gymnasts. For the American women to win the team gold was historic, in and of itself, as it had only been done ONCE before in 1996. But for Gabby Douglas to win the team gold and the individual all-around gold…she made history twice. Not only is Gabby the first US gymnast to win the all-around gold and team gold in the same Olympics, she is the first Black woman to win all-around gold IN OLYMPIC HISTORY. Gabby did it in fine style. She took first place after the first rotation, and never looked back. She had nerves of steel, and composure of that never indicated any sense of stress or strain. She kept her cool and rose to meet her destiny and place in history, as others were faltering. She vaulted, flew, jumped, stuck those landings and gave us a smile that had enough wattage to assure us of her star power. When it was over, the Russians didn’t have enough to catch her.  Gabby was where she had been all day…ahead, but now with the gold medal around her neck. The end of this story should be a wonderful picture of this smiling, excellent 16-year old who sacrificed her childhood in pursuit of her dream. She can leave London with more hardware since she qualified to compete for medals on the uneven bars and the balance beam. The Flying Squirrel has transformed. She went into the Olympic crucible and came out Golden Gabby. She peaked and flourished. Her reward is a place in history. Unfortunately, she also picked up some misguided haters for her troubles as well. In the world of affirmations, there is one that says, “Make your haters your motivators.” So Golden Gabby, don’t change a thing! Just know that tonight, there are countless little black girls AROUND THE WORLD who watched you and now believe that they can become an Olympic gymnast. You gave these girls an incredible gift. From the realization of your dream, new dreams are born. In 2012, it is a complicated time for Blacks in America. Hate speech spills out over the Internet like acid, working to burn and destroy everything in its path. A young Black man was gunned down in April for “walking while Black.” The first African-American President of the United States is disrespected by political rivals who would question his patriotism rather than challenge his policy. There are still so many of society’s peaks, political, economic and social for the Black community to reach, even for one of us, despite the fact that so many are so familiar with life’s valleys. Yes, it is a complicated time to be Black in America.  But today is simple. It is simple because of yesterday. Yesterday and today are about a young woman, named Gabrielle Douglas, who picked up the team, formerly known as the “Fab Five,” but rechristened by their hero and leader as the “Fierce Five” and carried them to the peak of Olympic glory – team gold in women’s gymnasts. For the American women to win the team gold was historic, in and of itself, as it had only been done ONCE before in 1996. But for Gabby Douglas to win the team gold and the individual all-around gold…she made history twice. Not only is Gabby the first US gymnast to win the all-around gold and team gold in the same Olympics, she is the first Black woman to win all-around gold IN OLYMPIC HISTORY. Gabby did it in fine style. She took first place after the first rotation, and never looked back. She had nerves of steel, and composure of that never indicated any sense of stress or strain. She kept her cool and rose to meet her destiny and place in history, as others were faltering. She vaulted, flew, jumped, stuck those landings and gave us a smile that had enough wattage to assure us of her star power. When it was over, the Russians didn’t have enough to catch her.  Gabby was where she had been all day…ahead, but now with the gold medal around her neck. The end of this story should be a wonderful picture of this smiling, excellent 16-year old who sacrificed her childhood in pursuit of her dream. She can leave London with more hardware since she qualified to compete for medals on the uneven bars and the balance beam. The Flying Squirrel has transformed. She went into the Olympic crucible and came out Golden Gabby. She peaked and flourished. Her reward is a place in history. Unfortunately, she also picked up some misguided haters for her troubles as well. In the world of affirmations, there is one that says, “Make your haters your motivators.” So Golden Gabby, don’t change a thing! Just know that tonight, there are countless little black girls AROUND THE WORLD who watched you and now believe that they can become an Olympic gymnast. You gave these girls an incredible gift. From the realization of your dream, new dreams are born. Balancing the Scales, 2012-08-06T17:21:54+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/penn-state-shame-and-anger-in-happy-valley http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/penn-state-shame-and-anger-in-happy-valley#When:20:17:26Z I went to college at the University of Pennsylvania. I bought a t-shirt that actually said “Not Penn State.” After the events of the past several months, I think folks who attend Penn State wish they could say “Not Penn State” when asked about the turmoil swirling around the football team. The fans of the football team are reeling today after a series of blows delivered by the University, the Big Ten, and the NCAA. The child sex abuse scandal of convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky continues to cast a long, dark, soul-sucking shadow over State College, Pennsylvania, which, in a sad bit of irony, is nicknamed “Happy Valley.” The actions of a few men continue to have far-reaching, significant consequences for thousands of Penn State students, alumni, fans, and the surrounding community. Sunday, the life-sized statue of the late Joe Paterno was removed from its place in front of Beaver Stadium. Woosh! A solid blow to the solar plexus of Penn State fans who worshiped Paterno, or JoePa as he was known to the Penn State faithful. But yesterday, the NCAA delivered a flurry of combination punches that sent the Penn State football fans crashing to the canvas. JoePa’s 111 wins from 1998 to 2011 would be vacated, and with it, his place in the record books Rather than impose the “death penalty,” which is removing a team from the regular season and any bowl eligibility, the NCAA decided to starve the beast. The NCAA’s sanctions on Penn State will surely cripple this team going forward and make it very difficult for football to become the life’s blood at that institution again. After the personal assault on Joe Paterno’s legacy, they went after the program itself. First, the NCAA hit Penn State with $60 million in fines, which is about what the school made on football in a season. So don’t be too upset about that. Then the NCAA banned Penn State from the postseason for four years, which hits a football program in the pride and the pocketbook—completely appropriate and a small price to pay. The NCAA will cap scholarships at 20 below the normal limit for four years. I find this sanction unfortunate because Penn State had an impressive graduation rate, so the folks hurt by this are the student-athletes, and at Penn State, that term wasn’t an ironic joke as it as at most other Division I-A football programs. The school also will be on probation for five years. The Big Ten Conference will withhold Penn State’s share of bowl revenues, approximately $13 million over four years. The funds will be donated to children’s charities. The Big Ten, the conference in which Penn State plays football, like the NCAA, arrived at the outrage party LATE, but better late than never, I suppose… In short, the school is out from under the discipline of the NCAA in five years. It may take longer to rebuild, but so what? There are young men out there whose lives are irreparably damaged because the religion of football at Penn State became more important that the welfare of the most helpless among us—children. So if a large, prosperous university has to take a hit, do I feel badly about that? Not so much. I am concerned about the businesses that depend on Penn State football. In the same way that the NCAA wasn’t asking the right questions when this was happening, they aren’t asking the right questions about the community surrounding Penn State University. There was an effort to bow before the god of football at Penn State. Men, who had the power and the ability to intervene, did nothing. Edmund Burke was so right…The only thing necessary for the triumph to evil is for good men to do nothing. What happened at Penn State was so much worse. These men, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, and yes, Joe Paterno all allegedly worked in concert to conceal, and thereby encourage, the acts of a voracious, now convicted, pedophile. The Freeh Report commissioned by Penn State is damning and presents some inescapable conclusions about fanatical worship of the god of football, above all else, including education and safety, at Penn State. The statue of JoePa is gone, as are his record, his wins, and much of his reputation. To the Paterno family, I say, as awful it must be to hear the reputation of your loved one savaged and attacked, rest easy with the knowledge that no one ever raped or sodomized him. There are countless boys who can’t say that, and Joe Paterno’s silence played a part in allowing that to continue. His good deeds are still there. But this stain is now there as well. Have some compassion for the survivors as you fight to protect the legacy of Joe Paterno. He should have fought as hard to protect those boys. The football program at Penn State, deprived of water, food and sunlight for 5 years…most things would die. Let’s see if this football program has the will to live and be a remarkable come-back story. The weasels who allegedly engaged in a cover-up of Jerry Sandusky’s criminal behavior on Penn State property, let’s see how they fare in criminal and civil court. The fans, the Penn State faithful who paint their faces and cheer their voices away every Saturday during the football season, for you, I have a special message. I understand your disappointment about the team. Some of you believe you are being punished for something that had nothing to do with you. Maybe. But the system is broken. The only way to fix it is to intervene now. Think about the young men who were hurt. What if that was you, your brother, son, boyfriend, husband? Wouldn’t you want some form of justice, even if was justice delayed? Justice delayed is better than justice denied. Cheer for justice. Justice can be as kick-ass as football, better if you ask me. Cheer for the survivors, because what they lived through is worse than anything we can imagine. Don’t be angry about the loss of anything to do with football in the face of shame and confusion the survivors have to contend with. Jerry Sandusky is in jail, Satan preserve Sandusky’s soul for his pleasure and entertainment. There are more survivors of Sandusky out there. I hope that the young men who were abused by this very sick man will all get the help and support they need. I hope the fact that Penn State has been dealt with harshly will bring some peace to these men who have been living with the shame and anger of what happened to them in Happy Valley. If there is shame to be had, it is not by the Sandusky survivors—it is those who left a predator roam the athletic facilities at Penn State who should feel shame. But there is plenty of anger to go around. Now that justice is being served, hot and fresh, State College has a chance of reviving joy for everyone in Happy Valley.   I went to college at the University of Pennsylvania. I bought a t-shirt that actually said “Not Penn State.” After the events of the past several months, I think folks who attend Penn State wish they could say “Not Penn State” when asked about the turmoil swirling around the football team. The fans of the football team are reeling today after a series of blows delivered by the University, the Big Ten, and the NCAA. The child sex abuse scandal of convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky continues to cast a long, dark, soul-sucking shadow over State College, Pennsylvania, which, in a sad bit of irony, is nicknamed “Happy Valley.” The actions of a few men continue to have far-reaching, significant consequences for thousands of Penn State students, alumni, fans, and the surrounding community. Sunday, the life-sized statue of the late Joe Paterno was removed from its place in front of Beaver Stadium. Woosh! A solid blow to the solar plexus of Penn State fans who worshiped Paterno, or JoePa as he was known to the Penn State faithful. But yesterday, the NCAA delivered a flurry of combination punches that sent the Penn State football fans crashing to the canvas. JoePa’s 111 wins from 1998 to 2011 would be vacated, and with it, his place in the record books Rather than impose the “death penalty,” which is removing a team from the regular season and any bowl eligibility, the NCAA decided to starve the beast. The NCAA’s sanctions on Penn State will surely cripple this team going forward and make it very difficult for football to become the life’s blood at that institution again. After the personal assault on Joe Paterno’s legacy, they went after the program itself. First, the NCAA hit Penn State with $60 million in fines, which is about what the school made on football in a season. So don’t be too upset about that. Then the NCAA banned Penn State from the postseason for four years, which hits a football program in the pride and the pocketbook—completely appropriate and a small price to pay. The NCAA will cap scholarships at 20 below the normal limit for four years. I find this sanction unfortunate because Penn State had an impressive graduation rate, so the folks hurt by this are the student-athletes, and at Penn State, that term wasn’t an ironic joke as it as at most other Division I-A football programs. The school also will be on probation for five years. The Big Ten Conference will withhold Penn State’s share of bowl revenues, approximately $13 million over four years. The funds will be donated to children’s charities. The Big Ten, the conference in which Penn State plays football, like the NCAA, arrived at the outrage party LATE, but better late than never, I suppose… In short, the school is out from under the discipline of the NCAA in five years. It may take longer to rebuild, but so what? There are young men out there whose lives are irreparably damaged because the religion of football at Penn State became more important that the welfare of the most helpless among us—children. So if a large, prosperous university has to take a hit, do I feel badly about that? Not so much. I am concerned about the businesses that depend on Penn State football. In the same way that the NCAA wasn’t asking the right questions when this was happening, they aren’t asking the right questions about the community surrounding Penn State University. There was an effort to bow before the god of football at Penn State. Men, who had the power and the ability to intervene, did nothing. Edmund Burke was so right…The only thing necessary for the triumph to evil is for good men to do nothing. What happened at Penn State was so much worse. These men, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, and yes, Joe Paterno all allegedly worked in concert to conceal, and thereby encourage, the acts of a voracious, now convicted, pedophile. The Freeh Report commissioned by Penn State is damning and presents some inescapable conclusions about fanatical worship of the god of football, above all else, including education and safety, at Penn State. The statue of JoePa is gone, as are his record, his wins, and much of his reputation. To the Paterno family, I say, as awful it must be to hear the reputation of your loved one savaged and attacked, rest easy with the knowledge that no one ever raped or sodomized him. There are countless boys who can’t say that, and Joe Paterno’s silence played a part in allowing that to continue. His good deeds are still there. But this stain is now there as well. Have some compassion for the survivors as you fight to protect the legacy of Joe Paterno. He should have fought as hard to protect those boys. The football program at Penn State, deprived of water, food and sunlight for 5 years…most things would die. Let’s see if this football program has the will to live and be a remarkable come-back story. The weasels who allegedly engaged in a cover-up of Jerry Sandusky’s criminal behavior on Penn State property, let’s see how they fare in criminal and civil court. The fans, the Penn State faithful who paint their faces and cheer their voices away every Saturday during the football season, for you, I have a special message. I understand your disappointment about the team. Some of you believe you are being punished for something that had nothing to do with you. Maybe. But the system is broken. The only way to fix it is to intervene now. Think about the young men who were hurt. What if that was you, your brother, son, boyfriend, husband? Wouldn’t you want some form of justice, even if was justice delayed? Justice delayed is better than justice denied. Cheer for justice. Justice can be as kick-ass as football, better if you ask me. Cheer for the survivors, because what they lived through is worse than anything we can imagine. Don’t be angry about the loss of anything to do with football in the face of shame and confusion the survivors have to contend with. Jerry Sandusky is in jail, Satan preserve Sandusky’s soul for his pleasure and entertainment. There are more survivors of Sandusky out there. I hope that the young men who were abused by this very sick man will all get the help and support they need. I hope the fact that Penn State has been dealt with harshly will bring some peace to these men who have been living with the shame and anger of what happened to them in Happy Valley. If there is shame to be had, it is not by the Sandusky survivors—it is those who left a predator roam the athletic facilities at Penn State who should feel shame. But there is plenty of anger to go around. Now that justice is being served, hot and fresh, State College has a chance of reviving joy for everyone in Happy Valley.   Balancing the Scales, 2012-07-25T20:17:26+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/an-open-letter-to-the-speaker-john-boehner http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/an-open-letter-to-the-speaker-john-boehner#When:21:43:04Z July 13, 2012 Dear Speaker Boehner, You will be in session for 25 more working days before Election Day. Then hopefully, you will officially become lame as the OUTGOING speaker in the Lame Duck Session. For those paying attention, you have been lame all along. When you became Speaker of House, you made great show of taking possession of the gigantic gavel. You know what they say about men who have big tools and don’t know how to use them. What a waste! Yes, Mr. Speaker. Your time as Speaker of the House has been a great big, orange, weepy, ineffective waste. The tragedy of it is two-fold: you follow one of the most effective Speakers in the history of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and your ineptitude comes at a time when the Congress and the country needed a statesperson with political acumen to hold the Speaker’s gavel. The 112th Congress could be called the Looney Tunes Congress. There are some folks in the House of Representatives who are so comical that they are better placed in a cartoon than in Congress. Joe Walsh, Allen West, and Michelle Bachmann, to name a few, all deserve their own special clown car. Allen West makes ridiculous statements that are throw-backs to a drunken, discredited, red-baiting Congressman who brought a shameful time to America. Yet there are some who take this person seriously. Allen West is one of the best “race hustlers” around, invoking provocative images of slavery to suit his own political agenda. He needs to get off the “plantation” of crazy where he is currently enslaved, and find the freedom of sanity and reality. Joe Walsh is a dead-beat dad who thinks nothing of denigrating and disrespecting a decorated war hero, who also happens to be a double amputee, to suit his own craven political agenda. By the way, what are Joe Walsh’s legislative achievements while in Congress? What has he done for the people of his district? I doubt it’s very much. Michelle Bachmann… Where to start or end with her? Her biggest legislative achievement was to guarantee your unthreatened ability to buy incandescent light bulbs. I know that the most important item on your political agenda over the economy, education, the environment and other trivial things was light bulb. Yes, the future of light bulbs was keeping you up at night. Her latest stunt was to call the Affordable Care Act the “largest tax increase in American History.” Wow, lie much? Yes, Mr. Speaker, you with your big gavel couldn’t herd these crazy cats into acting in the best interests of America. We have seen it time after time. But you, Mr. Speaker, have been like Wile E. Coyote to President Obama’s Road Runner. You have allowed the TEA Party extremists to fill your head with legislatively wasteful and politically destructive plots. Rather than helping you catch the President, all you have gained for your troubles is the political equivalent of an anvil falling on your head – dismally low approval ratings for Congress, 17.8% according to Real Clear Politics Average of Congressional Job Approval polls through June 18, 2012. As the TEA Party dropped an anvil on your head, Wile E., I mean, Mr. Speaker, it was also dropping boulders and anvils on groups who expected their elected represented to look out for their interests. We expected you to bang your gavel and lead, not bang the gavel on our heads. It was the American people who suffered most. As you collected your annual salary of $223, 500, with benefits and pension, American citizens waited as you postured and played politics with our lives. As you took your salary and did nothing for the American people, the gavel lays impotently in your hand. Instead of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”), and expanding the Act so it reaches all victims of violence, the VAWA sits in limbo a victim of the violence of the political act forced on it, in the same way that every woman and members of the LGBT community who have violence forced upon them will be left without recourse if this act isn’t reauthorized. But at the same time, this same Congress was all too happy to push this government to the brink of a shutdown over an effort to defund Planned Parenthood. It bears repeating it is a sad fact that Planned Parenthood is the bogeywoman for abortion, but abortion represents 3% of the services of the services they provide. The rest of the services they provide are for the HEALTH of a woman, e.g., routine screenings such as pap smears and mammograms. By the way, Mr. Speaker, abortions in the first trimester are a legal medical procedure and a matter of CHOICE for the mother and her family. None of that mattered. You were willing to allow your big gavel to lay impotently in your hand as the country careened toward a shut-down. Women suffered during your term as Speaker. We will remember. We will deal with you harshly on Election Day. The gavel was placed in your hands because the GOP promised to be the party of jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Yes, it was a job alright, a con job. Do a Google search for “GOP jobs bill in 112th Congress.” The results are extremely spare, especially for the party that claimed they were going to be job creators. What happened? You lied to us. This ascension had nothing to do with jobs, and everything to do with power. You wouldn’t even vote on the Jobs plan the President sent to Congress, not once.  No, the goal was never jobs, it was always power.  All I can say is “well played.”  Because that is what you did, you played the American people. Crafty. But the gavel still lays impotently in your hand. A gavel you should wield with power, authority and finesse; instead, you are run around by the freshman members of your caucus. How embarrassing. That was especially apparent when you allowed the little boys and girls in the TEA Party Caucus to publicly throw their un-statesmanlike tantrums as the country had an unnecessarily prolonged negotiation about the debt ceiling last summer. The debt ceiling had been raised almost 80 times since 1960, mostly under Republican presidents, as you well know. Yet, you procrastinated like a teenager with a term paper on the debt ceiling issue, which meant you manufactured a crisis that resulted in the first downgrade of the US credit rating in America history. Not an effective use of your power, if you ask me. Yes, Mr. Speaker, there are 25 days when Congress will be in session before Election Day. You just wasted one of those days this past week on another useless vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And yet again, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner stuck his tongue out at you, said, “Beep, Beep!” and sped away…for the 33rd time. But the big gavel lays impotently in your hand. And America watches and waits because there are problems that still have to be solved in the 25 working days and in the time until your impotence becomes lame impotence in the Lame Duck Session. The debt ceiling looms on the horizon - again. In your finite wisdom, the fix put on unemployment and the payroll tax holiday was temporary, so they are expiring. Happily, the Bush Tax Cuts are expiring, but the President and most of America wants you to extend them for those with annual incomes under $250,000. And yes, VAWA is still sitting out there waiting for reconciliation in conference. Adopt the Senate version, and let’s get on with it. In New York, we say someone is all sizzle and no steak. In Texas, they say someone is all hat and no cattle. You, Mr. Speaker, were all gavel and no power, statesmanship, or gravitas. Impotent. It’s sad, because America deserved better. We needed better. And I think you may have wanted to be bigger than the gavel. It’s sad the gavel ended up being bigger than you. Sincerely yours, Pundit On Point July 13, 2012 Dear Speaker Boehner, You will be in session for 25 more working days before Election Day. Then hopefully, you will officially become lame as the OUTGOING speaker in the Lame Duck Session. For those paying attention, you have been lame all along. When you became Speaker of House, you made great show of taking possession of the gigantic gavel. You know what they say about men who have big tools and don’t know how to use them. What a waste! Yes, Mr. Speaker. Your time as Speaker of the House has been a great big, orange, weepy, ineffective waste. The tragedy of it is two-fold: you follow one of the most effective Speakers in the history of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and your ineptitude comes at a time when the Congress and the country needed a statesperson with political acumen to hold the Speaker’s gavel. The 112th Congress could be called the Looney Tunes Congress. There are some folks in the House of Representatives who are so comical that they are better placed in a cartoon than in Congress. Joe Walsh, Allen West, and Michelle Bachmann, to name a few, all deserve their own special clown car. Allen West makes ridiculous statements that are throw-backs to a drunken, discredited, red-baiting Congressman who brought a shameful time to America. Yet there are some who take this person seriously. Allen West is one of the best “race hustlers” around, invoking provocative images of slavery to suit his own political agenda. He needs to get off the “plantation” of crazy where he is currently enslaved, and find the freedom of sanity and reality. Joe Walsh is a dead-beat dad who thinks nothing of denigrating and disrespecting a decorated war hero, who also happens to be a double amputee, to suit his own craven political agenda. By the way, what are Joe Walsh’s legislative achievements while in Congress? What has he done for the people of his district? I doubt it’s very much. Michelle Bachmann… Where to start or end with her? Her biggest legislative achievement was to guarantee your unthreatened ability to buy incandescent light bulbs. I know that the most important item on your political agenda over the economy, education, the environment and other trivial things was light bulb. Yes, the future of light bulbs was keeping you up at night. Her latest stunt was to call the Affordable Care Act the “largest tax increase in American History.” Wow, lie much? Yes, Mr. Speaker, you with your big gavel couldn’t herd these crazy cats into acting in the best interests of America. We have seen it time after time. But you, Mr. Speaker, have been like Wile E. Coyote to President Obama’s Road Runner. You have allowed the TEA Party extremists to fill your head with legislatively wasteful and politically destructive plots. Rather than helping you catch the President, all you have gained for your troubles is the political equivalent of an anvil falling on your head – dismally low approval ratings for Congress, 17.8% according to Real Clear Politics Average of Congressional Job Approval polls through June 18, 2012. As the TEA Party dropped an anvil on your head, Wile E., I mean, Mr. Speaker, it was also dropping boulders and anvils on groups who expected their elected represented to look out for their interests. We expected you to bang your gavel and lead, not bang the gavel on our heads. It was the American people who suffered most. As you collected your annual salary of $223, 500, with benefits and pension, American citizens waited as you postured and played politics with our lives. As you took your salary and did nothing for the American people, the gavel lays impotently in your hand. Instead of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”), and expanding the Act so it reaches all victims of violence, the VAWA sits in limbo a victim of the violence of the political act forced on it, in the same way that every woman and members of the LGBT community who have violence forced upon them will be left without recourse if this act isn’t reauthorized. But at the same time, this same Congress was all too happy to push this government to the brink of a shutdown over an effort to defund Planned Parenthood. It bears repeating it is a sad fact that Planned Parenthood is the bogeywoman for abortion, but abortion represents 3% of the services of the services they provide. The rest of the services they provide are for the HEALTH of a woman, e.g., routine screenings such as pap smears and mammograms. By the way, Mr. Speaker, abortions in the first trimester are a legal medical procedure and a matter of CHOICE for the mother and her family. None of that mattered. You were willing to allow your big gavel to lay impotently in your hand as the country careened toward a shut-down. Women suffered during your term as Speaker. We will remember. We will deal with you harshly on Election Day. The gavel was placed in your hands because the GOP promised to be the party of jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Yes, it was a job alright, a con job. Do a Google search for “GOP jobs bill in 112th Congress.” The results are extremely spare, especially for the party that claimed they were going to be job creators. What happened? You lied to us. This ascension had nothing to do with jobs, and everything to do with power. You wouldn’t even vote on the Jobs plan the President sent to Congress, not once.  No, the goal was never jobs, it was always power.  All I can say is “well played.”  Because that is what you did, you played the American people. Crafty. But the gavel still lays impotently in your hand. A gavel you should wield with power, authority and finesse; instead, you are run around by the freshman members of your caucus. How embarrassing. That was especially apparent when you allowed the little boys and girls in the TEA Party Caucus to publicly throw their un-statesmanlike tantrums as the country had an unnecessarily prolonged negotiation about the debt ceiling last summer. The debt ceiling had been raised almost 80 times since 1960, mostly under Republican presidents, as you well know. Yet, you procrastinated like a teenager with a term paper on the debt ceiling issue, which meant you manufactured a crisis that resulted in the first downgrade of the US credit rating in America history. Not an effective use of your power, if you ask me. Yes, Mr. Speaker, there are 25 days when Congress will be in session before Election Day. You just wasted one of those days this past week on another useless vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And yet again, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner stuck his tongue out at you, said, “Beep, Beep!” and sped away…for the 33rd time. But the big gavel lays impotently in your hand. And America watches and waits because there are problems that still have to be solved in the 25 working days and in the time until your impotence becomes lame impotence in the Lame Duck Session. The debt ceiling looms on the horizon - again. In your finite wisdom, the fix put on unemployment and the payroll tax holiday was temporary, so they are expiring. Happily, the Bush Tax Cuts are expiring, but the President and most of America wants you to extend them for those with annual incomes under $250,000. And yes, VAWA is still sitting out there waiting for reconciliation in conference. Adopt the Senate version, and let’s get on with it. In New York, we say someone is all sizzle and no steak. In Texas, they say someone is all hat and no cattle. You, Mr. Speaker, were all gavel and no power, statesmanship, or gravitas. Impotent. It’s sad, because America deserved better. We needed better. And I think you may have wanted to be bigger than the gavel. It’s sad the gavel ended up being bigger than you. Sincerely yours, Pundit On Point Balancing the Scales, 2012-07-13T21:43:04+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/marriage-equality-hypocrisy-the-new-black-part-ii http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/marriage-equality-hypocrisy-the-new-black-part-ii#When:17:49:07Z The Black church was a mainstay and source of inspiration during the darkest days of oppression for Blacks in America. As important, the Black church was seen as a source of community organizing that was translated into political activism and community advocacy. Yet, the Black community has developed a certain measure of hubris and complacency about civil rights since the 1960’s, when the legal landscape for Blacks changed because of new laws and Supreme Court decisions. Because activism in the Black community has become fat, lazy and content, it becomes easier to believe that in 2012, the Black Church is being used as a wedge and source of intolerance. The target for this discrimination is against another group that is being marginalized and deprived of equal protection under the law – the LGTBQ community. It is never appropriate for this country to pursue laws and policies that discriminate. Discrimination runs counter to the vision of America that is expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the policies and procedures of the country set forth in the US Constitution, as it has been amended. As I did in 2010, I won’t discuss the religious arguments that have been raised against Marriage Equality. Why? Because the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment creates a separation of church and state, this takes religion out of this situation for me and many others. If a church wants to refuse to recognize same sex marriages, I would go to the mat to protect their religious liberty, which is also constitutionally protected. But we aren’t talking about religious ceremonies and beliefs. When it comes to Marriage Equality, the conversation is about equal protection under the law. I am struck by how many people don’t recognize that marriage is also a civil, legal contract between two parties. In the same way that buying a house is done according to the law and in a way that bars discrimination, the civil contract of marriage should be viewed through the same prism. The law cannot, and must not, be selectively applied.  Equal protection under the law is guaranteed to every American by the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment doesn’t say “equal protection, provided that certain religious factions are okay with it.” There are some who ask why must same sex couples have marriage equality? Why isn’t a “civil union” sufficient for “them?” When Black folks ask this question, I find it especially painful. It is within the lifetime of many Black folks uttering this despicable question that we were told to be content with “separate but equal” education, public facilities, and limitations on our ability to marry who we loved. Segregation of Blacks was rationalized with Bible verses in the beliefs strongly held by God-fearing, hate mongering Christians. Bible verses were cited as the moral rationalization for depriving American citizens of their liberty, and from their equal measure of citizenship. No citizen should be required to accept a second-class status flowing from any legal transaction or status. This disgusting approach is not only illegal; it is also immoral in the country that is the leader of the free world. In the way that only equality was, and is, sufficient for the Black community and women, the LGBTQ community has every right to demand and expect nothing less as well. It would be hypocritical for anyone engaged in the fight for social justice to accept anything less. As Black folks and women continue to struggle for the full realization of equality, the LGBT community must realize that the struggle will be long and difficult. Because the vote is such a uniquely essential tool in the political process, I have a heightened measure of disgust for the members of the Black clergy who have stated that they will tell their congregations to stay at home and not vote for Barack Obama in November. What? We are in a time when states like Florida are purging thousands of voters from the voter rolls, and 34 states have voter ID laws in an effort to disenfranchise the Black and Latino community, the elderly and the young. The American Legislative Executive Council (“ALEC”), it appears, didn’t have to lift a finger. Some remarkably ignorant and short-sighted members of the Black clergy have been more than happy to do ALEC’s dirty work. The Black clergy has a legacy of empowering its community and preaching about liberation and justice that is inextricably intertwined with the history of Blacks in America. These members of the clergy advocating for the same type of fear and discrimination that attempted to subjugate and humiliate Blacks for centuries. The most damaging to the psyche and reality of Black folks is the fact that some members of the Black clergy are encouraging voters to stay away from the polls during an election that will prove crucial to the fate of under-represented minorities.  What is the justification for this civic malpractice? A stance on a single social issue, grounded in bigotry. I find this position unbelievably dangerously reckless and irresponsible. What everyone must bear in mind is the fact that the expansion of justice and liberty in America serves to enhance the country, not diminish it. The elimination of the last vestiges of unequal protection under the law doesn’t infringe upon other Americans’ liberty, especially the Black community. In the wake of President Obama’s statement about his evolved position on Marriage Equality, Black celebrities, such as Will Smith, Chris Rock, Jay-Z, and most interestingly, General Colin Powell have all stepped forward to express their support for same sex marriage. President Obama and these celebrities aren’t the only ones in the Black Community to evolve in their position about Marriage Equality, but the changing attitudes reflect a community in the process of changing its mind. Hopefully the shift in attitude in the Black community, known to be socially conservative, bodes well for the rest of the country. Opposition to same sex marriage in the Black Community has decreased after the President’s interview, but that isn’t necessarily translating into increased support for gay marriage. It is a work in progress. It isn’t enough to say that you no longer support discrimination. Those no longer in opposition to Marriage Equality must remember the quote attributed to Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  America, home of the American Dream, must no longer give the full measure of liberty to some, while actively seeking to discriminate against others. “Equal Justice Under Law.” It is what is inscribed on the building that houses the US Supreme Court. These words cannot merely be decorative. They have to have practical application…for every American.  Any other approach is legally wrong and morally offensive. I guess the level of hypocrisy about Marriage Equality is en vogue in the Black community. But I don’t understand it. There must be a new Black Community embracing this moral and legal hypocrisy. I guess hypocrisy is the new Black. The Black church was a mainstay and source of inspiration during the darkest days of oppression for Blacks in America. As important, the Black church was seen as a source of community organizing that was translated into political activism and community advocacy. Yet, the Black community has developed a certain measure of hubris and complacency about civil rights since the 1960’s, when the legal landscape for Blacks changed because of new laws and Supreme Court decisions. Because activism in the Black community has become fat, lazy and content, it becomes easier to believe that in 2012, the Black Church is being used as a wedge and source of intolerance. The target for this discrimination is against another group that is being marginalized and deprived of equal protection under the law – the LGTBQ community. It is never appropriate for this country to pursue laws and policies that discriminate. Discrimination runs counter to the vision of America that is expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the policies and procedures of the country set forth in the US Constitution, as it has been amended. As I did in 2010, I won’t discuss the religious arguments that have been raised against Marriage Equality. Why? Because the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment creates a separation of church and state, this takes religion out of this situation for me and many others. If a church wants to refuse to recognize same sex marriages, I would go to the mat to protect their religious liberty, which is also constitutionally protected. But we aren’t talking about religious ceremonies and beliefs. When it comes to Marriage Equality, the conversation is about equal protection under the law. I am struck by how many people don’t recognize that marriage is also a civil, legal contract between two parties. In the same way that buying a house is done according to the law and in a way that bars discrimination, the civil contract of marriage should be viewed through the same prism. The law cannot, and must not, be selectively applied.  Equal protection under the law is guaranteed to every American by the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment doesn’t say “equal protection, provided that certain religious factions are okay with it.” There are some who ask why must same sex couples have marriage equality? Why isn’t a “civil union” sufficient for “them?” When Black folks ask this question, I find it especially painful. It is within the lifetime of many Black folks uttering this despicable question that we were told to be content with “separate but equal” education, public facilities, and limitations on our ability to marry who we loved. Segregation of Blacks was rationalized with Bible verses in the beliefs strongly held by God-fearing, hate mongering Christians. Bible verses were cited as the moral rationalization for depriving American citizens of their liberty, and from their equal measure of citizenship. No citizen should be required to accept a second-class status flowing from any legal transaction or status. This disgusting approach is not only illegal; it is also immoral in the country that is the leader of the free world. In the way that only equality was, and is, sufficient for the Black community and women, the LGBTQ community has every right to demand and expect nothing less as well. It would be hypocritical for anyone engaged in the fight for social justice to accept anything less. As Black folks and women continue to struggle for the full realization of equality, the LGBT community must realize that the struggle will be long and difficult. Because the vote is such a uniquely essential tool in the political process, I have a heightened measure of disgust for the members of the Black clergy who have stated that they will tell their congregations to stay at home and not vote for Barack Obama in November. What? We are in a time when states like Florida are purging thousands of voters from the voter rolls, and 34 states have voter ID laws in an effort to disenfranchise the Black and Latino community, the elderly and the young. The American Legislative Executive Council (“ALEC”), it appears, didn’t have to lift a finger. Some remarkably ignorant and short-sighted members of the Black clergy have been more than happy to do ALEC’s dirty work. The Black clergy has a legacy of empowering its community and preaching about liberation and justice that is inextricably intertwined with the history of Blacks in America. These members of the clergy advocating for the same type of fear and discrimination that attempted to subjugate and humiliate Blacks for centuries. The most damaging to the psyche and reality of Black folks is the fact that some members of the Black clergy are encouraging voters to stay away from the polls during an election that will prove crucial to the fate of under-represented minorities.  What is the justification for this civic malpractice? A stance on a single social issue, grounded in bigotry. I find this position unbelievably dangerously reckless and irresponsible. What everyone must bear in mind is the fact that the expansion of justice and liberty in America serves to enhance the country, not diminish it. The elimination of the last vestiges of unequal protection under the law doesn’t infringe upon other Americans’ liberty, especially the Black community. In the wake of President Obama’s statement about his evolved position on Marriage Equality, Black celebrities, such as Will Smith, Chris Rock, Jay-Z, and most interestingly, General Colin Powell have all stepped forward to express their support for same sex marriage. President Obama and these celebrities aren’t the only ones in the Black Community to evolve in their position about Marriage Equality, but the changing attitudes reflect a community in the process of changing its mind. Hopefully the shift in attitude in the Black community, known to be socially conservative, bodes well for the rest of the country. Opposition to same sex marriage in the Black Community has decreased after the President’s interview, but that isn’t necessarily translating into increased support for gay marriage. It is a work in progress. It isn’t enough to say that you no longer support discrimination. Those no longer in opposition to Marriage Equality must remember the quote attributed to Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  America, home of the American Dream, must no longer give the full measure of liberty to some, while actively seeking to discriminate against others. “Equal Justice Under Law.” It is what is inscribed on the building that houses the US Supreme Court. These words cannot merely be decorative. They have to have practical application…for every American.  Any other approach is legally wrong and morally offensive. I guess the level of hypocrisy about Marriage Equality is en vogue in the Black community. But I don’t understand it. There must be a new Black Community embracing this moral and legal hypocrisy. I guess hypocrisy is the new Black. Balancing the Scales, 2012-06-22T17:49:07+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/marriage-equality-hypocrisy-the-new-black http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/marriage-equality-hypocrisy-the-new-black#When:16:20:55Z On May 9th, 2012, President Barack Obama, the first Black President of the United States, did something extraordinary. The day after North Carolina voted bigotry into its state constitution, President Obama spoke out against bigotry and discrimination when he expressed his personal support for same sex marriage. I will be honest and say that it has taken me this long to figure out what I wanted to say about the situation. The President’s remarks were a statement that is, arguably, the most significant statement of civil rights made by a President since the Emancipation Proclamation. All of America, but the Black community in particular, should have heaved a collective sigh of relief that anyone of our presidents finally had the courage to stand for the principles of equal protection expressed in the Constitution…not just in theory, but in practice. The Black community should have been so very proud that Barack Obama had the courage of his convictions to speak out against discrimination in a way that no other president ever had before. I was thrilled because this was a stance I had called on every person to take over two years ago. Many didn’t bother to parse the President’s comments for their real impact on current policy, which is minimal. Instead, there was a visceral reaction based in fear and bigotry. What made this reaction so sad and infuriating was that, for some, their bigoted discrimination is wrapped in the Bible and tied with a bow of “Christianity” that Christ wouldn’t recognize. I am underwhelmed and disappointed by the hypocrisy of those in the Black Community who do not support Marriage Equality. The history of Black folks in America is long, complicated and full of painful injustices. The Constitution had its infamous “Three-fifths Compromise” that was good for everyone, except Black people.  The Dred Scott decision was handed down by the US Supreme Court in 1857 showing cowardice and a political cravenness that would make the Roberts Court jealous. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, in the wake of the Emancipation Proclamation, offered hope that America would finally deliver on the promise of the ideals set out in the Declaration of Independence. But that hope was snatched away with the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896. If you aren’t aware, Plessy created the doctrine of “Separate, but Equal.” Plessy was also the legal foundation for Jim Crow Segregation, which stood until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. It wasn’t until 1967, with the Loving v. Virginia decision, which ended race-based impediments to legal marriage that Blacks could truly marry whoever they wanted. The fight for equality, regardless of race, is by no means over.  The history of civil rights fights in America casts a long and impressive shadow. The Black Community has a long tradition of standing up for what is right and just. Abolitionists who fought slavery in the 19th Century were also active members of the Women’s Suffragist movement. There was a moral consistency in that position.  There was recognition that the expansion of rights enhances the concepts of liberty and justice for every American. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said, “A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The new Black community must remember the recent and present suffering that comes from discrimination. The new Black community, like the old Black community, must stand on the right side of history and fight for equality wherever discrimination exists. It’s not too late to evolve and follow the fine example set by President Obama. The old Black community stood for justice, the new Black community must never stand for hypocrisy. On May 9th, 2012, President Barack Obama, the first Black President of the United States, did something extraordinary. The day after North Carolina voted bigotry into its state constitution, President Obama spoke out against bigotry and discrimination when he expressed his personal support for same sex marriage. I will be honest and say that it has taken me this long to figure out what I wanted to say about the situation. The President’s remarks were a statement that is, arguably, the most significant statement of civil rights made by a President since the Emancipation Proclamation. All of America, but the Black community in particular, should have heaved a collective sigh of relief that anyone of our presidents finally had the courage to stand for the principles of equal protection expressed in the Constitution…not just in theory, but in practice. The Black community should have been so very proud that Barack Obama had the courage of his convictions to speak out against discrimination in a way that no other president ever had before. I was thrilled because this was a stance I had called on every person to take over two years ago. Many didn’t bother to parse the President’s comments for their real impact on current policy, which is minimal. Instead, there was a visceral reaction based in fear and bigotry. What made this reaction so sad and infuriating was that, for some, their bigoted discrimination is wrapped in the Bible and tied with a bow of “Christianity” that Christ wouldn’t recognize. I am underwhelmed and disappointed by the hypocrisy of those in the Black Community who do not support Marriage Equality. The history of Black folks in America is long, complicated and full of painful injustices. The Constitution had its infamous “Three-fifths Compromise” that was good for everyone, except Black people.  The Dred Scott decision was handed down by the US Supreme Court in 1857 showing cowardice and a political cravenness that would make the Roberts Court jealous. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, in the wake of the Emancipation Proclamation, offered hope that America would finally deliver on the promise of the ideals set out in the Declaration of Independence. But that hope was snatched away with the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896. If you aren’t aware, Plessy created the doctrine of “Separate, but Equal.” Plessy was also the legal foundation for Jim Crow Segregation, which stood until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. It wasn’t until 1967, with the Loving v. Virginia decision, which ended race-based impediments to legal marriage that Blacks could truly marry whoever they wanted. The fight for equality, regardless of race, is by no means over.  The history of civil rights fights in America casts a long and impressive shadow. The Black Community has a long tradition of standing up for what is right and just. Abolitionists who fought slavery in the 19th Century were also active members of the Women’s Suffragist movement. There was a moral consistency in that position.  There was recognition that the expansion of rights enhances the concepts of liberty and justice for every American. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said, “A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The new Black community must remember the recent and present suffering that comes from discrimination. The new Black community, like the old Black community, must stand on the right side of history and fight for equality wherever discrimination exists. It’s not too late to evolve and follow the fine example set by President Obama. The old Black community stood for justice, the new Black community must never stand for hypocrisy. Balancing the Scales, 2012-06-15T16:20:55+00:00 http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/paralyzing-politics-of-hate http://www.lipulse.com/blog/article/paralyzing-politics-of-hate#When:18:31:53Z Love makes the world go ‘round. Not! Get with the program, my friends. In 2012, hate is like venom circulating through society. Hate allows only for the perpetuation of more hate. They have all kinds of catchy expressions to capture our obsession with hate: “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” “You’re such a hater.” “Don’t drink the drink the haterade!” As a culture, we have devolved. We embrace and revolve around hate. Unfortunately, the place where America’s fascination with hate finds its fullest expression is where the heartbeat of hope should be strongest: politics. As a child, some of my earliest heroes weren’t singers or movie stars. Aside from my parents, my idols were the eloquent, intelligent and seemingly wise men and women who were respected enough to hold elected office. I can remember keynote speeches at Democratic National Conventions as far back as when I was ten years old. These amazing men and women, who include Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm, and Mario Cuomo, created my insatiable appetite for politics and inspired me to go to law school.  For all of my policy critiques of President Barack Obama, I will always remember the inclusive, hopeful and unifying message that then, State Senator Barack Obama gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was the beginning of the latest Hope and Change era in politics. Despite my idealized memories, hate politics are as old as politics itself. The Hope and Change era ushered in by Barack Obama in 2008 didn’t have a long shelf life. The hate struck back with devastating dark force. Hate has been dominating the political discourse since well before the Mid-term Elections of 2010. The rise of the TEA Party was the end of the force of Hope and Change.  The TEA Party took their hate and anger, converted it into claims of job creation and deficit reduction sufficient to swindle the electorate and ride into the House of Representatives. Congress isn’t the only place that the politics of hate is on display. If you watched any of the GOP Presidential Debates, you witnessed an astounding display of grandstanding, bullying, truthiness, absolute lies, brain freeze and yes, hate. It was unbelievable to see how the dwindling field of candidates behaved. Nothing was been off-limits, except the truth and real discussions about policy issues that actually matter to Americans. A serious discussion about the moon as the 51st state is enough to provoke hatred, but isn’t going to create jobs, improve education, eliminate poverty, feed the hungry or make America secure in an instable world. Even now that it’s just Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul, the slow trickle of tepid endorsements indicates a undercurrent of something dour and unpleasant in the GOP. Or maybe the GOP just isn’t that into Mitt Romney? Don’t believe that the right and the Republicans cornered the market on hate and anger anymore.  By the fall of 2011, progressives developed some hate and vitriol of their own, and the Occupy Movement was born. Nuances of the Occupy Movement are far too complicated to dissect in a few sentences. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the Occupy Movement is an expression of the frustration, for most, and hatred, for some, at inequitable aspects of the economic and political systems that reduce opportunity and mobility for a majority of Americans. Hate is easily understood and hard to contain. But hate, like any good venom, is lethal and kills everything in its path. Let’s spread truth and fairness instead. Innovation, growth and inspiration aren’t possible where hate has been spread. Let’s not be paralyzed by hate. The only hope for us all is if we paralyze hate instead. Love makes the world go ‘round. Not! Get with the program, my friends. In 2012, hate is like venom circulating through society. Hate allows only for the perpetuation of more hate. They have all kinds of catchy expressions to capture our obsession with hate: “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” “You’re such a hater.” “Don’t drink the drink the haterade!” As a culture, we have devolved. We embrace and revolve around hate. Unfortunately, the place where America’s fascination with hate finds its fullest expression is where the heartbeat of hope should be strongest: politics. As a child, some of my earliest heroes weren’t singers or movie stars. Aside from my parents, my idols were the eloquent, intelligent and seemingly wise men and women who were respected enough to hold elected office. I can remember keynote speeches at Democratic National Conventions as far back as when I was ten years old. These amazing men and women, who include Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm, and Mario Cuomo, created my insatiable appetite for politics and inspired me to go to law school.  For all of my policy critiques of President Barack Obama, I will always remember the inclusive, hopeful and unifying message that then, State Senator Barack Obama gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was the beginning of the latest Hope and Change era in politics. Despite my idealized memories, hate politics are as old as politics itself. The Hope and Change era ushered in by Barack Obama in 2008 didn’t have a long shelf life. The hate struck back with devastating dark force. Hate has been dominating the political discourse since well before the Mid-term Elections of 2010. The rise of the TEA Party was the end of the force of Hope and Change.  The TEA Party took their hate and anger, converted it into claims of job creation and deficit reduction sufficient to swindle the electorate and ride into the House of Representatives. Congress isn’t the only place that the politics of hate is on display. If you watched any of the GOP Presidential Debates, you witnessed an astounding display of grandstanding, bullying, truthiness, absolute lies, brain freeze and yes, hate. It was unbelievable to see how the dwindling field of candidates behaved. Nothing was been off-limits, except the truth and real discussions about policy issues that actually matter to Americans. A serious discussion about the moon as the 51st state is enough to provoke hatred, but isn’t going to create jobs, improve education, eliminate poverty, feed the hungry or make America secure in an instable world. Even now that it’s just Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul, the slow trickle of tepid endorsements indicates a undercurrent of something dour and unpleasant in the GOP. Or maybe the GOP just isn’t that into Mitt Romney? Don’t believe that the right and the Republicans cornered the market on hate and anger anymore.  By the fall of 2011, progressives developed some hate and vitriol of their own, and the Occupy Movement was born. Nuances of the Occupy Movement are far too complicated to dissect in a few sentences. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the Occupy Movement is an expression of the frustration, for most, and hatred, for some, at inequitable aspects of the economic and political systems that reduce opportunity and mobility for a majority of Americans. Hate is easily understood and hard to contain. But hate, like any good venom, is lethal and kills everything in its path. Let’s spread truth and fairness instead. Innovation, growth and inspiration aren’t possible where hate has been spread. Let’s not be paralyzed by hate. The only hope for us all is if we paralyze hate instead. Balancing the Scales, 2012-05-10T18:31:53+00:00