GW 2008 Innovator of the Year

Barack Obama will not only go down in history as America's first black president, he is also the first commander-in-chief to use new media as part of his successful campaign. Early on in the election cycle, the Obama campaign knew that if it wanted to bring "change" to American politics, they would need innovative communication to do it.

What Did We Say:

Obama used the Internet for both fundraising purposes and growing a community of like-minded voters who wanted to see the country go in a different direction than the one led by the Bush Administration. According to data from the Federal Election Commission, Obama raised over $470 million in individual contributions through October 15, compared to rival John McCain’s $200 million. Obama accomplished this by taking smaller contributions from supporters and creating an easy online giving process.

Also, his supporters got online to show their support for him on multiple social networks, including a YouTube video from pop star Will.i.am and “Obama Girl.”

The Obama campaign also used text messaging to announce the selection of VP running mate Joe Biden.

The president-elect has vowed to make technological innovation a priority in his administration, as his weekly radio addresses will also be posted on YouTube, bringing new meaning to the fireside chats. Also, for the first time, there will be a chief technology officer to help Obama "ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st Century."

Here at Global Wire, we are most interested, though, in how transparent Obama will be about his policy decisions, and if he will be frank or shady about discussing his decisions in cyberspace. We recommend that he take questions from the American people and answer them in his YouTube chats if he wants to keep the momentum that got him elected in the first place. Otherwise, he will be seen as just another politician that says one thing and does another. While we love that the next U.S. president is tech-savvy, we will cry foul on any questionable decisions he makes, especially regarding the war on terrorism and the growing economic crisis.

But for now, we hold our glasses up to Barack Obama on his achievements so far!

Dopey White Folks Get By

Conversation topics like sex, politics and religion are usually frowned upon at social gatherings. But, you all know me - I got to bring the pain everywhere I go.

So, last week I went to my high school reunion, and got into a conversation with a white schoolmate who now lives in Texas. She started talking about how in the Lone Star state everyone just LOVES Sarah Palin. I was not surprised, since this was the same state that gave the world George W. Bush!

I posed the following question to my friend: did she think Texans would still love her if she was a ditsy black woman.

"Not a chance," she said. "Maybe when hell freezes over."

My point exactly - how does a woman as dumb as the Alaskan governor get by in life?

Here's my opinion: Sarah Palin has gotten by because she is attractive, witty, charismatic and, most importantly, white. Beautiful people have always gotten the better hand in life, but being white gives one an additional shield of protection from scrutiny. We are mentally programmed in this society to always trust the white people, no matter what.

I continued to say to my friend that there is no way on this planet a black, Latino, Asian version of Sarah Palin would even be allowed to have a career in politics, let alone become governor and a vice presidential nominee. That woman of color would just be laughed out of town - and rightfully so.

Following the election, all the political pundits wondered aloud why Palin didn't have the "judgment" to know that she was too incompetent to take on the second most important job in the world. (And notice how many times incompetent was used to describe Palin. If she were a different color, she would have been called straight up stupid.)

Of course she has no "judgment;" she's a beauty queen! I bet this woman has been surrounded by people all her life, so overwhelmed by her prettiness and wittiness that common sense went out the window while encouraging her political aspirations.

I can imagine what some sectors of the Alaskan Republican party think of her:

Sarah, you should run for mayor/governor/vice president, even though you wink like a vapid moron and possibly don't know that Africa is a continent. But who cares, you're great! You shoot moving objects from planes and hate gays. That's good enough for us.

Even when more of Palin's "knowledge gaps" were discovered after the election, some people still wanted to defend her, including Fox blowhard Bill O'Reilly, who actually said that she could be "tutored on issues" like Africa. Excuse me, Mr. O'Reilly, but if a 44-year-old grown ass woman who has aspirations to run for national political office doesn't have the intellectual curiosity to learn about countries around the world, then why bother getting tutored at this point in her life?

Then my white friend said that current cowboy-in-chief, W., isn't attractive and not particularly witty.

"No, but he is white," I said. "Again, it was same rationale people used for him. Everyone wanted a president they could have a beer back in 2000."

I think someone said once, maybe Chris Rock, that the only way a black man who had a grade C average in college would get into the White House is if he was the janitor. When you think about that, it's true. Some people might say many things about the president-elect, including his lack of experience. But nobody can say that Obama lacks intelligence.

Maybe Obama's election is a sign that Americans really want smart people for once running the show, no matter what their race is.

Recently in a ABC World News interview, Bush said the following:

"I'm sure some people voted for Barack Obama because of me."

No sh*t, Sherlock. At least you are smart enough to know that.

Black journalists, bloggers discuss the future of news

By Talia Whyte

Originally published in the Bay State Banner


WASHINGTON — With newspapers across the nations watching their circulations decline, many black journalists find themselves re-evaluating the next steps in their own careers.

During a conference last month hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), reporters and bloggers assessed the coming inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, who has vowed to make technology a priority in his administration, and considered how black journalism might fit into the new digital era.

If the statistics are any indication of print journalism’s future, more readers are getting their news from new media tools like blogs and YouTube — and the industry’s demise could be just around the corner.

According to an August survey released by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, only 46 percent of Americans read a newspaper regularly, which is down from 52 percent in 2006. On the other hand, online readership has grown from 9 percent to 13 percent in two years, as reported by Editor & Publisher magazine.

The drop in print readership has also affected the nation’s approximately 200 black newspapers, leading many to reconsider how to stay competitive.

Zenitha Prince, Washington bureau chief for the Afro-American Newspaper, was one of very few members of the black press to follow Obama throughout his presidential run. The Afro-American, which primarily serves readers in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore area, published Prince’s campaign reports daily on its Web site in addition to the coverage in its weekly print edition.

At the recent NABJ conference, Prince said that while reporting on the campaign trail from a black perspective created unique opportunities, it also revealed significant disadvantages, particularly in the area of online competition.

“Because we are a weekly newspaper, we are able to do more in-depth reporting on issues affecting our community,” she said. “But because we have limited resources, it was difficult sometimes to compete with everything going on online.”

Weekly community newspapers have always had to compete with big-city dailies, but in recent years, the emergence of the blogosphere has created even stiffer competition for readers. According to blog search engine Technorati, there are over 110 million blogs for Web surfers to choose from, many of which are run by and for African Americans.

While many blogs exist purely to entertain readers, the black blogosphere has also become an information source and outlet for discussion of issues underreported in the mainstream media, as well as a motivator and organizing place for social activism.

Last year, an estimated 20,000 people gathered in Jena, La., in support of six black teenagers accused of attacking a white teenager following a number of racially-motivated events. The case of the so-called “Jena Six” gained momentum in the national press only after a grassroots movement developed online to bring attention to the students’ plight.

“Blogging is the new NAACP,” said Gina McCauley, founder of the feminist blog What About Our Daughters. “Blogging is about love, community and social justice. It’s beautiful.”

McCauley, an Austin, Texas-based lawyer, said she started her blog last year to address negative media portrayals of black women and girls. Since its inception, What About Our Daughters has taken on everyone from the Rev. Al Sharpton to Black Entertainment Television executives. McCauley is also the founder of Blogging While Brown, the only international conference for bloggers of color, which convened for the first time in Atlanta this past July, and runs a group blog called Michelle Obama Watch, which aims to present balanced information about the first lady-in-waiting.

“Some of the top black bloggers are women,” McCauley said. “There are a lot of great, smart black people in the blogosphere today.”

Journalist Amy Alexander is also looking to join that number. Alexander is a 2008 Alfred Knobler Journalism Fellow at The Nation Institute and is working on a book about race and the media. She is now blogging for the Nation and the online magazine The Root, while developing her own blog, which she said she hopes will uphold old-school journalistic standards.

“It has taken an adjustment for me to blog,” Alexander said. “Blogging has given me more freedom. However, my blogging is opinion informed by research and traditional reporting.”

Lester Spence, assistant professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University and writer of www.blacksmythe.com, may be the first black academic blogger. He said he sees a host of new freedoms that new media can present.

“When you talk about democratizing the media, you have more voices and less boundaries,” he said.

With more writers blogging and more readers consuming online content, the $64,000 question has become: Should the traditional media call it a day? The answer, according to Doni Glover, may be evolution.

The former editor of the Sandtown-Winchester Viewpoint, a Baltimore-based black newspaper, Glover may have created a template for the future of traditional black media. In 2002, he started www.bmorenews.com, which has become one of the country’s few black-oriented, hyper-local online news outlets.

The Web site combines video, photos, news and blogs targeted to the black communities of Baltimore and Washington. Its focused business plan has paid off — since its inception, Glover said, www.bmorenews.com has received over 600,000 unique hits and has reached readers from more than 65 countries.

Perhaps most important, from Glover’s perspective, is that by running his own site, the buck stops with him.

“[I] was tired of doing the same work for others and not getting my due,” Glover said. “Besides, [I have] always been bitten by the entrepreurial bug. ‘God bless the child [that’s got] his own,’ said noted singer Billie Holiday.

“So [my] take is that if you are going to stay in the game, you’d better have your own venue. That way, the only one giving out pink slips is you.”

Bloggers watch out for Michelle Obama

Around the world, there is not only a great deal of interest in U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, but also in the life of the first lady-in-waiting, Michelle Obama. During the campaign Mrs. Obama came under scrutiny for a variety of issues, ranging from an infamous "UnAmerican" speech to being called a "baby mama." A group of bloggers have taken the initiative to make sure a balanced image of the first lady is maintained in both the media and the blogosphere.

Michelle Obama Watch is an initiative started by Texas resident Gina McCauley, founder of What About Our Daughters, a blog dedicated to supporting positive images of black women and girls. McCauley intended Michelle Obama Watch to be "a repository of all of the criticism, praise, and general [foolishness] thrown at Michelle Obama. On the blog, users can see updated news, information, video and photos of the first lady. There is also discussion about any criticism made about Obama, as well as a section on her daughters, Sasha and Malia.

"Whether you support her husband or not," McCauley says on the blog. "Let’s be clear, any and every Black woman that walks in [Michelle's] footsteps can expect the same treatment so we might as well pull a Gandolf, draw a line in the stand and yell 'THOU SHALL NOT PASS!'"

Obama and racial progress

President-elect Barack Obama's victory last week was not only a step forward for African Americans, but also for blacks around the world. Over the last few days, I have received so many e-mails from friends and family members in the Caribbean, Europe and Africa over how happy they are because Obama's win is really a step forward for the black diaspora.

Over the weekend a white friend asked me if I thought that "racism was over" now that the country has elected a black man president. I abruptly said no, of course. While there has been progress in this country regarding race relations, there is still a long way to go.

But in the meantime, lets remember a darker time in American history.

McCain/Palin smackdown

Just when you thought you heard the last of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin...



Yes, it looks like the McCain camp is pulling out the long knives on the hockey mom.

Now remember, McCain DID invite Palin to join his ticket without vetting her...

Also, lets remember that "fair and balanced" Fox News is reporting this, so no one can blame liberal bias or "gotcha" journalism, although Bill O'Reilly comes off like he has the hots for Palin.

Let the games begin.

The other losers in the presidential race

Hillary Clinton is not a happy woman this morning.

Her 2012 presidential aspirations sank last night with the Obama victory. While she will go down in history as the first woman presidential candidate to run a formidable campaign, Clinton ended up losing the fight when she and her partner in crime, Bill Clinton, indirectly used racism to divide black and white voters. As you can see, divisiveness never works in anyone's favor.

Also, another hater, Ralph "Yes, I am running in the race" Nader had the audacity to get on Fox News this morning and call Barack Obama an "Uncle Tom" for big corporations. While I agree that our politicians are beholden to corporate interests these days, it almost seemed like Nader was crassly using Obama's race to make a point or a publicity stunt at best. What I am surprised by is that the Fox reporter, Shepard Smith, actually defended Obama, which is out of the norm for the right wing network.

Quite frankly, I don't think most people even knew Nader was still in the race.

Check out the video below:

The reasons McCain lost the presidency

First, I would like to say that although John McCain ran a crap campaign; he is an honorable man who deserves respect for serving his country.

Okay…

However, most voters decided that the economy is the most important issue in their lives, and since Republicans are not usually perceived to be good on this topic, they rejected McCain. Hell, even John McCain himself has said he isn’t good with the economy.

Also, American voters thought McCain was just going to be an extension of the Bush disastrous legacy, notably the Iraq war and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Dick Cheney’s endorsement over the weekend didn’t exactly help McCain either.

Lastly, Sarah Palin is a complete moron.

I have to admit that I wanted to give the Alaska governor the benefit of the doubt when she first entered the race, partly because she was an unknown, partly because she at the time seemed to come from a reformist background, and partly because of the seemingly sexist remarks made about whether she could be the vice president and raise her family simultaneously.

But all my sympathy disappeared quickly in the now infamous Katie Couric interviews, revealing that Palin, well, left much to be desired,. In the ensuing weeks she spent her time trying to show that she has some intelligence and threw around words like “maverick” and “patriotism.” And then in the last couple of weeks Palin used divisiveness to desperately save the sinking campaign, which backfired horribly.

Sarah Palin was picked to garner votes from the PUMAs (Party Unity My Ass) or the Democratic women who supported Hillary Clinton, but refused to support Barack Obama once he captured the Democratic nomination. Nonetheless, at the end, Sarah Palin, who was also picked to run with McCain to help revive the socially conservative Republican base, became an albatross around McCain’s neck due largely to the belief that she was not competent to take the job of vice president or even president if anything happened to McCain.

On top of this, what does this say about how Republicans views women in their own party? I think it is a crass idea to pick a woman candidate simply because she is a woman. However, if they were going to go down that gender route, why not pick a SMART Republican woman? While I don’t agree with anything on the Republican agenda, no one really can say that Kay Bailey Hutchison, Elizabeth Dole, Elaine Cho or Susan Schwab are not competent to have been McCain’s running mate. Geez, even Condoleezza Rice, who will forever have the the Iraq war attached to her legacy, would have been a better pick than Palin. Apparently, the Republicans thought that Palin’s wit, charisma and good looks would get them over. Not!

There are reports that Palin has aspirations to run for the While House in 2012, as she is a “raising star” in the Republican party. Boy, if this is true, Republicans will never get elected ever again.

I think we can all agree that Palin will return to Alaska in absurdity to view Russia from her house!

Barack Obama wins online campaign

President-elect Barack Obama has not only become the first African American commander-in-chief of the United States, but he also led the Democratic party to win states considered uphill battles, including Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Obama's road to the White House was helped with a broad, diverse group of followers, including young people, people of color and disgruntled Republicans, thanks in part to his successful online strategy.

Obama used the Internet for both fundraising purposes and growing a community of like-minded voters who wanted to see the country go in a different direction than the one led by the Bush Administration. According to data from the Federal Election Commission, Obama raised over $470 million in individual contributions through October 15, compared to rival John McCain's $200 million. Obama accomplished this by taking smaller contributions from supporters and creating an easy online giving process.

Also, his supporters got online to show their support for him on multiple social networks, including a YouTube video from pop star Will.i.am and "Obama Girl."

The Obama campaign also used text messaging to announce the selection of VP running mate Joe Biden.

Celebrations are occuring around the world online today in support of the Obama victory, including Thursday's declared holiday in Obama's ancestral home of Kenya.

While the book is still being written on Obama's victory, Obama's digital activism can not be overlooked.

"Take away elements regarding his race and all the hype around his candidacy and you find that he executed a sound online strategy to get his thoughts out to the people and address their issues," said Navarrow Wright, President and CEO of GlobalGrind.com, in a recent interview. "This was not a fluke, it was true Internet strategy."

When black politicians behave badly

As America is on the verge of electing Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the nation’s first black president, unfortunately, this week saw examples of how black politicians should not act.

Mr Obama, please take note.

Massachusetts state Senator Dianne Wilkerson said she won't step down from office despite a unanimous resolution in the state legislature yesterday asking her to resign after her arrest on bribery charges.

From Associated Press:

The state’s lone black senator who lost the Democratic primary last month was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday and charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes from undercover agents she believed were local businessmen.

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, 53, was charged with attempted extortion as a public official and theft of honest services as a state senator. She faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each count.

The Boston Democrat entered no plea during an initial appearance in federal court in Boston and was released on an unsecured $50,000 bond…

… According to a federal criminal complaint, Wilkerson was recorded by audio and videotape accepting bribes in exchange for helping a proposed nightclub in her district get a liquor license…

… An FBI affidavit filed in court includes a series of still photographs from video recordings allegedly showing Wilkerson accepting cash. In one photograph, taken in June 2007, Wilkerson appears to be stuffing a pile of cash under her sweater and inside her bra...

Meanwhile in Detroit…

From Associated Press:



Mr Obama, if you do, indeed, get elected on Tuesday, please represent the black race more honorably than the crooked people mentioned above. While it is no secret that politicians of all colors can be corrupt, black folks are always scrutinized more. The next four years will only be a struggle if you are not honest to the American people about what you do behind closed doors.

We are depending on you!!!

Divisiveness and the Presidential Elections

I will be so glad when this election is over in two weeks. Oh wait - I totally forgot. Someone is going to want a recount, and this is going to the Supreme Court - again. When does Florida secede from the rest of the country again?

Anyway, one thing I will not miss about the election is the divisiveness the McCain/Palin camp has used in a desperate attempt to stay relevant in the presidential race. Between calling Obama an Arab (and even if he was Arab, is that a bad thing?) and Colin Powell being accused of race-baiting, I really hope the Republican ticket will go down because voters will see the bigotry they have thrown into the race. Luckily, as you can see in this video, even Republicans don't like these dirty tricks anymore.

Sigh...12 more days...

Latino Health Access and Presidential Politics

Today, I had the opportunity to participate in a “blogger conference” hosted by the National Council for La Raza (NCLR). As we reported last week, this organization is using new media to reach out to the Latino community, the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. The conference call was about health disparities among Latinos and what the two presidential candidates are proposing to close the health access gap.

“Quality health care has always been in the hearts and minds of Latinos,” said Jen Ng’andu, associate director for the NCLR’s Health Access Project. “One in three Latinos don’t have health insurance for preventive care.”

Ng’andu said that NCLR works with hundreds of organizations and coalitions on addressing health access in the Latino community. NCLR also works with Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a national grassroots campaign working to guarantee quality health care for all Americans.

Latinos faces specific problems when accessing health care, including cultural insensitivity and language barriers. It is not uncommon to see children translating for adult family members who only speak Spanish in the hospital. Also, despite high employment rates among Latinos, they also have the lowest rates of health insurance supported by employers.

“One important issue for Latinos is access, so it’s important to look at this issue.” said Esther Garcia of HCAN. “Our organization wants to make sure all Latinos are insured.”

Representatives from both campaigns were invited to participate in the conference; however, a McCain rep didn’t participate due to “work in the field,” and will answer questions from bloggers later.

Dr Dora Hughes, Obama’s senior health policy advisor, was on the call and said that her candidate is strongly dedicated to this issue.

“Sen. Obama is the only candidate who believes that health care is a fundamental right,” she said.

Many of her talking points can be seen on Obama’s website:

Make Health Insurance Work for People and Businesses - Not Just Insurance and Drug Companies.

Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans regardless of their health status or history can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums.

Create a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help small businesses provide affordable health insurance to their employees.

Lower costs for businesses by covering a portion of the catastrophic health costs they pay in return for lower premiums for employees.

Prevent insurers from overcharging doctors for their malpractice insurance and invest in proven strategies to reduce preventable medical errors.

Make employer contributions more fair by requiring large employers that do not offer coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of their employees health care.

Establish a National Health Insurance Exchange with a range of private insurance options as well as a new public plan based on benefits available to members of Congress that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health coverage.

Ensure everyone who needs it will receive a tax credit for their premiums.

Reduce Costs and Save a Typical American Family up to $2,500 as reforms phase in:

Lower drug costs by allowing the importation of safe medicines from other developed countries, increasing the use of generic drugs in public programs and taking on drug companies that block cheaper generic medicines from the market

Require hospitals to collect and report health care cost and quality data
Reduce the costs of catastrophic illnesses for employers and their employees.

Reform the insurance market to increase competition by taking on anticompetitive activity that drives up prices without improving quality of care.

The Obama-Biden plan will promote public health. It will require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings, and increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

A Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility: Barack Obama will pay for his $50 - $65 billion health care reform effort by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level.

Regarding Latino health access, Hughes said an Obama administration would require quality health access measurements and provide support to community organizations addressing health disparities. She also said that cultural competency and workforce diversity needs to be strengthened.

Hughes also said that Obama, as well as Sens. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders introduced legislation in August to expand a successful and cost-effective community health center program, Access for All America Act.

Obama has promised that during his first year in office, he would sign legislation that would provide health care for all.

To be fair, John McCain’s health care proposal can be found here, and hopefully his rep can get back to the bloggers on his talking points.

To be continued….

P.S. – While looking at the McCain website, I was surprised to find a whole issues page on “Technology.” Considering that he once said that he doesn’t even know how to open email, I am happy someone in his organization finally told him to “smarten up” on his new media. We will take a more in depth look at his digital platform and write about it at a later date.

Are you smarter than Sarah Palin?

Hey, since its the day before a long weekend, I thought I would lighten up for a minute.

Hmmm. If someone made a board game based on Sarah Palin's intelligence, or lack thereof, I think most of us would win everytime.

From: The Truth Burns Weblog:

Sarah Palin’s overnight emergence (literally) on the national scene has taught us all some valuable lessons in political maneuvering. A “game-changer” will hold the entire base in awe, but for only about a week – unless he/she can say something intelligent at that point. Also, a fresh-faced political outsider can shout out anything to a crowd of like-minded people and they will rave like mad dogs, even calling for blood (again, literally). However, Palin has affected us all in ways we may not have realized. She has made us all more intelligent.

Palin has blundered her way through some painful presentations that have made audiences cringe. Some of the most noticeable gaffes have been when she proudly said that she could see Russia from Alaska or when she couldn’t recall a single Supreme Court decision besides Roe v. Wade. She also couldn’t name a single printed news source. Then she frantically admitted to reading them all. She didn’t know the Bush Doctrine. She named the wrong U.S. military commander in Afghanistan. She certainly said some things that made all of us irritated that she’s honestly within a very-probable stroke away from the presidency. However it also filled us each with a quiet sense of pride. As we loudly screamed, “I can’t believe she is that stupid!” We quietly considered, “I’m not that stupid. Am I?” Then we secretly reassured ourselves, “No, I am definitely smarter than her.” Then we all covertly sought to ensure that we were indeed smarter than Sarah Palin.

Hispanics organize online

The Hispanic community is the fastest growing population in the United States, which, according to the U.S. Census, is projected to nearly triple, from 46.7 million to 132.8 million during the 2008-2050 period. Because of the rapidly changing racial makeup in the American landscape, activists are using this opportunity to reach out to this demographic on key issues.

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest U.S. based civil rights nonprofit advocating on behalf of Hispanics, recently launched two campaigns online to organize its base, which are both featured in its Facebook group. “We Can Stop The Hate” is an initiative to bring attention for a more balanced discussion on the controversial issue of immigration. “Yo Votare ‘08” is another online campaign designed to mobilize the estimated 17 million Hispanics voters in the 2008 U.S. presidential election next month. Below you can watch their YouTube video.

About last night's VP debate

Well, at least Sara Palin didn’t fall on her face last night.

I think we can all reasonably agree that no matter what political inclination you are, no one really wanted to see the Alaska governor embarrass herself on live television before an international audience. I almost didn’t watch it because I thought it was going to be a train wreck. But I did watch the whole debate and gave her a “P” for Passing and moved her up from “high functioning moron” to “superior functioning moron.”

With this said, did she prove that she could handle being the second in command? Hardly. It became very apparent early in the debate that she was reciting memorized talking points and didn’t really have much substance in her points, except when she was discussing energy and her record on reform.

The only things I learned about Palin last night was that she is a “maverick,” an energy expert and loves Israel. (BTW, wasn’t that whole Israel exchange betwne the two of them weird? Talk about pandering the Jewish/pro-Israel vote) And, oh, did I forget that she is a hockey mom.

Regarding Joe Biden, he did very well and he didn’t make any gaffes (hand wiping my forehead). He was very substantive on all his points and finally took on Palin’s maverick rhetoric. Biden also won points for reminding viewers about the Bush administration’s disastrous eight years, especially regarding foreign policy and specifically Iraq.

Final analysis: Biden is qualified to be both vice president and president. Palin, on the other hand, showed that maybe she isn’t as dumb as she comes off – so far.

Even black Alaskans don't like Palin

First of all, who knew there were even any black people in Alaska? Apparently, African Americans and Asians make up 10 percent of Alaska’s population, while Native Americans (Inuits) are the dominate ethnic minority at 20 percent.

It seems now like it is no surprise she couldn't name the famous Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education when she was asked to name famous Supreme Court decisions.

From Black America Web:

“She did not even publicly campaign in the black community,” [Montean] Jackson said of the candidate’s run for governor.

Gwen Alexander, founder and director of the Juneteenth celebration in Anchorage, posted a message on the Daily Kos, a progressive internet website, saying, “While meeting with black leaders concerning the absence of any African-Americans on her staff, Gov. Palin responded that she doesn’t have to hire any blacks and was not intending to hire any.”

Palin has denied making the statement, but it is repeated often by black Alaskans.

Alexander said many in the black community are also angry at Palin for snubbing the annual Juneteenth celebration, held in Anchorage and recognized since 2001 (Juneteenth is a celebration of the ending of slavery.). The co-directors of the celebration released a statement critical of Palin.

“As for Governor Sarah Palin’s involvement in the African-American community, the Governor’s office hasn’t participated in any of our Alaska Juneteenth Events,” the statement said. “All previous Alaskan governors have traditionally attended and participated in our annual Juneteenth Celebration. Gov. Palin was the first governor not to send out a congratulatory letter or assist us in any way with our Juneteenth activities.”

The Philadelphia Independent Media Center published a story on its Web site this week that also mentioned the Juneteenth snub and the meeting between Palin and blacks, where some say the infamous quote on hiring was made.
Bishop James Thomas, who has works on the annual celebration, told IMC that Palin has refused to attend or send a staff member.

“They could have sent a gardener as their representative, but they didn’t,” he said.

Rev. Dr. Alonzo B. Patterson, who’s worked closely with previous governors and other elected officials told IMC that Palin has “totally departed from the past practices” of previous Alaska governors.

“Past administrations have had black administrative assistants to the governor, state commissioners and department leaders,” he said.

Patterson heads the American Baptist Churches of Alaska and the Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation. He was at the long-sought meeting Palin had with black leaders.

“We gave her a list of concerns and have received no response,” Patterson, pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Anchorage, told IMC.

Aleta Atkins, Gwen Alexander’s daughter, said Palin finally issued a proclamation on Juneteenth after she received the VP nomination, about “two or three months after the celebration."

“I understand a lot of people are thinking we are picking on Sarah, but people need to realize that before she was nominated by Mr. McCain, she was under investigation for abuse of power,” Atkins said.

“Most of the people in state offices are people she went to school with, good friends. She fired people who were qualified so she could put in her friends. I don’t think that’s a good sign whether you’re governor or vice president,” she said.

Jackson, who has been active in local, state and national political campaigns, believes Palin would never have been elected governor if people hadn’t been so unhappy with the previous administration, especially with how they wasted money.

“This is a highly Republican state,” she said. “She won by default. They liked her personality. She’s done some things that have garnered support ... but understanding the women of the state and their needs and having the support of black community, she has none of that.

“We have drug problems, high rates of suicide and sexual assaults. I believe there are just a lot of things that Sarah Palin is out of touch with.”

“I’m hoping Palin comes home after the election,” adds Aleta Atkins. “We want her to come home and face charges.”

Why is Palin in the race - again???

Palin on reading newspapers with Katie Couric:

Palin says: "I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media."

Couric: What, specifically?

Palin: "Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years."

Couric: "Can you name a few?"

Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn't a foreign country, where it's kind of suggested, 'wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?' Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America."

From what I read about her on wikipedia, she was a journalism major in college and was a TV reporter briefly. With this said, wouldn't you think she could answer this question without even having to think about it?

Why is Palin in the race???

I really wanted to give Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin a chance a month ago when she got into the limelight at first. A lot of her opponents were taking shots at her family and her looks. For some reason I was actually taken by her charisma and what seemed like at the time a good record on reform.

But her most recent interview with CBS anchor Kate Couric really did a 180 for me. She is what some people like politico Paul Begala would call a “high functioning moron.”

I think foreign policy wonk Fareed Zakaria said it best.

From CNN:

CNN: What did you initially think when Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican vice presidential nominee?

Zakaria: I was a bit surprised -- as I think most people were. But I was willing to give her a chance. And I thought her speech at the convention was clever and funny. But once she began answering questions about economics and foreign policy, it became clear that she has simply never thought about these subjects before and is dangerously ignorant and unprepared for the job of vice president, let alone president.

CNN: You don't think she is qualified?

Zakaria: No. Gov. Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly -- nonsense. Just listen to her response to Katie Couric's question about the bailout. It's gibberish -- an emptying out of catchphrases about economics that have nothing to do with the question or the topic. It's scary to think that this person could be running the country.

Here is their exchange:

Katie Couric: Why isn't it better, Gov. Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

Gov. Sarah Palin: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the -- it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

CNN: But Dan Quayle wasn't very qualified and that didn't seem to matter, did it?
Zakaria: This is way beyond Dan Quayle. Quayle was a lightweight who was prone to scramble his words, or say things that sounded weird, but you almost always knew what he meant. One of his most famous miscues was to the United Negro College Fund when he said, "What a terrible thing to have lost one's mind. Or not to have a mind at all." Now he was trying to play off a famous ad that the group used to run, "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste." And he screwed it up in a funny way. But read

Gov. Palin's answers and it does appear that she doesn't have any understanding about the topic under discussion.

CNN: But she has a lot of supporters.

Zakaria: Look, I'm not saying that she is not a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. It is just we are talking about a person who should be ready to lead the United States at a moment's notice. She has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start.

CNN: Does it make you concerned about Sen. McCain as a president?

Zakaria: Yes, and I say this with sadness because I greatly admire John McCain, a man of intelligence, honor and enormous personal and political courage. However, for him to choose Sara Palin to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. He did not put the country first with this decision. Whether it is appropriate or not, considering Sen. McCain's age most people expected to have a vice presidential candidate who would be ready to step in at a moment's notice. The actuarial odds of that happening are significant, something like a one-in-five chance.

I used to have some respect for McCain, but know I feel embarrassed for both him and Palin, and I am not even a Republican. Thursday's vice presidential debate will be pure comedy.

BOMA Member?

I just might have to join the newly formed group BOMA – Bail Out My Ass.

Congress is preparing an enormous $700 billion bailout in hopes of stablizing the financial markets' downward turn. I am not totally against bailouts, but Congress should also consider including homeowner rescue provisions and stricter lending regulations in any aid package for Wall Street.

But don’t expect two Senators to even show up for the vote…

From Politico:

Sen. John McCain (R- Ariz.) has no plans to return to Washington this week, even though on Monday he expressed discomfort with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s trillion-dollar bailout plan and has offered his own rescue proposal.

“Sen. McCain is monitoring the situation closely,” said campaign co-manager Steve Schmidt on a conference call Monday. “We will see how this unfolds this week.”

McCain “retains his rights to evaluate it as it goes along and make a final decision,” said co-manager Rick Davis.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) also looks like a no-show.

Senior Obama strategist Robert Gibbs said the campaign would be monitoring the process as it unfolds this week, but as of Monday, the campaign would not commit to Obama making the trip back to Washington – even though the bailout proposal has taken a central role in Obama’s stump speeches.

“It’s safe to say people will know where we are,” Gibbs said.

No, I don’t know where the f**k your candidate or McCain stands on this issue!!!

Monitoring the situation? What is there to monitor?

Believe or not, this amount will be more money than what has been spent on the Iraq War so far. Congress is about to commit American taxpayers to yet another boondoggle, and the two men who want to be the next leaders of this country can’t even show up to do the duties of the positions they are currently in?

I am sick of our politicians playing games with the lives of the American people. The two candidates don’t want to take a position on this issue because they don’t want their decision to be used against them in the future.

This is the reason Americans have lost confidence in their public officials.

How the blogosphere took over the U.S. presidential campaign

The controversy surrounding Sarah Palin and her 17-year-old daugther, Bristol, is largely due to the blogosphere, which is showing not only how the line between legitimate news and flat out rumors is blurring, but also how new media is changing the political landscape.

From Digital Journal:

...The first in stance was over the weekend when and Internet rumor started at Daily Kos about Sarah Palin's youngest child, Trig, who was born in April with Downs Syndrome. It became news fodder lighting up the headlines across the world, all using the Kos story as their base, which included a photo DailyKos misrepresented as being from 2008 when in reality it was taken in 2006.

Yesterday again, another rumor based story hit the headline news at ABC and in the New York Times, with a piece based on the word of a woman, who took the rumor told to her by another person and gave it to the New York Times as fact, which in turn, the Times and other media outlets ran with it, none of them bothering to do the simple verification process that would have shown them before they reported, that it was all based in "incorrect" information.

The false story was about Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin again, this time alleging that she has belonged to the Alaska Independence Party for two years in the 1990’s...

If Palin actually steps down from the candidacy because of the scandals, then this is truly the dawn of a new media revolution.