Sojourner Truth Bust unveiled by Michelle Obama

America is embracing African-American history a lot more

On Thomas Jefferson and America as a Christian nation

Is America a Christian nation? That is another question that is preoccuping the American media since Barack Obama returnded from his tour of Europe. While in Turkey, Obama said that although most Americans were Christians, there are also sizeable communities of Jews, Muslims etc. He stated that America does not consider itself a Christian nation, nor a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation, they are a nation bound by common ideals.
Of course, Fox News considered this statement tantamount to treason How dare he misrepresnt us like that? How dare he say that? The usual Anti-Obama vitriol flowed from the likes of Hannity and Rove.
I wonder what Madeleine Albright or Henry Kissenger would say about this idea of America as a Christian nation, two very prominent Americans, two former Secretaries of State, both Jewsih. Of course the anti-Obamans are quick to point out the term 'Judeo-Christian' they say America was created on Judeo-Christian values.
I have two points, the first one is about this concept of Christian values, no such concept exists, Christianity is not a uniform religion, it has been and is been interpreted in very many different ways. The complexity of what Christianity is is evidenced by the myriad of denominations that exist, with many denominations in stark contrast with each other. So what is a Christian nation then, if some say America is a Christian nation, then what about the Philippines, where 90% of the population is Christian, the values of these countries should be identical if they are found on this so called Christian values. Of course one can have the argument that the Philippines is a Catholic nation, and yes that argument holds water, so it would seem that in order to claim a state religion, the wide umbrella of Christianity needs to be fractionalized into denomintions. So is America an Episcopalian country, or a Baptist nation, or Methodist or Seventh Day Adventist.
The many ways in which Jesus Christ's words are interpreted make the concept of Christianity a very contentious one, yes the hatred and violence between Protestant and Catholic has reduced over the centuries but still one would accuse the other for not being Christian. When we add Mormonism and Jehovah's Witness and various strands of Pentecostalism, the issue of what exactly Christianity is becomes even more complex.
This brings me to Thomas Jefferson, one of the most revered American statesmen, a founding father of the great nation, his face graces the very rare 2 dollar bill.
He is still quoted today by many American politicians. He authored the Declaration of Independence, arguably the most important document in American history. The words on that document have framed American civic life and made it the unique country it is today, so this, and The Bill of Rights, authored by Jefferson's protégé James Madison, must be the source of the so-called Judeo-Christian values.
But a simple study of Thomas Jefferson would reveal his interesting brand of Christianity. Thomas Jefferson, unhappy with the divine Jesus, set about to write his own bible, removing all of Jesus' miracles and supernatural events during his life, claiming that these events were added by the authors of the gospels.
My point is that Jefferson saw Jesus Christ merely as a great philosopher, not as God as 'Christians' should believe. Yet despite his views, views that no self respecting Christian American politician today dare have, he is still revered today, and his Declaration of Independence is deeply cherished, and widely quoted.
The philosophy on which America is built does not stem from a religion, research tells us that most of Americans founding fathers were Deists and not Christians. It is a philosophy based on freedom and equality, a philosophy that was strengthened during the American struggle against Britsh Aristocracy and Monarchy.
While it is a fact that most Americans are Christians, and unlike in many European countries faith plays a prominent role in American political life, it is simply illogical to use those facts to claim that America is a Christian nation.

America is a Godly nation, however, would be a more truthful statement.

Nous avons confiance en Dieu

So, Did he Bow or Not?

Americans are back at it again, wasting time on pointless news. This time the furore is about President Obama's bow or semi-prostrate to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about it yesterday, and he denied it at first, then when pressed, he brushed the question aside.
Well, I took a look at the picture, and the video, and it clearly shows Obama bowing to the King.
The right wing is furious, they are, first Obama says in Turkey that America is not a Christian nation, then he bows to the King of a Muslim nation, the right wing and religious right have all but confirmed that Obama is a covert Muslim.
But, why did Obama bow to King Abdullah? When Bush Jr was in house he didn't bow to the King, instead they held hands.
American journalists are saying that it shows submission, it undermines the USA's image of power if the president is seeing showing too much respect to someone else.
But we forget one simple thing, it's all about image and the power of language, I think when one has the words King or Queen in front of their name, it kind of beats being a President or a Prime Minister, it means you are the top boss, no one can impeach you, vote you out, nothing, it means total control. It is enviable, when one is born into power, when leadership of a country is a birth right. One can not be surprised that when an elected leader meets a born leader, the lesser one bows. Obama bowed when he met Queen Elizabeth (although a less back breaking bow) and I suppose he'll continue to bow when he meets monarchs around the world.
I think the problem American's have is who he bowed to, Xenophobia and Islamophobia are rife in America, anyone who's traditional dress involves headgear is looked upon with suspicion in American society (look at the backlash Sikhs got after 9/11)
America is proud of its power, they are proud of the way other countries bend to their will, many respected African statesmen are reduced to boys when faced with the might of America. So when the so called Leader of the Free World bows to the Leader of the "Oppressed World", one can expect a storm to gather. If Obama gave that same bow to say King Harold of Norway or King Albert of Belgium then it will be seen as nothing but Obama showing reverence and respect to an old monarch, but when he does the same to King Abdullah, the variables change- the media would not construct it as Obama just greeting an old man, No, he is bowing to the King of a nation where women are not allowed to drive, he is bowing to the leader of the country where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from, he is bowing to an "inferior culture"

.....When really, he is Bowing to Oil.

President Barack Hussein Obama

The Bush era has ended, this is now the era of OBAMA. Let's pray he achieves what he has promised.

On a different note, for a man who has been praised for his calmness, Obama was obviously very nervous today, you could see he was very tense. He managed to stumble his lines while taking the oath, and wasn't helped by the fact that the Justice didn't have the oath written down, so in effect Obama took a slightly different oath of office.

Picture of the Week

Knockout!

Post Election Depression

Wow, we are finally here. The US Elections are over, Obama is president, I should be satisfied, right? I should be happy, and yes I am, but I'm also overcome with a great sense of loss, no more spending hours watching Obama and Biden speeches on youtube. No more pouring through The Huffington Post, no more laughing at something stupid Sarah Palin said (actually that hasn't ended yet)
But yes, before Nov 4 I was addicted to the US Elections, I had to have my daily fix, each morning before lectures I'll watch msnbc, read the latest article on The Huffington Post and check Obama's youtube page for updates. Then suddenly, the day we all hoped for arrived, Tuesday, November 4th. Within 24 hours it was over, so more pundits speculating on how McCain could pull an upset, no more great speeches on the campaign trail, Obama had done it, he had won, that's what we wanted, but it had come way too soon. I was not done annoying everyone I could with my Obama speeches. I practically had no other conversation topic other than Obama, and I mastered how to turn conversations on mundane topics to heated debates on the US Elections. We could start talking about the weather and I'll somehow manage to introduce Obama into the conversation.
Example

Person- It's quite cold today
Me- Yes it is, it's almost as cold as Chicago
Person- How do you know how cold Chicago is?
Me- I don't, but I know someone who does: Barack Obama, by the way did you see him on TV last night?

It's a gift.

But know we would call him President Obama, arguably the most important leader in the world. Leader, as the Americans like to say, of the Free World, I really don't know what that's supposed to mean, America and Free don't exactly go hand in hand in my books (we can talk for hours about that)

Yes, it's over, I'm relieved, now I have to wait till January 20th to hear another great speech from the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama.

Change has arrived

I'm still absorbing this momentous day in history, so I don't have much to say now.

Someone is not pleased

Look what someone did to Obama's wikipedia entry.

Picture of the Week

Inspiration!

Thoughts on Black America

The United States of America has a recent and long history of racial intolerance. It would be a surprise to some that it was barely 43 years ago that the US government outlawed discriminatory practices in that prevented many African-Americans from voting.
In fact when US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama was born in 1961, many public places particularly in the south were segregated. So Obama’s possibility of ascending into the highest office in the land is a testament to the racial progress that America has made in the last forty years.
The problem with the race question in America today is that many people equate racial progress with a complete solution of the racial problem. Many people think that because schools are de-segregated, and there have been many African-American mayors and public officials the entire effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws have been wiped out.
However, it hasn’t been fifty years since African-Americans were ‘legally’ recognized as citizens in all parts of America, people who walked with Martin Luther King are still alive today. In fact Martin Luther King is only eight years older than John McCain, the Republican presidential hopeful. This illustrates the short time that the dynamics of race have changed in America. However the question is can we expect the abject material poverty, and psychological impoverishment resulting from been viewed as less than human to be wiped away within a generation?
The reason for the disproportionate poverty of African-Americans is a discourse that has largely been avoided by the American people, they prefer to highlight instances where a black person has overcome poverty as proof that African-Americans are on an even playing field as whites.
I guess this discourse is politically incorrect, and I was not expecting Senator Obama to raise it in his campaign, it is the elephant in the room, the ongoing problem that no one wants to discuss, Why?, well maybe it stirs up white guilt, it reminds them of the not too distant past, it reminds them of segregation, of slavery. What America should ask itself is: “If the government had to legislate in order to grant civil rights to a certain group of people, as late as the 1960s, how does one expect these people, within forty-something years to catch up in every aspect of society with the others”
When you suppress a minority, practice segregation, and limit their rights, you allow poverty to fester, you allow hatred of the majority to fester, because the black man can see the affluence of the white man, he can see it, but he cannot get it. Now add this notion of the American dream, you tell blacks that they are American, you allow them to compete in Olympic games for America, you put them in your army, they fight and die for you, but you deny them human rights when they return. In many states they cannot vote, in some states they cannot marry a white person, some states they have to give up their bus seat for a white person if the situation permits; surely you can understand the anger and the hatred that would brew in the black community. You are being told that you are American; you are being told that this is the land of the free, but at the same time, you are being denied your basic human rights.
The suppression of a race would naturally lead to segregation, and thus ghettoization in terms of housing. We’ve seen this in areas such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. A people with limited rights are naturally a poor people, a people facing discrimination are naturally a poor people, for they cannot alleviate themselves to affluence, as discrimination prevents them from getting better jobs or receiving higher wages.
Poor people are angry people, angry people may become violent people.
America has continued to ignore the problems of poverty in the black community, and has instead chosen to focus its attention on the results of poverty- mainly drugs and crime. So it’s natural that when black people are disproportionately poor, they will therefore disproportionately fill the police cells and prisons.
And then what happens, we see just one side of it, we don’t remember the causative factors, we forget slavery and racism, and all we see are black felons. The black man becomes synonymous with criminal, violent, insolent and indolent.
This partial amnesia of America is worrying, this refusal to accept that black people are still suffering from the legacy of slavery is the reason why America would never see past race, America would never become a post-racial society, until it accepts wholeheartedly the evils it has practiced and how it plagues the African-American society today. It’s much too late for monetary reparations, but to use Martin Luther King’s analogy: America has given the Negro people a bad cheque which has come back marked 'insufficient funds', and it’s about time American society starts paying up.
One cannot be forgiven until they have first accepted wrongdoing, America has only partially accepted its crimes, and until it fully accepts responsibility and takes the right steps to mend these problems, racism would forever be as American as apple pie.

Picture of the Week

Such a cute picture. I love the look on the face of the baby.

The Rise of American Fascism?

Last week, republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin said at a rally, that she liked to visit ‘pro-America’ areas in America, leading the media to ask if there are any ‘anti-America’ areas of the nation.
This suggestion by Mrs. Palin is not surprising, since she was brought into the race to the White House, Mrs. Palin has riled-up the so called ‘conservative base’ of the Republican Party. She has timelessly said that she is from a small town, and has duly positioned herself as a champion of small town values (which her husband Todd specified as Hunting and Fishing)
For those not familiar with American society, perhaps the explanation given by Saturday Night Live’s Tina Fey (who regularly parodies Mrs. Palin) would give an insight into the mythical small-town vs big city values gap. Fey listed New York, Delaware, Maine, Connecticut and California as amongst the ‘anti-American’ areas. This is not just a random list, these areas happen to be the most urbanized and cosmopolitan areas of the nation, also, these areas are traditionally Democratic.
Mrs Palin who has once said that there is a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women (misquoting former Secretary of State Madeline Albright) has once again courted controversy with her pro vs anti America parts of the nation.
This is not a new phenomenon, but it’s a very American one, and I find it bordering on fascism- and I don’t use that word lightly. By bordering on fascism, I mean that some Americans find any criticism of America’s actions by an American as unpatriotic- that is fascist. John McCain and Sarah Palin continuously calling out Barack Obama for refusing to use the word ‘victory’ in his speeches on Iraq- that is fascist. Republican supporters’ continuous attempts to portray Obama as unpatriotic and a secret terrorist-that is fascist. This notion that some parts of the country do not have America’s best interest at heart is fascism.
It’s going to start with ‘areas’ that are anti-American, then it will move on to individuals or groups of people that are anti-American. Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has recently fanned the embers of fascism, by calling for a purge of the legislature for those holding anti-American views; this is reminiscent of McCarthyism where everyone was on the lookout for the mythical ‘communist’
There is a growing tendency by conservatives to equate liberalism with anti-Americanism. The real fear that Obama will somehow sell-out America explains the divide and the deep ignorance of the American electorate. I hope Senator Barack Obama wins, I do, because frankly, the alternative is fascism, not the bold face Mussolini or Hitler type, but a new brand, a new American Fascism- criticize or protest against the government? Good Luck to you.

Poly Tricks

So, John McCain has chosen Mrs Sarah Palin as his running mate.
I'm not the kind of person shouting "Experience?" regarding presidential and vice presidential hopefuls, I'm more concerned with the policies, comprehensive knowledge and ability to analyse current affairs and stands on key issues, after all no president makes decisions all by himself, so what really is this experience question all about. In many countries folks with 'no experience' have won elections and ruled nations brilliantly, take Corazon Aquino of the Philippines as an example, so for me experience is a non issue, if a chicken farmer has a great plan for the nation then he is just as ready as a senator to lead. Look where George W Bush's experience as a Governor in Texas has got America in, a quagmire of war with no end in sight, a dislike and distrust of America all over the world.
Anyway, enter Palin, who by her ABC interview has very little knowledge of current affairs, she was bigging-up Alaska's proximity with Russia as foreign affairs experience, the fact that you can see Russia from Alaska does not give one the right to be vice president. I guess now future candidates would claim standing on an island in Alaska and seeing Russia in the horizon as valuable foreign affairs experience, enabling them with the tools to face Moscow in a nuclear arms debate.
I mean what other stupid claims can be made out to be experience, does having an altercation with an Afghan mean you have foreign affairs experience, did scoring an A+ in Economics in high school equip you with the tools to solve the economies problems, does a stopover in Damascus airport, or regularly visiting a Persian restaurant mean that you are an expert on the Middle East, hell, soon being able to name a city in Russia other than Moscow and St.Petersburg would be claimed as valuable foreign affairs experience. I mean, Cuba is only 90 miles south of Florida, I guess that makes the Governor of Florida an expert on negotiations with hostile Communist nations.
America Oh America, a funny big ol'country. This presidential race has had me hooked to TV screen and computer monitor reading about the latest soundbite and irrelevant gesture, when would Americans focus on the issues at hand instead of lipstick on pigs, looking at Russia from Alaska or stuck in Vietnam for 5 years (tragic experience yes, but in no way a qualification for presidency)
I can't wait for the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, where as one Obama supporter put it "Obama would verbally slap the sh*t out of McCain" and judging from Palin's interview, looks like Biden would also be doing some "sh*t slapping"

Obama's Father's Day Speech

One of the best speeches you'd ever hear

Change We Can Believe In

Consummatum Est- at least for now. The fight against Senator John McCain begins. Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic Party Presidential Nomination after a long and hard fought struggle with Hillary Clinton. I believe a new chapter is opening in American history, in terms of the way it's percieved across the world, and also domestically, in terms of racial bigotry that has plagued the country since the first Africans set foot on American soil in 1619.
By God's grace, Barack Obama will defeat John McCain in the November elections, and usher in a new era in American History.

YES WE CAN

Click Here to read Obama's Victory Speech delivered at St. Paul, Minnesota

Keith Olbermann blasts Hillary Clinton's assassination remarks