Shirley Sherrod Do you hear yourself?

Before we start, let's remember I am a Black woman. Apparently that is somehow relevant to my ability to be candid about Ms. Sherrod's words and actions. So much for a color-blind, post racism administration. There are 5 parts of this story that should shame all of us as Americans:

1. Our government hired a person to represent it who sees race before need. Ms. Sherrod, I am so glad that your story ends with how you grew beyond these feeling, but you should have turned down the job if you wanted to use it to provide preference to people on the basis of color.

2. Ms. Sherrod believes that telling the world that she now understands that the goal of her position was to move resources from the haves to the have nots, not from Whites to Blacks should make us feel better. Forgive me, but I did not realize that her title was Regional Director of Wealth Redistribution?

3. Ms. Sherrod gets perferential treatment--a do over--when the multitude of conservatives who have misspoken or been taken out of context do not? Oh, I forgot liberals even get to say that being in the Klan was a youthful indiscretion (Sen. Byrd). Conservatives do not get context, do overs or explanations--just resignations in shame.

4. Ms. Sherrod may I introduce you to the concept of shame. Aren't you ashamed to admit that you used your position for anything other than helping all farmers? Or that you lead with your color, not your compassion? Or that you feel you need to tutor Americans, America and the President about "how we feel?" And who are "we?"

5. Finally, the idea that people will listen to interviews with Ms. Sherrod and not see her as a poster child for how liberals must divide us by groups to maintain control. And yet, people will still vote for this divisiveness in the fall.

2009 The Year Prostitution Become Legal and Taxpayer Funded

As I reviewed the proposed Health Care Reform bill, senate version, it became apparent that the true affect of this bill is the legalization of prostitution in the Senate. Votes were bought and paid for.

Harry Reid served the role of Pimp in Chief. Can't you just picture him in a full length white fur, with a tricked out Escalade? Just a few examples of how our Senators proved they were easy, but not cheap:

Mary Landrieu $300 million, weren't you moved when she proudly proclaimed it wasn't $100 million, but $300?
Chris Dodd $100 million for a hospital to be named later
Ben Nelson $100 million in Medicaid expansion costs matched at 100% Federal share
Other notable sales:
Florida's exemption from losing Medicare Advantage $4 billion
Michigan's exemption for Blue Cross Blue Shield of MI from insurance taxes
Connecticut's exemption for Mutual of Omaha from insurance taxes

The only money the government has comes from our pockets (federal taxes--right front pocket, state taxes--left front pocket, county and local--back right and left pockets). I don't know about you, but I don't even remember being kissed.

Because I Say So!

What former child doesn’t remember being frustrated and angry when our parents responded to “why?” with, “Because I said so.

Because I said so seems to be the up and coming response for governments, academics and the media throughout the world. As I read the December 3, 2009, Wall Street Journal I was struck with how many times the articles listing abuses of individual rights or lazy scientific outcomes ended with a quote from a government or academic official plainly stating that none of the preceding incidents, nothing in the interviews with numerous sources, none of the facts listed were true.

Why? Were they countered with facts, examples of in accuracies, evidence from well managed scientific inquiry? No. None of the accounts of opponents of governments or scientific findings were true, because the official government or scientific arbiter said so.

Consider if you will, the article by Farnaz Fasshari, “Iranian Crackdown Goes Global”. Accounts of Iranians living abroad being detained and questions as they enter Iran, or who have had their members arrested or threatened in retaliation for speaking out against the regime on Face book, Twitter, You Tube, etc are detailed in the article. The Iranian official contacted simply responded”…false…we have no reports of…” Take my word, because I say so.

The second example is Daniel Henninger’s editorial entitled, “Climategate: Science is Dying”. In this piece he rightly points out the scientific community, once viewed as the last bastion of fact based, evidence based decision making, should be concerned about the East Anglia Research Units liberal use of bias in interrupting and, shall I say, fudging the finding related to climate. He points out that this scandal has little to with climate, but much to do with how science must move to restore its creditability.

He states, “because ‘science’ said so, all the world was about to undergo a vast reordering of human behavior at almost unimaginable financial cost.”

Even as children we knew that the response, “because I said so” was either an indication of the lack of a logical explanation for why; or, a certainty that the real answer was beyond our capacity to understand and our parent’s patience to explain it.

Just as we outgrew accepting this answer from our parents and teachers, we, as adults must outgrow the willingness to accept this answer from those in positions of authority such as academics, the media and politicians. We must shirk our intellectual laziness and find the answer to why ourselves. Try reading a source document related to an area of interest in your world, like say a few hundred pages of any health care reform legislation, or cap and trade. Not because I say so, but because you want to know why?

When Democrats give advice to Republicans

During a conference I attended this week, a democrat operative give a speech about the political climate in America today. Interestingly enough, he was there to tell us about the success of the democrats during the last election and his party's goals and objectives for the coming years. Instead, he told us about what the republicans must do to succeed in the future.

Excuse me, but is he in the internal meetings of the republican party? Is he one of the republican strategists? Wouldn't he know more about the democrats than the republicans?

He outlined in great detail what republicans must do. For me, this is a little like having the person who wants to buy your house or business telling you how to get the highest price. Do not believe them.

Democrats, get your own house in order. Republicans, if you are dumb enough to take advice from your opposition, you deserve to lose. Independents, closely review each group's stands and policies, and don't let either side define you!

Wasn't it the serpent who told Eve how great the apple was? Do you think he wanted her to succeed with God?