The Health Debate: Democrats Will Lose in 2010 Without Public Option

By Brandon Whitney

There are senators, and blue dogs, who are under the false impression that they won in the last two elections. They didn’t. In 2006 a failure to successfully run the government and a flock of chickens coming home to roost, such as Iraq, immigrant bashing, etc. lead to the Republicans losing, Democrats just happened to be the candidates running against them. In 2008, the Dems rode the Obama wave into office. The only thing that can truly lead to a Democratic majority of any significant amount of time is the passing of a health care bill that insures all Americans without catering to parasitic health care companies.

Blue dogs are dumb. I don’t say that to be shocking, and I know it makes me seem a bit less classy to put it in those terms, but they are being extremely dense. Many of them are from conservative districts and receive funding from insurance companies. That being the case they feel that they have to cave to the demands of these two demographics in order to be reelected. What they don’t realize is that they putting the nails in their own political coffins. Conservatives are not going to vote for them no matter what they do as long as they have a “D” next to their name. Progressives might vote for them if they have no alternative, but disappointment will repress their votes. All the blue dogs are doing is putting themselves at a further disadvantage.

Finally, Obama is being a little too much like Abraham Lincoln. Old Abe compromised a lot. And while he was probably one of our greatest presidents, he made some mistakes in attempting to be too conciliatory. Obama has to be more aggressive against members of his own party who are attempting to thwart the will of the people. By this I mean he needs to threaten them with political sanctions and let them know he will campaign against them in primaries. He also needs to highlight how extreme the Right is in this battle and his refusal to bow to the will of the corporate elite. Otherwise we will not get health care and if the Dems can’t get it done when they have a majority in two branches of government, why should we vote for them.

Brandon Whitney is the creator of Homelandcolors.blogspot.com a blog that focuses on issues that affect the African American community. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. Brandon has political experience as an Outreach Director for the Democratic Party and is passionate about being a positive force in his community regarding African American issues.  He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. You can read more of Brandon’s work at Homeland Colors.

Guns

 By Brandon Whitney

I’m for Gun control, to a point. I think if you buy a gun, you should have to register that you own it, similar to how you register your car. One thing the NRA is probably right about is that responsible gun owners aren’t usually the ones shooting people, but many gun owners are selling their weapons to criminals who are. Recently the media has focused on the stream of guns flowing down to Mexico, but \ it is important to remember that many guns are flowing from southern states, like Virginia, into the hands of criminals in New York and Detroit.

In many places in the country, an individual can go to a gun show, or gun shop, and buy guns for criminals. They’ll be told what to buy and then sell the guns to a member of a drug cartel or other criminal enterprise. When Republicans and gun advocates talk about criminals being armed and the need to have guns to protect themselves, they often fail to talk about how the criminals obtain their weapons.

Registering a fire arm is not a hindrance on the 2nd amendment. A serious system for registration of arms allows us to prevent criminals from obtaining weapons while, at the same time, allowing individuals to buy weapons. It isn’t all of what the most liberal gun control advocates want or what far right gun toting conservatives want. It’s a practical compromise which allows us to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and in the hands of responsible citizens.

Brandon Whitney is the creator of Homelandcolors.blogspot.com a blog that focuses on issues that affect the African American community. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. Brandon has political experience as an Outreach Director for the Democratic Party and is passionate about being a positive force in his community regarding African American issues.  He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. You can read more of Brandon’s work at Homeland Colors.

ACLU Accuses Cops of Targeting Black Barbershops

By Brandon Whitney

Imagine getting a hair cut in your barbershop of choice, and just as you’re getting your line up the cops kick in the door and begin searching you and your barber. Besides the increased risk of getting a “Timmy” , it’s got to be a disconcerting event at the very least. The ACLU has accused the Riverside, California police department of unfairly targeting African American Barbershops. Without warrants or probable cause, cops searched, and in one instance detained, individuals working at, and frequenting Black barbershops in Southern California.

In one of his books, Kim Stanley Robinson wrote that the shifting into a new era often involves the struggle between the old and the new. There is a time when the old way of thinking tries to strangle new ideas in their crib. We are now in a time when the old ideas of racism and bigotry are trying to kill the idea of the post racial society. It is an idea that does not deny racial difference, but eliminates it from view when considering the worth of another.

We must not allow social throwbacks and Neanderthals to destroy our hope for a better future. We deserve better than to allow the Becks, Rush Limbaughs, and bigoted police officers who hide among valiant protectors of the peace, to keep us stuck in racial prejudice. Hopefully, the issue in Southern California is the beginning of the end of acceptable prejudice.

Brandon Whitney is the creator of Homelandcolors.blogspot.com a blog that focuses on issues that affect the African American community. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. Brandon has political experience as an Outreach Director for the Democratic Party and is passionate about being a positive force in his community regarding African American issues.  He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. You can read more of Brandon’s work at Homeland Colors.

Slumdog Millionaire On DVD

Movie Review by Brandon Whitney

Wow. The film is about a poor kid from the slums, or a “slum dog” who is one question away from winning the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The film begins with the police torturing him to find out how he cheated because it is assumed that an impoverished product of the slums could not possibly have known the answers to such difficult questions as those asked on the show. As he explains to the police how he knows the answers, we are shown flashbacks of the significant moments of his life that are tied to his knowledge.

The film is in both English and an Indian language with subtitles. We are able to see the plight of the Muslim minority in India. The abuse of women, children, and the poor is also highlighted in the film. The industry and grit of the Indian people is displayed in every moment of Slumdog Millionaire. The lead actor Dev Patel, is brilliant in the film, making the audience feel happy when he is happy, and sad when he is as well. His brother, Selim, is played by three different actors throughout his life, all of whom make you both love and hate the character.

Slum Dog Millionaire is a movie that has won many awards and much critical acclaim. You have doubtlessly heard of it. I want to let you know that, besides being a darling of the critics, it is also a watchable and engrossing movie that you will enjoy. It’s a buy.

John Hope Franklin

By Brandon Whitney

I was a History and Political Science major at Virginia Union University when I first found out about John Hope Franklin. I actually had to do a paper on the Oklahoma born historian for a History research methods class. John Hope Franklin was a man who did much for the understanding of African American history. A great deal of who we are as a people is documented because of his efforts.

Oklahoma was intended, at one point, to be a state for America’s newly freed Black population. Because of this there were many African Americans who lived there. John Hope Franklin was among them. He endured severe racism in Oklahoma and, when he became a historian, allowed his experiences to make him a better scholar. This is a man who, when he attended Harvard, had to struggle just to get access to the library facilities. He assisted Thurgood Marshall during the Brown vs. The Board of Education, one of his greatest scholarly works, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, is one of the most important documentations of African American history ever written. He is an giant in the world of history.

Here is why John Hope Franklin is important to me. Franklin wrote a book called Runaway Slaves. In this book, John Hope Franklin explains that the slaves rebelled against their captivity in a number of ways. They stole from those who kept them captive. They formed allegiances with one another against their masters. The slaves hid in the Great Abysmal Swamp and raided slave plantations. They escaped to freedom, a very difficult and dangerous task. John Hope Franklin presented factual information that showed me that our ancestors the slaves were not cowards or weak. Franklin showed me that the slaves had fought in numerous ways against oppression until Jubilee. I was proud of my heritage before I read Franklin, but a sliver of doubt I had not known existed was removed by his book. A burden I hadn’t even known was there was lifted. Rest in peace John Hope Franklin, you will be missed but you will not be forgotten.

Mark Sanford

By Brandon Whitney

If there is justice in the world, people like Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, will get their just deserts. In his case this would mean losing his next bid for governor and being shunned in the state in which he resides. Rather than use the stimulus money to stimulate his state’s economy, he is planning to use it to pay down their debt. In this author’s opinion he is doing this in order to have a chance at running for President. The opportunity cost is the education of many of South Carolina’s poor and disenfranchised.

It is a fascinating phenomenon that many who yell most loudly of America’s greatness, the power of pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps, and the importance of taking advantage of every opportunity are also the first to ignore the importance of education. The right has, thus far, been anti-education for the common American. They have allowed student loan interest rates to go up, they have failed to regulate the relationships between private lenders and universities, and they have failed to fund No Child Left Behind initiatives or set serious standards therein. How can you love America and fail to provide for its future? What can we accomplish as a nation if we are behind our first world counterparts in terms of education?

We are not just failing our children when we don’t fund education initiatives. We are failing our nation. Italy was once Rome. It was once the heart of an empire. In a time when most places depended on a nearby river for a water source they had running water in the city. There was a time when the concrete of Rome, the roads of Rome, and the people of Rome were the envy of all of Europe. Their descendants devolved into region of city states and then a nation that, even to this day, struggles to regain their past greatness. We can become Italy if we coast on past glories and fail to act in ways that will ensure the continued growth of our country. We will not get there by coddling the rich and successful as the extremist of the right want us to do. We have been a socialist nation for decades, as the policies of Bush I, Bush II, and Reagan have turned us into a nation whose government protects the wealthiest of us from hardship by placing the tax burden on the poorest of us. Mark Sanford represents those who care more about the class in which they reside than the nation in which they live. If there is any justice in the world, people like him will find themselves replaced by patriots.

Brandon Whitney is the creator of Homelandcolors.blogspot.com a blog that focuses on issues that affect the African American community. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. Brandon has political experience as an Outreach Director for the Democratic Party and is passionate about being a positive force in his community regarding African American issues.  He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. You can read more of Brandon’s work at Homeland Colors.

The Fall of Michael Steele

By Brandon Whitney

Mike Steele is in bad shape, but then so is the Republican Party. A party that has been very much unified, but that has used a short term strategy deficient in practicality but heavy in ideology, is on the ropes. Mike has gotten a Republican party that is in the same condition as the nation, battered and bruised. Both Barack and Steele are African American men who received leadership positions after their organizations have been put into precarious positions, the difference is the level of skill and competence level that the men possess.

Barack Obama is a grassroots guerrilla guy. His approach to government is asymmetrical, he thinks creatively and outside of the box. Obama is an imaginative thinker who attacks problems in new ways. Barack is revitalizing American government and Mike Steele, if his approach was similar, could do the same to the Republican Party. He won’t, or at lest hasn’t so far. Mike Steele seems unsure of himself. His attempts at being more inclusive of minorities have been clumsy at best. Mike has be inconsistent in his message, he has appeared weak an ineffectual in his leadership, both because of his apology to Limbaugh for stating his opinion, and because he has yet to hire a staff for the RNC.  He is failing and is probably going to be drummed out of leadership.

As a Democrat, I see the dissolution of the Republican Party and Michael Steele’s failure as an opportunity to push the progressive agenda. However, as an American, I find the destruction of the opposition party, or its return to extremism, to be unfortunate. It is best when the two sides of the debate are moving in a common direction even if they have different ways of getting there. The extremist Republicans vision of America is narrow and self-limiting. It is my hope that the Republican Party reemerge as a useful part of our nation’s political process. Unfortunately, at this point it seems that both Michael Steele, and his party, is sinking into a mire of self delusion and bitterness. Hopefully, the Party of Reagan will reemerge as the Party of Lincoln and political debate will replace the foul and disheartening monstrosity that we have been victim to since the 1994 revolution.

Brandon Whitney is the creator of Homelandcolors.blogspot.com a blog that focuses on issues that affect the African American community. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. Brandon has political experience as an Outreach Director for the Democratic party and is passionate about being a positive force in his community regarding African American issues.  He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. You can read more of Brandon’s work at Homeland Colors.

Rush Limbaugh For President 2012

By Brandon Whitney

Many are saying that Rush Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party. Michael Steele, the current Chairman of the Republican disputed this and said that Rush is simply an entertainer, and then apologized to Rush for his statement. A title does not make one a leader, power makes one a leader. Rush Limbaugh has the power to turn commanding elected officials into Oliver Twist like begging supplicants. I think we are witnessing the collapse of the Republican Party.

Rush Limbaugh has never been elected to any office. He really is just an entertainer. Rush is the right wing angry version of Howard Stern. He doesn’t actually do anything except talk. However, Rush has a following of mostly hard-line right wingers. These are people who show up in Republican primaries, and these are people that many Republican law makers have to please if they want to be re-elected. Here’s the problem for them, the country is not full of hard-line right wingers. People reside all along the political spectrum; the extreme right wing is probably 25% of the population. You can’t win general elections with just a quarter of the voters.

Rush Limbaugh for president is a sign I’d love to see in 2012. It’s unlikely, but I’m sure that if his influence remains strong someone just like him will be the candidate. They won’t have a chance in Hades of winning. Unless moderate Republicans begin to take control of their party, the Party will go the way of the Whigs. After all, no one wants to support a political party who only loves the country when their running it, and whose idea of bi-partisanship doesn’t involve compromise but domination.

Brandon Whitney is the creator of Homelandcolors.blogspot.com a blog that focuses on issues that affect the African American community. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. Brandon has political experience as an Outreach Director for the Democratic party and is passionate about being a positive force in his community regarding African American issues.  He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. You can read more of Brandon’s work at Homeland Colors.

Obama Victory Means We’re All Americans

By Brandon Whitney

Roughly around the time of my conception Reagan was sworn in as president of the United States. The great de-regulator destroyed many of the institutions that made our nation great. He was followed by Bush who continued his work. President Elect Obama represents a return to the use of government for the greater good of all people.

As an African American I am of course happy at the fact that someone of my background is finally in the most powerful position in our nation. But more importantly as an American I am proud to see my nation take a step toward becoming what it aspires to be. For the first time in my life, I feel that the word American describes me, and people like me, without qualification.

I am the grandchild of a sharecropper turned teacher, the descendant of Louisianan Creole slaves, and I am as American as anyone else. The great dream of America, that hard work can get you where you want to go, is a true one. Barack Obama will be a great president with sound and intelligent policies, and this is the most important thing of all. But more than that, Obama is a great symbolic victory for all Americans. Overcoming the racism of the past is not just an African American victory, it’s an American victory.

Brandon Whitney is the creator of Homelandcolors.blogspot.com a blog that focuses on issues that affect the African American community. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. Brandon has political experience as an Outreach Director for the Democratic party and is passionate about being a positive force in his community regarding African American issues.  He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. You can read more of Brandon’s work at Homeland Colors.

Obama vs. Palin Partisan Politics

By Brandon Whitney

Obama doesn’t have to fight dirty, he just has to fight. I believe he’s doing so. When he directly addressed the McCain campaign’s false outrage at the lipstick comment, he took on a Republican machine that as successfully changed American politics into the dozens. Obama has thus far managed to energize the American public, teach Democrats how to run a successful campaign, and generate policy discussion. The last great task is to overcome the Republican guerilla tactics that have brought them to power. Obama is now the head of the counter insurgency against destructive conservative political fundamentalism.

Calling a spade a spade is powerful medicine. Obama pointing out the McCain campaign’s attempts to make the Democrats the anti-woman party as cynical partisan politics is a stroke of genius. It is engaging the enemy. Enemy may seem like a harsh title to give to a political opponent, but the tactics that McCain is engaging in, his Rovian politicking is not just destructive to the two political parties, it hurts America. A person who hurts our country for political and economic power is an enemy of the our nation and they have to be attacked aggressively.

The Democrats can win this election and by losing so can the Republicans. A small minority of conservative extremists has been running the GOP and have decimated what it once stood for. Lincoln was a Republican. African Americans, in one part of our history, supported the Republican Party. It is not an innately selfish and destructive party; it has been made that way. We cannot afford a President Palin, which is likely if McCain win’s considering his age, history of cancer, and the shorter life expectancy that being a POW has given him. We cannot afford four to eight more years of crony politics that apes the worst of third world governments. We cannot afford to be blindly led by our prejudices to elect the wrong candidate. Obama and the Democrats can stop all of this by fighting with fist and feet, knees and elbows, against the destructive politics of the right.

Brandon Whitney is the creator of Homelandcolors.blogspot.com a blog that focuses on issues that affect the African American community. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. Brandon has political experience as an Outreach Director for the Democratic party and is passionate about being a positive force in his community regarding African American issues. He is also a frequent guest on News and Notes’ Blogger Roundtable. You can read more of Brandon’s work at Homeland Colors.