Wake Up!

While the context is completely different, it’s still hard to ignore the contrast between Americans and other people around the world when it comes to voting.  There has been non-stop violence in the streets of Kenya after the result of their latest election was disputed… we let Bush steal the presidency after a week of mild complaining… hell, the other candidate gave up before we could really dig in anyway. 

Pretzel Logic

On Being Black

“Magic, Eddie, Prince, they’re not n*****; I mean, they’re not Black; I mean… let me explain myself: they’re not really Black.  They’re Black, but not really Black.  They’re more than Black.  It’s different.”

Pino, Do The Right Thing, 1989

Almost twenty years ago I watched that scene with a wry smile and a head nod to Spike because he perfectly captured the absurd nature of racism.  He illustrated the conflict that exists among folks who doggedly hang on to their position when the facts are blowing their belief system sky high.  How do you still claim superiority over a group that continually produces examples of practitioners at the top of their field?  I guess you can claim those examples are the exceptions… you look for ways to separate them from the “pack”.   Despite more and more evidence to the contrary, you keep singling out the individuals as some sort of anomaly.  That’s called cognitive dissonance… and it’s still in full effect. 

Through The Wire, Pt. 2

The ends justify the means.  This week through the wire I saw folks at every strata of society doing whatever they thought would produce their desired result – damn the consequences. 

McNulty is desecrating dead bodies, staging crime scenes and faking evidence because he thinks that’s the only way he can be reassigned to his big case.  In his mind breaking the law is justified because he is trying to serve some greater good.  Just like in the real world.  We make up our own set of situational ethics to justify the ill sh*t we do – still gotta look in the mirror.  

Yo, I Got That Economic Stimulus For Cheap

It’s amazing what you can find out when folks, especially Republicans, start to get comfortable.  The unvarnished truth has a way of tumbling out when their guard comes down.  The latest evidence of how they really feel can be found in the talk around the short-term economic stimulus package.  Seems every economist willing to step in front of a mic says poor and middle income people should get the loot because they will surely spend it and that will jump start the economy.  That’s just wrong on every level.