And for something slightly less serious ...

... I just can't get enough of the Poo Song. Forgive me.

Message to some Liberals

If there was a blogosphere in 1992, liberals would have come across as very happy in it with regards to Bill Clinton as their nominee. He offered change, the future and, yes, hope. During the Democratic Convention that year, there was a promise in the air that felt energizing and uplifting, and any liberal not admitting to that is playing a game of revisionism. The one fear many of us had at the time revolved around the stories of "all the women."

Eight years later, the Bill Clinton presidency ended with the disappointment of what "might have been. " President Clinton had many economic successes, and a few international ones, too. However, he fell short because of those darn "other women," and a Republican Party willing to do anything to destroy him no matter the affect on the country.

But still, President Clinton's presidency, while not transformative (Senator Obama was correct on this), was a slightly better than average term that could have been more if he had kept his pants zipped, and had not been forced to work with the worst congress in the nation's history.

So now here we are with Senator Obama as our nominee, and similar messages of hope, change and promise have been put forth by his candidacy. Many of us feel the same promise of better days ahead that we felt in 1992 minus the fears of lack of zipper control.

And yet, many liberals have taken to attacking every little nonsensical item they can latch onto with Obama in the same way a Republican wingnut might do.

They say Obama disrespected women during the primaries. No, he did not. Outside of one "sweetie" remark, which was a mistake, but not that big a deal, the media was the guilty party. If anything, the campaign of Hillary Clinton, and particularly, Bill Clinton himself, were far more guilty of racist comments than Obama or the media was of sexism.

They say Obama has no experience. Well, he comes to the table having been a state legislator in Illinois, a U.S. Senator and a community activist. That might not be up there with what a Senator Joe Biden or a Governor Bill Richardson could offer, but it certainly equates to being governor of Arkansas in my book. Also, the same liberals crying about this, again, loved Bill Clinton, and while he made some early mistakes, namely Somalia and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," I would like to believe Obama would have learned from those missteps.

They say Obama is somehow just "not right." They point to Mark Reszko, though Obama's ties to him are minimal and legal. Reverend Wright is mentioned, but I fail to see how anything he said become the ideas of Senator Obama. Growing up, there was very little my religious leader said that I agreed with. Also, is Hillary Clinton pro the Myanmar regime because her one-time campaign coordinator Mark Penn worked on their behalf?

They pass along E Mails about Obama being a Muslim (as if that should be a negative anyway), or being a radical Christian, or being influenced by a half-brother in Kenya he barely has been in the company of, or ... well the list goes on and on. But here is where the truth comes out. The liberals who grab hold of all this silliness and promote it, and who also spout concerns about him that were never mentioned with other candidates of similar or lesser ilk, reveal their true, dare I say, colors, in doing so.

Obama is black. That is it. Were he white, say Bill Clinton, liberal support for him would be overwhelming. Oh sure, these liberals don't hate black people. They probably even know or hang out with a few. The truth, though, is a person of color is a threat to them when put in a position of real power. The buried racism comes out at that point.

To those liberals, it is time to get over it. Barack Obama is a great candidate and will be a better president than John McCain in every way conceivable. He will be better than Bill Clinton was just in that it is hard to imagine any zipper issues getting in the way of his job. And he will be just as good, if not better than, Hillary Clinton, just on his lack of relative divisiveness. And if you get over your illogical fears, you can join in on the hope that the ruin laid forth over the last eight years is about to be reversed.

Racism is so unbecoming of you.

Yes you can. Yes we can.

Poem: Gardot

When I went to see what this week's prompt was, my first thought was not along the lines of what most others likely were. Instead, I went here ...

Gardot

With a sultry voice
The beautiful songstress breathes
And life comes to words

Copyright SGW 2008

For the prompt at One Single Impression: Melody

Footnote: I have no financial or personal interest, but when something is THAT good, I recognize it as such.

Of the Dollar, and Nothing More

Whether televangelist, new age healer, revealer of keys to success, or spiritual guru, if they are selling the way, they do not possess any insights into finding it.

Poem: Bennies

The summer season has begun in New Jersey and ...

Bennies

If you bring to the beach more than you ever could hold
If you wear socks and cut-offs and large necklace, gold
If you say it’s “New Yawk” or you’ve radio booming
If you’ve all of these traits then I’m clearly assuming ...

You’re a Bennie.

If the Parkway’s a standstill of out of town cars
If you ransack our hot spots and clog up our bars
If you leave behind refuse to mark of your stay
If we beg and we plead will you please stay away

Damn Bennies!

If you’re part of the exodus that kicks up our sand
In your “Jersey Shore” t-shirts like locusts you land
If you say “Long Beach Island” we retort “LBI”
If you’re loud and you’re drunk then your actions imply ...

You’re a Bennie ... or maybe a Shoobie.

Copyright SGW 2008

Fight the Smears

Due to false rumors spread via the internet and Republican noise machines, not to mention the Clinton campaign through insinuation, Barack Obama has launched a website called "Fight the Smears" to fight back against all the lies ... and fear.

Poem: Cell Out

Cellular phones: We have gone insane over them! They definitely serve a purpose and are a wonderful convenience. But they can also be a sorry-ass excuse for rudeness, disconnect, distraction, and silliness.

Cell Out

No act diverts from the time spent attached
Ridiculous habits have relentlessly hatched
An addiction of measure quite absurdly attained
No thinking is given to any effort restrained

Gaggles of teens walk together, though barely
Each busy texting; interaction comes rarely
A guy in the gym must take calls while he works
Too many times I’m held up by these jerks
Listening to music, a cell phone blares out
Rudest of people, without any doubt
During movies or dinner or in library halls
Nothing can limit all these meaningless calls

Seen a man with a blue tooth planted firmly in ear
At a burial service, but he hardly could care
Full conversations on a grocery store line
And fully ignoring any “No Cell Phone” sign

There are places and times for a call to be taken
But from your seats at the ball game they are better forsaken
Each and every occurrence seems a reason to yap
I say take in the moment and shut your big trap!


Copyright SGW 2008

Remembering Daddy

It's a bit early for Father's Day, but check out this article at Newhouse News Service by Michele M. Melendez. She found me via the post I wrote last year called, "Father's Day." My post includes several poems, too.

Those who knew my father will appreciate both stories. Those who did not, should go "meet" an incredible guy.

Some fun observations on Michele's story:

1. I caught the baseball I am tossing in the picture despite looking at the camera.
2. The photographer picked the location, a small cemetery, saying, "I know it is a cemetery, but he (dad) did die." My family laughed the remark off, and the spot actually looks nice, but GEEZ!!
3. Now that those who have never seen me before can do so, do you understand my decision to use my cat, Boo, as my profile shot?
4. I hope "The Birmingham News" is one of the Newhouse papers to run the story. Southerners should see that not all of us up this way are Yankees; some are Dodgers.

Poem: Meow

Meow

Morning eyes open
To find, beside my pillow,
A cute cat waiting

Copyright SGW 2008


For the prompt at One Single Impression: Pets.

The way to my heart ...

... I am a coffee ice cream junkie and there is no ice cream better than Days in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. They close each winter and I await Memorial Day each year for this wonderful image. I ate it all!!!

Freedom prompt

I contemplated a haiku for this prompt, but each time my mind began to focus, I drifted back to this poem instead.

For the prompt at One Single Impression: Freedom.