tha-kid

Website: http://www.revkitchen.com

Bio: I am happy to join the writing team of ThinkYouth.org, and hope to be as much of an informative contributor as possible. 2008 been for most of the year thus far, a decision year. Americans on a very deep and personal level are being forced to make some real decisions, and think about the real world consequences of those decisions. As the nation and the world faces these decisions, lots of times we ask ourselves ‘What made someone make that decision?’ I ask that question all the time. So, as a way to introduce myself to you all I’d like to lay out my decision making process. I am a young African American male who was born and raised in the inner-cities of California. I have seen up close and personal what the effects of a life cycle of drugs and crime do to a family. What it does to an individual. How it rips at the very soul of a person. It is what has prompted me to dedicate my entire life thus far to education and preparing as many minority males to survive in their communities and have a hope and dream that both involves a service back to it, but a viewpoint of what else the world has to offer. It prompted my friends and I to found the National Center for Democracy (www.nationalcenterfordemocracy.org), educating young people how to advocate for their peers, and adults how to work in collaboration with young leaders. It has also sustained me in my efforts to take a hard line stance against guns, gangs, violent crime, and drugs, but at the same time advocating for stronger effective policies to get at the root of the problem. Being the product of unwed parents and a child who often witnessed the realities of domestic violence I am proud of a grandmother who was committed to her faith. It was her faith, and by sharing it with me, my faith is a higher power that I often took refuge in at dark times. As a child, this faith remained with me throughout my adolescent days, when if statistics had it right, I could’ve made some bad turns. That faith in God urged me to pursue becoming an ordained minister, a service to my church, two terms as Prime Minister of the National Christian Convention, and now efforts to create a Faith Caucus in the Young Democrats of America. It has also been the leading cause of my positions on domestic and international policy that puts me often in the moderate wing of my party. Because of my family background, the things that I value, but also the experiences that I have had, I don’t think that it is always okay to use the ‘by your own boot straps’ guidelines. Often times people need help, and when help is needed, it is the duty of the United States Government to provide that help. Because I believe that government in itself, and in theory, is good. It is evil people with evil motives that make it bad. I believe that a basic responsibility of government is to provide for the common good, and that by doing so, government policy should care for those who have the least. That is what makes me a Democrat and a proud one. Throughout 2008, be it on who to vote for as President of the United States, which candidate should represent me in Congress, which job to take in the fall, whether I am able to afford both food and gas, or the principles that make me who I am, these are what guide my decisions. I am honored to join the Think Youth team and look forward to communicating with you. Tha-Kid JK tha-kid@revkitchen.com

There They Go Again…Those Fools in Washington Go Off the Walls

If the noise from Washington seems like something we’ve been through already then maybe it is because it was. Remember 2002? President Bush told the American people that we faced a serious and creditable threat from Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that we have proof of their weapons of mass destruction. Then-National Security Advisor Rice said that we don’t have time to wait for a warning. That warning might be in the form of a mushroom cloud. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld issued the threat that, “There’s no question but that he does have some things that he doesn’t want inspectors to find.” Current Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee and Delaware Senator Joe Biden said if left unchecked Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction” would pose a serious threat to America. So the Congress rushed through a “Use of Force Resolution” and started the beating drum towards an endless and costly war in Iraq that is the main cause of the current economic situation we are in. They lied on the warnings, Congress acted fast and in a hast to sell our futures down the road. However the more things change the more they stay the same.

Ten days ago President Bush sent his Treasury Secretary and Chairman of the Federal Reserve to Capital Hill for a meeting with Congressional leaders. This was after they bailed out Bear Sterns with the assurance it would help fix the economy. It was after they bailed out AIG and stated it should claim the markets. Took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with commitments that under government leadership the housing market would stabilize. So even before this meeting they had been WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG. However still at this meeting they came with another dire threat. If Congress didn’t approve $700 billion dollars to bailout big banks in New York the United States economy would fall in a matter of days. Congress acted and on Monday of this week the House of Representatives voted down the bailout bill causing the stock market to fall by almost 700 points. However it gained points Tuesday when Congress left town for the Jewish holiday. However on Wednesday when the Senate passed the very same bill the market tumbled by hundreds more. Earlier today before the House voted on the bailout bill the market was up 150 points. Seconds after the voted was certified approved the market fell by 150 points. Is this a sign that once again they are wrong? Will members of Congress or Presidential candidates in the future claim they had been mislead about this crisis when it doesn’t work? The market fell because job numbers came out today and this year alone we have lost more than 700,000 jobs. Like Afghanistan should’ve been the target of the United States following the September 11th attacks Jobs is the problem we face today not money. However despite the facts arm twisting led more than fifty members to change their votes, including my new Congresswoman Donna Edwards. What got Donna? A phone call from Barack Obama! Give me a break.

Donna Edwards defeated Congressman Al Wynn in the primary earlier this year. After he lost he resigned and she took his seat early promising to represent the people. When she voted no on Monday Donna said, “This legislation would have done little to help the hard working people in my district.” However today after flipping she said that after speaking with Senator Obama she was convinced to vote for the bill. You have got to be kidding me. She went on to say the choice was this or nothing. You know why? Because members of Congress don’t want to work on the real problem in our economy, jobs so people can actually pay their mortgages and banks will have the money needed to operate, they want to go on break. They want to come back home and campaign to keep their jobs. So instead of doing their job they want to campaign to keep their jobs. This is not the change I thought Edwards and Obama wanted to offer. It wasn’t the leadership that she promised when we ousted Wynn. Wrong is wrong and again the American people are without the right leaders in Washington who are more concerned with a falling Mr. and Mrs. Jones then a falling Dow Jones.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

This is a Bad Bill and Thus Must Fail

The lies about the current state of this economic stalemate are everywhere. They are all over the media and in the halls of Congress. President Bush who avoided the cameras for days in the early stages of the stock market problems have made public addresses two mornings in a row. Congress who planned to be home telling us how good they are and why we should send them back are now stuck in DC finding a solution. The common reference line is that this crisis is the worst since 1929. What? 1929? Do we all not remember the economic crisis of the Carter and Reagan administrations?

During this current crisis less than 100 banks have failed. During the crisis of the 80’s more than 3,000 banks failed. Every single bank in the state of Texas failed and shutdown. Not only that but at the time the national interest rate was more than 21%! However that problem was resolved by two administrations, a liberal democrat and a conservative republican without a federal bailout. The FDIC and leaders in Congress and the White House worked with the markets to bring about a solution that saw the market bailout the situation. Will banks fail? Yes. Will people lose their jobs? Yes. However they deserve to. These are banks that played on the dream that we had as people and sold many Americans into deals we all knew they couldn’t afford.

Where was the bailout when home prices in states like California, Florida, Maryland Nevada, New York, and cities like DC tumbled by hundreds of dollars at the same time their interest rates and mortgages rose by double digits?

Where was the bailout when many of these companies loaned millions to unpatriotic companies to move overseas and take away good paying jobs from hardworking citizens?

Time and time again on issue after issue of this type the response was we couldn’t afford it. Guess what? We still can’t. Congress should turn down this bill again and start again with a plan that focuses on getting Americans back to work. Our problem isn’t that banks need public money but that we need people to work to get paid to pay their bills. When they pay their bills the banks will then have the money they need to lend to each other to save the market. I said it before and will say it again. No, no, and hell NO. However that comes with an extension and a promise. A promise not to vote for any candidate who does vote yes on this package without protections for the people and real help for the out of work Americans. Yes that is any candidate including a President. We have paid our share for this crisis and we need help ourselves. Where are those leaders who will stand for those who sent them to DC, remember the people on main street who don’t command around the clock media attention when our community falls? The House of Representatives took the first step and now is the time to ensure that the Old Boys Club of the Senate follows suit.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Suspending the Presidential Campaign. A Good Idea But Badly Executed

Senator John McCain shook the politcal world when he announced that he would be suspending his campaign for President and returning to Washington to work on a solution to the economic crisis we are facing. I am in the minority of my friends when I say I think it is a good idea. Just think what if the United States faced an attack before the election. Wouldn’t we expect two members of the United States Senate who are now the official leaders of their parties to return to DC and prepare the national response? Earlier this week while watching CNN Roland Martin an announced Obama supporter hit it on the head when he said that, “both these men are Senators. They are elected to serve their constituents in Washington.” I doubt Martin expected that within days McCain would do just that. However as is often with McCain he dropped the ball because he didn’t carry out the plan well.

Tomorrow Senator John McCain and Barack Obama are expected to debate in Mississippi on foreign policy. While America faces a financial challenge unheard of in modern times the two people most likely to become the next President will be talking about foreign policy and America’s role in the world. We need to hear our leaders talking about America’s role here not over there. So if John McCain was sincere in his actions I’d say he was right but he wasn’t. If John McCain really believed that as a Senator and leader of the GOP he needs to be in Washington instead on the stump then I admire him. My problem is that he can’t. Why? Because if so he would’ve done it with Obama as a partnership that really put partisanship aside. He didn’t. Not only that John McCain was returning to Washington without a clear plan on what he wanted to have done and what he was going to do. Still to this day John McCain hasn’t or won’t tell us what he has done so far to move towards any plan that would show what he has done there. I am one to believe that both candidates should return to the Hill and work with their parties on a resolution. It is too bad that at a time to show real leadership ambition got in the way.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Repealing CAFE Standards Would Be…Stupid

With the economy reeling from the effects of Wall Street some fools have been attacking what little progress America has made to move the country into a new future and better economic avenues. One of those successes have been stronger CAFE standards and moving America off of dependence on the international oil industry that is draining the economy of $700 billion dollars. Ironic isn’t it that the estimated cost of our bailout plan is exactly $700 billion dollars isn’t it? So to even consider repealing CAFE standards would be STUPID!

Our CAFE standards are in the progress of doing wonderful things for America and Americans. Is it making it harder for the old boys in states like Michigan? Yes. However Congress and the American people have made great concessions to the industry in many different methods such as putting off standards that by all means most feel if to be effective must start now until 2020. Another concession is making loans available to Motown in order to assist in their transformation to producing lighter and more gas friendly cars.

Some have argued that to raise CAFE standards means that people will only drive more. The argument is as stupid is one that says to make our money easier to carry means we will spend more. People aren’t moving their job because their car will get more gas to the gallon. Many of that gang will also fail or decide to omit from their writing that the real reason that CAFE standards was created and passed was to make us energy independent, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce pollution, save consumers money, create jobs and spark economic growth.

• Our old standards and the new set that the Congress just passed takes America to a new road for real energy independence. Why? Because the bill that passed doesn’t just say you act and we watch but pumps billions of dollars into the market to increase our own home made engery, calling for billions of gallons more in ethanol. It is time to wake up people and realize the fact that the world is running out of gas. This is a non-renewable resource that when you use it all it is gone. You can’t grow it anymore. The bill to call for more CAFE standards understands that and works to fix it by investing in renewable and sustainable resources that will help the world reduce greenhouse gas emissions that will KILL US. More and more American children in places like Fresno, California where I grew up and other cities are being diagnosed with things like asthma.
• It is important that you don’t let those who rail against CAFE standards to forget the RES portion of the bill that has the potential to jump-start new clean energy economy and create tens of thousands of new, good-paying jobs for things such as wind and solar manufacturing and installation. This is why people like for God sakes the United Steelworkers are backing the laws. RES will create thousands of megawatts of new clean renewable electricity generation, decreasing the amount of natural gas we use—lowering prices for consumers on their home heating bills and also benefiting industrial users. Even more important is that RES is doable and a star we can reach. More than two dozen states including my home of California have already put in our own Renewable Electricity Standards. In these states they are reaching for 30 percent or more so please tell me why the federal 15% is so far off the mark?

Now if more than any is time for the nation to think outside the box and revamp our economy, environment, education and employment systems. The world of yesterday is over and if we keep trying to keep up with just today then how will we ever get to tomorrow? Any mention or attempt to repeal CAFE standards would be shortsighted and as said before just plain stupid.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

My Answer to George Bush on Bailout…Hell NO!

Does it not amaze you like it does me that President George Bush is asking that the average American voter dig down in our pockets to bail out the big banks on Wall Street. However listen to what happened as Americans faced a number of issues:

When gas prices started to shoot up Hillary Clinton and John McCain proposed a tax holiday and the response was we can’t afford it because it would reduce the highway trust fund. Barack Obama proposed a $1,000 emergency energy stimulus check to help families pay their gas and energy bills. It would out right be too expensive.

When Americans started to be forced out of their homes because of the unfair and outright bogus loans these very banks issued and Democrats called for restructuring power for judges in bankruptcy courts the GOP called for leaving the free market alone.

Now that big bank billionaires on Wall Street are in trouble we are “days away from our very economy clasping” and must approve $700 BILLION DOLLARS in aid. To them I say not just no but HELL NO!

Congress should send this bill back to the White House and demand a billion dollar financial plan to protect and bail out the American tax payer who doesn’t have tax shelters that cut into our share of the pot for the federal coffers. We need a new stimulus package that brings jobs to the out of work and not just a shopping spree to get Americans back to work and able to pay their own debts. That is real reform and real help. This bill is just a blank check to Wall Street after a “good talking to” by the Principal and then let go out and play. These plans don’t call for the firing of the directors who got us into this mess. These plans don’t call for executive compensation reform to ensure that our hard earned dollars don’t end up in the pockets of the CEO failing banks. This is a bad plan, a bad deal, and therefore a bad bill. For the record I agree with Senator Sanders if a bank is too big to fail then it is too big to exist.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

I Demand She Apologize

I wonder how many people join me in being shocked and outraged by the comments Sandra Bernhard made about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin? In a routine Bernhard issued a gang rape threat that in and of itself is wrong but then included outrageous and racially motivated stereotypical rants. For instance the Hollywood star said and I quote, “gang-raped by my big black brothers” should she enter Manhattan as expected this week for the opening of the UN General Assembly. The statement a direct relation to the large crime in New York’s urban downtown and used race to make it that much worst and also Alaska’s ranking as the state with the largest number (per capita) of force rape complaints in the nation.

In poll after poll we are starting to see that Barack Obama, America’s first black nominee of a major political party, faces an uphill battle even amongst democrats strictly because of his race. These people aren’t refusing to vote for Obama because of his stance on the issues or what he wants to do for America but because he is black. It is comments like these that make that battle harder to achieve. So what should be done?

1) Sandra Bernhard should issue an immediate apology not only to the governor of Alaska but all African American men who already face racism everyday for people who think her “jokes” are actual reality. To use the image of the big black urban brothers ganging up on the small, slender, pretty, white girl from a small town plays directly into those unfounded fears that set so many blacks behind.

2) Barack Obama should condemn and return any money she has raised or given to his campaign. For the most part the Obama campaign has made a practice of being a clean and on the issue campaign. It is attacks like these that damage that change armor we all hope that the junior senator from Illinois will bring to Washington. Time after time his campaign has fired or distanced themselves from supporters who cross the line. This is one of those times.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

If These Are Our Friends Than Who Needs Republicans?

Freshman Representative Travis Childers in mainly his first victory in the House of Representatives took to the floor of that body to advocate for the most anti-home rule, undemocratic, and big brother intrusion on the residents of Washington, DC in the history of the body. New to DC and from Mississippi Childers wasn’t happy with the restrictive gun laws of the DC. However earlier in the year the US Supreme Court threw out most of those laws and the elected members of the City Council have been working on new one’s to “comply” with the order. This happens in Congress all the time. They pass a law and then the court strikes it down. Congress then works to comply with it. That is how this democracy works. Not for the newly minted member of Congress from Mississippi eager to show his voters that despite being a democrat he would buck the party if he wants. Even more he was emboldened by the eager support for the NRA and the lackluster of an effort by Pelosi, Hoyer, and Clyburn.

For those who might not be aware of what is going on in the Hall of Congress, the US House of Representatives passed a bill today that overruled the laws of the District of Columbia governing hand guns in the city. Now only that but it passage of their bill overturn local laws but it took extreme measures right out of the NRA hand book.

1) For instance the new bill Childers says he wrote would allow for the carrying of military style, long guns that are similar to AK-47s, and concealable Uzis on the streets of Washington, DC. Can you imagine a city full if residents armed to the teeth with Uzis?

2) This bill would cancel the current ban in DC from interstate travel of gun purchases into the city. This is not out of line with many states that prohibit the sale of guns into their state or city from other jurisdictions. Now of course there are countless loopholes in those laws, however this bill would gut that law totally and it in direct words encourage residents to seek guns from Maryland and VIRGINA. Why does Virgina cause alarms so much? This is a state that is being sued by many cities because the large number of guns made and sold in those states that violate other state laws and end up in crimes committed in those states.

3) Finally an issue that greatly shocks me is the complete dump of any gun registration at all. Childers would make it illegal for the city to require residents with guns to have to register those guns. These are the same requirements in place in almost every other state in the union.

Childers is from Mississippi. His state just went through a massive hurricane that reaped large damage in the numbers of billions of dollars all over the state. The economy is falling right in front of our eyes while gas prices continue to be on the rise. So what does Childers use more than a day on? Gun laws in the District of Columbia even though it is well known that the DC Council was working hard to comply with the order from the court.

Childers is only one of the focuses we should look at. The other is where the hell was Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Majority Whip James Clyburn? Not once could they take out three minutes of their night to come to the floor and address this issue? Where was the leadership in blocking from a vote this substitute bill that Childers wrote? Where is the outrage at the 80 something party members who jumped ship to side with the GOP? On almost every other issue the party fights to ensure the leadership wins these battles.

Since the Democrats have come to power two years ago the Speaker has used parliamentary procedure to protect and uphold party values. On issues of equal pay, the war in Iraq, health care, you name it. She has rewarded members for their staunch support of those values and dared others to cross her. However when it comes to a majority black city with crime through the roof all of the sudden it is time for members to “vote their values”. Give me a break.

If these people are our friends then trust me we don’t need the Republicans.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

On the Issues: Why Obama Was Right and John McCain Was Wrong on the Surge

In January of 2007 John McCain wrote an editorial about the need for a surge of American troops in Iraq. He wrote, “During my visit to Iraq last month, it was clear that security is the precondition for political progress and economic development.” He went on to say, “Until the government and its coalition allies can protect the population, the Iraqi people will increasingly turn to extr-governmental forces, especially Sunni and Shiite militias, for protection. Only when the government has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force will its authority have meaning, and only when its authority has meaning can political activity have the results we seek.” It has been more than a year since that surge and in a safer more secure Iraq we are still seeing a government not up to the challenge.

At the same time that John McCain was moving closer to President Bush on the war in Iraq Barack Obama was laying out the case why the surge wouldn’t work. In his floor statement he said this, “The fact is that we have tried this road before. In the end, no amount of American forces can solve the political differences that lie at the heart of somebody else’s civil war.”

So who was right and who was wrong? The GAO who conducted a report on the surge in September that hasn’t much changed said that Iraq had “failed to meet all but nine of the security goals Congress had set as part of a list of 18 benchmarks of progress.” Two of these goals had been the elimination of havens for militia forces and the deployment of three Iraqi military brigades that would be there to assist the U.S. in the security plan that was created for Baghdad. Two other benchmarks that had been described as one being economic and the other political the GAO rated as partially met. Speaking of political goals this same report said that only one of the eight goals in that arena had been met, and even today the Iraqi Parliament has missed deadline after deadline to set a date for new national elections that are pass due.

So if the true meaning our purpose of the surge in Iraq was just to secure the nation than John McCain is right. However he is being less than honest when he suggests that to be so. His own comments saying, “During my visit to Iraq last month, it was clear that security is the precondition for political progress and economic development,” prove this to be the case.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Can She Do It? When Democratic Insults Go Too Far.

John McCain rocked the political world this week when he named first term Governor of Alaska his Vice Presidential nominee. Some call it calculated. Some call it dump, stupid, and petty. However it did the job. Took the story off the great convention the Democrats threw and placed it on John McCain. It also energized the conservative base in ways they haven’t been all year long. Now the major question is can she do it? Can she take away those Hillary Clinton voters that haven’t and still aren’t warming up to Senator Obama? My guess is it might.

To answer this question you have to really understand the Clinton voter. To get off to a start, they aren’t just the liberal I support abortion women of Emily’s List. Women made up the base that sustained Hillary Clinton in the hardest days of her campaign. They became unwavering votes and supporters as volunteers and donors. They are the brick her campaign was built on, but they aren’t the audience that Sarah Palin will be reaching out to.

In the end of the primary season Hillary dealt Barack Obama a series of major blows in small towns and big states like Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. These victories came with the support of women but built more on the middle class blue collar workers. These are those voters that Sarah Palin was selected to reach out to.

The Democratic response to this nomination has as often with bolted leaders who are more full of themselves then what is good for the country or the party been offensive. My grandmother who has never voted for a republican sent me this email today: ” I never considered voting for McCain before today. Every day I see (John) Kerry, Barbara Boxer, and others speak of her in their dissmisive tone my blood boils. The fact is she knows how it is to have children and higher ambitions at the same time. They don’t appeal to my type of Democrat. Never have and never will. I suggest Obama tell them to shut the hell up before they cost him the election.”

After John McCain nominated Palin Barack Obama said this about the selection, “Yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign.”

Upon hearing of the Palin selection Clinton said, “We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”

These statements are a realization that playing the small town America doesn’t count, no experience card, and tokenism won’t work. It is time others did as well and focus on what matters.

It matters that Sarah Palin is in favor of more drilling at the expense of focusing on alternatives.

It matters that Sarah Palin agrees with John McCain that universal health-care is unneeded.

It matters that Sarah Palin believes that the Supreme Court was right to overturn the DC gun ban.

It matters that Sarah Palin is supportive of the McCain foreign policy agenda.

When did we start to ignore Obama’s campaign of an issue focused debate instead of personal and unhelpful attacks? I know when we allow idiots who have proven themselves to be unable to win national elections like Daschel, Dodd, and Kerry to issue these attacks on our behalf.

We are better advised to follow Obama’s lead on this one. She can’t win the Hillary vote unless we push them to her.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Sarah Palin- A Leader of Her Own But No Hillary Clinton

Alaska’s first female governor is making history today. She is the first woman in the GOP to be tapped to lead a national ticket as Vice President. Many will make great arguments on her readiness and her record. Let there be no debate that she is by far a spectacular individual with an powerful story full of wonderful accomplishments. She has a great record as a student, a daughter, wonderful marriage, inspiring mother, successful business woman, motivating Mayor, member of the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the most popular Governor in America.

Her story is a great one. The daughter of two educators and public servants dedicated to moving the newest state in the union forward. She grew up working hard and valuing her education. Her marriage has been one of strength and unity. To look at her family it tells the story of America. Talented children with the oldest willing to give of himself to serve America aboard. She can tell the story of growing developmental problems in American children having one herself recently born with a developmental challenge. When one looks at her political career not to be inspired is hard. She took on the sitting Republican Governor whom she saw is corrupt underachieving. She took him on and then won. After that she took on the former popular Democratic Governor and won. In one election this woman beat two male governors.

Her story is great. Her abilities are greater. However let no mistake be made. Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton.

Senator Clinton has worked hard to combat the negative effects that guns have on our community. Sarah Palin has spent her life working with and being a member of the NRA.

While in 2002 Sarah Palin was running for Lt. Governor as the the best pro-life candidate any candidate can be Hillary Clinton was fighting to ensure that President Bush and the GOP majority didn’t restrict a woman’s right to choose.

While Senator Clinton has joined Senator Obama in an unprecedented effort for universal health care for all Americans, Sarah has joined a team that degrades the need for health care for all as socialism or Hillarycare.

So yes we all should congratulate the historic moment of her nomination. We should take note of the road she has traveled. However it is important to remember…Sarah Palin is a woman…she is not Hillary Clinton.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

To the Clinton Wing of the Democratic Party

Monday, August 25, 2008

Dear Proud Members of the Clinton Wing of the Democratic Party;

Today is the start of the 2008 session of the Democratic Party of the United States of America. It is a proud day and a new day. A proud day because for sixteen months we worked together to back a candidate with a lifetime of experience in building a strong economy, balancing a federal budget, expanding health care for all Americans, leveling the tax system so that it is equal and balanced for all Americans, and the candidate with the best plan for bringing our troops home from Iraq. In June that historic run for the White House came to an end with more than 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling that for too long have prevented women from being who they want to be and doing what they want to do. However our dream for a stronger, better, more united America has only taken on a new life. With this proud day is also a day for sadness. Why? Because some disgruntled backers of our candidate have taken our hard work and hijacked for a cause of their own and to support a candidate who is the polar opposite on almost every issue we’ve advocated for over these sixteen months. We can not and must not let this happen.

Many of us still harbor great wounds in our heart for Hillary Clinton’s lost in the primary for the nomination of the Democratic Party for the President of the United States. We believed in her heart. We supported her vision. We saw her abilities. Now it is incumbent upon us to abide by the process and remain loyal to our candidate. One way to show that loyalty is to honor her wishes and support Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Some of our friends have become disillusioned with the process and that is fine. However what is important and not to be an oversight is the issues that brought us to support Ms. Clinton. On issue after issue Barack Obama is more inline with Hillary Clinton than John McCain. So when America is the defining question you are asking yourself in the choice of who to vote for, what is best for her, who can serve her well, that is Obama well before McCain by far.

To my friends who have allowed their genuine anger to cause an un-genuine cloud over their eyes I want to share a message with you. The Clinton campaign, the Clinton movement, the Clinton message is not yours to sell to the opposition. It is unacceptable for you to take the hard work of hundreds of thousands of Clinton aids, staffers, volunteers, and supporters and make it your own mantra. It is even more unbelievable and in fact in tolerable for you to hand our beliefs and our work to a party that has spent billions of dollars in 1992, 1996, 2000. 2004, and even 2008 to topple the great legacy that both Bill and Hillary built up. Let us not get the record wrong or confused here.

· In 1993 when then-First Lady Hillary Clinton went to the mat to fight for universal healthcare before it was popular John McCain stood with his Republican colleges in terming it Hillarycare, running Harry and Louise aids to blast it in the media, and led to its defeat.

· In 1995 when the new GOP majority was working at undoing the Clinton domestic agenda with their spending plan and it led to a government shutdown John McCain stood with the GOP and against Bill Clinton as he fought against a 32 billion dollar cut to the working poor, squeezes $270 billion from Medicare through 2002 by raising premiums for beneficiaries, and trimming payments to providers. This was in addition to their other proposed cuts to education, Medicaid, welfare, the Department of Agriculture, and even the environment.

· Where was John McCain in the 1998 when the outgoing defeated GOP House of Representatives voted to impeach President Clinton? I’ll tell you voting with the Senate GOP to remove him from office.

Listening to the McCain camp today you’d think he was a different man. He is not. That straight talk express lost all its wheels in January when the American public realized it had a lot of unstraight policy positions that remind you of George W. Bush.

Those disaffected Clinton supporters are within their right to support John McCain. They are not within their rights to use our message of a new day and better America to do it.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

An Open Letter to My Fellow Clinton Backers on Biden…Get Over It

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Dear Fellow Clinton Supporters;

It is official Senator Barack Obama has picked Senator Joseph Biden to be the Vice Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party of the United States of America. As this choice made news other things came to light about the process for vetting and selecting the number 2 spot of our party and with respect to Hillary and Bill Clinton. Let me be the first to say that Senator Obama and the Obama campaign seriously dropped the ball on this issue and big time.

For weeks after Hillary Clinton left the primary and threw her support behind Obama for President the candidate himself promised that she was well qualified to be on “anyone’s” shortlist. Sadly that anyone didn’t include him. Leaks continue to come out that his campaign never seriously vetted Hillary Clinton and never really considered her as the future Vice President despite his promises she would. To say the least it pisses me off. However on the selection of Joe Biden it was a great choice.

The story of a regular Joe is no one other than Joe Biden. The Senior Senator from Delaware who is the poorest member of the United States Senate, doesn’t own a home in Washington but instead commutes everyday back to his only home in Delaware will reach those in the lunch-bucket towns of PA, IN, and OH. However more importantly this is a pick that has worked hard on a large number of the issues that we supported Hillary Clinton on.

Violence Against Women’s Act- This was and still is one of the most powerful pieces of legislation every passed by Congress to combat domestic violence. Not only did he support it but he wrote it back in 1994 and worked hard with then- President Clinton to pass it. The VAWA has it is called contains a broad list of measures to fight a rapid rise in domestic violence and gives billions of dollars in federal funds to address the gender based crimes. However many will remember in 2000 the Supreme Court threw out that gender based section as unconstitutional but that didn’t stall Biden. He worked with Congress who at the time was swaying back and forth between Democratic and Republican control to reauthorize the VAWA. More to his credit when people started to criticize the problems at the National Domestic Violence Hotline, it was Biden who worked with technology companies to find the problems and donate their own equipment and expert experience in fixing it.

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993-Again working with President Clinton to fulfill a campaign promise, Joe Biden joined a group of Senators as strong advocates for its passage in 1993. This is a strong bill that provides for 12 weeks of leave for parents after the birth of a child, caring for a sick child or parent, or being too ill to perform the job.

These two major acts of congress are just a drop in the bucket on the others that aligned our dream President with the hopefully next Vice President. It is okay to be angry and disappointed at the failure of what a growing number of Americans see as an arrogant Obama campaign. However to seek to sink this ship and turn the keys to the White House over to John McCain borders on treason.

We know that if Obama is elected President he will work to bring our troops home and end the war in Iraq while winning the war in Afghanistan. We know that if Obama is elected President he will fight for real middle class tax cuts, higher taxes and revoked financial assistances to the oil companies. We know that if Obama is elected President he will bring real reform to an urban education community that has been under attack by No Child Left Behind that came with all new standards but forgot all the money.

These are real issues that affect real people and real lives. No one is above these issues, yes no one, not even Hillary Clinton. It is time to realize she lost and get over it.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Congressional Black Caucus Turns Their Back on Black Gang Victims

I couldn’t be more outraged to hear that members of the Congressional Black Caucus have blocked passage of Senate Bill 456. This bill also known as the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act would for the first time make being a member of a street gang a federal crime. Not only that but it would embolden the United States Justice Department to work closely with Mayors, Police Chiefs, and others in taking back our communities. The FBI is preparing to report that overall crime in America is down, but violent gang-led crime is shockingly on the rise NATIONWIDE. In every community in America police officers are reporting the negative effects that these criminals are having on our livelihoods. Now the CBC which boosts memberships that represent a majority of the most violent cities in America has blocked passage of this bill. Let me tell you what is in it and why I support it.

I am a California native. Was born there and raised. I saw from birth the death grip that these thugs have on the future of America. I saw and felt the terror that some of them present in young children who walk back and forth to school, who play street ball like I used to, who only hope for a better future, but see the nasty reality they live in. This bill would increase the investigative measures that police can have in taking down these gangs. It would lengthen the times of sentences that those convicted of crimes serve, but also boost funding for effective FBI crime prevention tools. It would also create a national center to analyze and share “best practices” nationwide.

S456 was introduced by California’s Senator Dianne Feinstein in January and passed in September of 2007. When the bill passed more than 40 of the 100 members of the senate had become co-authors. It passed without dissent in a body that argues over everything. Now it is sitting in the Judiciary and Education Committees of the House, and members of the CBC are sitting on it. It is shameful and beneath the behavior that is normal for these members. CBC members don’t block legislation, they debate it. CBC members don’t hide from a fight, they meet it head on. I understand the statement they want to increase intervention tools in our inner-cities but it shouldn’t stop prevention methods. So I would hope that members of the CBC would take another look at this legislation and see the merits in it. We need to not only work to get people out of gangs but punish those who commit acts of terror against innocent citizens. The CBC has been so honorably respected in the House of Representatives and now the Senate not because all of the members are black, but because they fight everyday for those who are often forgotten. No one is more forgotten then the innocent kids who fall victim to gangs everyday.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Why I Don’t Bury the word Nigga?

If there is one word in the American vocabulary that can stir deep emotions on both sides of the issue it has to be nigga. But where does this word come from and what does it mean? More importantly why don’t people like me and others just stop using it? Won’t that be better for everyone?

Nigga is a word that began as an eye dialect from the word nigger and that word comes from the Latin word niger meaning the color black. Some have aligned the word with negro or the spanish word for black as well. To look at the word nigga forces you to look at the word nigger. This is a word that was created and pushed to oppress my people and make them less human. It is simple to the way that whites would at one time refer to grown men as boy. So if this word brings back such images of hate and pain why do many blacks continue to use it? Well the answer is that we have come to believe that the hurtful and painful word of nigger doesn’t align to the word of endearment nigga we use with each other. This view is opposed by many leading black politicians and civil rights activists and that is fine. However how some of us view it.

For decades in America some groups have sought to do all they could to demean our people and turn us against one another. Now I want to be clear from the start that nigga is not a word that I personally use in daily language. it is not something that I have made apart of my regular vocabulary. However in personal and some very private instances it is a word that I have and likely will use in the future. I view the way we use this word as empowering and a step towards overcoming some of the issues we face internally as a community. This word to me is a method that some use to show kinship and understanding with one another. Rarely do we use it towards each other in the demeaning and hateful tone that others have sought to in the past.

I am sad when Sen. Obama and Rev. Jesse Jackson are used as a method to explain away why this word needs to be banned from public use and regular use. It is true that if I am called this word by another person not of my race I will likely be offended. It is likely to anger me. That is because this word is a word that oppressors of our nations past used to break down my ancestors. Now it is a word that some of us use to build and lift each other up. A person of another background can’t understand how it is to be black in America, what it is to be an African American young man from the urban inner-city who hopes to have a better life than our forefathers. Some see that as stupid and it maybe so but look at it this way, I have a brother who we have called by his middle name for my entire life. Jamill knows that at home we will call him that but in the street, at work, at school, and other places his name his Lawrence. Jamill is what the family calls him. My younger cousin DeJohn has never been called that my me at all. I have always referred to him as Boogie but now that he gets older and moves on to school and work DeJohn is the name we use. For me nigga means the same.

I respect the NAACP, National Urban League, Sen. Obama, Jesse Jackson, Oprah, and others for not using the word. Step off when it comes to my usage.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

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