obama

What makes something racist?

In the wake of the idiotic flip flop of Barack Obama on the FISA issue (see: 4th Amendment R.I.P.) I was looking to do something in protest. On my website, I've had a link to a Stop Illegal Spying website for sometime, and from some reason it's been down for a while. To replace the broken image/link I created this:

Big Brother is watching you - featuring Barack Obama's face

I've linked this to the EFF website on the spying issue. But this gave me the idea to create a t-shirt. With a slight twist of course:

Putting the Brother in Big Brother - featuring Barack Obama's face

I showed this image to a friend of mine and I wasn't met with the usual humor, they relayed that I should be careful because someone might take offense.

So I thought about it, and thought about it, and asked if I were African American would they have told me to be careful? Of course the answer was no. Somehow it would be 'ok' if I were African American and created this image.

This made me think about all the other situations where saying or doing things as one minority is ok but for other minorities (or the majority?) it's frowned upon, and even labeled as racist (or other -ist or -phobe).

This makes no sense to me at all, if one person or group shouldn't say/perform a word/phrase/action then no one should. right?

This also made me think about how using these possibly offensive things in a positive way is somehow perfectly ok. I haven't heard anyone crying out against the "Obama is my Homeboy" shirt or "Black is the New President" or even the "Yo Mamma" shirt. I'm not even going to begin to list of the questionable t-shirts that touch on gay topics.

So would me creating a shirt that promoted Obama... something along the lines of "A Brother for President" be ok, or is that like my use of the "put the X in X" joke to indicate he's aiding or becoming Big Brother something that should be considered possibly racist?

And is it possibly racist because I'm not the right minority or because it's racist for everyone?

Do you consider the image racist?

4th Amendment R.I.P.

What do you even say to that.

I'm speechless really.

Sitting here trying to write something about what has happened and I'm at a lose for words. Could someone please explain to me how someone who taught Constitutional law could vote yes on a bill that strips us of the 4th Amendment? I'd really like to know.

Actually, I don't need anyone to really answer that, because I already know. I've talked about it before, and to be completely honest, I'm glad Barack Obama has lived up to my expectations. Once again, if American's turn away from America's Next Top Model long enough to notice, we get a glimpse at the fact that we don't have a democracy. They have no interest in the will of the people. Their allegiance is to corporations and covering the corruption.

I hope they continue on this path. The more fucked up this country's government gets, the more corrupt, the more out of control the better. Americans that sit back and allow things like FISA to get passed desserve it. We need drastic change, which will only come from some sort of catalyst. Chaney and the Project for the New American Century when they wrote the 2000 report Rebuilding America's Defenses.

"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor"

They had theirs, eventually it will be ours.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~ Thomas Jefferson

If there is hope, it lies in the proles...

Change?

As entertaining as this video is, the status quo of Democrat and Republican is not the answer. And it certainly does not have anything to do with change. Unfortunately people love glossy high-price messages, especially if it preys on peoples emotions and is catchy.

Of course, since I live in the District of Columbia my vote won't matter. No, it's not because we don't have any voting rights in the House or Senate, and no it's not because we have some electronic voting machines that are trivial to hack and change vote counts. It's because we don't have a democracy we have a Oligarchy. Our presidential election is not based on the vote of the people. Our government does not operate under the will of the majority.

In the District of Columbia it will not matter if I vote for the Democrat or the Republican, and certainly won't matter if I vote for a alternative party such as the green, or libertarian. Our electoral college will be choosing a Democrat and DC will be a blue state.

If we were a true democracy and not an Oligarchy Bush would never have been president in the first place. Sadly people are so wrapped up in manufactured, heart-string picking, BBQ-grilling, catchy nostalgic rhetoric to even notice.

So since it doesn't really matter anyway, I'll be voting for one of these following people, in hope for actual change, not just a song about it.

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES