Delegate 1066

Eddie Griffin

Precinct 1079 elected Delegate 1066 at the Tarrant County Democratic Party’s Senate District 10 Convention on Saturday. Like a salmon swimming upstream, he will advance the next step to the Texas State Convention in June. And so, Precinct 1079 cast its one allocated vote for Barack Obama for President of the United States. Delegate 1066 will carry the precinct vote to the state convention, a state still vying between Obama and Clinton delegates.

The morning Star-Telegram reads: “Obama is victor in weekend caucuses”. The word “victor” sends a proud chill through my vein. I was on the winning side, one of the victors in the second round caucus.

At least 3,000 delegates descended on the Will Rogers Coliseum from their precinct caucuses to comprise the Senatorial District 10 convention. The climatic conditions were chilly and drizzling skies made for a long uncomfortable wait.



Precinct 1079 was first in battle at the door, thanks to Ms. Gentry freezing in the cold for an hour, holding down a spot for all of our delegates at the front, so we could enter as a group. It took forever, getting in, getting settled, and getting our credentials. Nerves began to fray.

“We, Democrats, can win back the Whitehouse, if we don’t kill each other first,” one of the politicians declared. But this wasn’t that kind of fight. Instead of civil war, this was a war of attrition between who could stick it out and who couldn’t, a 14-hour marathon between survival of the fittest.

Eddie Griffin survived as Delegate 1066 and was elected to represent the Obama vote at the state convention. Ms. A. Y. Collins, a longtime black lawyer in the city of Fort Worth, became the alternate.

As for the Hillary Clinton delegate in our midst, we knew not where she disappeared. We speculated that she had been kidnapped, gagged, and duct taped, and stashed in the horse stalls. We found ourselves jubilantly singing, “Na na na. Na na na. Hey, hey, hey, goodbye”, in a teasing way to the Clinton delegate who abandoned ship.

How did she come up out of the ‘hood as a Clinton delegate, we wondered. She must have realized that her one little vote was meaningless in the delegate selection process. Even more, she wound up voting on nothing, and did not factor at all in the convention. She had wasted a day.

Spectators looking down on Precinct 1079 must have thought we were crazy, dancing in the aisles like we had just ridded itself of a thorn in the flesh. Then the kid gloves came off after hours of waiting, frustrations, and endless wordy resolutions.

“Madam Chair, can you tell me when we are going to start conducting business… Madam Chair, I move that we limit the reading time of the resolutions… Madam Chair, some of us have children and sick parents, we need to get home, can you expedite this process,” they bemoaned, one after another.

Patience, she asked? The Credentials Committee first had to deal with all the complaints and challenges that originated at precinct caucus during the March 4 primaries. There were a ton of complaints and challenges, from allegations of delegation stealing, to too many delegates from various precincts, to voter intimidation, and rumor had it that Hillary Clinton lawyers were looking over the shoulders of the committee, looking for flaws in the process. Still they got it wrong in some cases, leading to a chorus of boos from the crowd.

When the Credentials Committee report came in there were some three or four precincts that had no delegates at all, because they held no caucuses.

What? Boo! We knew better. Other precinct delegates were “realigned”. Boo!

“Madam Chairman, I see this whole thing as a conspiracy to take delegates away from Barack Obama,” one delegate decried. Another said, “Madam Chairman, I move that we end this whole thing and take it to the state.”

“Madam Chairman, point of order… Madam Chairman, point of clarification… Madam Chairman,” one after another, the delegates challenged the elderly convention chairwoman.

“The Chair does not recognize you,” she replied to one particularly pesky delegate. “We will continue. Resolution number thirty-five.”

Sheesh! Only twenty-one more long-winded resolutions of WHEREAS and WHEREFORE and BE IT RESOLVED, come on, I needed a break. Madam Chairman needed a break too.

“Please don’t leave,” the Madam Chairman called out. “You need to complete the process.”

But after the elected delegates, the process was over for them. Only the elected delegates and at-large bidders remained by the time the local news cameras arrived to shoot footage.

We missed a golden opportunity early on to capture the convention chair when our precinct chairman, Ms. A. Y. Collins, was nominated for the position by Ms. Williams, also of Precinct 1079. Before our leader to reach the podium, votes were cast and it appeared that Ms. Collins beat out the old Democratic Party leader. But we could not relish in the coup d’etat, because shortly thereafter, Ms. Collins declined from the race when someone called for a manual re-count.

Her stated reason: To expedite the convention without a tedious recount. Many grassroots voters were terribly disappointed. But we had made our statement. Precinct 1079, one of the poorest districts in the nation, carried the spirit of this convention and party leaders could rest assured that we would be back.


Reference: Huge delays frustrate delegates at district conventions

[Excerpts from Star-Telegram, Sunday, March 30]

District 10: Fort Worth

Thousands of delegates gathered at the Will Rogers Coliseum, where the arena floor was still covered in dirt from a cutting horse event.

Many waited for hours -- listening to candidate speeches, standing in line for food, listening to music blaring from the loudspeaker -- as they waited to sign in, get credentials or vote on delegates.

By 6 p.m., less than half of those who came in the morning remained.

"This is a very frustrating process," said Al Wade, an Obama delegate. "You'd think it was designed by Republicans to irritate Democrats."

Through the day, officials urged delegates not to leave. After hours of delays, many increasingly frustrated delegates began speaking out.

"I make a motion that this nonsense end right now and we take this to the state," one unidentified man said to convention leaders.

After a while, delegates left in droves.

"It shouldn't have been this difficult," said Donna Domm, a Clinton delegate who left after 11 hours. "It's very disorganized."
Willa Morehouse, an Obama delegate, agreed.

"It was real tiresome -- wait, sit, sit, wait, wait, sit, sit, wait," she said. "It was a hassle I could have done without."

Results were not available by 11:30 p.m.

Apology for Jeremiah Wright

By Eddie Griffin

Can I apologize for Pastor Jeremiah Wright? In an article, Jeremiah Wright and Firestorm Coming to Fort Worth, I announced that the controversial former minister of Trinity United Church of Christ was coming to TCU to receive an award from Brite Divinity School.

That will not happen. TCU cancelled the event for security reasons. The Brite Divinity School’s State of the Black Church forum was then rerouted to Dallas at Paul Quinn College, and the awards ceremony banquet was re-scheduled at Friendship-West Baptist Church.

That will not happen, either. Pastor Wright cancelled and cited security concerns for the institution and for himself and his family.

Now what I cannot apologize for is his words. The media found something to chew on forever, or for the rest of Jeremiah Wright’s life, which ever comes first. I admit my own desire to ask him face-to-face some tough questions, without a pulpit between us. His cancelled engagement is a missed opportunity to make his answer for his words about 9/11 and God damn America. I would have loved to have challenged his use of the pulpit to say things I have a problem with.

This would have been just Eddie Griffin versus Jeremiah Wright. If the media just wanted something to chew on, I could make Jeremiah Wright look like a baby when it comes to radicalism. The media dare not quote me, as they quote Wright. And, I’d say it over and over again… even with threat to life… he that lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Pastor Wright need not answer to the media. The media is not big enough to hold his words. America can barely bear to hear it. Oh no, you don’t want to hear what Eddie Griffin has to say. Not even, Jeremiah Wright wants to hear it.


Eddie Griffin

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008 Jeremiah Wright and Firestorm Coming to Fort Worth



Pastor Jeremiah Wright & President Bill Clinton

ANGER MANAGEMENT: A Chip on My Shoulder

By Eddie Griffin

Thursday, March 27, 2008

CBS News interviewed a woman on this morning’s program, who had been terminated for telling a workplace “bully” off. “If you hit me, I’ll hit you back,” the interviewee said.

Of course, she should have been terminated, I thought. So, what was the big deal?

It seems that a women and a co-worker were not friendly to each other. The co-worker was a “bully” that went out of her way to intimidate the other woman. One day, after following the woman around, the “bully” made a threatening gesture with her fist.

“If you hit me, I’ll hit you back,” the woman said. Because of that statement, she told the CBS interviewer, she was terminated from her job. The reason for separation of service from the company would always be “Terminate for threatening another employee”. The stigma would hinder her future employment chances.

It seemed, to me, that CBS was sympathizing with the woman and allowing the viewers to judge the bully employee.

Eddie Griffin doesn’t see it that way.

If the woman was going to strike back if struck first, then it was a premeditated decision made already inside her head. Why open her mouth and say what she was going to do ahead of time.

If she was going to hit the other woman back, let her hit back. Don’t telegraph it to a room full of people.

Never ever tell your enemy that you will strike back… vengeance is mine says the Lord… I will repay.

Mine shield is my fate, and my face becomes as armor. Hit me in the face over and over again until you get tired, I once told my stepfather. I was determined not to blink, nor budge, nor bloodied, nor bruised.

Does this mean me that Eddie Griffin is non-violent? Not exactly.

I pushed the envelope until the punch was six inches from my face. Then, and only then, did I know what to do... the Lord is my shield and salvation... whom shall I fear.

As for the “bully”, I don’t understand the concept. They do not exist in the lexicon of Eddie Griffin. There are people with aggressive personality disorders, of which those who issue verbal and open threats are the most egregious kind. They are the ones more likely to carry out a violent threat.

As for the “bully” with the aggressive personality disorder, manipulating the angry emotions of her co-worker, this is a case of either terrible anti-social behavior, or a very shrewd method of playing her opponent “out of pocket” and into committing a “terminal mistake”.

You be the judge. As manager, I would have fired the verbal employee, and keep the other under observation.

If an aggrieved employee has a big chip on his or her shoulder, let it be the cross. Once provoked, twice fouled.

Battle Line Between Clinton & Obama Forges Forward in Texas

Do you remember the Texas primaries where Hillary Clinton won the plurality but we claimed Barack Obama won the precinct caucuses, and therefore, more delegates?

Well, since then, there has been chaos and numerous complaints about how the caucuses were conducted and allegations of delegate rip-offs. Today, at last, I received notice from the credential committee that I have advanced to the next round of caucuses in Texas as an Obama delegate.

What shocks me is the fact that we are carrying three Clinton delegates to the senatorial district caucus. How in the world did that happen? Of the 500 or so people who attended the precinct caucus, over 90% of our precinct favored Obama. We should have easily squeezed out the Clinton delegates.

But something happened. Since people waited for over two hours for the polls to close, many went home without voting in the caucus. Others were given the option of signing in and then going home. By the time we began selecting our 20 delegates for the next round, we had only 23 people left to choose from. Hence, we lost three delegates by default… our fault.

In any case, I made the first cut. After the next cut, the survivors go to the state convention in Austin, then the national in Denver.

I cannot say how important the Texas delegation is. All I know is that I am one.

A petition is now forming, calling for Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the race. (Read below). Afrospear bloggers are building their case on line, as to why she must go.

I support this action. And, as a delegate, it is imperative that I inform Democratic Party leaders of the perils of continued divisive tactics being used on the campaign trail.

Here is the latest:

Clinton advisor James Carville refuses to apologize for calling New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson a “Judas”, after Richardson endorsed Obama.

The Campaign for Senator Clinton to Concede Now

By Yobachi Boswell and Francis L. Holland, Esq.

The Afrosphere Action Coalition and the

Committee To Unite the Democratic Party

Read about this initiative here.

Sign the Petition here.

See Press Release here.

See AOL News coverage here.

Bloggers Participating in the Day of Blogging For Voter Justice should sign up with your name (real or internet handle) and FULL url address (example: www.blackperspective.net) in the comments.

1. Francis L. Holland http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2008/03/concede-now-hillary.html

2. D. Yobachi Boswell www.blackperspective.net

3. Villager electronicvillage.blogspot.com/

4. PurpleZoe purplezoe.blogspot.com/

5. Sojourner’s Place sojournersplace.blogspot.com

6. Vanessa Byers www.blackhandside.net

7. JD www.blackinbusiness.org/

8. MrsGrapevine mrsgrapevine.com/

9. Sincere www.sincere-thoughts.blogspot.com

10. Credo dowdellresearch.blogspot.com

11. Black Women in Europe blackwomenineurope.blogspot.com

12. Belizebound www.inpursuitofperfection.typepad.com/

13. Shawn Williams www.dallassouthblog.com

14. MarvalusOne opinionatedblackwoman.com/

15. Rock AfricanAmericanPoliticalpundit.com & AfricanAmericanOpinion.com

16. Anne-Marie McReynolds www.backyardbeacon.org

17. therealready.blogspot.com/2008/03/its-on-now.html

18. Phil philpierrepaul.blogspot.com/

19. imby.wordpress.com/

20. Gunfighter gunfighter1.typepad.com/warrior/

21. Tom automaticpreference.wordpress.com/

22. InvisibleWoman invisible-cinema.blogspot.com/

23. Baratunde www.jackandjillpolitics.com/ and www.jackandjillpolitics.com/

24. Marcus E. Carter www.inpursuitofperfection.typepad.com

25. Terry Howcott www.terryhowcott.com

NEXT CASE: Hiring Discrimination

Civil Rights Grievance building against a Government Subsidized Railroad

By Eddie Griffin

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

This morning I discovered that the men we trained for high-paying railroad jobs were systematically discriminated against when it came to actually hiring... twenty men who passed the test were aggrieved by management placing one obstacle after another in their path until they were almost completely eliminated. One young black man went as far as Missouri only to discover the job was no longer available. And, twenty jobs were snatched right from under them before they even got started.

This is personal, because I sold them on hope... that if they passed the math part of the railroad test, they were as good as hired. (Eddie Griffin helped design the math test). All the men passed. These were all young black men, between the ages of 18 to 40.

The railroad company had committed to diversity in hiring to replace its older retiring railroad men. They needed to fill an annual estimated 2,000 slots... maybe, we thought, that 20 well-trained black men would qualify.

And so, they all did. They all passed the tests, but they were not processed through normal hiring procedures. The next step in the process should have been a physical examination.

But No! They had to jump through hoops.

Within the coming days, I hope to meet again with these 20 young brothers, along with the president of the railroad company, who championed diversity in hiring and funding hiring fairs. We hope, by then, to have a team of civil rights attorneys and leaders.

There will be no rah, rah rallies, and a throng of the "ignorant masses". This will be us and them, face to face, discussing and dealing with the issue, before going class action and building support against hiring discrimination.

Response to Pat Buchanan “A Brief for Whitey”

The American Conservative
1300 Wilson Blvd. Suite 120
Arlington, VA 22209
letters@amconmag.com

To: Pat Buchanan
Re: “A Brief for Whitey”


Pat Buchanan writes:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks — with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas — to advance black applicants over white applicants.

Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?

Where is the gratitude?

It is in these words of the Old Negro National Anthem by James Weldon Johnson:

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.



The problem here is Mr. Buchanan wants the gratitude that black people give to God.

Who wants food stamps and the disgrace that goes with it? Who wants welfare and humiliation? Every black person living in subsidized housing hate it, cramped together like caged animals in the ghetto, where life expectancy is dubious at best, and the next meal may come from the next theft? They hate the dependency on Medicade and handouts from liberals.

EARTH to GLORY: Mark those who sow seeds of discord.

Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America’s fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago. [End]

White America, African-Americans, white America, African-American, black-on-white, black-on-white, and black assaults on whites… so writes Mr. Buchanan, in that order. Clearly, the issue he makes is ethnic, black-skin people and white-skin people.

Are these not seeds of discord?

Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field. One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up. The man's servants came to him and said, "Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?' "It was some enemy who did this,' he answered. "Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?' they asked him. "No,' he answered, "because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.' " (GOOD NEWS Translation)

Confession of a Black Man: Where am I going wrong?

TO BOB RAY SANDERS, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Where am I going wrong, Bob Ray? Maybe I should pray in the morning before I read the newspaper. Because after reading it, I am so angry that maybe my prayer for America may not be getting through. This is a hopeless country.

Now what?

I come in this morning and the security guard tells me that some government contractors have been rifling through Barack Obama’s passport files. Then he asked, “What were they looking for… more dirt? If the man ate chocolate ice cream, they would make an issue out of that.”

Thank God, even a white middle-American security guard can see what’s going on. Nevertheless, the question sticks with me? What were they looking for, and who were they secretly working for? I can see the Watergate break-in, all over again… spies looking for dirt to use in a presidential campaign.

Even more, what were they planning to do with what they find… try to manipulate the outcome of an election by trickery, disinformation, and false imaginary. This past week they have already played Jeremiah Wright on television news so many times that they may as well give him a comedy show like Flip Wilson. If America finds this entertaining to their prejudice, the pastor may as well get paid for it.

Who is trying to play with my mind with all this negative imaginary? They made fun of his middle name because it is Arabic and his last name African. Why did they do that?

I remember an Arab-America writing to the Star-Telegram, offended that certain white Americans has this phobia about olive skin people with Islamic names. On the other hand, it further confounds me that John McCain can kiss a Saudi Arabian, as if with the kiss of Judas, pretending his America loves olive skin people.

Do the Saudis know that there is a witch hunt on in America?

Just this morning a young immigrant from Saudi Arabia related an experience of being stopped by a cop for a traffic violation. He said the cop was so nice, and was about to forego giving him a ticket, until he noticed his Arab name. At the time, the cop pulled his gun, forced the young man out of the car, and made him lie on the ground.

“Swear to God,” he declared.

“Now you see what black men in America have been going through for centuries,” I replied.

It is not just a phobic witch hunt for Arabs. What about Latinos? They want to round up all Latinos without papers like a Texas cattle drive and drive them out of the country. If they are brown and have a Spanish surname, they better have some papers, even if they are Tijuana and lived here before Texas was a Republic. That would be like declaring the American Indian an illegal “aliens”. Olive is olive, black is black, red is red, and brown is brown. But being a brown America isn’t worth the price of a birth certificate.

Now that America hates the olive skinned person, the red skinned person, the brown skinned person, that black skinned person running for President of the United States is perceived as just another minority to hate.

Confession of a Black Man

By Eddie Griffin

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I am surprised that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram decided to open the discussion on race relations, a subject dealt with in the newspaper, one-sidedly, for so long. Not to mention, the one black editorialist Bob Ray Sanders is constantly roasted in the newspaper as always “playing the race card”.

(See “We Need to Talk”, Thursday, March 20, 2008)

After much discussion in the national media about race, as it relates to the 2008 presidential campaigns, and recent controversies created by surrogates of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the Star-Telegram announced, “Let the conversation begin” about race and perceived racism.

My first thought was like that of Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth!” The theme of most white America is “lie to me” and “make me feel good about myself”. And, if I don’t lie, they call me a “race hater”. I be damned if I do. I be damned if I don’t… speak as an African-American man.

Barack Obama could not have grown up with Eddie Griffin. I would have hounded him as being an Oreo, black on the outside and white on the inside. His thinking, to me, is more white than black. Therefore, he could have had no input in the discussion of black liberation in the 1960s, as black conservatives had no input then. Barack Obama is conservative in the eyes of more militant African-America, just as Bob Ray Sanders is on the right side of Dixie.

No, white America, you can’t handle the truth. You want me to tell you a lie? Here is a lie: I love you white America, unconditionally. My wife doesn’t even get that much commitment from me. And you want me to love you more than myself. Geesh!

Oh, you say I am an old angry black militant from the revolution days of the Civil Rights Movement, and that deep down inside I hate white people. Not so.

There are some things about white people’s practice of brotherly kindness that doesn’t sit well with me. For example: They like to have the last authoritative word on any and every subject, as if my intelligence is inferior. It makes me angry, not hateful. And, the Bible says, “Be angry, but sin not”. I can be angry without punching white people in the noose, a temptation I have suppressed for all of my life, and yet I am not non-violent, in the MLK sense.

Basically, I feel sorry for humanity, because a lot of white people just don’t get it… so sad, the human race. But my saying that I, a black man, feel sorry for them only angers them even more. Why?


Responses my be sent to eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com or evansavenue76104@yahoo.com.

Jeremiah Wright and Firestorm Coming to Fort Worth

By Eddie Griffin

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Prelude

Since I go to a church that keeps America in her prayers, I thought it best that I should deal with this “God damn America” preaching. The man who preached these sermons is coming to my hometown.

When it rains, it pours

Oh Lord! Jeremiah Wright, the fiery United Church of Christ preacher whose sermons are now the center of a political firestorm, is coming to Fort Worth to receive an award. On one side of the firestorm are patriots who are offended by Wright’s anti-American hot and fiery “sermons”. On the other side of the controversy are people who proclaim that Wright speaks truth to power, and America cannot handle it. They do not know what black people are commonly saying in private amongst themselves.

Now that ABC News and other networks see fit to let the skeleton out of the closet, Racism has taken center stage in the national political debate. The presidency of the United States is now haunted by ghosts of the past.

Back To The Future

If history repeats itself, this would mean that we have gone back to 1860, a return to the pre-Civil War era of ignorance and intolerance. There was, not then, a sane man left standing... not even now among us. Like a cat entangled in yarn, we are enshrouded in a mass mental pandemic of myopia... what-I-see-in-my-own-eyes-is-my-own-truth... this nonsense, to go along with, our terminal case of self-righteousness.

The way forward is to go back. Duh!

But Moses, we want to go back to Egypt. We’ve got a Red Sea in front of us, and the haters pursuing us. It would have been better had we never gone to the polls and voted.

When Wright is Wrong

Pastor Jeremiah Wright is wrong in saying, “God damn America.” He should have said, “God damn the world.” Now that is scripture:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7)

The other is false doctrine. There, I said it... sue me.

Where do people come up with this “black liberation theology”? Politics and the church are as separate as church and state. There is a difference between black liberation ideology and black theology of exploitation. Some people want to drag God into their personal little struggles like taking the Ark of the Covenant into battle.

It is unfortunate the Jeremiah Wright chose to pick on America because of her past sins, and let the whole corrupt world go free. 9-11 was a sin and a crime against humanity. Nobody deserved to perish like that.

But, Brother Griffin, I thought the gospel truth was about our going out into this dark and corrupt world and saving the lost. What in the hell are men preaching nowadays in the pulpit? Who is more lost than the blind leading the blind?

False Doctrine of Black Liberation Theology

What is “Black Liberation Theology”? Through the eyes of a former Black Panther, this theology was a good excuse to talk revolution from the bully pulpit, inflaming souls with words of fiery rhetoric, but when put to the ultimate test, it amounted to nothing more than idle words.

Since we, Panthers, were the embodiment of the so-called black liberation struggle, we made a distinction true revolutionaries and fakers. Even an eloquent speaker like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. could speak of freedom, justice, and equality. But all of this was not the full range of our liberation aspiration.

We utterly rejected the theology of passive resistance and turning the other cheek. We believed and advocated self-defense, which deviated from King’s theology of non-violence.

Other Misguided Liberation Ideology

The black revolutionaries of yesteryears never agreed on what “liberation” really meant. It was like asking a slave what “freedom” means, as an ideal state of our imagination, something of which we had never seen. We could only know the Promise Land, we thought, when we got there. We had no since of direction for lack of vision and leadership.

There were some black militants who saw liberation coming in the form of a Back-to-Africa movement. But that didn’t work. Back in my great-grandma’s day, in order to escape oppression and racial hostilities in America, some Negroes returned to Africa and set up a colony in Liberia.

They learned a very unfortunate lesson. The color of a person’s skin was not the same as race. We were Americanized Negroes, not indigenous Africans. All we had in common was black skin. But African-Americans were westernized and corrupted by colonial thinking. We thought we could impose a Euro-style black colony on the native population. The American Navy had to bail the black colony out of an African uprising. But, today, Liberia is what it is.

Some black militants perceived liberation as forcing the government to give up five southern states to the black populous... along with the forty acres and mule that was promised to the slaves, but never paid... plus a hundred years of accrued interest.

Tragically, this movement led to a bloody shootout and life imprisonment for some black revolutionaries.

Some believed black liberation meant giving air to black culture and arts, as the concept of freedom boiled down to free expressions that had been excluded from the mainstream of America by discrimination.

This Black Nationalism was characterized by fiery poetry and angry depictions of black life in America. The movement created black holidays, like Kwanza. People dawned traditional African garments, adopted Eastern names, and set out to redefine the Negro race.

All of these liberation ideologies, including the so-called black liberation theology, were placations by self-deception. Liberation, on the other hand, for the Black Panthers, meant a Marxist-Leninist bolshevik-style revolution... to overthrown the rich ruling class in America.

Oh brother! Where in the world did we get these insane vain ideas about freedom... freedom for people with black skin? Where are they going to go once they are free? Some people in black skin were already enjoying the heaven-on-earth high life. So, what did they have to benefit from this so-called black liberation? Instead, they set out to stop us and, in the process, became counter-revolutionaries.

And so we were self-assured of internal self-destruction, as a people per se, because every man followed his own directions, going to a place he knew not where, following ill-conceived ideals of making a better world.

Where did it get us?

God Damn the World

We should have realized from the outset that a hundred years past and a hundred years before us would be the same. Man, in the world, is lost. His imagination is vain. He is hopelessly sinful and utterly corrupt. And, if that hurts his feelings, guess what his reward will be.

Don’t Rain on My Parade

We are like children lost in Disneyland. Our parents and forefathers went one way and we went another. How in the world are we going to get home? But then, who cares about home when we are having so much fun, doing what we want to do.

Noah, build an ark. It’s going to rain.

Not on my parade is it going to rain. For as long as America has been America, it has never rained on my parade. The show must go on. Let us eat, and drink, and be merry. Nothing is going to happen. We will never have to pay for our sins.

Oh God! Jeremiah Wright is coming to my hometown of Fort Worth. And, the media will descend like rain. Let me build myself an ark.

HAT TIP to Adrianne George

FROM: Eddie Griffin & The Afrospear

Here is a story from the battlefield of courage from our own Princess Warrior Adrianne George.

“The Democrats Abroad EMEA caucus in Brussels this past weekend was exhausting and exhilarating. As an Obama delegate candidate and elector (I could vote for the delegates) it was an experience I will never forget.” So begins the amazing journey of Adrianne George, a black businesswoman living in Europe.

American expatriates came to Brussels from the far reaches of the globe, from the southern tip of Africa to the northern tip of the Netherlands.

Adrianne writes:

Saturday we voted for 4 Obama delegates to go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. We ended the day without having decided on delegates with the task of having a final 3rd ballot on Sunday morning.

Now, to make a long story short: here is why it is better to give than receive.

On Sunday we are stunned to learn that a mistake in the vote calculations caused the result to be under reported by 50% (for example I received 26.2% instead of the 13.1% that was announced So after an initial pool of 30 or so female candidates and after 2 rounds of voting I was #4 of 6 female candidates, along with a sister from Chicago named Monica French Stewart who lives in South Africa as #3.

A vote was taken to go back to round 2 and revote… When the 6 remaining women candidates were bought to the front and asked if they wanted to stay on the ballot, I withdrew from the race and endorsed Monica. It was more important to me that a sister go rather then risk splitting the vote. That sister didn't have to be me, and I'm proud that Monica will go and represent the interests of African American democrats in Africa.

I was stunned and what happened next. I got a standing ovation from everyone in the room! That's a personal first. So many people came up to me and hugged me, and shook my hand and thanked me for showing leadership, and being gracious and selfless. I was told that I was the first winner up there. I was even encouraged to run for executive office of Dems Abroad. When the vote was calculated Monica received over 72% of the vote (50% is needed to win).

CONGRATULATIONS TO Monica French Stewart, the sister from Chicago living in South Africa.


HAT TIP TO ADRIANNE GEORGE FOR LEADERSHIP AND COURAGE

Visit Adrianne George at Black Women in Europe, a member of the Afrospear

One Man Revolution: A Lesson in Anger Management

By Eddie Griffin

Monday, March 17, 2008

Why do you hate everybody? That question was once asked me by a prison secretary some 30 years ago when I was a very mean and angry man. She didn’t know that this was my “good side”. She didn’t know how many years it had been since I had last come into contact with human beings, for the last few years of my life, up to then, had been spent in solitary confinement.

I promised the government that I would be a good boy… no more riots, no more revolution, no more violence, no more escape attempts, no more hand-to-hand combat against prison guards.

Before they released me from my refrigerated strip cell, the warden made me promise that I would never be seen nor heard from again. Considering my dire situation, it was a promise I gladly made. But this didn’t make me a happy conformist overnight. I still had anger issues.

Once upon a time, they tried to put Eddie Griffin into some anger management class, as part of a guilty plea to domestic violence. The plea bargain was unacceptable.

Philosophically, I reject man-made anger management schemes. After all, what do the experts really know about human behavior and the thinking of man? This is why I have such a big problem with psychologists. (I call them “head shrinks”).

I have my own way of managing my own anger. I do it by self-suppression… self-contained rage, if you will. Whenever I get angry, I go on a hunger strike… fasting sometimes for days… three days… six days… fifteen days. While fasting, I cannot fight the empirical world, because my body is too busy fighting itself. All I can think about it food. By the time I finish fasting, I am weak, hungry, a little more humble, a little tolerant and enduring.

How hot is my rage? Let me say, sometimes you can fry an egg on my head.

In prison, I fasted a lot because I was the angriest man in America… so some people said. I was a die-hard Black Panther, one of the last of the unbroken black men who waged war against the government during times of racial tension. The time I spent in prison were mostly in facilities especially designed to break obstinate resisters like me.

By law, prison was where I was supposed to be. But I hated being locked up. It was not a ho-hum experience where men idle away their time. This was survival of the fittest gladiator school, where never there was a dull moment. And, in every maximum-security prison facility, there are inmates always secretly plotting how to escape. And, with 50 years hanging over me for a string of bank robberies and kidnappings, this was my thinking also.

I had successfully escaped once before, from a military prison stockade. But my second attempt was a disaster. Solitary confinement awaited me.

We had this insane plan to attack a guard tower with homemade rocket launchers. My partner in crime was an army specialist… just another angry black soldier gone bad during the Vietnam war era.

What was his crime? He was part of a conspiracy to plant land mines in the streets of Washington, D. C. Now he was planning to make rocket launchers and blast his way out of Marion Federal Prison. Sounded like a good idea to me at the time.

Not that I had a choice of cellblock mates, what sounded insane, at first, was that the rocket launchers would be made out of paper. But I didn’t know that by putting water on newspapers how it would dry out and harden like a brick. My partner showed me, not only that, by how he helped invent the disposal cardboard rocket launchers for the U.S. military. With prefab cardboard and copper wiring, he could fashion an electronically triggered monorail rocket launcher. In the meantime, I would manufacture the plastic explosives and make the warheads.

So serious was I that if a guard passed by my cell, he would only see a very solitary inmate pretending to be an intellectual, with stacks of books and scores of newspapers lying around, reading about world events on the outside world. But once out of sight, I would peel back the newspapers and returned to making plastic explosive putty and flatting it out between the sheets inside the newspapers. My tools were concealed in hollowed out books on the shelves. Another box of books under my bed concealed a homemade oven, lined with aluminum foil.

At night, after lockdown, I would pack the plastic explosives into metal battery casings, set them inside the oven, and heat it up by a rigged light bulb to dangle inside the box… smart idea, but faulty design.

In order to rig the light bulb, I had to tape one necked wire across the base of the bulb and the other wire around the side. Whenever I plugged the stripped electrical cord into the socket, the bulb would light up. The light was concealed inside the oven box, with flaps over the top, and positioned under my bed, so as not to be detected by prison guard or my cell neighbor.

The flaw was this. Whenever the bulb got hot, the tape would melt and the wire would slip off and the bulb would go out. Peeping under my bed, I could see when the light was off. Normally, it was nothing I would re-tape the necked wiring back to the bulb.

However, one night, I got careless in trying to re-tape the wire. I accidentally let the necked wires touch. A spark flashed and, in an instant, the packed battery canisters of explosives went off like Roman candles. Luckily, the canisters fizzled instead of explode. But it left a sulfur cloud inside my cell and out in the hall like a London fog, that not even a prison guard could miss it. And, it didn’t help that my fellow inmates were screaming, “Fire, fire.”

That was my last escape attempt. But it was not my last time visiting solitary confinement. Nine months, I stayed, after only being charged with setting a fire. So, the one-man revolution fought on, only to live another day.

[NOTE: The theme of this essay is anger management through the technique of fasting. But, of course, fasting alone could not quench my rage. It took prayer and the word of God to transform the angriest man in America.]

TO THE READER:
There are a number of subjects and issues related to the above essay. In recent times, we have seen a rash of mass murder and random shootings in schools, malls, churches, and places we would least expect it. We sat dumbfounded in our piteous amazement and ask, “Why?” Then we blindly ignore the obvious: These mass shooters have unresolved anger issues.

How do you deal with anger issues? That is the subject matter under observation through my own personal experience, once described as the “Angriest Man in America”.

The reason we, Americans, are blindsided by random violence is because we chose to ignore how we breed anger. And, most mass shooters have documented histories of psychological problems.

Where did the psychologists fail them? They diagnose right, but their treatment is wrong. Hence, the majority of the mass shooters today receive no effective treatment for their anger management issues. This is why I take issue with current anger management psychology.

(Please send Questions and Comments to Eddie Griffin at eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com)

Watch brief Video of One Flew Over the Coo-Coo Nest

To Be or Not To Be: Black, Obama, USA

By Eddie Griffin

Friday, March 14, 2008

That’s all ABC News sees is race, race, race, and demographics of the irrelevant kind. I dare them impose their race ideation upon my conscious or subconscious. Just let me judge by the content of a man or woman’s character as to who will be the best Commander-in-Chief.

Suddenly, they use the word “black” as if to invoke shame, inferiority, and the counter feeling of superiority. Why is ABC News doing that?

It is image manipulation and opinion-building in the worse, low-life sort, playing on racism and public prejudices. Behold the world- Divide and Conquer.

To be or not to be, that is the question. Barack Obama has continually said that the 2008 presidential campaign is not about race. The diverse voting support confirms what he claims, especially as exemplified in Iowa. But let him win Mississippi, a state noted for racism, with black support of 90%, and suddenly the media plays up the black vote.

How deceptive of ABC News, and its associates in the media for playing the Race Card, and putting the shame of it back on the victim. Spin the Donkey, I’ll say, right on his tail.

Crusade: Wrestling Corruption Out of Washington

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Before I raised the campaign flag for Barack Obama, I was a crusader against corruption in high places.

Top Gun Shot Down By Corruption (Nov 29, 2005)

A former top gun navy pilot, known to Congress as “the Duke”, fell from the skies of glory when his high-flying political career crashed and burned amid scandal and corruption. Representative Randall Cunningham (50th District-California) is the latest casualty in the FBI’s war on political corruption and influence peddling in Washington, D. C.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called for an investigation into his relationship with a government military contractor. The shocker came when Congressman Cunningham emerged from court Monday after pleading guilty to bribery conspiracy charges and tax evasion. [End]

They buy and sell votes, and we, the poor of America, have not a chance to speak or be heard in any debate. Our voices do not count because we have not the mean to purchase a vote. The lobbyists have all the votes, all the money, and all the power. Randall Cunningham is merely one case amid the culture of corruption in the seats of power.

Prior to his admission of guilt, Cunningham had stonewalled the media, vowing to fight to defend his reputation against all the flying allegations of secret dealings and favoritism. One of his chief defenders and fellow congressman, Representative Darrell Issa (49th District – California), issued a statement in June: “When this is all over, I think the final story will be exactly what Duke says”. Unfortunately, it was not.

But Washington is teeming with cronies and cohorts willing to defend their fellow legislators on influence peddling and corruption charges. The Scanlon-Abramoff scandal, the indictment of Tom DeLay, and other investigations of corruption and bribery reveals what politicians in Washington already know: The political sky is falling and the Supreme Court is crumbling.

TODAY

New York Governor Elliot Spitzer is another political leader caught up in charges of corruption, to wit secret payments to a high class sex rings, making arrangements for sexual favor, influence-peddling by sex and corruption, adulterous and hypocritical. Never mind that he was a Democratic, albeit a Hillary Clinton super-delegate, a delicacy he must return.

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 11:12:06 -0500

I understand your frustration, and that of many other people, when they hear about elected officials behaving inappropriately. However, I was concerned that you lumped all other Members into your commentary.

There are well over 500 elected officials in Washington that people never hear about - these are the truthful, upstanding, law abiding citizen-Members doing exactly the jobs they were elected to do. In every situation, of every population, there will be bad seeds, but good systems find them and root them out. That is part of what constitutes and "good system."

As you come to know more about Congressman Burgess, I hope that you will see that good, caring, honest individuals can, and do, thrive in Washington.

Again, thank you for sending me your article. I look forward to your next installment and our next meeting.

Michelle Stein
[End]

Enter Jack Abramoff. A onetime producer of B movies, Abramoff was a superstar Washington lobbyist with lots of well-placed friends, Republican lawmakers who wielded the levers of power on Capitol Hill. His deep involvement in conservative-movement politics dating back to the Reagan years and his longstanding associations with many of the icons of the Republican revolution of the mid-1990s made Abramoff an unusually hot commodity in the nation's capital.

"He had unbelievable access," says one Democratic lobbyist, bestowing the ultimate compliment among the city's well-heeled influence peddlers. "He got results."


FYI on Political Corruption -Eddie Griffin
Thu, 1 Dec 2005 14:52:30 -0800 (PST)

Gangsters live around casinos, hit-men and robbers for hire. Here is an attached article about Casino Jack, whom you know as Jack Abramoff. After reading it, you will understand some of the insides of outlaw thinking, and how politicians can easily be corrupted by accepting gifts and favors, small at first, then the offer you cannot refuse. Tom DeLay cannot shake Jack Abramoff.

The case of Rep. Cunningham is only a prelude of what is to come. You will understand also why I oppose any federal funds to the gaming industry. Be particularly watchful of those who sponsor such legislation. Remember, they have no choice, they must propose rules and regulations in favor of their masters. They cannot be persuaded by logics or argument. They are bought and paid for. A YES vote is forever, faithful to their client. Always lurking in the background and in the shadows is the hit-man. Staying clear of corruption is imperative.

FYI on Political Corruption -Eddie Griffin
Wed, 11 Jan 2006 14:50:11 -0800 (PST)

Jack Abramoff should be lynched because the body of Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis lay at his feet.

Gus Boulis had the misfortune of being one of Casino Jack’s business partners, one who complained one time too many of being cheated. He accused Jack and his partner, Adam Kidan, of double-crossing him and backsliding on $23 million they owed him in the purchase of his fleet of floating casinos in Florida. The purchase involved a bogus wire transfer (which case is now under investigation in Florida), on which the three partners collaborated in order to secure a $60 million loan from Foothill Capital and Citadel, while keeping the true nature of the transaction secret and while inflating their own personal financial statements. With friends like Jack, there is no need for scrupulous credit checks. But when the deal was completed, and the $60 million secured, the partners balked at paying Boulis the $23 million IOU.

From the outset, Gus Boulis, a self-made millionaire in the restaurant business, was forced to fire sale of his casino business, SunCruz Casinos, after an insertion into the Congressional Record by US Representative Robert “Bob” Ney (Ohio). The insertion was highly critical of the casino’s operation, with Ney referring to it as “one bad apple” that would hurt the gaming industry. As of late, however, Ney claims that Michael Scanlon, a former aide to US Representative Tom DeLay, duped him into making the insertions. In any case, Boulis was pressure into a partnership and business deal that would end with his life.

Boulis never received his $25 million dollars for Kidan and Abramoff. Instead, he got whacked, gangland-style, trapped in his BMW on a lonely bridge, betwixt three cars and the devil and the deep blue sea, with three hollow-point bullets buried in the chest, February 6, 2001, Fort Lauderdale. How was Bob Ney to know that this was how it would end for the man he lambasted in the historical records?

Florida investigators claim they know who did the shooting. The Mafia. But no one knows for sure who ordered the hit. Many suspect Adam Kidan. But Kidan was well out of the country at the time of the murder, and Casino Jack was nowhere to be found in the picture. [End]


Robert William "Bob" Ney was an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned. Ney's resignation followed his guilty plea to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.
Before his own guilty plea, Ney was identified in the guilty pleas of Jack Abramoff, former Tom DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz for receiving lavish gifts in exchange for political favors.

On May 18, 2006, the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into bribery allegations against Ney, and on 7 August 2006, Ney announced that he was withdrawing from the 2006 election race.

On September 15, 2006, the Justice Department filed Ney's guilty pleas to a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to a charge of falsifying financial disclosure forms. Both charges are related to actions taken on behalf of Abramoff's clients in exchange for bribes, as well as separate actions taken on behalf of a foreign businessman in exchange for over $50,000 in gambling sprees at foreign private casinos.[1] Ney is the first member of Congress to admit to criminal charges in the Abramoff investigation, which has focused on the actions of several current and former Republican lawmakers who had been close to the former lobbyist.[2] Ney resigned from the House of Representatives on November 3, 2006.[3] He was sentenced to thirty months in prison.[4]


Thomas Dale DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas. He was House Majority Leader 2003–2005 and is a prominent member of the Republican Party.

DeLay was first elected to the House in 1984. He became known as "The Hammer" for his enforcement of party discipline in close votes and his reputation for taking political retribution on opponents.

In the 1990s, he helped to start the K Street Project, an effort to pressure lobbying firms to hire Republicans to top positions. He was a driving force behind the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998. DeLay was elected House Majority Leader after the 2002 midterm elections, and compelled House Republicans to unite to an unprecedented degree, especially in support of President George W. Bush's agenda. In the early 2000s, DeLay helped to coordinate efforts to redistrict congressional districts in Texas to favor the election of more Republicans.

In 2005, a Texas grand jury indicted DeLay on criminal charges that he had conspired to violate campaign finance laws during that period. DeLay denied the charges, saying that they were politically motivated, but Republican Conference rules forced him to resign temporarily from his position as Majority Leader. In January 2006, under pressure from fellow Republicans, DeLay announced that he would not seek to return to the position. In the months before and after this decision, two of his former aides were convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal. DeLay ran for re-election in 2006, and won the Republican primary election in March 2006, but, citing the possibility of losing the general election, he announced in April 2006 that he would withdraw from the race and resign his seat in Congress. He resigned on June 9, 2006, and sought to remove his name from the ballot.


The descent to infamy for Jack Abramoff, from the lofty perches of K Street and Capitol Hill and his fall from grace from the sacred halls of power came as a result of making one business partner too many. Whether he chose it or it chose him, he became partner with the devil, the Mafia. The “fix” was in. Everything is fixed, as they used to say in the Dixie Mafia. Every man has a price, politicians not excluded.

Jack Abramoff was an unorthodox lobbyist in a powerful arena of Washington elite. As the Mafia would say, he was “connected”. He could get things done in DC, in high places, at some of the highest levels of government. Though Casino Jack may have looked like a high-flying underworld mobster, he was no gangster by a long shot, let alone murderer. His game was giving politicians a corrupt taste of the good life. The gangster image was only a façade, which is characteristic of a “wanna be”. Among hardcore gangsters, a man does not commit the crime if he cannot do the time. A “wanna be” gangster like Jack cannot do the time for his crime.

As he stood before a federal judge to plead guilty of a myriad of corruption and fraud charges, Jack pleads for mercy and redemption.

“Your honor, words will not be able to express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused.”

These words are reminiscent of the apology issued by Stanley “Tookie” Williams, recently executed founder of the Crips street gang. Tookie also regretted leading young people into the hands of the corrupt exploiters, to be used as petty street distributors for the multi-billion dollar worldwide drug trafficking network, and to be used as cannon fodder for gun manufacturers who have always profited from conflict, war, and violence for the sake of increasing gun sales and sales of ammunition. But the gang bangers never really see who pulls the strings.

“All of my remaining days, I will feel tremendous sadness and regret for my conduct and for what I have done. I only hope that I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and from those I have wronged or caused to suffer. I will work hard to earn that redemption.”

The government has a habit of overstating the crimes of the poor and understating the crimes of the white collar, connected, and affluent criminals. It reminds me of the case of a black wino being charged with armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon because he used the heel of his shoe to gain a dollar from a drinking buddy who was holding out on him.

What is Jack Abramoff true crime? Treason via Impeding and Subverting the Legitimate Function of the United States Government and Usurping the Legitimate Rights of American Citizens to have their wishes carried out by their Duly Elected Representation. Otherwise, Jack Abramoff and his cronies operate as an illegal government by proxy of influence-peddling and briberies.

Treason should still be punishable by hanging, or at least Life in Prison. But the main question is: Should the innocent be made to hang on the gallows with the guilty?

For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate. [Amos 5:12]

Jack Abramoff confesses to be a corruptor of political and elected officials. Although Washington politicians are scattering like flies to distance themselves from the crook, Jack Abramoff confirms his own criminal intent. Regardless of who claims to have been tricked, duped, deceived, defrauded, or bamboozled there was always a reward, a gift, a graft, a bribe at the exchange for their support. Like the defamed politician Randall Cunningham, a US Representative from the 50th District of California, who recently confessed accepting over $2 million dollars in bribes.

They tell us to vote, like good law-abiding Americans. They tell us that this is the American way of freedom. Choose the leader of your choice, the one who mirror our sentiments and share our views and priorities. We want them to be our voice. But when we elect him or her, they go off to Washington and start taking bribes for their support and votes. They are no longer our voice but the voice of a game few. And so, they sell their consciousness and take the honesty out of debate. They mute the power of persuasion. They cannot vote their conscious even if they wanted to, because they are bought with a price.

The Rezko Corruption Effect

While Hillary Clinton is trying to connect Barack Obama with accused Tony Rezko, she forgot to that a look at the Skeletons in Her Closet. Guess who? The Clintons & Tony Rezko… just the three of them.



This morning a photo surfaced of Bill and Hillary Clinton smiling with Tony Rezko. She was forced to answer to the photo this morning on the Today Show, saying only that she didn't remember meeting Rezko and that her comments to Obama were merely a "counter attack."

"I don't know the man, wouldn't know him if he walked in the door, I don't have a 17 year relationship with him..." she told host Matt Lauer. [End]

Sounds familiar? "I don't know that woman... I never seen that woman in my life... I did not have sex with that woman... I wouldn't know that woman if she walked through the door."

It's the Clinton way.

The Case of Tracy Tennison

Eddie Griffin was asked by the family of Tracy Tennison to consider his case. He is a suspect in a home invasion, robbery-murder case.

Innocent or guilt has not entered into concern. First, I need the facts.

Three masked men broke into the house of a known drug dealer, robbed and killed him.

The first thing that strikes me about this case was the robbery and murder of a drug dealer.

Who knew the drug dealers' identity and address? Who knew that he would have money? Who supplied him with the drugs to sell? Maybe, it was a setup, and Tennison might be the fall guy or a patsy.

When I was in prison, a man like Tracy Tennison could not enter into my domain, crying innocent about his conviction. Every man accepts the fact that “if you do the crime, then you must do the time.” Call it an occupational hazard.

But there is one thing I know. Black street dealers are not the financiers of the drug traffic. They are part of an expendable distribution change.

In my day, people would come to us with information about a big drug transaction, asking if anybody had the guts to rip it off, taking drugs and money, and leaving the street kingpin with a bullet in the brain.

For a $50,000 transaction, some street hustlers would take the bait, only to leave enough evidence behind to get busted. They become the fall guys, but sworn to secrecy as to how the stickup job was set up.

Tracy Tennison is caught up somewhere in between. The authorities say that he was one of the three robbers. Obviously, the first young man apprehended in the crime possessed the gun that was used as the murder weapon.

The strange thing during my day was how street hustlers came about getting their guns to use in the commission of a crime. They could buy a gun on credit, to be repaid by the successful execution of the crime. A $300 gun would sell on the streets for $1,000, therefore, the crime had to be a major heist or hit job.

In the Tennison case, the police apprehended a white boy as the shooter of a black drug dealer. They found the murder weapon in his possession. Supposedly, he gave up the identity of his two accomplices, one of which was Tennison.

Whether Tennison is guilty or innocent makes no difference to me at this point. I want to know more about how millions of dollars of drugs are trafficked into our community every day, right under our noses. Where do the millions and billions of dollars go? And, why is it that our kids wound up with the bullet in the head or charged with the crime.

Call it Black-on-Black crime. I call it something else.

Wink-Wink

One Flew Over the Coo-Coo Nest: Part 2

When D. L. Hughley stood on stage at Fort Worth Bass Hall and called Hillary Clinton a “bitch”, I immediately leaped to my feet in the audience and tried to boo him off stage. The police had to literally drag me out. (See here)

All for what: Defending the honor of Hillary Clinton?

I am now ashamed of myself by Senator Clinton has no longer any honor in my eyes. Gosh! Someone called her “a monster”. She is worse.

How can she wink at the America public, and say things with secret evil meanings to others of like ilk… those who lie and love a lie.

Wink-Wink
By Eddie Griffin

Monday, March 10, 2008

The Kitchen Sink Strategy used by Senator Hillary Clinton did more than smear the good name of Senator Barack Obama. It was the worst manipulation and deceit ever seen in politics, even more demonic than the infamous “Swiftboat Strategy” that killed the presidential candidacy of John Kerry.

Winner Take All? We don’t think so.

We have seen the public manipulated by mass media deceit, in exchange for defaming Senator Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton’s campaign devised to publish select disinformation to the media in order to make a deceptive political statement: “Wink-Wink”.

She claimed that Obama was double-talking on NAFTA, which her husband (insert: Former President) Bill Clinton had championed. This was simple trickery insofar as a Canadian government official was induced into defaming Senator Obama. The Canadian government, however, has since conceded what Obama was saying was true: “It never happened.”

How could he answer otherwise? How can he speak for an aide accused of something the aide never said? The Newsweek transcripts confirmed: It never happened.

But Hillary Clinton capped the deception off in “Wink-Wink” fashion, falsely claiming that Obama was double-talking on NAFTA, saying one thing to the Canadian government and another thing to the Ohio voter... when she knew the contrary was true... she making it instrumental in the Kitchen Sink Strategy. So, she knew of the deception before hand.

And, then she insinuated that Obama’s bonehead real estate deal associated him with corruption, where there is no link to be found. At worst, here was an accused organized crime figure trying to get close to a presidential hopeful by selling him a piece of real estate under market value. Such attempts at political corruptions happen all the time. For example, look at the Clinton’s “Whitewater Scandal”.

Everybody knows how corruption creeps into politics by bribery. When the Obama campaign, once learning the corrupt source, returned the money as it wisely should.

“Wink-Wink,” Hillary Clinton did this thing in the Eleventh Hour of the Night, on the Eve of the March 4 Primaries. Mark her words: “Wink-Wink” becomes the immortal words of the Kitchen Sink Strategy.

Wink-Wink, America, you just got deceived.

MSNBC REPORT: Clinton's NAFTA-gate?

MSNBC REPORT

Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2008 3:37 PM
by Domenico Montanaro

Filed Under: 2008, Clinton, Obama
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro

Per the Toronto Globe and Mail, in a story that was the lead on the paper’s front page today, that call to the Canadian embassy was actually from the Clinton campaign, not Obama’s:

“Mr. [Ian] Brodie, [PM Harper’s chief of staff], during the media lockup for the Feb. 26 budget, stopped to chat with several journalists, and was surrounded by a group from CTV. The conversation turned to the pledges to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement made by the two Democratic contenders, Mr. Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton.

“Mr. Brodie, apparently seeking to play down the potential impact on Canada, told the reporters the threat was not serious, and that someone from Ms. Clinton's campaign had even contacted Canadian diplomats to tell them not to worry because the NAFTA threats were mostly political posturing. The Canadian Press cited an unnamed source last night as saying that several people overheard the remark.

“The news agency quoted that source as saying that Mr. Brodie said that someone from Ms. Clinton's campaign called and was ‘telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt.’

“The story was followed by CTV's Washington bureau chief, Tom Clark, who reported that the Obama campaign, not the Clinton's, had reassured Canadian diplomats.

“Mr. Clark cited unnamed Canadian sources in his initial report. There was no explanation last night for why Mr. Brodie was said to have referred to the Clinton campaign but the news report was about the Obama campaign.”

*** UPDATE *** The Clinton campaign responds: "Unlike the Obama campaign, we can and do flatly deny this report and urge the Canadian government to reveal the name of anyone they think they heard from. The Obama campaign has given a variety of misleading answers to the press and the public about its top economic adviser’s contacts with the Canadian government and should come clean about why they did so," writes campaign spokespman Phil Singer.

Dishonesty & Deceit Wins March 4 Primaries

OTTAWA — The leak of a confidential diplomatic discussion that rocked the U.S. presidential campaign began with an offhand remark to journalists from the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Ian Brodie.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed yesterday to use whatever investigative means necessary to find the source of leaks that, he said, were "unfair" to U.S. Democratic candidate Barack Obama and may have been illegal — although opposition leaders insisted the Conservatives cannot be trusted to investigate political players on their own team.

But the story that reverberated through the U.S. presidential campaign began as a terse, almost throwaway remark that Mr. Brodie made to journalists from CTV, according to people familiar with the events.


The conversation turned to the pledges to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement made by the two Democratic contenders, Mr. Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Brodie, apparently seeking to play down the potential impact on Canada, told the reporters the threat was not serious, and that someone from Ms. Clinton's campaign had even contacted Canadian diplomats to tell them not to worry because the NAFTA threats were mostly political posturing.

(Excerpts from Thursday's Globe and Mail)

Hillary Clinton Has Not Won Texas

As the world turns from Texas to the next primary and caucus states, let me say, Hillary Clinton ain’t won nothing yet here in Texas. At last word, we were taking the lion’s share of the caucus delegates. They are still counting and I am afraid the Powers-That-Be might try to steal these also. Will they steal the last hope of the poor?

Wednesday, March 05, 2008, 9:30 a.m.

Before Hillary Clinton strut her wings and crow like a rooster-hen on her merry way to the 2008 Democratic nomination, let me say this: It’s not over in Texas. As of this hour, they are still counting the late night caucus votes. It is possible that Hillary Clinton may have won the plurality vote, but Barack Obama might win the caucus delegate vote.

Hillary Clinton chalks us this plurality victory as a boasting right for winning another “big state”. The bottom line is the number of delegates.

The Texas for Obama volunteers fought a good fight to help Barack Obama overcome an original 30% deficit. But last night Hillary Clinton won 51% of the plurality vote, which may translate into an additional 2 delegates from the state. But delegates coming out of precinct caucus favored Obama by 52%, which could translate into 2 or more delegates the other way.

Eddie Griffin is one of the Tarrant County Precinct elected delegates for Obama. This is the first part of the story of our last stand in Texas.

The Powers-That-Be set out to stop the Obama Express. We would be naïve to think Barack Obama does not have powerful adversaries. But the Powers-That-Be are so sneaky, secretive, and deliberate that when they throw a rock and hide their hands, they think nobody can see them.

They create delusive appearances of fair and equal. Yet, they have robbed, stolen, and cheated all of their lives. Why should we think that, all of a sudden, they are going to begin to act honestly? They have not an honest bone in their body.

Barack Obama ran up against those Powers-That-Be in Texas, and so did we all.

He that is without sin cast the first stone.

It was not enough for the mass media to find a clean and refreshing candidate with a lot of hope. No, the networks had to try to massacre Obama’s untarnished character.

But I remember an Obama speech where he admitted, “I am not a perfect man, and I probably win not be a perfect president… but you will always know where I stand and I will listen to your concerns, everyday that I am in the Whitehouse.”

The mote in eye of Barack Obama is a beam in Hillary Clinton’s eye.

It is not enough for Obama to recognize a real estate deal with a friend of dubious character as a “bone-headed mistake”. Now they would either hold Barack accountable to someone else’s hidden character, or make false pretenses of corruption.

Hillary Clinton opted to do the latter, with a closet full of dead men’s bones.

[Continue at Part 2]

What Barack Obama Needs to Do
By Eddie Griffin

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Rosalyn writes: I am so ashamed to be a Texan today! I want Mr. Obama to know that he should have won the state of Texas. I have family and friends all over the state of Texas who are all saying the same thing. First of all, conservatives like Rush Limbaugh encouraged Republicans to vote for Hillary in the primaries and I know that some did. Those same people did not want to commit enough to return to the caucuses. The support for Mr. Obama at the caucuses was overwhelming compared to little or no support for Hillary Clinton. People in Texas are so discouraged. We do not believe the outcome is accurate and trust me when I say that the Democratic Party had better be very careful with assuming that voters will continue to support a dirty party… If Mr. Obama wants to win, it's time for him to pressure Ms. Clinton with the hard questions.

Eddie Griffin responds:

There is no one in this whole wide world that is more disappointed at Obama losing Texas it is Eddie Griffin. After all, I saw what they did to the image of his character within the last 72 hours of the March 4 primaries.

Let me say that everybody on the Obama Team fought a good fight. In the end, they say, Hillary Clinton won Texas. She won a total of 2 candidates by plurality vote. We, of the Obama Team, is fighting to gain the caucus delegate vote. It looks like we at least gained back the 2 lost delegates in the precinct caucuses. But it was an ugly fight in Texas on convention night.

There were hundreds of complaints filed with the Elections Administrators. This was a Texas nightmare, of which we warned the Tarrant County Commissioners.

I share in your passion and also in your belief, when you write:

I am encouraging people to keep the faith and to get more involved in the fight. We see that Mr. Obama is a gentleman, but do not ever congradulate cheaters. They are so comfortable with stealing votes and there is no honor in that. That alone is why so many Americans have not voted previously.

As I told others, we had a three-to-one advantage on the ground. It showed in early voting, where Obama immediately opened up a 50,000 vote lead. We won the precinct caucus that night. So, how did we lose the mass vote? I have speculated that question, but there are some real factors that contributed to Obama’s defeat.

What Barack Obama Must Do

Keep the high road and keep the hope alive. Never mind that they threw everything at you, including the Kitchen Sink. Never stoop as low as your opponent.

Swallow your pride, if you see your lose in Texas as a defeat. Run on for the helpless and the hopeless. Keep your head straight and be proud to be the first African-American President of the United States.

[Continue Part 3]

ALERT: Canadian Official Confirms Obama's Position

Canadian officials have responded with a statement that reads in part "there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA". "We deeply regret any inference that may have been drawn to that effect." The statement added that Canada will not "interfere" in the American electoral process.

Infected with HOPE

There is a contagious disease going around called Obamania carried by people infested with HOPE. Hillary Clinton claims to have an antidote. But she will need a lot of HOPE killer to win Tarrant County, Texas.



ELECTRIC PEOPLE

Don’t touch me! I’m hot! You might get shocked. I’m electric… an electric Obamacan.

People with hope are electric. They light up at like lightening bugs at night. They carry a perpetual smile on their faces, with that far-away twinkle in their eyes.

But then I heard Hillary Clinton make a joke about “the skies opening” and all these hopeful idealistic delusions descending from heaven, as if to make fun of Barack Obama's message of Hope.

Is this her ideation of what HOPE is?

When you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth, the only HOPE you have is what next privilege you might get to enjoy. But when you are born with a rusty spoon in your mouth, your only HOPE is your next meal.

Hillary doesn’t understand. But the kid who grew up on the mean streets of Chicago, raised by a grandmother on fixed income, knows HOPE of a different sort. He is the poor boy who had the audacity to hope of becoming President of the United States, the kid who can related to the problems of a dejected hopeless people.

Eddie Griffin wrote:

Today is Monday, March 3, 2008, the day before the Texas primaries, and the Obama-Clinton campaigns have less than 24 hours to go to battle in the polls and the pits. The weather in Tarrant County has suddenly turned rainy and somewhat cooler.

Latest posting:

http://aapoliticalopinion.blogspot.com/2008/03/hat-tip-to-j-r-labbe.html

http://aapoliticalopinion.blogspot.com/2008/03/hat-tip-to-carla-y-nix.html

http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/2008/02/through-these-brown-eyes-i-saw-obama.html

HAT TIP to Carla Y. Nix

Posted By Carla Y. Nix at 2/29/2008 11:14:00 PM


TONIGHT'S BLOG...


Never in my life have I been excited about "politics" as I am today. I am truly excited and I can and will say that for once....or perhaps, for the first time, I am proud of my country.

Whew! Yep, I said it and I agree with Michelle Obama. I UNDERSTAND what she meant. The nitpickers jumpped all over her statement and wanted to make it seem as though she was not "patriotic". They failed to see what she meant. My thoughts are that she meant that after such a long and horrific history of racism (and perhaps even sexism), America is FINALLY getting it right.

Why has it taken so long for our country to even be in the position we're in today? There is a real chance that our next president will be a Black man! A man who is capable to run this country. Maybe one day, we won't have to even point out the obvious..... .that he's Black. But today it is necessary because for way too long, America has made it impossible for a Black man to have an EQUAL opportunity in this.

So yes, it is a FIRST.




I absolutely love this picture. I can't even find the words that express my pride and excitement about them.

I go to vote in the primaries on March 11th. That is if it will be necessary (perhaps Hillary Clinton will have dropped out of the race by then). This is history and I am so excited about being a part of it. Even if Hillary is still in the race by then, it will still be history because not only will a Black man's name be on the ballot for the president of the U.S., but a woman as well! Both, a first!

It is no secret that I am voting for Barack Obama. I am thrilled to finally see his campaign ads on television, and I have signed up to be a volunteer for his campaign here in Mississippi. I am just hoping that my new state of residence will get it right. I have to admit that I'm a little bit concerned, as this state, several years ago and before I became a resident, voted to KEEP the confederate flag as the state's flag. I couldn't understand that.

Anyway, I am excited! Oh, have I said that I'm excited? LOL! I know no other word to describe my feelings.

This is history and I'm proud to see it unfolding.

Carla