My two-cents worth and then some. An online journal by LP Brown.

Posts Tagged ‘President Obama’

An Open Letter to President Obama

by on ·Lifestyle and Culture, Politics

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Dear Mr. President,

I, like many of my friends, was disappointed to hear you publicly announce your support for gay marriage. This is not an anti-gay commentary and it may sound hackneyed when I say that I have gay friends, but I do. Perhaps it is because of those friendships that I better understand how homosexuals feel about entitlement, civil liberties and why gay partners want to marry to have the same rights afforded heterosexual married couples, but just as they have their opinion I have mine and I cannot in good conscience support same sex marriage. As much as I resist agreeing with Mitt Romney on anything, I share his belief that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

The current issue of Newsweek magazine features you on the front cover with a rainbow halo above your head. Unlike many people I know, I do not believe that your “coming out” on the matter of gay marriage was sincere. I think it was

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My No New Year’s Resolutions

by on ·General

The only New Year’s resolution I make is to resolve not to make New Year’s resolutions. I merely strive to make the best of each day.

I know that every day brings challenges, some greater than others. But I meet those trials as I always have, by arming myself with three weapons of choice – a positive attitude, a sense of humor, and trust that my spirituality will guide me to make the best decisions.

Life is too short and too precious to squander time with inconsequential matters or mean-spirited, drama prone people. Better that I look at the bright side, the light side, to help keep negativity at bay.

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Stop Dissing the President – Part II

by on ·Politics

Inappropriate behavior and obvious disrespect directed at the Commander-in-Chief is more evident under the current Administration than it has ever been in the past. Many people believe that the acts of incivility against the president, by members of the opposing party as well as grass-roots and extremist groups, are not so much motivated by anti-government hostility as it is by transparent racism. You are what you are. Opponents of the president do not have to like him but he deserves respect, particularly for the office that he holds.

Millions of Black people as well as non-racists members of other ethnic groups take offense to the ongoing racists’ attacks on the president and many see the feeble excuses offered after the fact as a mere attempt to whitewash the obvious.

The commonly, overused excuses offered by the offenders are (1) they were unaware of the racial stereotypes (2) it was intended as a joke and (3) it was taken out of context. By the way, has any other U.S. President been harassed about producing his birth certificate?

Since Obama’s election, disgruntled adversaries have used racist imagery unrelentingly, including depicting the president as an African witch doctor and imposing his face on a food stamp bill. Additionally, they employ other long-held, commonly known and recently contrived racial stereotypes to disrespect the man who has too much class to address their narrow-minded antics.

Some of the blameworthy have bowed to the pressure of their more open-minded peers and apologized or resigned from their positions. Others simply deny that they are racists and offer what they believe is the infallible ace-in-the-hole defense, “I have black friends.”

Most of the offenders “outed” in this post are Baby Boomers or they were born prior to the Boomer years; that makes them all old enough to know that their pretense of not knowing that their actions or statements were racists nonsense. Black people are sick of the race-based diatribes and weak excuses given for demeaning and disrespecting the African-American president. And by the way, a lot of us have white friends.

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Stop Dissing the President – Part I

by on ·Politics

The disrespect began months before Barack Obama was elected 44th President of the United States. Following his inauguration on January 20, 2009, the mudslinging contempt intensified and it persists to this day.

Criticism is not the issue here. All presidents are criticized, especially by members of the opposing party and disgruntled voters overall. But relevant to the current president, it is difficult to know whether the haters in question oppose him on ideological grounds or if they are just plain racist. Name one U.S. President who was not criticized while in office and I will tell you where the infamous Casey Anthony is hiding out. Okay now, name a U.S. President other than Barack Obama who has been as blatantly disrespected – I would like to say as racially vilified, but that would be impractical, wouldn’t it?  

Before you read any further, I warn you that I am going to call this issue just as I see it, and I have no doubt that some readers will accuse me of playing the race card. If that is the case, let me assure you that these cards will not be deviously pulled from the bottom of the deck; they will be dealt straight from the top. So, if you don’t think you can handle the truth, then you should fold your hand right now.    

There is not enough space to name all of the Limbaughs, Becks, and Trumps who deserve honorable mention here, but I will identify below other public individuals who theoretically waved the confederate flag. 

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A Matter of Hart

by on ·Political

During a town hall meeting on September 20, Velma Hart, a former CFO of AmVets, told President Obama that she was “exhausted” from defending him.  That media finger-snap-of-fate brought her national exposure.  Any open-minded viewer, who saw the newscast, could see that Ms. Hart was not Obama-bashing during her 15 minutes of fame.  She politely, professionally, and articulately voiced her opinion.  In a CNN interview which aired on the day following the brouhaha, a poised Ms. Hart said, “I still believe in him.” 

Nevertheless, just weeks after that town meeting, she lost her job and joins 15 million other Americans on the human scrapheap of unemployment.  While AmVets claims that Ms. Hart’s layoff was an economic decision, and the White House at the time of this posting is mum on the subject, inquiring minds are speculating about the reason she was let go.

Among the lot of the recession-era unemployed, the majority were likely efficient and dedicated employees, who actually were dismissed due to recessionary budget cuts.  Some within the multitude fell beneath the axe of shrewd employers with a personal vendetta (don’t pretend that it doesn’t happen), who seized the opportunity to fallaciously blame the job cuts of those whom they axed on the economy.  And a number of people on the unemployment roster were ousted for miscellaneous reasons.  The result is still the same.  The unemployment list keeps growing.

So, in this climate of Big Brother muscle flexing, whether it pertains to surveillance cameras, free speech censoring, or pat-down groping, the question that begs an answer is – was Ms. Hart released from her job because of the current economic slump as was stated, or because she publicly criticized the president?  If the latter is the case then working Tea Party members should be wallowing in a witch’s brew of anxiety, because Obama-bashing is their forte.  If, to the contrary, some influential figures felt that Ms. Hart was too amicable to the Commander-in-Chief, then score one for the conservatives.

 The matter of Hart is just one more issue that makes some arm-chair quarterbacks who are watching the political games place an index finger on the side of their head and say, “Ummm?”

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