microbrother's Blog

Revelations:

Mr. President, thank you for your gracious hospitality.

Ah, hell....back home, I would've broke out the grill and barbequed-up a steer for ya! Look, Barack…you're goin' to be in this exclusive club real soon. How about we dispense with the formalities...... (chuckle) call me George or you can just call me plain old "W" !

Okay, George?

I'm glad we're havin' this sit-down 'cause I'm pleased-as-punch that America has risen to the point where we could put aside all that foolishness from the past and elect a Negro. I take great pride of all I've done for your people, with Colin and Condi high up in my cabinet. Did you know I've done more for Africa than previous presidents? Yes, sir! And I'm goin' to do even more than Bill Clinton when I leave office. You see, what bugs me, Barack, is that the American people don't really understand me. Oh, I know I don't speak all flowery like you and I made a few mistakes (as you will, too) but I love this country very much and all I wanted was the best for it. Just maybe, my best wasn't good enough. I think history will be kind to me.

I'm sure you tried, George.

Janet, the president's personal secretary, enters the oval office with a pleasant smile, bringing a silver platter with a silver pot of sassafras tea and large deli cookies and places it on a table near the two men. The president thanks her as she turns to leave. President Bush rises and begins serving the president-elect.

Barack, I don't care what those talkin' heads say about me, but being president is OJT, on-the-job training. I'll never forget when I first heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center. I was reading to some kids and my aide interrupted me and whispered in my ear what turned out to be the bane of my existence. I'll tell ya, I was numb with shock. I didn't know what to do! I felt like sayin', 'hey, somebody turn on CNN and let’s hear what the president has to say!". But, I am the president. What do I do next? It was times like that that causes a man to go deep within to find the answer. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so I prayed on it. I asked God for direction and I did what I thought was best for America. I wanted to look presidential, to give the American people the confidence that I was in control!

Yes, Mr. President, that was a difficult time for everyone.

Barack, don’t let America’s existence in Iraq be for naught.

Mr. President, I understand the importance of our presence, there. But, I am also mindful of the human cost these wars have been and the toll it has taken on this country’s credibility. With all due respect, sir, I think we lost our direction after 9/11. I believe we should have been focused on where the terrorists reside. By doing so, we could have maintained the support of the American people and our allies throughout the world. Mr. President, I was not privy to the information that you and your advisers had at hand at the time you committed our troops to that part of the world, but today, the American people have given me a mandate to bring an end to the war in Iraq, a responsible end with dignity. My team looks forward to working with your administration to make that possible. Just as important is our concerned about the economy. I have selected a well respected person to be my secretary of treasury and I’ll be announcing my selection in short order. As you were so gracious in meeting with me, I’m looking forward to you doing what is needed to settle the markets and to appease the members of the upcoming G-20 meeting.

My goodness that sounded very presidential. Barack you can count on me and my staff to do all we can for you.

Mr. President, I know it is customary for the out-going president to take certain executive actions at the eleventh hour. I just want to remind you that there is a lot at stake, here. I only ask that you be cognizant of that. 

Mr. President-elect, you have my word on that! 

Laura Bush and Michelle Obama enter the oval office. Both men rise to their feet and kiss their respective wives on the cheek. 

Come on….Laura and I will walk you to the door.

Perhaps you feel like me. I am emotionally and physically spent! 

As one who has done D.C. Marathons, Marine Corps Marathons, New York City Marathons, biathlons and umpteen 10K races, my body and mind feels equally exhausted after completing this political cycle. 

I can only imagine what President-elect Obama and Senator McCain must feel like. Especially Senator McCain at seventy-two years of age! 

After fielding the many phone calls, emails, debriefing meetings with friends, I just want to shut-down and rest. I have not had a sound-night’s sleep in the last two weeks because I have been consumed with work and anticipation of the things to come. 

If you feel like me, let’s do something nice for ourselves. I plan to take a nice swim and treat myself to a massage.

Well, we are coming to the end of a hard-fought fight, folks! Tomorrow is the big day. I will be busy doing last minute campaigning for my guy. So, I thought I would take this opportunity to reflect and express my gratitude to those I have interacted with over the last twenty-one months. 

In all my years of participating and observing political cycles, this by far has been the most exciting and rewarding cycle of them all. 

I want to say thanks to everyone who has written me, called me, beat me up, cursed me and complimented me in my effort to express myself on these all too important issues of our time. I have grown and I think our society has become better as a result of this exercise we call electoral democracy. 

I look forward to commenting on the new administration’s successes and failures in hopes of maintaining this new interest in civic studies and to make this country a place that we can all be proud of, once again.  

In the parting words of the great Edward R. Murrow, good night and good luck!

Obama’08!

This is no “stock photo”, folks. This is my 84-year young mother. 

Yesterday, while preparing to take this photo, I got misty-eyed because I knew that this is the most important vote of her lifetime and, perhaps the last presidential vote she will cast. 

Mother-dear was rushed to the emergency ward last Monday, the day before I was to take her to vote. I stayed with her all day in the hospital until my sister relieved me. While there, I read and prayed with her. She asked if I thought she would be out in time to vote for “O-baby”, her term of endearment for Senator Barack Obama. 

She was released from the hospital just in time. While waiting her turn to vote, we saw other seniors of all races in wheelchairs, walkers, those being assisted by family members. We had never seen such an election turn-out like this before. Everyone was so helpful to one another and gleeful with anticipation. The whole process took no more than thirty minutes, but emotionally, it was the best thirty minutes we shared with our fellow Washingtonians in a longtime!  

So, if you know a senior or someone who maybe challenged to get to the polls on Tuesday, do what I have been doing because it feels so good. 

Thanks, Mom, for the honor and privilege you gave me!

........has anyone seen him? Joe...Joe....anyone seen Joe the Plumber?

As an ardent Obama supporter, I got to admit that I felt sorry for the Republican party presidential nominee at a rally in Ohio, yesterday. McCain looked embarrassed standing on the dais, wondering where his latest no-show gimmick, Joe the Plumber was.

They say Joe was cashing in at the time of the rally, trying to cut a recording deal? Cindy McCain looked like she has had enough and wants to pack it in and go home(s). Can't blame her much. Going home(s) beats looking at the "plumbers crack" all day and throwing down road-kill mooseburgers with the governor and kids.

Palin discussing her future with Rick Davis (McCain's campaign manager)

Rick, after the O-man’s 30-minute dig last night, with all due respect for our boy, the senator’s moose is cooked! Now, I agreed to come onboard to generate some interest in the campaign, but, lets face it: I did my job, but you didn’t do yours! Now that I got a lil’ following, a girl gotta do what a girl gotta do. Sorry, Charlie, I got to think about my future. 

What’a ya saying? 

Hmmmm game show host sounds pretty good about now. 

Opportunist!

Yesterday, in the nation's capitol, I am proud to say that I casted my vote in the most important election in human history for Senator Barack Obama!

The following was inspired by fellow bloggers Jski1012 and Linebacker53 who spoke about the mean and hateful things that have been said about Senator Barack Obama.  

I guess we were not “really” surprised as to what an Obama candidacy would bring out of America, if not the world. Racists’ and sexists’ worst fears are, now, upon us. Also, Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Sarah Palin proved not to be immune.  

As I have always stated, I am a 1st Amendment supporter and that is why I do not delete comments from my blogs. The hate-filled comments that we are subjected to should serve as evidence to the world of what type of people we coexist with. People of color and women are the majority people in the world and yet, quite often, we are at the bottom of the socio-economic totem pole while some wish it to remain that way.  

Senator Barack Obama’s ascent as the nominated presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party of the United States of America…Wow!...has done so much to uplift the spirit, the esteem and has given hope to so many who heretofore had no dreams, nothing to look forward to.  

This movement did not start with Senator Obama. It has been developing every since injustice and inequality has been practiced on these shores. Our DNC presidential candidate’s rise is the culmination of so many people of different backgrounds who fought to bring about fairness and opportunity to everyone in this society. Yet, pockets of recalcitrant haters still exist, a la the Ashley Todd-types, and perhaps, that is useful because it makes us appreciate all that we have gained together as a society. 

Senator Grahm….please hold for Senator McCain. 

Phil? 

Hey, swabbie! 

Well? 

You knocked it out of the ballpark, matie! That was the best I’ve seen you. Good job.

Look, real quick….I talked to Bill-O this morning. He’s onboard, but he said he needed something, he needs a hook, he needs some red meat. Got an idea: a government with all Dems! 

What? 

Imagine this: Democrats controlling both houses AND Pennsylvania Avenue! After the second session of Congress, the people will be begging for the GOP to come back. The Dems will be like kids in a candy shop. Spending will go through the roof and the deficit will be astronomical! So, what you need to do for the next twenty days is to push that fear to the people. That’s the hook Bill-O, your base and the indys need to hear. It’ll scare the hell out of the people that feel the markets have screwed them. 

Hmmmm, one question, Phil: why did Fox’s poll say I won last night’s debate and everybody else said I lost?

….a desperate and introspective John McCain laying his burdens down with Phil Grahm 

Hello, Phil? 

Hey swabbie! 

Phil, I got to talk to you! This whole thing is out of control! Did you hear that dumb-ass woman telling me that the O-man is an Arab? Phil, I’m tellin’ ya, everywhere I go I’m running into these crazed KKK-like lunatics asking me these ignorant questions and shouting radical epithets against Obama….it’s really scaring me. This is not the America I fought and sacrificed for! 

John, we knew it wasn’t gonna be pretty. After what that nitwit in the White House put this party through, we knew it would be an up-hill struggle. And those boys on Wall Street just made matters worst. When the Keating-5 came to light, I thought my talk with those boys would have put everyone on notice that, ‘if you don’t want to be regulated, be self-regulated and you can make ALL the money you want under the radar.’ Nah, those boys got greedy and reckless. Hell, I didn’t think it would screw-up the whole world! 

Phil, I’m gonna have to have a sit-down with Rick [Davis] to come up with a new strategy. 

A new strategy? 

Yeah, Phil, because the electoral map is dismal and based on what I see, the only way I could pull this thing off is that the O-man say or do something really stupid and Obama is too smart for that. Sarah’s Alaska public trust sanction and Todd’s radical secessionist affiliations…..why didn’t we vet that Annie Oakley?  

Swabbie, all is not lost, yet. I know Rush is not a big fan of yours, but I’m gonna put a call into him and ask that he talk-up your campaign. I’ll give Bill-O and Sean a call, too. We still have the debate on Wednesday, so let’s not give up the ship just yet. After all, I told the little-lady I’m gonna be the next Secretary of Treasury.   

Well, tell Wendy to hold her horses ‘cause it ain’t looking too good. I’ll tell ya Phil, I’d rather lose this campaign than to see this country divided the way it was in the 1860s. Perhaps, just perhaps I can come out of this thing with a li’l self-respect. Ugh, only God knows what Bush is gonna leave the White House with.

Fueled by a sense of desperation, Republican presidential rallies have been peppered with shouts of “terrorist,” “Arab,” “bomb,” “alien” and “kill him” directed at Senator Obama.  

It became so bad at a GOP rally yesterday that Senator McCain got fed-up with the amount of hatred and ignorance his base is spewing that he spoke out against it, calling Senator Obama, “a decent, family man, [a] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with.” Apparently, it has become quite clear to Senator McCain that his campaign is spiraling out of control. It is this writer’s opinion that the McCain Campaign manager, Rick Davis, is directing this presidential campaign in an effort to divert our attention from the economic crisis at hand. Governor Sarah Palin is becoming a drag on McCain as a result of a bipartisan Alaska legislative committee finding her in violation of the public trust.  

The Republican presidential candidate, in the eleventh hour of this political cycle, is trying to salvage what self-respect he has and love for this nation by rejecting the stoking of hatred for Senator Obama, instigated by the far-right fringe elements of our society. 

Strapped by a political “perfect storm” of two on-going ground wars, the worst international financial disaster seen in years, the worst sitting president, declining poll numbers and an erratic campaign: Senator McCain’s efforts are, perhaps, too little…too late.   

Debate Prologue 

Senator Barack Obama said, essentially, Senator McCain’s campaign lacks ideas, a plan and time! Hence, the shout to kill Senator Barack Obama at a recent Governor Palin rally, the reason to sling epithets and slurs is an attempt to win at any cost. Is that cost making country first or is that cost making Senator McCain first?  

The Debate 

Senator McCain needed to knock Senator Obama out of the ring, but he didn’t! Sure, last night, there was not much that we have not heard before. But I think, according to Senator McCain, "that one" [Senator Obama] presented himself more presidential and didn’t permit Senator McCain to misrepresent his position on health care and foreign affairs. God bless him, the Arizona senator did the best he could to connect with the electorate, but his best just wasn’t good enough last night. He latched onto the retired naval CPO who asked the question about the security of Israel. Senator McCain got so excited I thought he was going to ask him out for a date after the debate. 

As I stated before, I still feel a generational/personality difference between the two senators. This difference is manifested in how they interact with each other and the positions they’ve taken. For example, Senator Obama has been more conciliatory and complimentary when his opponent says something that he agrees with in these debates. Where as Senator McCain is recalcitrant. Also, in the first debate, Senator McCain failed to make eye contact with Senator Obama. I cite these finer observations because it is important when interacting with those that do not agree with you. To have these interpersonal skills in an one-on-one situation can help in bringing adversaries to your side or at the least, find common ground. Senator McCain quoted President Theodore Roosevelt, “speak softly and carry a big stick”. There is not much about Senator McCain that leads me to believe that the senator is prepared to talk, constructively, with our adversaries. 

Debate Epilogue    

When I view events such as the debates, I tend to go back and forth between CNN, MSNBC, FNC and CSPAN. It never ceases to amaze me how polling outcomes are vastly different between the “news services”. It appeared, again, that we were looking at entirely different events. The conventional thought is that voters gravitate to the news service that most supports their political views. 

However, what must be obvious to us all, as of this writing, is that Senator McCain is down in the polls and is in the proverbial “kitchen sink” attack mode. I have doubts about the senator’s ability to change his fate by only making a case of Senator Obama’s pass relationships in light of his own questionable relationships and the all-consuming economic crisis we find ourselves in.   

Fact: this debate was all about who is the real Sarah Palin and can she save Sen. McCain's lack-luster performance?

Last night, it appeared that I was witnessing the Sarah Palin from the RNC in St. Paul, this summer. She was glib, enthusiastic and seemed confident in her ability to get her thoughts across to the public. 

In my piece entitled, “Beware of Deception” I wrote about the attributes of guerrilla warfare. Tonight, Gov. Palin used such tactics, for obvious reasons. With pat responses and question evasion, she deflected the serious issues of the debate and wooed the viewers with her smoke screen folksy persona that left me wondering, ‘which Sarah Palin is present, tonight?’ Is she the dingbat from the Charles Gibson and Katie Couric interviews or is she the vivacious new infusion that the Republican Party so sorely needed?  

If she is this new infusion, God bless her because the GOP is pale and anemic. The McCain/Palin Campaign just pulled up stakes in that great motor-state of Michigan, obviously, because they felt it would be a waste of their resources to pursue those hard working Americans, any longer. Or is the governor just a well prepared dingbat, oooh boy!    

Will the real John McCain and Sarah Palin, please stand-up? America, can we really afford to entrust the future of this country to the erratic McCain/Palin ticket?

Well, if anyone is curious as to what happened to my piece entitled, “Y3Y3”, it got yanked by FIM. Nevertheless, I think it was alive long enough to make the point that we support a truly American principal: free speech, free of hateful acts and intolerance for differing opinions.

If Senator McCain really needed to show his stuff, it should have been last night at Ol Miss. The military, foreign affairs…..that’s his shtick! 

America gave him his chance. Did he deliver? Since a fellow blogger took offense to my “western showdown”, I will use a boxing analogy this time: when you are fighting the champ, you have to beat him, decisively, in order to take his title. Sure, the good senator from Arizona was strong in his foreign affairs arguments, but he was not decisive or convincing. As a matter of fact, Senator Obama scored highly in this area. 

Senator McCain made references to how people thought and did things back in 1900 and something. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love ancient history, too, but…..  Back then, this country practiced gunboat diplomacy. But, microbrother, Senator McCain points-of-reference are off-kilter because he was a P.O.W. for five and a half years. 

Sure, and there is a generational issue, too. Well, those are my points, exactly. If we are trying to reposition our world paradigm and our leaders are taking us backwards, how in hell do we progress as a society? Let’s not talk about the financial disaster we’re in! 

Senator McCain, you have been on the Hill since Senator Obama was still trying to find his way, yet after all of these years, your foreign affairs mind-set sounds whacked, today. And this is supposed to be your strong suit? Will somebody, please, deal this man a better hand? Rrrrrrrr, matie!