I Can See White Water From the Malibu Balcony (The Lost Tapes, Part .125)

From September 17th
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OK. This is going to take a second. I was having an easy weekend more or less waiting for a marketing research project for a real grassroots artist, trying to hook people up (job referals), people hooking me up, and all the stuff surrounding the tri-state makers and shakers. All this buzz has put me into a highly introspective mood. My little Willy Wonka chocolate shell and introverted behavior has been usurped by a need for a little political re-education. I gotta a couple of blind spots.

1st. Bill Clinton gave an all white lunch for influential bloggers in Harlem. Jstheater.blogspot.com and blackprof.blogspot.com have given attention to it with links to other bloggers. I am about to read a good amount of Gillard's stuff first and then move to the others listed by J. Interestingly enough, I came upon Gillard's blog through a family tree search.

I have gotten into a discussion with J at jstheater.blogspot.com in his September 15t comment section concerning my contempt for all this need to be recognized by white folk. But, there is a history behind this Harlem blogger story that was not so evident to me, and I am going to delve into it. I am currently engrossed in the Ford/Frist fight in Tennessee. Not really engrossed, I simply want to give Ford a chance and my vote.

2nd. I want to read the Pope's whole speach. My friend Jonathan in Reutlingen said that the pope was trying to make points about hatred and religion with scholarly references. I believe his quote was taken out of context. There is some admission by everyone that the Pope was a bit unaware of how his comments would be taken. I want to read the whole speech and figure this out myself. There has been many a time when such patriarchal declarations are decreed by the West under the guise of Prime Ministers and pontiffs, but these are dangerous times and this calls for a bit more mental presence concening our current state of affairs. And this stuff has been going on so long that 14th and 15th century utterances still carry weight. Proof positive that ahistorical countries like ours may have a problem with cooking up a diplomacy that works. We want all things solved in 4 to 8 year intevals, and have the audacity to talk about the Clinton legacy before he walked out the oval office.

But is the press to be blamed too? How was the quote selected? Why was it given out of context and who perpetrated this naked quote as a summation of the popes opinion? Did the journalist or observer even understand the whole speech?

3rd. Afghanistan. I am so sorry. This is a sleeper that I have been concerned about for some time. Most people became preoccupied with Iraq, mortgage bubbles and gay marriage after the election of president Karzi. I am going to say it again. Occupying Afghanistan is not the same as occupying Kabul! Has it occured to anyone in the press or the legislation that we did not occupy that whole country and in the midst of a poppy flower explosion the Taliban has reassembled itself and is ready to go back to war. Who has been managing this war? We are awake now! And since we are, I am going to tell you what the current sleeping giant is, Lebenon and Syria. That 4 week war is already being talked about and covered by the media as something in the past. That story is still going on I am sure.

4th. Tampering with the Geneva convention? What the hell! Black folk told the rest of America that Bush was no good when they took Florida. Did anyone listen? No! It was just black folk complaining again. Then, people got distracted by chads. I will never forget these bearded and slightly overweight and sunburned good citizens flipping the cards over once or twice in the name of civic duty. Table after table of hands holding punch cards in the sunlight and peering into oblonged oval holes with one measured eye. The true image of our democracy -- styrafoam cups, non-dairy creamer, and punch cards that look like they could program a 1967 super computer. I am wondering how many people are for the President's proposal concerning the trial of terror suspects. He flops through Congress now only because the Supreme Court put some checks and balances of Dick Cheney's ass, and the vice-president's reprobate idea of restored presidential power.

5th. Tony Blair. I think he may be kicked out of office by the end of the year. The Brits are watching this Geneva convention thing, and I am sure that this is an embarrassment to Parliment. To be aligned with such madness has to be getting under the queens skin too. I bet you that Elizabeth Windsor can hardly get out of bed in the morning. According to the New York Times 14,000 detainees are in a legal vaccum with 90 percent of those captured in 2003 being mistakes.

So that is that. All the madness that can be mustered under the name of Harlem, the Democratic Party, the papalcy, this Republican presidency, and good neighbor (special friend) diplomacy.

It is a real circus.


OK. That is my homework. I could write more about Harlem Blogging, the Pope's gaffe, Afghanistan and the Geneva Convention but I should look into them all a bit more. And I should look into Hillary a bit more. Her finger touches three out of the four issues mentioned.