RNC Chairman Michael Steele Asks “How You Like Me Now?” Say What?

Michael Steele the new chairman of the RNC claimed the prize on the 6^th ballot. His elevation could hardly be called an overwhelming victory. So why is this guy so cocky? Steele said “I would say to the new president, congratulations. It is going to be an honor to spar with him. And I would follow that up with: How do you like me now?” This presumes that President Obama is even thinking about this guy. Somebody needs to tell the Republicans the election is over and we have a new president who has not even been on the job for 2 weeks so we really don’t have time to revel in the chest thumping antics of the former Fox news talking head. This is a guy who ran for the Senate and was endorsed by Mike Tyson who at the time was his brother-in-law. He has no real ties to the African-American community so it will be interesting to see how he plans to seriously reach out to minorities.  That’s why it is laughable to hear this guy quote from a Kool Moe Dee song and, ask rhetorically “how do you like me now?” Sadly, the crowd he was speaking to had no idea what the heck this guy was talking about, and that’s the problem.  

Michael Steele the New Face of the GOP

Michael Steele has been elected Chairman of the Republican National committee. When I first read it I thought of a skit from the Dave Chappelle Show. In the skit Chappelle thought he was white and he was a member of the Klan. He espoused their party line and thought he was one of them until somebody told him he was black and he was shocked. What will change with Steele at the helm? Will there be more diversity within the party? Will there be a real outreach effort? What will change? At the last GOP convention there were only 33 black delegates to the convention. There were so few the camera men had to keep showing the same people over and when panning the crowd for minorities.  Steele can only change if the party wants to change, and if Rush Limbaugh is the new voice of the party Steele has his work cut out for him.

Why Was Fox News Analyst Juan Williams Bashing the New First Lady on the Tom Joyner Morning Show?

Juan Williams is what one would call a “good Negro”. He says whatever he believes will please his bosses. He recently criticized our new first lady. He called Mrs. Obama “Stokely Carmichael in a dress”. He said this in the friendly confines of Fox news and he probably received a pat on a head and a good boy after the segment, but today he had the audacity to take the show on the road to the Tom Joyner Morning Show.  He proceeded to criticize her and talk about her “victim mentality” and suggest that she must be especially careful since she is the first African-American first lady. Well Mr. Williams got off at the wrong stop this morning because Sybil Wilkes stepped up her game today and challenged him on the danger of his hate speak. He contends he just wants the new first lady to be careful, but this is a classic case of crabs in the barrow. You never have to put a top on crabs in a barrow because the other crabs will always try to drag them back to the bottom. Clarence Thomas tried it when he tried to get the Supreme Court to look at a challenge to President Obama’s citizenship prior to the inauguration. The court decided not to hear the case, but ole Clarence gave it his best “good Negro” try. Both Juan Williams and Justice Thomas are those crabs that will always be tugging on the ankles of the Obamas, but they do not have the juice to pull them down to their level..

Should Joe Biden Apologize for being Joe Biden?

Last week the Chief Justice completely messed up the oath of office during the Inauguration ceremony. A few days later Vice-President Biden made a joke regarding the flub. The look on President Obama’s face let everyone know he was not amused. It was the look a parent gives a child who is misbehaving and that child knows this is not the end of the matter. We have since learned that the vice president has apologized to the Chief Justice, but why? It was not funny at the time, but bottomline is it was funny and most Americans have chuckled over the fumble. If anybody should be apologizing it should be the Chief Justice for trying to wing it. On an occasion that important he needed to bring his cheat sheet. Keep in mind this was his first time adminstering the oath and he should have been prepared. Vice-President Biden appeals to the average joe and the average joe found the humor in the situation.

MSNBC Host Chris Matthews Gives David Shuster A Black History Lesson

Today David Shuster told Chris Matthews that while addressing an audience in Illinois Senator Roland Burris said that Martin Luther King and he paved the way for Barack Obama. Shuster said this with a smile and asked Matthews his opinion on the Burris observation. From the look on Shuster’s face one could tell he found this downright comical.  Matthews to his surprise said he agreed with Burris. He brought up the fact that Burris had won statewide office on two occasions, and years ago that was quite a feat in American politics. Roland Burris was picked by Gov. Blagojevich to fill President Obama’s Senate seat and he will forever be linked to the governor, but Burris had a political career prior to his involvement with the governor so it was gratifying to see Matthews to affirm that Burris was a trailblazer. He might not have been a household name like Martin Luther King, but the Burris name did and does mean something in Illinois.   

Today Show Crew Jokes About Digital Conversion

Television as we have known it is about to change. All television will be digital in February. Americans who have cable or Direct TV will not experience any changes, but those that depend on rabbit ear antennas must get a conversion box or they will not be able to receive a signal. The government was offering coupons to assist citizens with the purchase of the conversion box, but they recently ran out of coupons. So the Senate has voted to extend the deadline to June. The House will also have to vote on the extension. This morning Matt Lauer read the story and made the comment that some people are still not ready and Al Roker said we’ve just been talking about it for 2 years.  This is the reaction of the “haves” to the plight of the “have nots”. There are people in this country that live from paycheck to paycheck. They can barely cover their basic day to day needs so to purchase a conversion box to just watch free television could be viewed as an economic burden. True maybe there have been two years of telling the public of the digital switch but when you are struggling to feed your family that digital conversion box is simply not one’s number one priority.

Did President Obama Have a Honeymoon?

Generally the first few weeks of a new president’s life are a time for adjustment.  It  is usually described as the honeymoon period.  Well President Obama has had no such honeymoon. Even prior to the end of the Bush administration people were asking then President-elect Obama to start providing solutions.  At the time Obama said this country has one president at at time and he was not it. As of January 20th he is it and now everyone acts as if he has a solution in a bottle. President Obama is a BlackBerry guy who enters a White House that is electronically pre-historic. This says so much about the past adminstration it never truly embraced the future. the Bush administration continued to offer 20th century solutions to a 21st century world. Throughout the campaign we kept hearing the question who would be ready to lead on Day One? President Obama said he would, and now he has to do it, and from all indications the honeymoon is not over–he never had one.

Mrs. Obama’s Inauguration Fashion Choices Anger Black Designers

Mrs. Obama looked fantastic during the Inauguration celebrations. She wore clothing designed by Cuban and Asian-American designers, but she did not to wear anything designed by black designers and this fact is not sitting well with some of them. “The Black Artists Association can’t stand the fact that the First Lady didn’t choose any black designers. It’s fine and good if you want to be all ‘Kumbaya’ and ‘We Are the World’ by representing all different countries. But if you are going to have Isabel Toledo do the Inauguration dress, and Jason Wu do the evening gown, why not have Kevan Hall, B Michael, Stephen Burrows or any of the other black designers do something too?” Amnau Eele, co-founder of the Black Artists Association and former model.  “It’s one thing to look at the world without color but she had seven slots to wear designer clothes. Why wasn’t she wearing the clothes of a black designer?”(WWD) As President Obama has said he is president of the entire country not just black America. The same could be said for Mrs. Obama’s fashion choices. When selecting her fashion choices she probably selected the clothing she liked and the race of the designer was probably not a deciding factor. Some black designers have said this was their moment and they should have been represented. This was not their moment , this was America’s moment. Mrs. Obama will be on the world stage for at least the next 4 years and I am sure she will continue to wear the things she likes, and some of them will be designed by black designers.   

Blago Would be Hilarious if 45,000 People had Not Lost Their Jobs Yesterday

Home Depot, Caterpillar, Sprint just to name a few of the companies that announced layoffs yesterday. Over 45,000 people received pink slips in one day, but what are the media obsessed with? Blago’s hair! He appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America and The View yesterday. His appearances have been discussed ad nausea, but is this what is most important to the recently displaced worker? No, we have got bigger problems than Blago, but he provides a humorous diversion. Let this man slither back to Illinois and solve his own personal problems, and let’s turn our attention to the main thing and for most Americans the question is how am I going to survive?

Should Everyone Call Barack Obama Mr. President?

One of the reasons President Obama won was his ability to connect with people. He can look at someone and make them feel like the most important person in the room. As a matter of fact Time Magazine has a photo of President Obama talking to a black butler on Inauguration Day and he seems fully engaged. This is a guy who has probably been treated like a piece of furniture. Not that he has been disrespected, but probably made to feel invisible. So many of the people who supported President Obama are young people and they too felt like they could identify with the president. Here is a guy who used the Internet so effectively throughout the campaign. He fought to keep his own BlackBerry after he was elected, and he became a symbol of a new brand of politics. He was almost like a peer because he could understand the concerns of the young people so well. So it is only natural that they called him by his first name. One of my friends says she is tired of hearing young people refer to him as Barack. She says he’s the president now and he deserves to be called Mr. President like his predecessors. I don’t feel they lack respect I feel like they think he is still one of them, and these same young people if they had the opportunity to meet him will have the common courtesy and respect to address him as Mr. President.  The fact is he is president for a new generation but like the pageantry of the inauguration some things never change, and at some point everyone needs to refer to him as Mr. President.