Jena 6 vultures

Only an idiot will not see the obvious racial components of the Jena storm. The unwritten rule of thumb in America is that for the same crime, a black citizen will attract a more severe punishment than his or her white counterpart. That is just where we are as a country, there are still imbalances in the system and it's going to take sometime to get the kinks out. However, it is a pity that this Jena 6 debacle that was brought into the public radar by young concerned americans, mostly using blogs such as this, has been predictably overtaken by the vulture associations led by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. It is time for the young black college students and community leaders to insert themselves in the forefront of national discourse. Minority groups cannot afford to let the likes of Jackson to corrupt the message being delivered across the racial and economical divide. Quite simply put, it is to the disadvatage of black people to have racists such as Jackson representing them on matters of race. To eradicate mediocrity, black america must start at it's leadership (or lack thereof). Commentators like Jackson no longer have credibilty, he is routinley ridiculed on almost every major media network. More energy is diverted into the skeptism of Jackson and Sharpton's motivations and intentions than on the core problems of racial injustice. Lastly, if it is true that he (Jackson) said senator Obama was 'acting white', then he should be totally excluded from any serious conversations about race. Here lies the final test of race activism, can black people garner enough courage to purge themselves of the racist within? The answer to that has direct bearings on whether the racial divide will finally be bridged.

At the edge of change

Man is not a 'political animal'. He is a politician, and therefore an animal. This is a very good estimation of the way i regard politicians of this generation. It just seems like the world has been turned on its head with a seemingly endless stream of shortsighted leaders, from the corrupt juntas of the African continent to the 'hubris-in-chief' Bush administration, and bad leadership is surplus. I never thought i would live to see an era in which the 'free world' led the charge of extremism, imperialism and god awful bad global policy. The last 7 years have been surreal, more like an outer body experience, where we all watched helplessly as the United States went from one of the most loved nations (God's own country) to one of the most detested nations. Our leaders are a reflection of us and our way of life, our ideals are represented to the rest of the world by the chief executive. Bush is our advertisement to other nations that hope to ply the democratic road some day.The situation is so bad that even our closest allies, the United Kingdom, sacked arguably one of their most popular prime ministers (Tony Blair) because of his proximity to the Bush administration.

I not going to start rambling about every policy decision Bush and the 'village idiots' have made but instead i would like to share my excitement about the future white house occupants. It looks like even Karl Rove cannot conjure a Republican win at the next Presidential polls and that the next leader of the free world will either be the Democrat's presidential nominee or an Independent. So what right? Just examine this situation for a minute, if an independent wins it would be the first time in a very long while that the stranglehold on the presidency by the two parties would have been breached. This would open the flood gates for newcomers to contribute to the national discourse, because god knows that America is not only about abortion or gay rights. Middle America is yet to be heard and a golden opportunity has presented itself for new people with new ideas and direction to steer us toward the road less traveled.

If the Democrats assume office instead, by all present indications, then we would abruptly be propelled into the 21st century (about time) with the tantalizing prospect of the first female president or the first black president. The potential social change either of these configurations could bring is seismic. We finally have a chance in our lifetimes to witness the manifestation of the dreams of the founding fathers. America is finally poised to practice what we have been preaching and exporting abroad, which is a government of the people (not government of 'some' people). Its is ironic that women in this country were not given the rights to participate in the electoral process even after descendants of African slaves were finally granted voter rights, but in one swoop both might end up winners of the ultimate electoral process.
A win-win situation, finally.