Showing posts with label Election 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Election 2008. Show all posts
Friday, January 23, 2009
Whoever hired Warren needs a kick in the ass
Was it just me or was that a truly pitiful inauguration? Granted, my experience of the event was nothing more than an audio feed broadcast on NPR. Still, if that whole ceremony was intended to inspire and restore confidence in America's future, it failed. And I just don't see how adding faces to the voices would have changed much for me.
How is it that no one from Obama's staff even bothered to have Aretha Franklin audition for such a significant engagement? An even scarier possibility is that someone actually did hear the Queen of Soul squeal out her terrible rendition of "My Country Tis of Thee" and thought to themselves, screw it, she's good enough.
And how about Joseph Lowery, aka Reverend Mumbles? Surely this brave and intelligent civil rights leader could have written a more profound benediction by avoiding such phrases as "... until brown can stick around..." and "...when white will do what's right..."
Obama. Obama, Obama, Obama. You're my dude, but how could you botch the oath? THE OATH! After your bumble I overheard a couple of the white-power fellas yelling to each other that this 'goof' was an undeniable indication that you're truly an Islamic sleeper agent after all and could not faithfully recite the oath because your god would be insulted. The rest of the country I'm not too sure about, but it seems this mistake has severely damaged your approval rating among the Nazi demographic. Sorry.
Regardless of this unimpressive gala, today, January 20, is when 2009 really begins for me. I pay no taxes; I cannot vote; all by my basic rights have been stripped away as I stew in a concrete box. Yet with all the giddy enthusiasm within me, I cry out that Barack Obama is MY president.
Oh, and there is a vicious rumor circulating that Super Friends has been nominated on BlogNet as Diarist Blog of the Month. If true, this is a thrilling honor. And in a message to all who read this, three words popularized by the ultimate rapper mogul Puff Daddy - "Vote or Die."
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Correction
To the vast multitudes of dedicated readers; to the thousands of strangers, hundreds of friends, dozens of family members and at least one internet sleuth who choose to support this blog, I owe you the humblest of apology I can make.
OK, I know virtually nobody is reading my blog, but in my election posting I cited a statistic I heard on NPR detailing how the percentage of eligible black voters who actually bothered to show up at the voting stations was around 13%. Common sense obviously should have screamed to me that this ridiculously low number should have indicated that either the announcer misreported the statistic, or that I completely misinterpreted what was being said. The fact that I actually used this number in a publicly displayed piece of writing is a travesty of accurate reporting rivaling Judith Miller, James Frey or any five minutes of commentary on Fox News.
Please accept my commitment to, from this point forward, give, if not always 100% accurate statistics, at least no more insanely senseless ones.
OK, I know virtually nobody is reading my blog, but in my election posting I cited a statistic I heard on NPR detailing how the percentage of eligible black voters who actually bothered to show up at the voting stations was around 13%. Common sense obviously should have screamed to me that this ridiculously low number should have indicated that either the announcer misreported the statistic, or that I completely misinterpreted what was being said. The fact that I actually used this number in a publicly displayed piece of writing is a travesty of accurate reporting rivaling Judith Miller, James Frey or any five minutes of commentary on Fox News.
Please accept my commitment to, from this point forward, give, if not always 100% accurate statistics, at least no more insanely senseless ones.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Election
Well ladies and gentlemen, as you all know we have entered a new era: Barack-o-thon. Er, wait, is it Orama-Bama? No, it's Barack-o-Rama. Whatever it's called, bring it on. As much as I respect John McCain and his dedicated, unwavering loyalty to his country, he can take his Straight Talk Express right back to wherever the hell it came from and go boo-hoo about regrouping and fiscal responsibility with all the other Republicans. There is however much to be said for the grace he showed in defeat. With his boiling temperament and history of come-from-behind victories, it must have taken a tremendous amount of self-restraint and composure for him not to start short-circuiting like Darth Vader in a bubble bath as he even went so far as to call Barack Obama "his" president. Bravo John McCain, you've earned my respect.
But not my vote, you creepy old fart.
We all know the issues people took into consideration when deciding who they would vote for. Even prisoners were nowhere near sheltered from the bottomless pit of polls and surveys detailing the political and social tastes of the American public. But what about my opinion? My campaign newsletter never came in the mail; Obama never canvassed this neighborhood. Asshole. What, just because I'm disenfranchised all of a sudden my political opinion doesn't matter?
OK, of course it doesn't matter, but I think I still have my freedom of speech, so I'm calling bullshit!
Since McCain/Palin '08 didn't feel it necessary to hear the voices of United States Penitentiary Terre Haute, I decided to do a survey of my own. Nothing fancy or complicated, just something which would serve as a crude barometer of how my fellow convicts would have voted and what issues were taken into consideration when making their decision.
My results? Well, due to my inability to create colorful graphs or informative charts (don't forget where I'm hand-writing this from), I will only say that my statistics showed Obama winning by more than 10% of the vote. By demographic:
And in case it wasn't immediately obvious, the primary concern of maximum security voters was race. I really shouldn't say race so much as blackness. It is no exaggeration when I claim that the blacks I spoke with would have voted for Lil' Wayne if it meant getting a black president just as the whites would happily elect Pee-Wee Herman for nothing more than his light skin. It all boiled down to either putting a nigga in office or keeping a nigger out of it, to use the respective vernaculars.
While our country as a whole may be making serious strides towards open-mindedness, I'm afraid our prison systems seem to be lagging far behind in that race. Pun intended.
Because skin color is such a talked about topic in our society, I'd like to point out a reported voting statistic I found both interesting and surprising. Because 98% or so of black voters chose Obama (no surprise there), I figured the turnout of this particular demographic would have been at least as large, if not larger, than the percentage of whites who voted. But according to NPR news (which has a level of accuracy second only to the atomic clock and a reputation for honesty akin to George Washington post-cherry tree), the black turnout for Decision 2008 was only around 13% compared with a little more than 10% for the Bush/Kerry election. Does this shock anyone else? But I may have misunderstood this figure; if someone has a more accurate one, please let me know. In any case it is true (and I'm confident of these numbers) that the black vote turned out at a rate of 95 percent of those registered and 60 percent of those eligible. Not bad. But then, the percentage of blacks who aren't even registered must be frighteningly high.
I know about as much about black culture as I do kazoo culture, so to get an "insider perspective" on this topic I asked "G," a gangbanger a few cells down with a mouth full of golds but a head full of common sense, what he thought about the low black turnout.
In our brief exchange G explained the proliferation of voter intimidation, lack of faith in the system, a lack of patriotic fervor, and the general feeling that their vote just won't count.
Of course this was nothing new to me. Although these are all legitimate hindrances which need to be remedied, their existence is by no means a secret. But I did realize one thing while talking with G: That I am totally sick of hearing about race. I enjoy talking about race about as much as I enjoy Jingle Bells being played for the millionth time by December 24th.
Look, I've never been prouder to be an American than right now, because my country proved to me that it could pick the better man for the job despite any racial barriers. But the barrier's been broken. The race card's been played so much I think I'm going to ask to play with a different deck soon. Isn't it time we bury the horrors of the past and begin a new culture of individual responsibility? But what can we call this new culture?
Barack-o-Rama.
But not my vote, you creepy old fart.
We all know the issues people took into consideration when deciding who they would vote for. Even prisoners were nowhere near sheltered from the bottomless pit of polls and surveys detailing the political and social tastes of the American public. But what about my opinion? My campaign newsletter never came in the mail; Obama never canvassed this neighborhood. Asshole. What, just because I'm disenfranchised all of a sudden my political opinion doesn't matter?
OK, of course it doesn't matter, but I think I still have my freedom of speech, so I'm calling bullshit!
Since McCain/Palin '08 didn't feel it necessary to hear the voices of United States Penitentiary Terre Haute, I decided to do a survey of my own. Nothing fancy or complicated, just something which would serve as a crude barometer of how my fellow convicts would have voted and what issues were taken into consideration when making their decision.
My results? Well, due to my inability to create colorful graphs or informative charts (don't forget where I'm hand-writing this from), I will only say that my statistics showed Obama winning by more than 10% of the vote. By demographic:
Blacks: Obama 100%, McCain 0%The 10% figure reflects the racial mix of this institution.
Whites: Obama 0%, McCain 100%
Hispanics: Obama 0%, McCain 0%
And in case it wasn't immediately obvious, the primary concern of maximum security voters was race. I really shouldn't say race so much as blackness. It is no exaggeration when I claim that the blacks I spoke with would have voted for Lil' Wayne if it meant getting a black president just as the whites would happily elect Pee-Wee Herman for nothing more than his light skin. It all boiled down to either putting a nigga in office or keeping a nigger out of it, to use the respective vernaculars.
While our country as a whole may be making serious strides towards open-mindedness, I'm afraid our prison systems seem to be lagging far behind in that race. Pun intended.
Because skin color is such a talked about topic in our society, I'd like to point out a reported voting statistic I found both interesting and surprising. Because 98% or so of black voters chose Obama (no surprise there), I figured the turnout of this particular demographic would have been at least as large, if not larger, than the percentage of whites who voted. But according to NPR news (which has a level of accuracy second only to the atomic clock and a reputation for honesty akin to George Washington post-cherry tree), the black turnout for Decision 2008 was only around 13% compared with a little more than 10% for the Bush/Kerry election. Does this shock anyone else? But I may have misunderstood this figure; if someone has a more accurate one, please let me know. In any case it is true (and I'm confident of these numbers) that the black vote turned out at a rate of 95 percent of those registered and 60 percent of those eligible. Not bad. But then, the percentage of blacks who aren't even registered must be frighteningly high.
I know about as much about black culture as I do kazoo culture, so to get an "insider perspective" on this topic I asked "G," a gangbanger a few cells down with a mouth full of golds but a head full of common sense, what he thought about the low black turnout.
In our brief exchange G explained the proliferation of voter intimidation, lack of faith in the system, a lack of patriotic fervor, and the general feeling that their vote just won't count.
Of course this was nothing new to me. Although these are all legitimate hindrances which need to be remedied, their existence is by no means a secret. But I did realize one thing while talking with G: That I am totally sick of hearing about race. I enjoy talking about race about as much as I enjoy Jingle Bells being played for the millionth time by December 24th.
Look, I've never been prouder to be an American than right now, because my country proved to me that it could pick the better man for the job despite any racial barriers. But the barrier's been broken. The race card's been played so much I think I'm going to ask to play with a different deck soon. Isn't it time we bury the horrors of the past and begin a new culture of individual responsibility? But what can we call this new culture?
Barack-o-Rama.
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