Jesse Jackson: 'You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man' - TheHill.com

Jesse Jackson: 'You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man' - TheHill.com

Reverend Jesse Jackson. I'd have to say that he is probably one of the public figures that I have the least respect for. Whenever there is a remote possibility that race will play an issue in any topic, Jesse Jackson seems to be in the spotlight. I've seen Jesse play the race card against people of other races in the past, but now he's doing the same thing to a senator of the same race. Race is a taboo subject. People are scared to confront racism and racial stereotypes, for the fear of either being labeled as a racist or a race baiter. Why do we need to be constantly reminded of how guilty we are because of the crimes that our ancestors committed? Are we such an ignorant nation that we have to continue to beat the hell out of that dead horse? Do we have to continue to listen to this manipulative and shameful human being? Who made Jesse Jackson the moral authority when it comes to topics of race? Jesse Jackson has bullied various people and organizations into doing what he wants them to do, for fear of being accused of discrimination.

Mr. Jackson is supposed to be a man of God. The bible teaches people not to judge others, unless we want to be judged [sic]. We shouldn't be calling people racists and accusing them of being insensitive. Everyone is guilty of being insensitive to others at some point in there life. I just get so tired of hearing Jesse call people racist, especially when he uses racism as an excuse to attack other people.

Aside from my rant, let's get into the meat and potatoes of this article. In the article, Jesse Jackson criticizes a recent decision of Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) to vote against the Democrat's healthcare legislation during a reception held by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation in the reverend's honor. His exact quote was, "You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man." Of course, after realizing later that he screwed up, Jesse backpedaled and said that he didn't call anyone by name. We know that's all a load of crap, because Rep. Davis was the only black member of the CBC to vote against the healthcare legislation. Rep. Davis had his own reason for voting against the healthcare legislation; ultimately he has to answer to his constituents for the decisions he makes. Funny thing is, most Americans are opposed to this $800+ billion abomination of healthcare reform, and many of the members of congress are voting for this healthcare bill, regardless of the fact that we told them to do the opposite. Rep. Davis was probably doing the right thing and voting in accordance to the wishes of the people that he represents. How can Jesse Jackson say such a reckless thing about another person, much less a respected member of Congress? You know what's funny? This isn't the first time that Jesse has opened his mouth and said something stupid.

Dateline - July 2008. Obama, while on Fox News, is overheard on a microphone saying that Obama is talking down to black people with his faith based initiatives and that he wanted to cut his nuts off. Don't believe me? Look at the video.



How do you justify saying that you want to castrate another person? Castration is something that you reserve for the most deplorable people, like sex offenders or child rapists. Is Jesse Jackson trying to say that Obama is the equivalent of a sex offender? He probably isn't. But...this is a prime example of how someone as cold and manipulative as Jesse Jackson has been allowed to roam this country unchallenged, using his religious status and race as protection, just like an terrorist would use an innocent woman or child as a human shield. Jesse Jackson, you disgust me. You are the epitome of everything that's evil in this country. If anyone in this country had half a pair of nuts, as you so affectionately referred to them, they would walk over and beat your sorry ass until you apologized to every person that you have either intimidated or hurt in your adult life. The ONLY thing that you have going for you right now is the first amendment. Unfortunately, that part of the constitution actually protects you, and allows you to open your big mouth and play your race cards. Sadly, the system was made to protect people like you. Even worse, there are people that will continue to defend you and what you do. Just make sure whenever you have to fill out a loan application and you have to list your occupation, that you write 'Poverty Pimp' down as your job description.

Finally, A Congressman With a Solution: Stop Complaining So Much

Finally, A Congressman With a Solution: Stop Complaining So Much

Are you kidding me? The solutions to our problems is to stop complaining? Apparently, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver's solution to our nation's problems is to tell everyone to essentially stop bitching. That's something you tell your spouse when she's nagging you about turning down the TV when you're watching the game. Stop complaining is supposed to be the a way to tell your constituents that you are concerned about their problems and are looking for ways to solve them. The congressman goes on to say, "Research has also shown that complaining can be harmful to one’s emotional and physical health; relationships; and can limit professional career success." Well, Mr. Congressman, research has also shown that telling other people to quit their bitching will get your ass fired. Now put that in your pipe and smoke it. And by the way...quit your bitchin'.

Problems Without Solutions

I had the idea of posting this blog earlier tonight. Sometimes I struggle with coming up with topics to blog about, and sometimes the content just flows freely from my mind. I hope that somehow everyone will be able to relate to what I'm talking about and possibly compare it with observations they have made in their own lives. Before I digress any further, let's get started.

I consider myself to be an overly optimistic traditionalist. I'm not trying to get into any political ideologies right now; I know the word traditionalist scares some people. Let me give you my definition of overly optimistic traditionalist. The way I describe this term will help you understand where I'm coming from.

Putting this in my own words, an optimist is a person who sees the best in every situation. It goes a little deeper than the glass is half empty and half full thing, and I would hate to try to wrap this up into a pretty little package and conveniently put a bow on it. By me being optimistic, I hope for the best possible outcome to every problem and look for the best possible interpretation to the things in my life. I want to believe that a person would go to school to better their life, and believe at the same time that this person wants to put forward their best effort to succeed. I look for the best in people as opposed to believing the worst. I don't know if it is some kind of defense mechanism working in my mind to try to somehow protect myself from being disappointed, but it's something that's ingrained in me. It's hard wired into what I do everyday. And being overly optimistic would just mean that even though there is supporting evidence to show that a situation will probably end badly, I am always trying to find that little glimmer of hope that will be pivotal in changing things for the better. My wife seems to think that I am naive when it comes to other things, but I can't always expect her to see my point of view. Not to knock her in any way, but we just don't see things the same.

Now onto my definition of traditionalist. I feel that a traditionalist is someone who respects the ways of the past and believes in building on the things that have been proven to work, while being open to the natural evolution of innovation as long as it's applied with a common sense approach. For example, tradition would show that going to the library to check out books and do research for a project has always worked. But with the rapid changes in technology and innovation, we can find many credible sources of information electronically and in some cases end up with better information than if we went to the library. Of course we can't completely forget tradition and just say screw the library, sooner or later you'll probably find yourself going back to check out a book that you can't find online. Putting overly optimistic and traditionalist together, I am a person that feels like there is hope of finding solutions to problems by looking back at what we've learned in the past - revisiting the ideas that have been proven to work before, because these ideas survived the test of time. I also believe to be an overly optimistic traditionalist, you have to be willing to look at the past and learn from it, as well as work proactively to find solutions. Complaining about a problem doesn't solve it, it just irritates the people around you and wastes the time that could be used to work on a solution. You have to be willing to look at a situation from different perspectives. You can't always approach a problem the same way each time, because that's just insanity. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. To use an expression I've heard before, you can't see the whole picture when you are standing in front of it.

I'm getting tired of hearing people complain about problems all the time without offering a way to fix them. It's very easy to bitch about something that you don't like, but it's harder to come up with plausible solutions to fix those problems. It's easier to point the finger at someone who doesn't do something right, but wouldn't it be better to show the person how to do it the right way than to complain about the way it's not being done? I can apply this example to my personal life and to society as a whole. The republicans and democrats can complain about what the other is doing wrong all day, but no one is ever willing to step forward and offer real solutions for what's going wrong. Sure people complain about what Obama and Bush are doing all the time, but they find that much easier to do than to find a way to help these boneheads make things work. Wasn't our country built on innovation and invention? If we invented the light bulb, the telephone, and the automobile, what's to say that we can't find ways to reduce debt, stimulate the economy, and find peace. I get so weary of hearing these pundits volley insults back and forth all day, that I've just about stopped listening to anything else than the local news or watch sports highlights on ESPN.

I'm tired of negativity. I'm tired of complaining. I'm tired of being hurt by others who are so pig-headed with their point of view that they are completely oblivious to the world around them. This country is filled with 300 million suns, each sun is a different person who thinks the world revolves around them. I've been guilty of that sometimes; you notice I didn't say 299,999,999 suns. Some of the people real close to me in my personal life are also guilty of this. My love and respect for them has kept me steadfast so far, but like the strongest boulder on a beach, the tide will eventually erode its surface until it turns into a billion fine grains of sand.

As I grow older, I start to see things differently in my life. I begin to appreciate things more than I would have when I was younger. I feel a sense of pride every time I recite the pledge of allegiance or hear the Star Spangled Banner. I tear up whenever I see one of our soldiers made it back home to their family, although they were always willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedoms. I look back at my life and reflect on the mistakes I have made while focusing on the successes to come. What frustrates me more than anything else is that there are a decreasing number of people who share my same values. There are people I know that try harder to make other people look bad than they do to try to make themselves look good. How that could seem rewarding at all baffles my mind. There are other people that are so caught up in their ideology that they couldn't see tyranny if it was painted red and ran them over in the middle of the street.

One of the things I mention a lot in my blogs is the founding fathers. Our founding fathers were visionaries before anyone knew what a visionary was. They were optimist in the purest sense; they saw the potential that this great country had to prosper and staked their lives on that belief. They fought an intimidating, overpowering, and seemingly invincible enemy while overcoming the hardest obstacles. We have to struggle to program the DVR or to bake a pizza that has instructions on the box!

Maybe I'm being a little too philosophical. Some of the greatest philosophers were probably accused of being too philosophical once, but what's so wrong about having thoughts that transcend my own existence. We are a nation full of problems, but they don't have to be problems without solutions.

America Bows To No One

In a recent LA Times article, we read a story about how our president visited the Japanese emperor and bowed to him in a gesture of subordination. The Japanese emperor bows to no one, according to Japanese tradition. So my question is, why would our president perform such a gesture when you can clearly see that the former Vice President shook the emperor's hand during a visit in 2007?



It's acceptable for heads of state to shake hands, obviously there is no international law that exists that says that you are required to bow or display any act of submission to another head of state. Why would the United States, one of the last remaining beacons of light and freedom in this world, bow to the leader of another country - especially a country that we defeated during the last world war? During Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia, our President bowed to the Saudi King - arguably one of the leading Islamic figures in the world. Are you one of the people that denied that even happened? If so, look at this photo.



Why do I make such a big deal over something that many people would consider to be trivial or insignificant? Why do I discourage over something as seemingly innocent as a handshake or a bow? The answer is: it's a matter of principle. To some people, principle is simply not important. I look at it a little differently. Principles are like drops of water. While a few drops of principle don't seem important or not even noticeable, a few drops quickly turn into a puddle which eventually overwhelms you to the point that you drown - no matter how much of a strong swimmer you think you are. Folks, our country is on the verge of drowning. We are all on the brink of disaster and sadly everyone is still so enamored over what happened last November [election], that they will walk like lemmings off of a cliff before questioning an action. I mean really, people? Have we lost our sense of pride for our country? Do we really need to become so wrapped up with driving a hybrid and reducing cow flatulence that we lose focus on what is really important? Let me tell you something about this planet. This planet existed long before we arrived and will long after we leave it. A tornado, hurricane, or volcanic eruption is unforgiving. This planet has the ability to purge itself of the life that inhabits it. We are more in danger of destroying ourselves than destroying the Earth. Do you think our founding fathers gave a crap about greenhouse gasses? They perceived a bigger threat. Something even more potentially devastating than the destruction of this planet. They warned us about greed, about corruption, abuse of power. They warned us about ourselves. They were very careful when they crafted our constitution. The constitution was created to protect us from the worst case scenario. They lived the worse case scenario. They saw what a king or an emperor or even a president could be capable of. They came to the same conclusion; the responsibility of leading this nation should not be left to one person who thinks they know what's best for us but to everyone that knows what's best for us all. Nothing good can ever come out of a situation when the people who control our destiny can also control their own salaries. A garden does not flourish when we nourish it with what we think it wants instead of what we know it needs. The United States wasn't always the way that it is today. We have strayed from the core fundamentals that this nation was founded upon: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, religious tolerance, personal freedoms, and love and respect for each other. The president can bow to the emperor of Japan, but America bows to no one.

The Importance of Liberty

Liberty is a state of being. Many people take their liberty for granted. They expect to wake up the next day and step out into the world, enjoying the same rights and freedoms that they had the day before; however, the thought never crosses their mind about how different their lives would be if you had no liberties. What if you woke up one day and suddenly realized that you were no longer able to speak your opinions, or express your thoughts, or even practice your religion? What if your family was being assaulted during a home invasion, and you did not have a firearm or the means to defend yourself. Moreover, what if you weren't protected by the sixth amendment and didn't have the right to a trial by jury or to face or your accusers when you are charged with a crime. It's easy to walk around, oblivious to the world about you, when you don't have to worry about losing these basic freedoms. Now instead of thinking about whether or not your football team will make the playoffs, you are forced to think about whether or not something you do or say will get you arrested. Or you might even worry if the next knock at your door is from the police coming to arrest you for some crime they think you committed.

Folks, while these situations seem highly unlikely, they are probable. As a country, we can reach that point very quickly. On a drop of a hat the constitution can go from being the strongest preserver of liberty to an old piece of tattered parchment. And while we have depended on our forefathers to fight for our liberties, we have failed to realized the weight of their sacrifices. They were willing to lose their lives, their families, and their homes for much less than what we are in danger of losing today. They fought for the basic fundamentals of liberty: freedom to practice religion, freedom from unfair taxation, freedom from illegal search and seizure by the government, the right to a trail by a jury of their peers, the freedom to own firearms to protect themselves and their families, freedom of speech, and on and on. They saw the need to protect the things that every individual should be entitled to. The views of our founding fathers were not obscured by X-Box 360's or iPod's or Monday Night Football. Their main focus was the protecting these basic rights. They were faced with the real danger of losing their lives on principle. On the principle that every person, no matter their race, religion, or beliefs is entitled to the basic unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. These unalienable rights cannot be taken away. These truths were self-evident. By definition, their mere existence made them sacred and undeniable. Think about it. Just stop and think about how different our lives would be if the blood of our predecessors was not spilled to water the tree of liberty. We would definitely be in completely different situation than we are today. All of a sudden, your favorite sports team wouldn't be that appealing to you anymore.