Republicans Mock Obama

At the Republican convention, McCain said he respects Obama but his henchmen(women) showed Obama no respect as they mocked him. It reminded me of how white people used to mock Negroes in slavery and later, particularly if they seemed to get "uppity," if they were seeking to be better than a Negro should be. A Republican congressman from Georgia, Lynn Westmoreland, indeed called the Obamas uppity. It reminded me of how the Jewish leaders mocked and scoffed at Jesus as he hung on the cross.

One incident of mocking was curious. The former mayor of New York and the governor of Alaska both mocked Obama for being a community organizer in Chicago. In the large cities, poor neighborhoods are often ignored if they do not get organized. They organize to help solve their own problems, they may organize Neighborhood Watches, tutoring and after school programs for children, cleanup and perhaps heighborhood gardens, etc. As they get some self confidence, the people together can petition local, state, and federal governments and private groups for help. Community organizers play a vital role in this work, helping get better schools, police protection, and improvements to public works and streets. Obama after college, instead of continuing his education or taking a high paying job that his Ivy League education could have made possible, went to the South side of Chicago to an area with high unemployment and helped the people there to help themselves. He did not go to war and get caught and sent to a prisoner of war camp, but he did sacrifice significant career moves to go and serve the poor. It is not always true that those who are escaping poverty go back to help those who are poor too. He must have been crazy to do this, according to these good Republicans who loudly mocked and scoffed at him. These Republicans in their fancy suits and outfits are leaders in their communities, many were congressmen, senators, state officials, prominent businessmen, etc. and they scoffed at and mocked this young Black man who wanted to help others.

The scoffing attitude could easily have discouraged some young blacks or others who were poor, but dreamed of being able to run for president someday or being able to be a success someday or who wanted to be able to help the poor too. Are the good Republican leaders going to be scoffing at them to their face or behind their backs or on national television because they are "uppity" or caring.

Get the government off my back

At the Republican convention, loud cheers went up when a speaker said we need to get the government off our backs. That has been the philosophy of much of this administration and its appointees to the EPA, CDC, etc., etc. We see the results with global warming, automobile mileage requirements, "drill, baby, drill."
That philosophy is now going to cost you and I and our grandchildren $100 billion as we have to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mac. Banks were giving mortgages to people they encouraged to lie about their income. Banks sold mortgages with "teaser" variable rate mortgages that would go up in two years and the buyers can not pay the real rates. Banks issued mortgages where the buyer was paying only the interest. Experts were telling us this would spell disaster but our regulators wanted to get government off our backs. Now the bailout will cost up to $100 billion or perhaps even more. Mutual funds, pension funds, and individuals who invested in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mac or in some of these lousy mortgages are now losing billions more.

My father was what he called a "professional pest." He was an auditor for a state. He checked to make sure businesses paid their unemployment compensation tax and registered their employees. His job was to be sure that when someone was laid off, there was help for them. One businessman tried to get him "off his back" by choking him, but a very distinguished businessman said dad was fair and tried to help out the businesses. There are good "pests" who can help prevent disasters for families and for the economy.