Osama Bin Laden Gone-President Obama Political Promise Kept

Today is the one year anniversary of the SEAL Team Six mission in Pakistan that resulted in the death of al Qaeda leader and 9-11 attack mastermind Osama bin Laden.

The Republicans are trying to obfuscate and ignore the irrefutable fact that it was the African-American commander in chief who gave the order for that ultimately successful mission while the previous White House occupant failed to do so and much less was disinclined to go after him.

And yeah, may I remind y'all (snicker, snicker) during the 2008 campaign about that October 7, 2008 debate in Nashville, TN with Sen John McCain (R-AZ) in which then Sen. Obama spelled out what would happen in his administration if he got the chance to get Osama Bin Laden.

A certain Willard M. Romney called him 'naive' for doing so
.
***

MR. BROKAW: Senator McCain, thank you very much.

Next question for Senator Obama. It comes from the F Section, and it's from Katie Hamm. Katie?

Q Should the United States respect Pakistani sovereignty and not pursue al-Qaida terrorists who maintain bases there, or should we ignore their borders and pursue our enemies, like we did in Cambodia during the Vietnam War?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, Katie, it's a terrific question.

And we have a difficult situation in Pakistan. I believe that part of the reason we have a difficult situation is because we made a bad judgment going into Iraq in the first place when we hadn't finished the job of hunting down bin Laden and crushing al-Qaida. 

So what happened was we got distracted, we diverted resources, and ultimately bin Laden escaped, set up base camps in the mountains of Pakistan in the northwest provinces there.

They are now raiding our troops in Afghanistan, destabilizing the situation. They're stronger now than at any time since 2001. And that's why I think it's so important for us to reverse course because that's the central front on terrorism. They are plotting to kill Americans right now. As Secretary Gates, the Defense secretary, said, the war against terrorism began in that region, and that's where it will end.

So part of the reason I think it's so important for us to end the war in Iraq is to be able to get more troops into Afghanistan, put more pressure on the Afghan government to do what it needs to do, eliminate some of the drug trafficking that's funding terrorism.

But I do believe that we have to change our policies with Pakistan. We can't coddle, as we did, a dictator, give him billions of dollars, and then he's making peace treaties with the Taliban and militants. What I have said is we're going encourage democracy in Pakistan, expand our non-military aid to Pakistan so that they have more of a stake in working with us, but insisting that they go after these militants.

And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out.

We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaida. That has to be our biggest national security priority.

***

Read it and weep conservafools.  This mission was REALLY accomplished and y'all hate the fact that Osama bin Laden is resting at an undisclosed location near the bottom of the Arabian Sea.

You think this White House isn't going to point out this major success in this so called by you vanillacentric fools 'failed presidency' on the campaign trail?    You damned skippy he needs to pop his collar on this one.  It's deliciously ironic that the Black Democratic POTUS succeeded in his first term mind you where you conservafool chicken hawks miserably failed over seven years.




If this is a 'failed presidency' I want four more years of this kind of 'failure'.

As Vice President Biden recently stated, Osama is dead and the American auto industry is alive.

Is November 6 here yet?   

Remembering November 4, 2008

I had to work that magical election night at my post which was at a downtown Louisville high rise apartment building.  I will never forget the spectacle of people dancing in the lobby of that building with tears in theirs and my eyes the moment Sen. Barack Obama passed the 270 electoral vote mark and we witnessed the historic election of an African American as the 44th president of the United States.

Thinking about that night still makes me cry and it's three years later.

But deep down we knew that this election, as improbable as we believed it was and thought would never see happen in our lifetimes, would be easy compared to the upcoming 2012 one.

This time the Forces of Intolerance, the conservafool movement, the Tea Klux Klan, wishy-washy progressive white voters and naked racism and bigotry are part of the forces deployed in opposition to President Obama getting a second term and this campaign will be much tougher for him to win.

But it will be so much sweeter if he does so on November 6, 2012

To remind you of what that night three years ago felt like, let's climb into Moni's wayback machine to the night of November 4, 2008 and remind you that Yes We Can do this again.

No Joke, It's FINALLY Senator Franken!

Almost eight months and two recounts after the 2008 election, the Minnesota Supreme Court threw out Norm Coleman's last ditch legal Hail Mary to overturn the electoral will of the people.

The Minnesota Supreme Court earlier today ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race.

Franken won the razor thin race by 318 votes, and he graciously embraced his hard fought victory at a press conference.

It means that Franken will become the junior senator for the state of Minnesota Minnesota. It also means the Dems have the magic 60 votes they need to shut down filibusters.

And not a moment too soon.

With critical votes coming up on health care, energy policy, ENDA and hate crimes, and the upcoming Sotomayor confirmation hearings, Sen. Franken will definitely be welcomed with open arms by his Democratic colleagues.

President Obama said in a statement, "I look forward to working with Senator-Elect Franken to build a new foundation for growth and prosperity by lowering health care costs and investing in the kind of clean energy jobs and industries that will help America lead in the 21st century."

Congratulations Sen. Franken. Today Paul Wellstone and Hubert Humphrey are smiling. May you serve the people of Minnesota and our country ably and well.

If You Watch Fox News, You're Uninformed

If you're watching Fox News, congratulations, you are part of the most uninformed people in the country.

Those of you who read this blog and other multiple news sources are doing your part to ensure that democracy works correctly by being informed citizens.

As a matter of fact, it's the only way that democracy can work. But unfortunately, the Founding Fathers didn't conceive of a network whose sole raison d'etre is to disseminate lies and propaganda setting up shop on US soil.

But don't take my word for it. Emmy award winning documentarian Alexandra Pelosi (the daughter of the Speaker of the House) recently filmed a documentary for HBO that documents just how off base, ignorant and detached from reality the Fox sheeple are called Right America: Feeling Wronged.





Fox News likes to portray itself as "fair and balanced". Excuse me for a moment while I double over in laughter.

They whine about not being taken seriously as a major network, but how can you when they've never won any serious journalism awards, relentlessly pimp the Republican agenda and make no bones about the fact they are doing it?

I can only stand them for about ten seconds until I hit the remote and go look for a real news source such as the BBC.

You Lost Again Norm, Get Over It!

A Minnesota court confirmed Monday that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against sore loser Republican Norm Coleman.

Coleman has 10 days to appeal to the state Supreme Court, and has already announced he'll do so. Once the petition is filed, it could further delay the seating of Minnesota's second senator for weeks.

"It's time that Minnesota like every other state have two senators," a jovial Franken said outside his Minneapolis townhouse with his wife Franni at his side. "I would call on Senator Coleman to allow me to get to work for the people of Minnesota as soon as possible."

After a statewide recount and seven-week trial, Franken now stands 312 votes ahead after gaining addition votes from the election challenge than Coleman, who brought the legal action.

Okay, so when is the corporate media gonna start screaming 'sore loser' at Norm Coleman like they did at President Al Gore, who actually won the 2000 election?

It's almost 100 days after Al Franken won the senate race, and it will be so cool when he finally takes his place on the senate floor.

It's A New Day

After dancing the night away and party hopping at ten star studded balls in celebration of a historic inauguration, accepting the congratulations of other world leaders on his historic ascension to the presidency, and having 2 million people on the mall to witness it, it's time for President Obama to get to work.

First order of business was halting all of the last minute regulations Bushie boy tried to ramrod through in the final days and hours of his misadministration, making the first moves to shut down Guantanamo Bay, enacting tough new ethics rules and making calls to world leaders in the Middle East.

One I was especially concerned about as a transperson was the one that allowed health care personnel to deny treatment or dispense medication for religious reasons, and hopefully, that's one of the policies that's under review.



In the meantime, enjoy Will.I.Am's slammin' song that matches the title of this post.

Rev. Lowery's Benediction

TransGriot Note: Lost in all the loud hue and cry over Rick Warren's invocation was the fact that civil rights icon Rev. Joseph Lowery, a friend of the GLBT community was giving the benediction. Here's the text of that benediction


God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.

Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day.

We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.

He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.

Our faith does not shrink though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you are able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.

And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.

With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.

Inauguration Day!

And so begins the day that our people have been waiting ages for, the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States.

The best part to me is that Barack Hussein Obama II not only shares my ethnic heritage along with the First Lady, we are sharing with the nation the best of our community.

I can't even begin to express my joy, elation and immense pride over what is about to transpire in just a few hours. The fact it's happening on my niece's birthday makes this day even more special. My niece will now spend the next 4-8 years of her life with her first cognizant presidential memories being of Barack Obama's administration.

Yeah he's walking into a mess. Yeah, some of you are probably so cynical about politics that you aren't going to even allow yourself the chance to believe that maybe we finally do have the right guy in the Oval Office to inspire us in this country to do great things, tackle tough problems and solve them together.

I have seen Black men of all ages for the first time in a long time express not only a resurgent interest in politics and doing things in the community, but chest thumping patriotic pride in the fact that the incoming president is a 'brother'.

Michelle Obama as the First Lady will hopefully give us the opportunity to forever blow away misconceptions, stereotypes and myths that have arisen about African American women across a wide array of issues. It is also a major point of pride to African-American women that the First Lady is 'one of us' as well.

It's also a joy to see the Obama's beautiful girls Malia and Sasha. I have been heartened to see young Black boys and girls across this country stand up a little taller since November 4. The younglings now believe it when their elders tell them that they can be anything their heart desires in this country. Conversely, their elders don't have to feel anymore as if they are lying to their kids or feel that sharp sting of historical pain when they say it.

John Thompson, Sr. said it best in a recent interview when he stated, 'The Emancipation Proclamation freed our bodies from slavery, the election of Barack Obama freed our minds.'

While what ails Black America won't be magically cured in 24 hours, a week, a month or maybe even during the four to eight years of this presidency, it's a start. It's also nice to know that with this presidential inauguration it shows us and more importantly our kids what is possible when you dare to dream, and then go after it.

This day is not just one for my community, but for all Americans. It's also cool to note that this historic day for our country is also resonating with people all over the world and across the African Diaspora.

It is also my hope and prayer that the afterglow from this day will last long after the music has faded from the parade and the last inaugural ball and the real work begins for the Obama administration.

It's Official-Barack Obama Won

A little after 1 PM Eastern Standard time today, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. officially became the president-elect of the United States.

There was a joint session of the Congress held today in which representatives from the House and Senate officially counted the votes from the December 15 convening of the Electoral College. On that date meetings were held in every state capital and the District of Columbia for the electors to cast their ballots per the election results in each state.

During that joint session of Congress today Vice President Dick Cheney crawled out of his undisclosed location in his role as President of the Senate to declare Sen. Obama as the winner, which was welcomed by a standing ovation of all lawmakers present.

Cheney presided over the quadrennial ceremony in which the sealed certificates from each of the states were opened, handed to clerks in alphabetical order and handed to one of four tellers for tabulation. Two tellers were members of the House and two tellers were members of the Senate.

Just as it broke down on Election Night, the 538 total electoral votes broke down to 365 for Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama and 173 for Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.

When it was over, Cheney then proclaimed to the cheering chamber what the world has known since November 4, that Barack Obama and Joseph Biden had been elected the next president and vice president of the United States.

The new day is coming folks. Just hold on.

You Can Call Him Senator Franken

If anyone ever regurgitates that tired 'my vote doesn't count' line as their excuse for not voting, point to this race.

After counting 933 absentee ballots excluded in error over the weekend, Al Franken's lead grew from 49 votes to 225.

Since there are no more outstanding ballots left to count, the Minnesota state canvassing board, which oversees the ballot process, is scheduled to meet today and formally declare Franken the winner today or tomorrow.

Of course, Norm Coleman is going to file suit asking for a fresh count, but since the new Congressional session starts this week, Franken could be seated as Minnesota's senator on an interim basis until the matter is resolved.

If it holds up, that increases the Dems Senate majority to 59 seats, one short of the magic 60 seat mark.

Stop Tripping Conservatives-Obama IS A US Citizen

You know, after eight years of an administration that had a president who called the Constitution 'just a scrap of paper' and showed their disdain for it at every opportunity, now they want to be sticklers for their specious interpretation of it now that an African-American who was once president of the Harvard Law Review is several weeks away from occupying the Oval Office

They've been loudly claiming that either President elect Obama isn't a US citizen because of his Kenyan father, has dual US and British citizenship, because he lived in Indonesia for a few years, the birth certificate isn't authentic or whatever lie du jour they come up with. The stories and conspiracy theories keep changing faster than their dirty drawers.

First, let's see what the Constitution has to say about qualifications for office.

Article II, section 1 US Constitution

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

That's what Article II, section one says about who is eligible to be president of the United States. That's means you can't run Ah-nold (thank God) for the office.



Now, let's take a look at Amendment 14 to our Constitution.

Amendment 14

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Did you catch that first sentence, conservaidiots? Let me repeat it for you if you didn't since I know you're used to having Faux News, your so called 'christian' pastor and right-wing talk radio tell you what and how to think and may not be used to actually reading and interpreting things for yourself.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

Barack was born in Honolulu, HI. That, for you conservailliterates is a state, is United States territory and had been a state for two years at the time of his birth. That, and the fact that his mother S. Ann Dunham is an American citizen makes him an American under the 14th Amendment irregardless of his father being Kenyan or whatever other ancillary bull feces you wish to dredge up.

I guess Jeb Bush's children George P. 'I just remembered I was Latino in 2000' Bush, Jeb Junior and Noelle Bush based on that conservastandard aren't US citizens either because their mother Columba was born in Mexico and didn't become a naturalized United States citizen until 1987, after they were all born.

That birth announcement and the Hawaii secretary of state confirming that the president elect's 1961 birth certificate is authentic make that game, set and match in terms of swatting down this lame conservalie.

So y'all can stop hollering 'cover up', there isn't one. You were already discredited when you spent most of the 1990's foaming at the mouth and hissing that Bill and Hillary Clinton were serial murderers. You also spent most of this campaign cycle trying to paint the President elect and the First Lady elect as dangerous, militant angry radicals, so your 15 minutes has long ago expired.

Fortunately the Supreme Court (for once) and lower federal courts have dismissed the frivolous lawsuits filed by some of you sore loser Republicans and libertarians who are desperately trying to overturn the votes of 66 million people.

So stop drinking the right-wing red Kool-aid and get over it. You overwhelmingly lost in November and you will again if you send Sarah Palin's clueless Bible thumping behind our way in 2012.

Change.gov

Just in case you're counting the days until January 20 and President-elect Obama's inauguration, you can check out the official website of the transition team, change.gov

You can check out the discussions going on about various policy initiatives, apply for a job in the administration, and other assorted tidbits and announcements.


Hey, I'm just happy he won!

Stepping Up To The No On 8 Plate

Lost in the noisily contentious post mortem of why No on 8 lost in 'Ca-lee-for-nia' is the fact that the transgender POC community stepped up to the plate and did their part to help drive the NO vote.

Here's Exhibits A and B:

Jazzmun speaking at Club Cobra on the issue.



Tita Aida



So I don't ever want to hear coming from a gay or lesbian person's mouth ever again that transpeople, and especially transgender people of color didn't have your back on an issue important to the gay and lesbian community.

Don't Hate

An MKR poem


Don't hate
Because the world thinks it's great
That we have a Black president after a 200 year wait
With Michelle as his loving mate
And from the Oval Office he'll administrate

Don't hate
Because Obama can enunciate
His campaign was first-rate
Change was the theme Barack articulates
In January we'll have a prez that can communicate

Don't hate
Because America wants to repudiate
Our race-based tendency to segregate
And racism we need to obliterate
For y'all who wanna trip please emigrate

Don't hate
Because conservatism lies prostrate
You're the fools that chose to concentrate
On GLBT civil rights to eradicate
And the undemocratic agenda you pontificate

Don't hate
Because the world did celebrate
McCain and Palin's losing fate
The DC House Bush soon has to vacate
Our troops from Iraq we can extricate

Don't hate
Because 'We the people' gave them a mandate
It's time to stop bickering and cooperate
Now the Dems will get to legislate
To clean up the eight year mess we didn't create

Don't hate
Because with the planet we'll collaborate
On science and technology we'll innovate
Our children we'll recommit to educate
That's why Barack's the winning candidate

So don't hate

Two More Seats! Two More Seats!

It took two weeks, but we finally have a winner in the Alaska senate race between Mark Begich and Ted Stevens, and it's not good news for the GOP or Sarah Palin.

With roughly 2,500 overseas ballots yet to be counted, Begich finally overtook and expanded his lead to 3,724 votes over scandal plagued Repugnican octogenarian Ted Stevens.

Stevens has served in the Senate since 1968 and his political history in the state goes back to Alaska's pre-statehood days in 1959

"I am humbled and honored to serve Alaska in the United States Senate,” Begich said. “It’s been an incredible journey getting to this point, and I appreciate the support and commitment of the thousands of Alaskans who have brought us to this day. I can’t wait to get to work fighting for Alaskan families."

It also put the Democrats two tantalizing seats closer to the 60 seat supermajority they are seeking. The two seats still outstanding are the nasty recount battle royal between Al Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) in Minnesota and the Georgia runoff race between incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin

If they can get to 60 seats, the Republicans can't do jack to stop any legislation they don't like or block any appointments by President-elect Obama because the Democrats would have a filibuster-proof majority. 60 votes is what it takes to end a filibuster under Senate rules.

Begich becomes the first Democrat to represent the state in the Senate since Mike Gravel was elected in 1976. Begich's father Nick also served the state as a congressman before dying in a 1972 plane crash.

Begich's win also precludes the embarrassing possibility of the just convicted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, having to be ignominiously tossed out by his GOP colleagues. Rumors were if that scenario came to pass, Gov. Sarah Palin was possibly considering running for the Senate seat in a special election.

It also gives President-elect Obama a stronger hand in terms of passing his agenda through Congress.

All political eyes now turn to Minnesota and Georgia.

The Decisive Black Vote

'One of the most basic weapons in the fight for social justice will be the cumulative political power of the Negro. I can foresee the Negro vote becoming consistently the decisive vote in national elections.'

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of the things that is bugging me about how quickly African-American voters got slandered for the passage of Prop 8 in California, is how silent those same peeps have been about how decisive the Black vote was in terms of getting Barack Obama elected to the presidency. Dr. King's prescient comments about how decisive the African-American vote would become played out in this election.

How decisive?

*Without the Black vote, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina wouldn't have turned blue.

*Colorado, Florida and Nevada wouldn't have without the tag team of Latino and African-American voters

*Pennsylvania stayed blue because of it

*Mary Landrieu owes her reelection to the Senate in 2002 and 2008 to Louisiana's African-American voters.

*Saxby Chambliss wouldn't be facing a runoff in Georgia

*Missouri wouldn't have been as close or stayed in play without it.

Bottom line, if we have the juice despite having 6% of the population of California clustered in nine counties to be blamed for the passage of Proposition 8, then conversely, African-American voters are responsible for flipping six states that Bush won in 2004 and electing President Obama.

The World Loves The President-Elect

Must be hard to be a Republican these days. You've spent millions of dollars denigrating liberals, blaming Black people for our country's ills, sneering at science and intellectuals, and the country overwhelmingly elects a president who embodies all those qualities as the entire planet breaks out in celebration.

Poor babies.

Overnight President-elect Obama's victory has not only reenergized this country in a way not seen since the JFK or Clinton eras, but the world is excited for us as well.





As Americans we should and need to hold ourselves up to higher standards of international behavior than we've exhibited under Republican rule in the last eight years. That ruining of our international good name is one of the factors that paved the way for Obama's election.



It's going to be nice for Americans traveling around the world or living abroad to not have to be ashamed of our country or our president for the next four years.



It's also cool to have an intelligent president in the White House once again who can speak eloquently and that world leaders respect. The fact he shares my African heritage is a bonus.



But it has also been gratifying to note how Obama's election has motivated African descended people across the Diaspora to aim higher and eventually elect their own Obamas.


And it's a blessing that I'm still around to see it.