Barack's Acceptance Speech

Here's the YouTube video of Barack's historic Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech in Denver last night at Mile High Stadium.

I'm signed up for his YouTube group, and if you'd like to check it out, here's the link.

What A Historical Night

It was a night I thought I'd never see in my lifetime. I saw an African-American accept the nomination of my party for president. I saw a beautiful African-American family standing on that stage at Mile High Stadium last night. I saw a rainbow sea of 83,000 people packed in a stadium to hear his historic nomination speech.

But we are two months from the election. We've come a long way folks, but the hard work is just beginning.

Thank You Again Brother Bill

This was the speech I and many others who are Obama supporters wanted and needed to hear from President Clinton back in June, but better late than never.

As you can see, he's starting to earn his 'Black like Me' cool points back, but he's still on probation.

Now we need Brother Bill, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Chelsea and the entire Democratic family to go on the campaign trail and kick some GOP azz over the next 59 days so we can see this eminently qualified brother and Sen Joe Biden take the oath of office on January 20.

Now It's Bill's Turn

Hillary spoke last night, now it's Bill's turn and Sen. Joe Biden's.

I'll be at work when the speeches come on, but will be glued to the set to watch the replays of them.

But I'll be most interested in what Bill has to say. He lost the 'Brother' part after the South Carolina primary and he has to earn that back.



Clinton has always been able to give a speech and as competitive as he is he will try to top his wife. If he does, it will be an interesting night.

Anyone Asked Obama Supporters Why We're Pissed At Hillary?

I watched Sen Clinton's convention speech when I arrived home from work last night. She nailed it and I loved it.

As you long time TransGriot readers know, I'm a huge Obama supporter. I not only voted for him when I got my chance to cast my ballot during the Kentucky primary last May, he's been my candidate since January 1 of this year.

I was at one point in 2007 an enthusiastic Hillary supporter but I had reservations about whether she'd be able to win knowing what the Right Wing Noise Machine is capable of. I was also cognizant of the fact they were salivating at the prospect of attacking Hillary in a fall election campaign if she became the Democratic nominee. The Evil Equal Sign Empire's early endorsement of Sen. Clinton also sent me scrambling to find a transgender-friendly candidate, and I found that in the person of Sen. Obama when he announced his candidacy for the office.

But as an Obama supporter I keep hearing the MSM interview Hillary supporter after Hillary supporter who say they won't vote for him or arrogantly state he needs to come to them to get their vote. They keep citing this mysterious list of grievances which we never hear them articulate as to why they're mad or we only hear in the MSM one side of the story.



I guess since Hillary's supporters are mostly 'working class' white people their words and hurt feelings matter more to the MSM than the hurt feelings of Obama supporters. I rarely see or hear Obama supporters interviewed for their side of the story or media outlets ask this question:

Why are Obama supporters pissed at the Hillary Clinton ones?

Here's why.

The ironic thing about this whole family feud is that there isn't a millimeter's amount of difference in his or Sen. Clinton's positions on the issues I care about. I honestly wouldn't have had a problem if the election results had been flipped. Yeah, I would have been upset because yes, I would dearly like to see someone of my ethnic background before I leave this planet holding the highest political office in the land.

But you can bet that I wouldn't have been acting as nekulturny as some of the Hillary supporters have been. My attitude would've been (and still is) all I care about is that we have a Democrat moving into the White House on January 20, 2009.

I'm supporting Sen. Obama because he's the person I believe is best qualified to be president, but I freely admit for a few months mine was the minority opinion in my immediate family. Then came the South Carolina primary and the infamous remarks of Bill Clinton in that campaign comparing him to the man most white males love to hate, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

My sister was so turned off she began supporting Obama that day. For my mother, being the historian she is, she dearly wanted to see a woman become president and it took her a little longer to become an Obama supporter.

But as the race baiting continued from the Clinton camp and surrogates like Geraldine Ferraro and others kept making insensitive remarks about Sen. Obama, that incensed the African-American community to the point that by the time the Texas primary happened, Mom was supporting Obama as well.

What has really stoked much of the anger between the two sides is the incessant comments from some Hillary supporters saying that if Obama won, they'd vote for McCain.

Now, as a loyal yellow dog Democrat, that is idiotic heresy to me. As part of the group that has been the most loyal constituency to this party and having to swallow a bitter 1988 loss by Jesse Jackson Sr. 'for the good of the party' in favor of Michael Dukakis, I and many African-American Democrats who poured our hearts and souls into getting Jackson the nomination were just as disappointed as Hillary supporters are today.

I wasn't exactly enthused about Dukakis, but I did what many African-American Democrats did that year. We sucked it up, kept our grousing to ourselves and voted for the nominee of our party.

Now that the script has been flipped, we African-Americans expect you to do the same for us that we did for you 20 years ago and for every Democratic presidential nominee since 1964.

If you are that obtuse (or racist) to vote against your own political or economic interests because it would result in an African-American family living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or you think that if Obama loses it will grease the skids for Hillary in 2012, better rethink that strategy.

If this is a close election, there's no electronic machine chicanery and it's proven that Hillary Democrats staying home or crossing over cost us the White House, don't think Hillary will be off the hook. She will get the blame for it and the fallout will be vicious.

Are you really willing to suffer through another four years of GOP misrule just because you're pissed the primary didn't go your way?

Many African-Americans are deathly afraid that there are enough vindictive short sighted Hillary supporters out there who would not only say yes to that question, but the unhinged elements out there will resort to using bullets to accomplish what they couldn't at the ballot box. If that happens, the resulting insurrections will make the riots in the wake of the King assassination 40 years ago look like church picnics.

And if you really are that selfish, shortsighted, and politically obtuse to fail to see just how much danger this republic and our civil liberties are in if we don't have a President Obama being sworn in on January 20, then I fear that the prediction that W.E.B. DuBois made at the beginning of the 20th century will begin to come true in the 21st.

Either the United States will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States.

In the words of another King, Can't we all just get along?

For the good of the party and the country I'm willing to try, but the Hillary folks are gonna have to meet us halfway.

Michelle Obama's DNC Speech

Here's the next FLOTUS (First Lady of the United States) speech at the Democratic National Convention last night in Denver.

Barack Needs A Pee Wee Reese To Step Up

TransGriot Note: I posted this to The Bilerico Project and had to share with you TransGriot readers as well.



The Democratic Convention is kicking off in Denver today. (wish I could be there)

Since the Beijing Olympic Games just ended, I'm still in a sports oriented frame of mind. I tend to focus on baseball after the All-Star break but with the Olympics happening, my sporting attention has been devoted to that quadrennial sports festival.

I was watching a forum on C-SPAN this morning sponsored by Politico and The Denver Post which had as participants Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr (D-IL) Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) Dr. Cornel West, Tavis Smiley and former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder, the first African-American elected governor since Reconstruction.

During the commentary, Rep. Jackson said something that Rep. Clyburn cosigned on that I totally agree with.

Barack needs a Pee Wee Reese.

Pee Wee Reese for those of you not familiar with the Jackie Robinson story was his roommate and team captain of the Brooklyn Dodgers when he broke into the major leagues in 1947. Reese refused to sign a petition that would have led to a threatened Dodger player boycott if Robinson joined the team. His friendship with Robinson not only helped ease the transition with his Dodger teammates, but eventually the entire National League. They also became one of the most potent double play combination in the sport during the 40's and 50's.

One of the restrictions that Jackie was under when he became the first African-American major league player was that for three years, he couldn't fight back or lose his temper, no matter what was done or said to him.

During his first road trip to play the Cincinnati Reds, the fans there taunted him unmercifully with racist slurs during pre game warmups. Pee Wee walked up to him, engaged Robinson in conversation and put his arm around his shoulder, a gesture that silenced the ignorant fans. During that difficult three years as their friendship grew, Reese helped keep Robinson's spirits up as Jackie's brilliant play on the field began to speak for him.

As a matter of fact, outside Louisville Slugger Field, the minor league ballpark here, there's a bronze statue of Robinson and the Louisville native at the entrance to the stadium capturing that moment.

What we are witnessing right now is a remix of the Jackie Robinson situation played out in this presidential political campaign, but substitute Sen. Barack Obama for Jackie Robinson.

He is trying to break the color line at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He's capable of running a negative campaign, but has to run a positive one because an 'angry' Black man won't get elected president. He also has to walk a political tightrope that John McCain doesn't. He can't appear to be 'too Black' for the white and Latino/a electorate or 'too White' to the African-American community. He can't make too many mistakes because as a 'First Black' he gets judged far more harshly than a white person in the same position. He also doesn't get the luxury of responding angrily to obviously stupid, racist or asinine questions.

We have already heard the idiocy expressed by some disgruntled Hillary supporters that they will vote for McCain since Hillary wasn't the primary winner or chosen as his running mate. We haven't even begun to see the worst of the racist rhetoric that will be thrown at him by the right wing and the GOP even though they're already slinging their code worded racist slogans courtesy of Faux News and the Right Wing Noise Machine.

'Presumptuous', 'Arrogant' or 'elitist' (think 'uppity n****r)
'Not ready to lead' (the same coded rap on our intelligence they used to say about African-American quarterbacks, coaches, managers or CEO's )
'Lacks experience' (so did the resident-in- thief, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter before they won the presidency)

What is needed at this juncture is a Pee Wee Reese to step up in the Democratic Party, put their arm around Barack's (and Michelle's) shoulders and say emphatically this man is alright and he'll make an excellent president. That alone will help allay the fears of all the (mostly white) people who want to do the right thing and vote for Obama but need that reassurance.and validation from another white person that this man is okay.

It's probably one of the reasons why Sen. Joe Biden is now the VP nominee instead of Sen. Clinton or some other Democratic woman like Governor Sebelius. Sen. Biden can do what Barack can't in this campaign, be the attack dog trashing the so-called 'maverick' at every opportunity.

But Sen. Biden can't be the only one. If the Democratic Party is serious about having the Obama family move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on January 20, then we will need multiple Pee Wee Reese's to step up. The bottom line is that as an African-American, I'd like to remind you that we are the most loyal constituency in the Democratic party over the last 40 years. We have voted for Democrats of all ethnicities during that time period, even for people we weren't all that enthused about.

And as part of that loyal constituency, we expect the same or greater level of reciprocal support for Sen. Obama from you as white Democrats that we African-American Democrats have shown for Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry.

I not only see the big picture in terms of Supreme Court judges, whether a Democrat or Republican is sitting in the most powerful office in the country directly affects the quality of my life and how much cash is in my wallet

It also speaks to something I've said for quite some time now. If you want progressive policies, you have to elect progressive politicians to enact those policies.

John McCain is NOT a 'maverick', he's a committed conservative. Anybody that thinks he'll change or is friendly to GLBT issues is making the same mistake they did eight years ago by allowing themselves to be hoodwinked by George W. Bush and his compassionate conservatism' snake oil.

There's no doubt that Barack Obama has the education, the talent, the judgment, charisma and the temperament to lead this country. He is already respected by many world leaders and would do much to restore our tarnished standing in the world.

He is one of our best as African-Americans and the best candidate we've set forth as a party for the office in probably a generation. I'd hate to think that Sen. Obama could possibly lose because of petty jealousies, lack of vision or people still hung up on harboring centuries old prejudices against African-Americans and not get to chance to show like Jackie Robinson did a half century earlier, he's got the talent to excel in the presidential game.

Shooter Of Trans Woman Convicted Of Voluntary Manslaughter

TransGriot Note: Here we go again. Another murderer put on trial for killing a transwoman of color, another one who gets off. It's depressingly consistent whether the trial happens in Memphis, TN or London, England.


By Timothy Cwiek
PGN Writer-at-Large
Philadelphia Gay News, PA, USA
8/22/08


A Philadelphia judge has acquitted the killer of a trans woman of murder charges, despite an impassioned plea by the prosecutor that malice was behind the shooting.

At the end of a three-hour bench trial on Aug. 18, Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart convicted Terron Oates of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Alexis King.

Oates, 20, of the Olney section, faces a minimum of five years in prison when he is sentenced next month, but could be released within the next 30 months because of credit for time served.

Police arrested Oates after the February 2006 incident and he has been incarcerated since then.

Minehart didn't explain his ruling, but it appears he accepted the defense's position that Oates acted in the heat of passion after he picked up King for sex in February 2006, then shot her twice after realizing she was a biological male.

Assistant D.A. MK Feeney argued for a first-degree murder conviction or, as an alternative, a third-degree- murder conviction. She said the evidence indicated that Oates targeted King because of her transgender status.

But defense attorney Brian McMonagle stressed the youth and naiveté of his client when he went out looking for sex about 5 a.m. Feb. 1, 2006, at Broad and Spring Garden streets.

He said Oates wasn't aware that transgender sex workers frequented the area. He didn't know King was a biological male until she became sexually aggressive inside Oates' car and indicated that she had a penis. Then, Oates went into a frenzy and shot her twice in the heat of passion, McMonagle said.

Feeney scoffed at that defense.

"Mr. Oates isn't so naïve that he can't find a gun," she said. "He has an illegal gun in his car, he's out at five o'clock in the morning on a school night and he's going to a strip club when he's underage. He's sophisticated enough to be doing those things. Yet the defense portrayed him as an innocent, naïve little boy."

Oates told police he didn't realize King's biological status until King grabbed Oates' hand and placed it on King's penis, inside the car.

Oates did not testify during the trial but his early statements to police were read for the record.

However, Sgt. Daniel Dutch, who's worked undercover as a "john" in the area, testified that he's never heard of — nor experienced — such behavior by a transgender sex worker.

To the contrary, transgender sex workers normally go out of their way to avoid having the johns touch their penises, Dutch said.

And medic William Murphy, who administered emergency care to King after she was shot, testified that King's penis was "tucked" between her legs, held in place by her panties, when he got to her.

The shooting happened in the Nicetown section, near the intersection of Bott and Kerbaugh streets. King was shot twice, from the side and rear, according to the medical examiner's report.

Her body was found about 120 feet from Oates' car, where she collapsed in a pool of blood, evidently trying to run for safety, said Feeney.

McMonagle said the shooting happened during "pandemonium" in Oates' car, after he felt King's penis, tussled with her for Oates' pistol, then King moved toward him.

But Feeney refuted that scenario.

"At no time was she ever coming toward him when he shot her, because she was shot from the side and rear," Feeney said. "That tells you right there that the defendant is lying. If you're coming toward someone, your front would get shot."

She said Oates' actions after the shooting also contradict a heat-of-passion defense.

"He immediately got rid of the weapon," Feeney continued. "If you can't think straight, you're not going to do that. Then he calls 911, does this act on the phone about a robbery and unknown gunman and lies to the responding officer and detectives. To me, that shows a pretty good presence of mind, don't you think?"

She said Oates tried to flee the scene but was stymied because his car wouldn't start. "But for the fact that his car wouldn't start and he was stuck at the scene, we'd probably never even know who killed Alexis King," Feeney said.

Minehart scheduled sentencing for 10 a.m. Sept. 29 in Courtroom 602 of the Criminal Justice Center, 1315 Filbert St.

Timothy Cwiek can be reached at (215) 625-8501 ext. 208

© 2008 Philadelphia Gay News

2008 Democratic Comvention

I'd hoped to be sitting in Denver right now as part of the army of bloggers credentialed for the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver, but unfortunately that fell through when The Bilerico Project wasn't selected as one of the credentialed blogs.

Bil and Jerame are there covering the event for The Bilerico Project anyway, but I've committed my vacation time for something else and couldn't go.

The convention starts in a few hours and here's the link to the official convention website. In addition to the Project covering the DNC, Pam's House Blend will be doing so as well along with several other blogs.

At the Avalon Farmblog you'll have Dr. Marisa Richmond, our first African-American transgender delegate commenting on the historic happenings from her spot in the Tennessee delegation. My homegirl Vanessa Edawrds Foster is a Texas delegate and will be blogging about her experiences in her Trans Political blog.

And of course, just because I'm not in the Mile High city doesn't mean that the TransGriot won't have any opinions about the various speeches, GOP bullshyt spin, network coverage and other political activity going on.

But I'd rather be there pontificating about it than in Louisville.

It's Joe Biden

The question many peeps in the political world have been asking in the runup to the start of the Democratic National Convention in Denver Monday has now been answered.

Sen. Joe Biden will be Sen. Obama's running mate.

He returned to Springfield, IL to make that announcement, where he started his campaign 19 months ago. While I was hoping that the veep would be New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, that's too much diversity for the folks who still harbor racist prejudices and assumptions to deal with, even in my own party. Sen. Obama winning the nomination almost dictated that he was going to have to select a white person for the vice presidential slot.



To be honest, I'm glad it wasn't Sen. Hillary Clinton. Contrary to what her supporters think, she is a liability despite the vaunted strength with so-called white working class voters. That was built on smoke and mirrors, GOP crossover vote meddling and a healthy dose of good old-fashioned prejudice.

Her, Bill's and her supporters behaviors since suspending her campaign in June has only pissed me and other African-American Democrats off and probably sunk her chances to get the VP slot.

While Sen. Biden wasn't my favorite of the peeps rumored to be in the mix for the VP slot, if it results in victory on November 4, that's all I care about.

Happy Birthday Barack!

Today is Senator Barack Obama's 47th birthday! On this date in 1961 the first African-American nominee for president was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He's going to celebrate in Chicago and at a campaign event in Lansing, MI.

It's already been a great and history making year for him already, but hopefully he'll be getting a late birthday present three months from now.



Hopefully next year we'll get to sing it Marilyn Monroe style!

Another Historic Denver DNC Convention

When the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Denver on August 25, African-Americans will make up a large portion of the delegates attending it. One of those delegates will be the first African-American transgender one.

We take it almost for granted these days that the Democratic Party has been the party of civil rights. Because of their role since the mid 60's as agents of change, it is the one we African-Americans have cast our political lot with.

But one hundred years ago when the first Democratic National Convention was held in Denver, the political script was flipped. The Republicans were the 'Party of Lincoln', the emancipators that African-Ameircnas enthusiastically supported in the wake of our 1865 post-Civil War emancipation from slavery. The Democratic Party, as the political home of the slave owners, had at the time attitudes and prejudices more akin to today's racist Republicans.

But in an eerily similar deja vu moment, there was a rising tide of anger building in the African-American community because many Blacks felt that the Republican Party was 'taking us for granted'.

Yo, Democratic leadership and fellow Dems, pay attention to the rest of this post so you don't repeat history. Moni's about to take y'all to school thanks to a major assist from Naomi Zeveloff and the Colorado Independent.

As I discovered in 1988 when I lived in Denver for a month to do some corporate training when I worked for CAL, Denver and the state of Colorado has an African-American community with deep historical roots. I didn't get the chance while I was there to visit the Black American West Museum that documents some of that history.

The Denver African-American community played a major role in some of that history, including laying the groundwork for our political shift from the Republican to the Democratic Party.

Like now, as the Democrats began to gather in Denver for the July 7-10 convention that put the young city on the national map, there was a spirited debate going on in the African-American community at the time about whether to cut our ties with the 'Party of Lincoln' or attempt to forge a relationship with the Democratic Party.

That disenchantment was fuelled by the Teddy Roosevelt administration's mishandling of the 1906 Brownsville Incident. Even though the Republicans had a small African-American civil rights plank in their 1908 party platform, there was major anger in the African-American community over the way this incident was handled. African-Americans were also perturbed about the way national Black leaders such as Booker T. Washington were dissed by the Teddy Roosevelt administration.

The African-American community blamed William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's Secretary of War and the 1908 Republican presidential nominee for the unjust treatment of the 170 African-American soldiers dishonorably discharged on trumped up charges.

The disenchantment levels with the Republican Party in the African-American community, combined with a growing perception that we had to be the agents for our own liberation and couldn't rely on the Republicans to do the right thing, had many Blacks seriously considering backing Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan. Bryan's professed populist broad approach to equality got the attention of some African-Americans while Republican loyalists in the community remained skeptical of it.


The spirited national debate was also heating up in Denver's Five Points neighborhood as well. One Bryan supporter who spoke up at a community meeting was prominent local physician and drugstore owner Dr. Joseph Peter Henry Westbrook. He'd risked his life by joining the Ku Klux Klan in order to gain intelligence on its activities.

Denver was also home to the National Negro Anti-Taft League, which sought to deny Taft the presidency and simultaneously persuade Bryan to live up to his soaring oratory and include African-Americans in his platform.

Colorado Statesman editor Joseph D.D. Rivers was a Hampton Institute classmate of Booker T. Washington and harbored no illusions that the early 20th century Democratic Party was friendly to African-Americans. He penned this July 18, 1908 pro-Bryan editorial in his paper called 'Signs Of Redemption'

"It is, of course, useless to expect that the Democratic party, as a whole, will so commit itself as to profess a sincere and wholesome regard for the welfare of the Negro citizen," the editors declared, "but the fact that the progressive element in the party has reached the point where it does not hesitate to make a general and impartial declaration upon the equal rights of all citizens of the United States, 'at home or abroad,' to enjoy the equal protection of law, must be regarded as a long step toward the elimination of racial controversies in politics when all parties interested are citizens of the United States."

After some heated editorial battles between the two Denver-based African-American newspapers and oratorical jousting amongst various influential people in the community, combined with Bryan's refusal to add an equal rights plank to his platform, both Denver African-American community papers endorsed Taft.

The Democratic Party missed a golden opportunity in 1908. African-Americans were primed and ready to make that seismic shift of support, but the Democratic Party didn't have enough courage to pull the trigger and do the one thing necessary that would make it happen.

It took another 60 years and the administrations of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, thanks to their increasingly aggressive stances on civil rights and pushing major legislation to achieve that progress, before the decisive shift of African-American allegiance away from the Republicans and to the Democratic Party that is part our current early 21st century political reality happened.

It seems fitting that one hundred years later, Sen. Barack Obama, the first African-American nominee for president will accept the Democratic Party's nomination here in Denver, the city that jumpstarted the process and played a major role in the national debate that eventually led to the African-American community's political migration from the Republicans to the Democratic Party.

If Denver's 1908 African-American population were around today, they would not only be astounded at the possible election of Sen. Obama to the presidency, they would be astounded at the numbers of African-Americans involved in this particular DNC convention in Denver.

They would also be pleased and proud to see that what they passionately debated during the summer and fall of 1908 has become a reality.

Barack's Berlin Speech

TransGriot Note: Sen. Obama's speech in Berlin's Tiergarten before 200,000 people.

Hate on GOP haters. Can't help it that we Democrats have produced another great potential president and leader (as usual) and you GOPers have offered up another inarticulate non-intellectual that wants to take this country down the same disastrous path using the same failed Bush conservapolicies.



Here's the text of the speech
'A World That Stands As One'
July 24th, 2008

Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you for this welcome.

I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen – a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.

I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father – my grandfather – was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.

At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning – his dream – required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.

That is why I’m here. And you are here because you too know that yearning. This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and sacrifice for that better life.

Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof.

On that day, much of this continent still lay in ruins. The rubble of this city had yet to be built into a wall. The Soviet shadow had swept across Eastern Europe, while in the West, America, Britain, and France took stock of their losses, and pondered how the world might be remade.

This is where the two sides met. And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city. They cut off food and supplies to more than two million Germans in an effort to extinguish the last flame of freedom in Berlin.

The size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.

And that’s when the airlift began – when the largest and most unlikely rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.

The odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off the needed supplies. The streets where we stand were filled with hungry families who had no comfort from the cold.

But in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city’s mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. “There is only one possibility,” he said. “For us to stand together united until this battle is won…The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty…People of the world, look at Berlin!”

People of the world – look at Berlin!

Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.

Look at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.

Look at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity.

People of the world – look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.

Sixty years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. When you, the German people, tore down that wall – a wall that divided East and West; freedom and tyranny; fear and hope – walls came tumbling down around the world. From Kiev to Cape Town, prison camps were closed, and the doors of democracy were opened. Markets opened too, and the spread of information and technology reduced barriers to opportunity and prosperity. While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history.

The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers – dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.

The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.

In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape responsibility in meeting them. Yet, in the absence of Soviet tanks and a terrible wall, it has become easy to forget this truth. And if we’re honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.

In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe’s role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth – that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe.

Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more – not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

We know they have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a Union of promise and prosperity. Here, at the base of a column built to mark victory in war, we meet in the center of a Europe at peace. Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid.

So history reminds us that walls can be torn down. But the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy; of progress and peace. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust each other.

That is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn inward. America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in the sky above our heads, and people to assemble where we stand today. And this is the moment when our nations – and all nations – must summon that spirit anew.


This is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it. If we could create NATO to face down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in London and Bali; in Washington and New York. If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope.

This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.

This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons.

This is the moment when every nation in Europe must have the chance to choose its own tomorrow free from the shadows of yesterday. In this century, we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad. In this century – in this city of all cities – we must reject the Cold War mind-set of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.

This is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and lasting peace. And despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations – including my own – will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.

And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust – not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.

Now the world will watch and remember what we do here – what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words “never again” in Darfur?

Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived – at great cost and great sacrifice – to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom – indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us – what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores – is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people – everywhere – became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation – our generation – must make our mark on the world.

People of Berlin – and people of the world – the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.

GOP Golddigger

TransGriot Note: it's been a while since I composed a song rewrite for your pleasure. There was also a neat picture I found of an elderly McCain and his wife that I wanted to go with this post, but for some strange reason every time I tried to upload either that picture, one of McCain, or of Cindy, it returned a mysterious 'internal server error' response. Even changing the name of the photo file didn't allow it to be uploaded. Interestingly enough, I don't get that same 'internal server error' response when it comes to pictures of Barack and Michelle Obama. What's up with that?



Sung to the tune of Kanye West's 'Gold Digger'

He takes my money when I'm in need
Yea he's a trifflin' husband indeed
Oh he's a gold digga way over town
That digs on me

Chorus
(He did me wrong)
McCain's a GOP gold digger (When I'm Need)
Cindy made his bank account bigger(He did me wrong)
McCain's a GOP gold digger (When I'm need)
Cindy made his bank account bigger
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down

After Vietnam
Cheerleader had it going on
With truckloads of cash
Under her underarm
Cindy said "John, you rock!"
As she fell for his charm
His wife Carol prayed for his safety
From the Viet Cong
Dumped his first wife for Cindy
Yo homes, have you seen her?
Because Cindy's cash can help in the political arena
Cindy adopts a Bangladeshi kid
Bush used to ruin the 2K presidential bid
Ok you got ya kid I have to bring around my friends
I sold out to the Bushies for my career to extend
But I won the nomination, that's the bed I made
If I'm messing with this girl then I gotta get paid
You know why
It take too much to touch her
Cindy's makeup comes off in huge clusters
But without her my career would be lackluster
Don't care what y'all say yeah, I still love her


(He did me wrong)
McCain's a GOP gold digger (When I'm Need)
Cindy made his bank account bigger(He did me wrong)
McCain's a GOP gold digger (When I'm need)
Cindy made his bank account bigger
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down


14 years, 14 years Carol had your kids
Cindy's also got you for 18 years
John's payin' alimony for dissing her, dig?
His baby momma's car and crib ain't bigger than his
You see McCain on Meet the Press almost every Sunday
But he won't be driving off in a Hyundai
He was supposed to buy the presidency with her money
He went to the doctor and got a facelift with his honey
He walkin' around with a grin so sunny
Barack gonna wipe it off your face in November, sonny
If you're so in love why'd she get a prenup? Say it
SHE GOT A PRENUP, Yeaah
It's something that she felt she needed to have
Cause if you leave her dude she ain't gonna give you half
14 years, 14 years
Cindy didn't tell him she was adopting a kid.

He did me wrong)
McCain's a GOP gold digger (When I'm Need)
Cindy made his bank account bigger(He did me wrong)
McCain's a GOP gold digger (When I'm need)
Cindy made his bank account bigger
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down (I gotta leave)
get down boy go head get down

You're a GOP gold digger and you got needs
McCain said she wears too much makeup and insulted her weave
Bailed out your broke campaign in your time of need
You publicly called her the C-word, damn homes she's peeved
But you peeps outside the beltway need to watch him
While half your check ends up putting gas in your Datsun
McCain got that presidential ambition look in his eyes
In November it'll be Obama taking the prize
With Michelle his only wife standing by his side
McCain's trying to win but his heart ain't right
How you dissed Carol, keep spinning, awight?
McCain you really make me hurl
Dumping your wife for a younger white girl

Get down boy go head get down
Get down boy go head get down
get down boy go head get down
get down boy go head
(can you play that back)


Cross posted to The Bilerico Project

Race Baiting-New Yorker Style

As if Faux News putrid crap, the Tennessee GOP and various right-wing sites hatin' on the Obamas wasn't bad enough, now comes word of this New Yorker magazine cover hitting the newsstands today that's supposed to be satirical, but ain't.

"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton. "But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."

The magazine tried to CTA and said in a statement the cover "combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are."

"The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall? All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover."

Whether it was or not, the GOP is thanking you for giving them the image they'll ride from now until November 4. Satire is one thing. I get satire. I love it and read Mad Magazine as a kid for years. But good satire has an element of truth to it and frankly, the New Yorker Obama cover doesn't pass that test.

That New Yorker cover is every spin line, smear and regurgitated lie that the GOP and their Faux News propaganda arm have come up with to denigrate the Obamas. The fact that they took the unprecedented step and added his wife to the image just adds to the pissivity that I and many African-Americans feel about this cover.

It's also a fact that some of the GOP sheeple out there actually believe in their hive minds the bull that was depicted in this cartoon and will take it as 'evidence' that it's the 'truth'. Shouldn't the CNN debunking of the 'madrassa' lies back in January told you people that your favorite so-called 'news' outlet peddles in propaganda?



But I live in a reality based world with reason, knowledge and double checked facts as one cornerstone of it, not rumor or innuendo that allegedly passes as news. And unlike fundies, I don't turn off my brain when I go to church, either.

In the context of a racially polarized electorate contemplating putting an African-American in the highest political office in the land for the first time in our country's history, and the historical course-changing stakes of this election, the cover was irresponsible as well. One of my fears is that this cover has the potential to possibly do damage to the Obama campaign because it comes from a so-called liberal magazine.

It doesn't matter if the New Yorker wrote a serious article about Senator Obama on the inside of the magazine. The problem is the cover you produced to sell that magazine.

Miss USA Endorses Sen. Obama

When my Houston homegirl became the sixth sistah to win Miss USA back in April, and she was a Cougar alum to boot, I already liked 26 year old Crystle Stewart.

On the eve of the 2008 Miss Universe pageant that's currently taking place in the Vietnamese resort town of Nha Trang, Miss USA endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president.

She said while she admired both candidates, she was more drawn to the Democratic hopeful.

"I like Barack Obama -- just his poise and the way he motivates people -- and that's something that draws me," said the Texan beauty, who works as a motivational speaker and is writing a book called "Waiting to Win."

Asked if she would vote for Obama, she said: "That's a secret, but yes!"

She also threw McCain supporters a bone as well. "John McCain is an American hero," she said of the Republican Party hopeful. "I'm actually kind of torn because I think he's a great person, he's older and he might be a little bit wiser," she told AFP on the eve of the Miss Universe contest, to be broadcast Sunday evening US time.

"But Obama's on the higher end of the list," she added.

Because the event is being held in Nha Trang, which during the Vietnam War was a major US naval base, she was also asked a question by the AFP reporter about that period.

Stewart said she was proud to represent the United States in an event held in Vietnam, once America's battlefield enemy, because the show could act as a bridge between the countries and help post-war reconciliation.

"That was 30 years ago, and we had a terrible conflict, but now we're working together, and I think this will show everyone that USA and Vietnam can be very friendly and cordial to each other," she said.

"Hopefully we can be role models to other countries, to work in cooperation and peace together... It's bringing the countries closer together."

The finals are being televised at 9 PM EST tonight, and I hope that Crystle continues to make history.

Jesse Sr., What Were You Thinking?

I have much love and respect for Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. I was an alternate Jackson delegate for my precinct during his 1984 run for president. I have defended him in countless Internet debates, arguments and dust ups over the last two decades with people inside and outside the African-American community. I even wrote a post slamming his and Rev. Al Sharpton's critics.

I've heard rumors coming from Chicagoland that there was a little animosity Rev. Jesse Sr. was harboring for Sen. Barack Obama not only because of his meteoric rise in Chicago politics and quick ascension on the national stage, but he's accomplishing what Jackson couldn't do in two attempts in 1984 and 1988.

Rev. Jackson denied that, and although he has endorsed Sen Obama, the rumors persist. On CNN's American Morning Wednesday he stated, referring to the modern civil rights struggle, "That's kind of ridiculous. He's running the last lap of a 54-year marathon. He is running that race. I am a part of that race."

Yeah, but your derogatory remarks on Faux News make any positive comments you make about Sen Obama seem hollow and poured gasoline on the fire that you have hateraid for Obama.

Speaking of those remarks, what in Hades prompted you to not only go on FOX, which has much hateraid for you personally, but whisper those remarks while in the confines of their studio?

You had to be cognizant of the fact that you were in enemy territory. This is a network which since its start up strives to show African-Americans in a negative light. These conservapeeps would be looking for anything to use to attack either you personally or Barack Obama. If you didn't consider that possibility, then you sadly underestimated the depth of their dislike for you and the lengths they will go to accomplish both missions.

You just gave your conservahaters a two-for-one deal on that, and put your own son in the embarrassing position as the co-chair of the Obama presidential campaign of having to publicly criticize his own father.



Rev. Jesse, stop drinking the jealously green flavor Hateraid. I know you wanted to have your name go down in the history books as our first African-American president or become a US senator. There are others who will accomplish that goal. Your son, Jesse Jackson, Jr. may be one of those people. He is a multi-term US representative ably representing his Chicago area district and has a bright future in Democratic party politics.

I thank you for all the work you've done for our community and being our sword and shield when we needed it, but it's time for you to step back and look at the big picture. Get with the reality that Barack Obama may be on the verge of accomplishing what our people have dreamed about for generations.

And stay away from the Faux News studios while you're at it.

President Palmer=President Obama?

If Sen. Barack Obama eventually becomes our president, if I were his campaign staff, one of the people I'd definitely be express mailing invites for the inauguration, the parades and the galas to would be actor Dennis Haysbert.

As you fans of the Fox show 24 already know, Haysbert played President David Palmer on the show before his character was assassinated. He currently stars as Major Jonas Blaine on the CBS show The Unit and was quoted in a recent interview as saying, "If anything, my portrayal of David Palmer, I think, may have helped open the eyes of the American people."

Before some of you start laughing about that assertion, let me school y'all for a minute about the power of television.

It was a TV show called Star Trek that inspired a Chicago schoolgirl named Mae Jemison to become the first African-American female astronaut launched into space. In addition to that, it was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. himself who urged actress Nichelle Nichols not to quit her role as Lt. Uhura when she met him at a NAACP event.

The 1963 televising of firehoses and dogs being loosed on nonviolent protesters in Birmingham and 'Bloody Sunday' at Selma in 1965 not only helped sway public support for civil rights, and end overt Jim Crow racism in the South, but probably paved the way for the 1964-65 Civil Rights Acts to pass as well.

The television show A Different World during its broadcast run from 1987-1993, in conjunction with the Spike Lee movie School Daze helped cause an estimated 25% spike in admissions applications to HBCU's all over the country.

I credit Rebecca Romijn's role as transwoman Alexis Meade on Ugly Betty combined with Barbara Walters 20/20 show on transgender children among other factors with the increased success we're having in terms of getting transgender civil rights codified into law. Those shows helped create more awareness and more positive perceptions about transgender people. My own peeps have a little catching up to do, and Hollywood has yet to create positive transgender characters of color similar to an Alexis Meade, but that's another post.

Haysbert's comments are interesting in the context of this historic campaign. They are definitely food for thought and I'm not dismissing them outright. Haysbert also put his money where his mouth is by donating $2,300 to the Obama campaign.

What we know is that Barack Obama is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. He beat Sen. Hillary Clinton for that nomination, who had a historic campaign in her own right possibly aided in the same manner by the 2005-2006 ABC show Commander In Chief, in which Geena Davis plays the first female president, Mackenzie Allen.

If Dennis Haysbert's role helped open some minds to the possibility that an African-American could not only win the presidency but competently do the job, and it results in a historic inauguration for Sen. Obama on January 20, 2009, then it's all good.