It Don’t Matter if You’re Left or Right…

By Crystal Laramore

Heavy-handed editing/commentary by: Deborah Martin & Cheryl Laramore

It’s bad. It’s bad. Shamon. Hey, this is how my brain tied MJ into politics. Please. Hold your applause.

Is our PRESIDENT perpetuating racism? I’m reminded of the song lyrics “Don’t hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself”. His hands do not need to be in a local matter regarding police officers and a private citizen. His opinions on racial profiling were off-base. And like everything, it seems he did not have adequate information to be making such a speech.

The 911 call which started this whole thing has now been released. The call wasn't racially motivated. She lady who called only mentioned a possible "Hispanic" connection AFTER she was asked about race. So race wasn't on HER mind. The officer who made the arrest is a racial profiling expert and from all accounts he's a straight up guy; not racially motivated and not power hungry, so race wasn’t on HIS mind either.

At some point we will hear everything about this arrest because the stupid officer's microphone was on the whole time. Snicker. THEN we can make a definitive judgment about this situation. Until that time, we can only go on what has been reported and it doesn't look good for our Harvard professor. For a well-educated, intelligent guy, he sure flew off the handle quickly. HE was the one who brought up race instead of trying to find out what legitimate reason the police had for being in his home.

We suppose if you are black and it looks like you are trying to break into someone’s house you shouldn’t be arrested. You know - cuz you’re black - and that might be considered racial profiling. Are you flipping kidding me???????? WHO’S racist? We’re all confused here; and, getting more and more confused as the months drag and drag on…to the next election.

So how do we handle these situations, which seemingly are started by the very people who feel discriminated against and looked down on? I've got to say that us white folks are between a Barack and a hard place. It seems nothing we do is good enough and when we do the right thing we MUST be doing it for the wrong reasons. My best friend, Jasmine, works for a company where the racial makeup goes like this - 45% black, 25% Hispanic, 20% white and the rest divided among people from the Far-East.

Jasmine doesn't hear much from most of the groups regarding racism but, the most vocal about racism is the black group. They complain about other blacks who make friends with the whites. "Oh, she's just tryin' to be white!" What???!! This is something which mystifies Jasmine, who is white and could care less about someone's skin color. Aren't people just people? Don't we all love our kids, work hard at our jobs, worry about our old age, like to have fun? She always thought so, but apparently there's some fundamental difference between the races.

At the same time Gates’ story was being sprayed on HD televisions across the nation another one was also being covered; three young boys arrested for stealing items from a neighbor’s yard. The boys were black and white. And the nation, black and white alike, seemed to be on the side of the children. Yes, even though there was a black child among them, Mr. President.

Like so many people out there I am sick of our so-called leaders playing the “race card”. Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton and now it seems our President talk more about racism than I have ever heard any of my friends talk about it. Furthermore, I’ve never heard SO MUCH about racism since WE ALL elected a BLACK president. Does nothing work?

It doesn’t matter if you are left or right of the issue; right is right and wrong is wrong; be you black, white, brown, purple or fuchsia. No one sector of society should be given special or preferential or less than legal treatment, not even the New Haven firefighters. Remember when they were not given promotions b/c they were white? If it’s not right to discriminate against the color black or brown then it certainly isn’t right to discriminate against the color white. Period. Where the hell IS that “Easy” button?

Spewing on and on about racism will only cause it to be a sore spot among the people. It will only serve to perpetuate the great divide; not close the gap, Mr. President. What in the world is the motivation behind such speeches? Why the antics? Do they (the far-left, black leaders among us) want racism to continue to exist? Why would they? So they can keep getting votes from a particular sector of society? You tell me.

I always say “follow the money”. Many of my colleagues and friends (black and white and brown-let’s be clear-I’m not a racist and don’t care what color your skin is) believe some far-left, black leaders need racism like MJ needed Propofol. Without it they have no demonstrations or rallies to organize. And they are SUCH good organizers! Have you ever heard the term “poverty pimps”? Well, now you have.

Wasn’t Barack Hussein Obama supposed to be talking about his health care plan? Talk about “stupid”. So he insinuated a police officer was racist during his “Health Care” speech. What did racism have to do with health care (I shouldn’t have asked right? Is that next? You’re not getting treated b/c you’re black? Maybe that is his tie-in…). Where was I? Oh yeah, Nothing. Racism and health care have nothing to do with each other. It was obvious to any half-wit the question was staged so he could make a point. Why? Because clearly, he wants to continue the class struggle. He’s an instigator! Otherwise; he would have surely said I don’t know enough to comment. Surely.

What is the motivation of our President and other leaders to drum up hatred and impune reputations? Why does this man seem to hate our country so much? Barack Hussein Obama (BHO) has become the “bus chaser” of issues that Jackson and Sharpton are – never hesitating to glom onto an otherwise run of the mill occurrence if he sees an opportunity to tie it to race, thinking he’s making himself look the hero to “his people”! And we whiteys just don’t understand the plight of the black man!!

HELLO – I would be thanking the police and my neighbors for ensuring my property was safe. Why would Mr. Gates not do the same? Why would he make a stand refusing to show ID? BECAUSE, like BHO, Jackson, Sharpton and others – their FIRST thought goes to their own racism – against whites. And, as BHO’s bud, Rahm Emanuel, says - never waste a good crisis!! The bigger problem we see is that BHO saw this incident as something befitting a presidential response but the stealing of Iran ’s election by a thug who wants to destroy us and Israel from the face of the earth was not?? REALLY???!!!!

Racism will never go away as long as each group sees the other as a threat for whatever reason. Blacks will never feel safe and whites will never be able to do enough. And back to the original subject - our president is going straight back to his community organizer roots by agitating the situation. If he said in one breath that "he didn't have all the facts" then he should have STOPPED THERE. End of comments. But he didn't. So you tell me what his motivation was?

Tea anyone?

www.randomthoughtsonpaper-crystal.blogspot.com
www.sexinthewoods.blogspot.com
www.thedamgoodtimes.blogspot.com

It Don’t Matter If You’re Black or White

By Crystal Laramore

By now we’ve all had time to mourn the death of a music icon. By now we’ve heard enough about this and enough about that. Sometimes it’s sad that we are in a world where ALL you hear for days on end is about someone’s private life. I’d much rather be watching 24 hour music videos starring Michael Jackson (as a Tribute) than I would be watching 24 hour scandalous and titillating not-so-news stories. There will be plenty of time to discuss the mans dark side in the coming months and years, but for now do as your mother says and “If you can’t say anything nice, keep your mouth shut.

Michael Jackson was an entity that defied a definition and certainly defied racial lines. Having said that, I want to say I am appalled at P. Diddy and Jamie Fox for trying to make all the media coverage about Michael Jackson a racial issue. At the BET (which is divisive in nature) Awards P. Diddy and Jamie Fox said things like Michael is our black man and things like we didn’t go on and on about the drug abuse when Elvis died or JFK or Anna Nicole Smith…Hmmm. Yes we did. And still do. And Jamie, how are you defining “we” and why is Michael Jackson your black man and who is making this a racial issue besides you?

Elvis and JFK did not die in the era of shock T.V. when media is streamed into our homes 24/7 on 896 different channels and they have been dead a long time but now you CAN catch all the sordid, gory conspiracy theory stories your brain cells can handle on either one of them.

Anna Nicole Smith did die during the Jerry Springer era and since the public wants it, they gave it to us; 24/7 on 896 different channels. Follow the money baby, follow the money. Anna’s story was attached to Marilyn Monroe’s story and the tie-that-binds filled our television screens not b/c she was white and certainly not because of any God-given talent but because she was sexy, and complicated, and a drug addict, and surrounded by controversy, and sad and…scandalous.

Farrah Fawcett also died during this “I gotta know it all yesterday” era but, at about 3:15 we forgot all about it. Most of us anyway. Why? Because she wasn’t as news-worthy as the latest celeb that had just died. Why? Because she wasn’t scandalous. Follow the money baby, follow the money.

Michael Jackson was many faceted and many things, black happens to be one of them. Moreover, he was an American. Period. End of story.

Michael Jackson is receiving the same inflammatory coverage for many of the same reasons; one of them being because he was, dare I say it, scandalous but, certainly NOT because he was black. Comments like those just create more racism and perpetuate the already existing racism. Stop it.

When MJ was coming out with songs like PYT and Billie Jean and Thriller, oh I wanted him to be my boyfriend. The way that man danced and moved defied physics. That could be a little overstated but by now you all know me, I’m a little overstated! His looks were secondary and the color of that man’s skin did not matter to me or a lot of my friends. We looooooovvvvvveeeeeeed him.

When we (the whole wide world) think of Michael Jackson we have different first impressions. My girlfriend, Dr. Deanna Foster, PHD, said her first impression was “what a broken, sad soul”. She is a psychologist and I am an artist. Makes sense. My girlfriend Vicki Warner likes the song “Dirty Diana”. She says she thinks about “how amazingly talented he was and how sad it was that he never had a childhood and how sad it was about how much pressure was on such a young man”. She never mentioned the color of his skin. Hmmm.

Another friend reminded me that Michael transcended not only race but, even more so, he transcended cultures. He was as popular in Asia as he was in America. Additionally, the man transcended religion. He was raised a Jehovah’s Witness but loved by Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Catholics, Evangelicals, Jews, etc.-equally. And we all probably prayed for him-equally. And bought his music and watched his videos-equally. WE LOVE MICHAEL! We. All of us Jamie. So, YOU don’t go trying to take that away from US.

And Jamie, if you want to get down on someone for beating up Michael, why not start with Eddie Murphy. Or, Chris Rock. His HBO special really trashes Michael. But it was funny. And it was titillating. And the money followed.

So, let’s let the man rest in peace. And let’s also remember Farrah Fawcett. And Ed McMahon. And Billy Mays. And our friends and family who have also passed this week. Let us especially remember our soldiers. God rest all their souls. And God rest the race issue. And God rest the media. And God bless America.

P.S.

It really saddens me that the very people who are trying so desperately to gain equality still look at our country as divided among racial lines. Oh, I agree there are those…but most of the people I know and love, myself included, do not see color first; especially where Michael Jackson is concerned! We see Americans. We see Human Beings.

While we celebrate our independence this year let us celebrate independence from racism. Let us celebrate a God who created us all equal. Let us celebrate each others diversity and sameness. Let us, together, celebrate our talents whether they come from hard work or they are God-given. Let us celebrate our freedom to spew non-sense out into the universe and the freedom of others to condemn it. Let’s celebrate liberty from tyranny. Let’s celebrate democracy. Let’s celebrate that God loved us so much that he gave us entertainers like Michael Jackson to uplift us.

Michael Jackson and his talent certainly belonged to God and his music certainly belongs to the world; the whole wide world. He represented the best in each of us and maybe even the worst in us as every man is flawed and every man a sinner; “And, It don’t matter if you’re black or white”.

Baseball, Apple Pie & Government Motors?

By Crystal Laramore

Edited by Deborah Martin

Barack Hussein Obama said he was going to give us change. Change can be a good thing, but he is not stopping at changing our core values, changing our paychecks, changing the way the world sees us, changing our life styles and those of generations to follow but he’s changing the lyrics to our favorite past time songs too? Is there nothing about our country that he loves? Is nothing sacred?

Why does Barack Hussein Obama hate America so much? Every day, EVERY DAY since his inauguration I’ve had to listen to him speak on television about how “bad” America is and how he and Pelosi and Reid and all those corrupt folks at ACORN are going to drive us in the right left direction. Remember what John Adams once said “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There has never been a democracy yet that didn’t commit suicide”!

Every time I see Barack, which is OFTEN because he LOVES to go on TV, his brow is furrowed and he looks serious and we’re always in a flipping “crisis”. Where are the motivational speeches? Why isn’t he rallying the troops? Why isn’t he telling us “We are Americans! Let’s be all we can be!”?

I feel as though he’s saying, “Let’s just face it, we suck. We’re no better than anyone else and it’s time we get off of our pampered pedestal. Let’s sabotage ourselves further and go in the direction of socialized health care. It’s never, ever worked and I know it won’t work here either, but isn’t that the goal - to be on a ‘level playing field’ with the rest of the world? Now listen, we don’t want to be better than everyone else because then they might not like us. I know everyone who lives in a country with socialized medicine comes here for their treatment, but still, let’s just lower our standards so those who aren’t as great as we are don’t feel bad”.

Hey, I just had a thought – if we’re ALL second rate where will WE go for treatment?

Our shiny new president keeps talking about justice, about how he's going to bring economic "justice", racial "justice", ecological "justice". What the heck IS he talking about? I thought I knew what justice meant but maybe I should look it up again. I have always thought it meant doing what was right as established against a solid set of criteria.

Economic justice would be to give everyone equal opportunity to be financially successful - NOT give them what they want regardless of their work ethic. I do not want to work my tail off for SOMEONE ELSE!!! Who does? Why does he want to punish those of us who are using our own resources to drive this country? Is he jealous?

I am beginning to think that since he (and all of his cronies) basically got a free ride, and seemed to have such a good time getting it, that he (and all of his cronies) thinks everyone should get a free ride. No, Mr. President. If everyone gets a free ride who will pay for it? There IS a tipping point. Tea anyone?

Oh, and wouldn’t economic “justice” be that any corporate executive should be able to fly around the world in the jet HIS company worked to pay for but, the President and his wife should just stay in town for entertainment? Is there NOTHING to do in Washington? I bet he could find a tea party to attend…Why does he get to fly around on our plane, while we pay for it but we cannot fly around on our planes??? Can you spell “double standard”? “Ya say ya want a revolution…”

I thought racial justice meant treating all the races the same because, after all, underneath our skin we are all basically the same - NOT give formerly mistreated races the upper hand to dole out retribution henceforth and forever more. And what about reverse discrimination? Several teenagers have told me they are being made to change clothes if their t-shirts say anything political in a conservative sense. However, everybody wearing a t-shirt with a dollar bill on it and screaming “Change” and “Obama” gets a high five!

One student at a local high school was made to remove a bumper sticker from HIS truck that HIS parents paid for that read “McCain Palin”. Seriously??? Are you kidding me????

Listen, I can't even address ecological justice without nearly throwing up. We should take care of the earth, definitely, positively. But why lie about the situation? Al Gore won a NOBEL PEACE PRIZE and had stolen/pilfered/lifted footage from a MOVIE to use in his DOCUMENTARY! And, now it seems any animal or germ having a hard time and in danger should be saved, but when it comes to humans its okay to kill babies from embryo to full-term. What the heck. We must get the world to a manageable global population level SOMEHOW! Why not kill viable babies? Tea anyone?

What gives people cause to behave so badly? What ARE they afraid of? Have we come this far to go straight back where we were? Has no one in this generation read 1984 or Brave New World? How about early 20th century European history? Why are we so afraid to be what we are? Americans used to be proud of being an exceptional, hard working, upwardly mobile society. THAT’s why so many people from other countries want to live here. Because they sky was the limit! You could DO and BE anything! If we become like everyone else then the whole world loses. EVERYone loses. America has been the escape hatch for oppressed people everywhere. How crazy is it to follow a man who wants us to oppress OURSELVES??? The old America would never stand for this.

I would like to mention some items for consideration: Builderbergers, The Illuminati, and The Trilateral Commission. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” Guess who said this? I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I am becoming one…

I'll tell you what! Justice will only happen when enough conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans, Christians, Atheists and hot blooded Americans WAKE UP and STAND UP for REAL equality and justice or we are going to wake up and be France, for Pete's sake!! Let's collectively grow a set and put our country back on the right track, where hard work is rewarded, not poor planning, apathy, carelessness or downright laziness. Tea anyone?

I want to live in the United States of America. The one where government is small and works for US; the one where men and women who fight for their liberties are considered heroes not murderers; the United States of America where men are considered equal no matter the color of their skin but the character of their heart, Mr. President, Sir.
We don’t want to be wimps, sir. We want to be able to whip some serious a$$ if need be. If someone threatens to tear apart the moral fiber our country we want to stop it, sir. And why don’t you want that too? Is it because you feel inadequate in our shadow? Is it because you are not really, after all, one of us? What IS it? Oh, I guess it depends on what your definition of “is” is…

I want to live in the United States of America where men love their country so much they will leave family and friends, hop on an aircraft, travel half way across the globe, jump off the aircraft, put on 80 lbs of battle gear in a foreign county and look evil in the face knowing all the while there is a strong possibility they will die- and all to keep the enemy OVER THERE so you, sir, the man who hates his country, can sleep safely knowing your wife and children will encounter no harm in the night, sir.

Tea anyone?