Racism and the Powell Endorsement

Retired General Colin Powell had barely uttered his endorsement on Meet The Press yesterday when the race card came out. Now I haven’t heard much in the national press about race with this endorsement but the hateful words have been flying. (Rush Limbaugh can hardly be called the press) Many folks who I have been in communication with from Baton Rouge, LA, Santa Cruz,CA and of course in this nasty little town I live in have had much to say about how race is the only reason the esteemed General gave the thumbs up to Obama.

The consensus with my right wing friends and aquaintances is black folks vote on the basis of color when there is a black person running for office. Here is a quote from a guy who goes by the handle Winston on a forum I visit regularly. I am using it without his express permission but its a public newspaper forum so I will assume the liberty of reprinting it here.The prose style is his and I just copied it to paste here.

“..I’m certainly no expert on these things
..but it seems to me
..that the underlying point here
..is the Colin is just one black guy
..voting for another black guy.

..Who can blame him?

..I wish there was an Irish guy on the ballot
..that I could vote for!

..This seems a bit overblown.
..Black guys vote for other black guys.
..Black guys will not vote to convict
..another black guy if they are on a jury.
..Brotherhood is tight.

..I wonder what percentage of ‘African Americans’
..will vote for Obama?

..95%???

..I guess that means there are no conservative
..’African Americans’
..or is there something I’m missing?

..Unstated but implied is the idea
..that Powell made his endorsement
..for other than the stated reasons.

..The obvious low hanging fruit here
..is that he did it because he is black
..(or half black)
..and Obama is black
..(or half black)”

I have been a member of this forum for quite awhile and I know from pictures and statements posted that Winston is a white middle class hard working American citizen. He loves dogs and lives in the redwood forest of the central California coast south of San Fransisco. His politics lean far right and he is an avid fan of the Rush O’Reilly type of “journalism”. In fact he spews their crap on a daily basis. No need to listen to Rush or Bill…just listen to Winston and he will recite their shows for you…in his unique poetic style. To me he is a great example of the right wing salt of the earth backwards thinking American. In issues he doesn’t agree with he usually bows to Rush. His spewings are similar to what I have heard from everyone who considers this endorsement a racial issue.

Its just wrong in my opinion to hear anyone degrade Colin Powell by saying it is about race. General Powell is a highly intelligent, well educated experienced man who isn’t likely to talk out the side of his mouth.

He abandoned the administration after they used him, through their lies and deceit, in the rush to war. He supported McCain at first but eventually saw the Republi-con  attitude was completely taking over his campaign. When the McClone campaign tapped Sarah he was naturally skeptical. After a bit of research Powell, like all thinking Americans, felt she was scarier than anything Obama and his alleged terrorist friends could be. Realizing John may not be physically fit to last a full term he was put off by Palin.

He fears the Supreme Court that the McCain/Palin administration would seat in the case of a vacancy. He has seen the horrors the seated justices have brought on our country. He can see the future would be extremely bleak if the republi-con ideals continue with the support they have had for so long.

He sees the inteligence coming from the Obama campaign. He seems to understand that Barack has vision for the future. Knowing that everything Obama stands for isn’t necessarily the right way to go he also knows that the Democratic policies and ideals can, and will lead us into a brighter future. And we all know how far from the light we are under the current system. Powell wants things to get better for everyone not just for black Americans.

His endorsement came from his heart. A heart that is so American that he served our country as a military officer for 35 years. A soul of concern and caring that he did what he believed right for all Americans…and the world. And he continues to be a true American by looking forward to a better future. Knowing the same ol’ same ol’ isn’t best for anyone except the very rich.

So in the current racist environment we live in I think hes endorsement wasn’t a pro black endorsement as much as a pro American one.

Even for those who slam the candidate, and the endorser’s race

I’m A Maverick Too…Maybe

In the last few weeks I have been really down about losing everything on my Alien Trucker site. That and a lot of other things in my life right now have given me the phoney excuse to say fuckitall. Let the Alien Trucker unload at his final delivery point and just turn in the keys. Kick back in the Barcalounger and drive the mindless teevee with a lot of bonghits. Maybe watch with the volume down and crank the Grateful Dead on the stereo. Just let life, and our world slip by without comment.

But NAH! Apathy and inaction is not the kind of trucker I ever was. (In my carreer of driving I was never late…even if the shipper delayed me.) I drove in violation of the driving time rules more than once to keep my reputation as a reliable driver with my dispatcher. They don’t call log books “story books” for nothing.

I caught short naps when I was just too sleepy to drive instead of sleeping the recommended time. I had the radar detectorsjammers and a big C.B.radio to keep track of the bears so I could go as fast as possible. The mechanics at the home shop were always giving me a few more MPH on the governor so I could crank out the miles in less time. More miles meant more money in my pocket as well as theirs. (don’t tell anybody, they could get in trouble) They call drivers like that “cowboys” or in the case of refrigerated load drivers, “chickenhaulers”. I choose to think of myself as a maverick.

My definition of a maverick is one who breaks the rules for ones own benefit. The rule breaking benefits others who matter to the maverick but rarely does good for the general public and society. For example the Hours of Service laws made for truckdrivers were for the public saftey. A tired driver can be less attentive or even go to sleep making him or her cause a life threatening accident. If the trucker is hauling Haz-Mat loads they could pollute the local water supply if the accident caused a spill. (did you know tankers of Coca Cola syrup have to be placarded as Haz-Mat? The stuff is so caustic it kills enviromental purity and destroys plant and animal life.) Thats why there are so many federal and state regs on truck drivers. Rules to keep the public safe are broken daily by thousands of these maverick big truck operators.

A maverick in our society has always been looked up to by the downtrodden masses. Usually a politician or lawman they were seen as hero’s who bent the rules to help the constituents in their locality. Kinda like the old westerns where the bad guy was the mean old banker and the sheriff made up some new law to release the hold on the poor farmers from the clutches of the banker.

In our new era of mavericks though we have seen a turn from the old definition to one who only thinks of themself and how the lawbending will benifit only them and the rich around them. My comparison of the trucking companies I drove for and the political scene are relevant…at least to me. I was breaking the rules for my own benefit…like Sarah has been judged in Alaska. But unlike her my benefit was not only for my families happiness. I did make more money but so did the company that employed me. The mechanics also benefitted with a free lunch and a few bucks in their pocket when they went home that evening. The receivers of my load benefitted as well. If the chicken is delivered on time it makes it to the store shelves in time for you to get it on your dinner table this evening. Everyone is “better off” because I broke a few rules and drove more miles and hours to make it that way. Right?

Probably not.

Vengeance is not a benefit to anyone. Not the “maverick” who gets the trooper fired. Not the formerly battered spouse. Not the kids who have a smaller amount of child support because daddy got fired. Not the citizens who are less protected by the police because a cop lost his job. And definitely not the general population of Alaska or the rest of the US.

We need people who don’t feel they are above the law in personal matters just because they hold office. Our president and vice president don’t need to be seen as mavericks. They should never hold bending and breaking the law as a good thing. The “Maverick” label McClone wraps himself in is so very far from the military man image he tries to simultaniously project are oxymoronic (moronic at least). The military is about serving the country without question and following ALL of the rules. So should holding public office. Especially the highest office in our country.

Maverick truckers endanger public safety for their own benefit so it makes sense that maverick politicians do as well.

So I am climbing back into the drivers seat of this big rig to insanity and have one destination in mind. I will drive as many hours as it takes to try to defeat the maverick presidency before it starts. No matter how many laws I have to bend.

A Bad Situation All Around

With all of the weirdness of the past few weeks, what with the richmans welfare and the election farce that has been pumped in our faces, there is another thing that is pretty fucked up in our nation

A thing that is very personal to me as well as happening all around our country. A thing that is happening all too much. Something that should irk everyone but seems to have taken a back seat to politics, news and day to day life in the US. At least it seems so to me. I am talking about supporting our troops…after they come home.

When I was a kid supporting the troops in Viet Nam was a different issue. The peace advocates and the anti war protesters hated the idea of anyone being a soldier. Many would line up at the airport and spit on them. I remember when my brother returned from Asia and the protesters spit not only at the car that was carrying his body but spit and yelled at the car my family was in. My mother was more devastated than just the normal grief of losing a son. Having her boy called names after he was dead seemed even more of a hurt than leaving his life in a foriegn country.

The government also spit on the returning vets then. Not literally but definitely spit…or shit. Benefits for disabled soldiers were, and still are, deplorable. Just a couple of years ago they said that 4 out of 10 of America’s homeless were disabled Viet Nam vets. Must really suck to be dishonored by not only your fellow citizens but also the powers that sent you to fight, kill and die.

Things have changed since the late ’60’s and early ’70’s. Every SUV and compact car has a ribbon demanding we support our troops. The words are on the lips of every politician. Hell…some even say you aren’t a true American if you don’t send your kid to Iraq.(not the politicians kids of course) But that is all empty talk. Those with the stickers on their cars may mean it but have you noticed how many cars with support the troops stickers also have something supporting McCain and Palin? Seems like a contradiction to me.

Shortly after moving to Roswell 3 years ago I met a good young man who had just returned from a tour of Iraq. Kind hearted in most things he had a great hatred in his soul. Part of the hatred was directed to the “ragheads” (his words). Part of his anger was, and still is, directed toward the government that sent him there. He is even angrier now although he no longer rants the stuff against the people he was sent to war against. He hates the war machine that has caused so much distress in his life. He has had his eyes opened to how the government supports the troops they send to war. A war based on deceit and lies.

After a short stay here at home he was redeployed. Against his wishes but as a patriot he didn’t balk. They shipped him to Germany on the way back to Iraq. While there a shrink determined he was not stable enough to return to the battlefield. They said his previous tour had un balanced him and in a war type situation he would probably be more of a risk than asset. Something about not being reliable under stress. Without actually saying so they gave the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Determining he was too unbalanced for military life they gave him a bunch of forms to apply for disability.They also said his imbalance came from the atrocities of the war that he had seen on his first tour.

He has been back stateside for almost 2 years now. The forms have been submitted and he is waiting to hear back from the Veterans Administration. Of course with the average wait for consideration starting at 25 months he is wondering if he will ever hear from them.

He was homeless for a while. Couch surfing he stayed with friends and family for the first year. He slept here at my house for a couple of weeks. His momma came by one day and realized how much stress his stay was putting on our friendship. He truly had gone nuts. More than I had imagined. She and the family rented him a small apartment where he now lives.

Smoking weed didn’t seem to calm him but he was smoking a lot anyway. He woke me numerous times with screams in his dreams. A friend who is a student of shrinkology (You know…Psychiatric Studies) came over often. Tried to get him to open up about his dreams and memories. That seemed to make it worse. Although she meant well she has no experience or enough education (yet) in PTSD treatment. The shrinks that do cost money he doesn’t have. The disability hearing hasn’t been set yet so the V.A. isn’t paying for anything either.

He has be unemployable as he has none of the people skills a potential employee should have. The odd jobs he gets don’t last long as he becomes unbalanced when the boss tells him what to do. He doesn’t do well with authority figures. Spent more than a couple of weekends in jail lately for things that would have been ignored had he not been acting crazy.

He is one of the thousands…hell…tens of thousands that have returned from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan that are being ignored. Ignored by the V.A.. Ignored by he folks that have the little ribbons on their gas guzzlers. Ignored by the passersby while they stand or sit in their wheelchairs holding the signs. Having been reduced to begging because the ones who should be responsible for them have pushed them aside. They are being ignored in a big way by the 2 main candidates for president this year.(Makes me wonder if either of the veep candidates sons who are serving become disabled {Gawd forbid} will they be ignored too?)

So in this time of political rhetoric spewing forth from debates and speeches the issues that  matter are being pushed aside. More money for the fatcats they cry. Bail Outs are necessary. Funding the war and not the warriors is a big issue. But every time I see an ad that puts down a politician for voting to cut funds for the war I think, “What have YOU done to fund those who have fought YOUR war and returned disabled?”.

Thats what I thought.