1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams***
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell ***
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis ***
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë ***
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë ***
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien ***
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll ***
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl ***
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell ***
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens ***
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett ***
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl***
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind***
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl***
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy***
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer ***
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie***
my every thought, consideration, theory, muse, word and whim
Friday, November 26, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Mad Hatter Truths
- Maven Huggins who are the naturally sensitives without the addictions, behaviors, at best, just isolation, resistance and inflexibility?
- Bradd Powless Yes...but they...like you and I, have either overcome the addictions to the illusions, or are carrying other addictions as replacement...IE Spirituality industry and religion...coping mechanisms.
- Maven Hugginswow.
you just told me why my life is so hard.
i have given away all illusions and have taken up no other. none
i have no protection or shield to flow.
...just an apparent resistant inflexible rod standing...
deep
Cocoa
Kahshanna EvansMmmm, I imagine a day of celebration on special harvest days, such as the days we grind the cocoa, days we churn the cocoa butter and days we dry herbs for tea and other island herbs and remedies. All of this through an organization to emp...ower women through cultivating a relationship with the world around them for sustainability and for their own health and happiness. The first successful model becomes a template for women world wide, Afghani, American, African...the Angels are calling on you, Maven...you can write grant proposals in your sleep.
Maven Huggins
Kahshanna, when exactly are you arriving down here?
{as i lick the pencil tip, holding the schedule book, dispatch driver in waiting on side --ready for airport p/u}
by that description Kahshanna, I think the company name will be simply Cocoa......for us, the cocoas, and the cocoa we make in different forms
thanks for the dreams and the confidence.
- Himrajee Singh Please don't forget you got to "dance the cocoa".... in bare feet sounds like a wild party?
- Kahshanna EvansJe tam Cocoa! The best tools to begin, fingers to type ideas, items needed, GoogleDocs which you can share with anyone, Skype where you can talk for free, Google voice which grants you a free google phone number with text meaning you can m...essage your associates from the computer (not sure about international), ability to dream and imagine the possibilities like land, support of organizations that help women to build organizations, mission statement, footage of the ideal place and reason to build such an organization and mission and begin fundraising on websites such as Indie GoGo so others can directly support your mission, proposed activities of Cocoa.org, such as hosting rescue women, local women or women in transition who would benefit from learning about such activities.See More
- Kahshanna Evans @Himrajee YES it's a celebration which we will charge a small feel in order to sustain the grounds and rally for more support for our project. @Maven...I do run with spontaneous ideas but I well know they are seeds...my current SEED is my short film I wrote confronting crimes against children and our ultimate freedom...while I am nursing that baby, I LOVE planting more seeds. Once this baby's walking the sky is the limit! Indeed exciting times. Hope renaissance.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Mother Doctor Maven ...Being Called; Emerging
Why the arse-kicking? Love back.
Maven Huggins November 17 at 5:12am
girl. if you dont know the answer to that K, you are lucky, but people who insist on living with their back and nose straight, by hard principles and uncompromised lines, will always get their asses kicked
more specifically, for me to be 45 and did all i did in life, becoming a phd so i can be independent and not depend on anyone, guess where i am...with nothing, no home and having to depend on people who do not give a shit about me. to be unemployed after all that work and investment. trying to make my way with nothing...that is the ass kicking...and having to move ---=and find my own place with nothing...an ass kicking
doing all of that and have the standards of queen of sheba. ass kicking
more specifically, for me to be 45 and did all i did in life, becoming a phd so i can be independent and not depend on anyone, guess where i am...with nothing, no home and having to depend on people who do not give a shit about me. to be unemployed after all that work and investment. trying to make my way with nothing...that is the ass kicking...and having to move ---=and find my own place with nothing...an ass kicking
doing all of that and have the standards of queen of sheba. ass kicking
Wow. That's an incredible amount of work and studies. You are certainly on that chapter of leadership from all that you know and understand - not everyone's mind is as sharp!! The packaging we are invited to believe didn't work for many and the design is outdated and quite faulty. In my time researching healing and wellness for the past several years I came across some interesting 'fellas'...at a 'Women's Financial Conference'. They spoke of an interesting approach to finances and business here in America...and they were FAR from wholesome or even Spiritual...they were more what I would categorize as 'takers'. They spoke of the non-profit structures in the American financial market and buying foreclosed properties and some other ish they were trying to sell. They impacted me...not only for what they suggested about non profits, a way for intelligent people to go for their cause and have the financial benefits, but I was still super curious about this group of all men, actually, marketing to a Women's financial 'empowerment' seminar endorsed by Fergie as an opening guest speaker. I looked around the room, a lot of elderly people...the men didn't so much care as have some solid sales strategy. When I left I looked them up. It was fascinating. I found out they are a tiered coorperation, meaning each time they sell one course or one class it is its own component until that pitch to that seminar is over then it would be collapsed into the tiered coorporation. They were based in Utah and marketing to California. Before I knew that I had volunteered to be trained by them...they were so smart, their talks included how you could, if you had the money, actually buy recently foreclosed homes and let the tennants stay in them and sell them back to the tennants after they got on their feet (or buy them up with no humanitarian persuits, of course, was also suggested). When I turned them down for the free 'training'...they got mob-ish with me. Pushy, pushy, pushy. I got pushy back and made sure they heard my no, thank you, I have changed my mind, but thank you so much. They squirmed that they couldn't control me - not like the sweet granny who had bought $2000 worth of crap she didn't need, chasing security after her retirement offered little. I watched these slick fuckers with an Eagle eye. If they can do it...I thought, we can. We wisdom keepers...we women, we people who care. There's no doubt we are as smart. The focus on their goal was like none other. I thought, wow, if these people were integral, it may have changed my life...well it did anyway, but I determined to be that smart, and then to find a way to use it for myself, my happiness, my art.
I did hear how very competitive the PhD scholars have it from bureaucracy and politics...it sounds very painful...one fellow who spoke about it, yes, lol, a fellow, explained similar hurtful things. What I find, though, is that if you are wise in spirit you surpass the template given to you, provided for you by the scholars. When we surpass something that great, we inherit the designer position...I know you know that...literally, the day we see through all of the structures means we have inherited leadership to re-design our world...including burning that those structures were ever meant to anything but provide some age old, intricate knowledge.
One of the exercises I had to do in an acting class once, which I failed the first time, was to spend FRIVOLOUSLY, one million dollars. No money could be spent on the practical. I didn't even understand dreaming, or frivolous in this context, lol. To this day, I will remember that and I, now, claim my ability to dream those frivolous, non rational dreams. I went back and did it...and I listed new things...like having Cirque Du Solei flown in...my house turned into a garden complete with grass, moss, trees...it was just a start. I found myself on the 'dream' theme later in my Shaman retreats when we covered the themes of limitless possibilities. I know the point isn't to be lofty or not see with our heart the aching people, but it's simply to feed us, to ensure we're happy.
I see you as able to create a whole school, Maven...a book or books, a congress woman...if the political or sales bugga-boos do it with their selfish intent and eat well WITH property, then I am sure you can. I assure you, Southern California has been INCREDIBLE to teach me about this branding stuff...it's the female entrepreneurs way and I love learning it...identifying purpose, designing it, seeking funding, newsletters, announcements...
I hope my stories, in the least, assisted in some way...I could have summed it up to say, I hope the best things for you and I know you can do it. Right now...not having a house means you are free, some are not as lucky, lol!!
I did hear how very competitive the PhD scholars have it from bureaucracy and politics...it sounds very painful...one fellow who spoke about it, yes, lol, a fellow, explained similar hurtful things. What I find, though, is that if you are wise in spirit you surpass the template given to you, provided for you by the scholars. When we surpass something that great, we inherit the designer position...I know you know that...literally, the day we see through all of the structures means we have inherited leadership to re-design our world...including burning that those structures were ever meant to anything but provide some age old, intricate knowledge.
One of the exercises I had to do in an acting class once, which I failed the first time, was to spend FRIVOLOUSLY, one million dollars. No money could be spent on the practical. I didn't even understand dreaming, or frivolous in this context, lol. To this day, I will remember that and I, now, claim my ability to dream those frivolous, non rational dreams. I went back and did it...and I listed new things...like having Cirque Du Solei flown in...my house turned into a garden complete with grass, moss, trees...it was just a start. I found myself on the 'dream' theme later in my Shaman retreats when we covered the themes of limitless possibilities. I know the point isn't to be lofty or not see with our heart the aching people, but it's simply to feed us, to ensure we're happy.
I see you as able to create a whole school, Maven...a book or books, a congress woman...if the political or sales bugga-boos do it with their selfish intent and eat well WITH property, then I am sure you can. I assure you, Southern California has been INCREDIBLE to teach me about this branding stuff...it's the female entrepreneurs way and I love learning it...identifying purpose, designing it, seeking funding, newsletters, announcements...
I hope my stories, in the least, assisted in some way...I could have summed it up to say, I hope the best things for you and I know you can do it. Right now...not having a house means you are free, some are not as lucky, lol!!
Maven Huggins November 17 at 10:24pm
your mail response is peculiar Kahshanna. I hear you. I read it. You are minding me. calling to me. Directing me...I receive...
------------
me to Kahshanna as I consider Apollonia, and our conversation, this night...!
this was so significant...
and i had a talk tonight with another good friend here..telling me i am on an ancestral journey and maybe the doctor i was to be was not of economics and the phd but of spiritual healing for others...and here i come home to this...interesting
------------
me to Kahshanna as I consider Apollonia, and our conversation, this night...!
this was so significant...
and i had a talk tonight with another good friend here..telling me i am on an ancestral journey and maybe the doctor i was to be was not of economics and the phd but of spiritual healing for others...and here i come home to this...interesting
Monday, November 15, 2010
Aborted Flight
Life never stops being riche, so let me see if i catch it all
folk always testing you to see whether you are bouncing or holding balls
the lesson learning is something along the line that it is hard being nice in the BR -
folk always testing you to see whether you are bouncing or holding balls
the lesson learning is something along the line that it is hard being nice in the BR -
people will act out but if you mirror or call it, you are the star
they show what they think by what they try to pass
they show what they think by what they try to pass
and sometimes it is best to let them
Sunday, November 14, 2010
All my Essays In One Day: Commentary and Publicity via Emails
=Challenging traditional literacy
Published: 14 Nov 2010
Connecting the Literacy Puzzle weaves together a collection of biographies, essays, personal narratives, an interview, and poetry to form a tapestry of traditional and cultural literacies. Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, as editor, encompasses a broad definition of “being educated” rather than simply “being literate.” African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and continental African women who participate in not only reading and writing, but in the performing arts as well, challenge the traditional Eurocentric definition of literacy.
Dr Sonja Fagerberg-Diallo fulfills her passion for literacy by working with Senegalese women and helping them learn to read and write in their native language-Pulaar. In her poem and her essay, Sandra Golden captures the spirit of the American Black woman growing up in a predominantly white society. Jen Pugh doesn’t speak Ebonics, but she wishes that she did.
Lawrence M Epps discusses the history of hip-hop and the negative portrayal of the African American female in the genre. An interview with Dowdy reveals her Trinidadian roots, her artistic fame, and her passion for teaching multiliteracies and “education in motion.”Queen Macoomeh writes a letter to young black women, advising them of proper behaviour in order to gain proper respect. She then translates the letter into the Trinidad dialect for an encore.
Professor Lillie Gayle Smith celebrates the role of the African American grandmother who helps rear her grandchildren and pushes them to excel academically. Diedre L Badejo in her narrative “Academe’s Gilded Stairway” traces her journey from New York City to Ghana to the academy. Along with those already mentioned a variety of other perspectives grace the pages of this fine edition that lauds the literate accomplishments of women across the globe.Available at HamptonPress.com
Professor
Adolescent/Adult Literacy
Kent State University
I have an essay in here as well, entitled
In Recuperation: Revelation of Illiteracy in Trinidad & Tobago
A Woman Writing Illiteracy
The Graceful President: The Serenity Unbounded Phenomenon that is President Barack Obama
One of my editors, Femi OjoAde sent me the piece below. No author ascribed. I believe it is circulating on the net and email systems.
Femi would send me and others this piece because we just completed a book about President Barack Obama, a collection of poems, essays and critiques in which I have two poems I think within an essay. The whole collection written by a pantheon of Black Thinkers. Here is the book cover.
I choose to share this piece though, author unknown, because I like its premise, the observations but moreso, as another ode to brother Obama; brother used in the spiritual sense not the black sense, only...because I have always insisted on one thing that this author unknown sees: Barack Obama has a state of serenity, self-collection, self-awareness, grace and dignity that I have never before seen in any human being, far or close, and never in public or the US Presidency, and for that I proclaim his humanness that transcends and ignores all others about him.. The Author Unknown, puts it thus:
"Barack Obama's ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is, and He never makes a mistake!"
---------------------------------------------
Subject:
AUTHOR: A WHITE RIGHT WING SOLDIER WHO DID NOT VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA. TO MY CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, I DARE YOU ALL TO READ THIS!
[cid:1.1873897298@web120607.mail.ne1.yahoo.com]
Arrogance of being President while being Black
I don't think anyone was under some real illusion that the election of Barack Obama actually means the end of racism in America . I'm pretty sure that the president-elect knew it better than anyone. After all, he saw it every day, from the moment he announced his candidacy. To some degree, he saw it within his own party during the primaries. And he saw it in all ugliness during the general election. For half of this country, he was "That One". No matter how big and clear his victory was. No matter how smart he is. No matter how decent he is. No matter what a true patriot he is. No matter how optimistic and positive his vision for America was. All that didn't matter. Because at the end of the day, he was still black.
I'm quite old. I remember, vaguely, where my parents were on November 22, 1963. I've seen so many presidents. Some were feared, some were hated, some were adored, some popular and some not. But all of them, without exception, were treated with the highest respect deserving the office of the president of the United States .
That is until a black man won the right to occupy this office. It's been 13 months now, and in the eyes of so many, Barack Obama is still 'that one'. He is being disrespected and at the same time being held to the highest standard of any president I've ever seen – and not just by the Republican side! He has to perform three times better than any president in history, and even that may not be enough.
For the media, he is many more times just "Obama" than "President Obama". They create scandals out of nothing issues. It took them at least 6 years to start giving Bush a small part of the shit he deserved. It took them 6 months to begin crap all over Obama because he's yet to fix the huge catastrophe that was left for him.
They use condescending tones when they talk about him, and only mildly less condescending when they talk TO him. With anyone else, CNN wouldn't dare go to commercials every time the president speaks, like they did during that summit on Thursday. They wouldn't dare be counting how many minutes George Bush or Bill Clinton were talking. Chris Mathews wouldn't dare make an issue out of Ronald Regan calling members of congress by their first name, like he is not actually the president. They fully cooperate with the FOX smear machine when it comes to president Obama's national security performance – even if almost every independent and military expert actually thinks that he's a terrific Commander-in-Chief! Yes he is loved by us in the military! You'll never see them on TV, and virtually no one from the Left, in congress and outside, defend the president on this matter.
I don't care anymore about the Far-Right either. They're just crazy ignorant Neanderthals. It's the way the beltway and the mainstream treats this president that is shocking. On Thursday, almost every Republican had no trouble interrupting him in the middle of a sentence. They looked like they're going to vomit every time they had to say "Mr. president". They all had this Eric-Cantor-Smirk whenever he spoke. Then they went out and started to spit their stupid talking points, to the delight of the media. Sarah Palin, a woman whose ignorance shows every time she opens her mouth, thinks that he was "arrogant" towards John McCain, and somehow this is an important news. Because you see, "Obama's Arrogance" is the talking point of the day. Just stop and think where we would be today if the McCain/Palin team were in the White house.
Oh, those talking points. He is arrogant (because he knows the facts better than all of them combined). He is an elitist (because he uses big words that they don't understand). He is weak on national security (because he actually thinks about the consequences). He divides the country (well, he did that the day he had the audacity to win the election). Worst of all, he actually thinks that he's the president. He even dared to say so on Thursday. How arrogant of him. You'd think that previous presidents didn't have any ego. Somehow it turned out that the one president who treats even his biggest opponents with the utmost respect – is the arrogant one. I wonder why?
I expected that his winning the Presidency would bring out some ugliness, but it's been far worse than I imagined. The racism coming from the Right is obviously clear and shameless, but there's also some hidden and maybe subconscious and disturbing underline tone behind some of the things that I read here and throughout the Left blogosphere, even before the end of Obama's first year - 'He's weak, he's spineless, he's got no balls, primary him in 2012'. It'll be dishonest to deny that.
The fact is that for millions in white America , Barack Obama is this uppity black man (Not even a "real" black), who received good education only due to affirmative action, and has no right to litter the sacred Oval Office with his skin color. They just can't accept the fact that the president is a black man, who unlike his predecessor, was actually legally elected. But what's really sad is that it's not just the fringe, its deep deep in mainstream America .
Barack Obama's ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is, and He never makes a mistake!
~Author Unknown
Received, Sunday, November 14, 2010
And so without an author or title, I name this piece,
The Graceful President: Phenomenon of Serenity Unbounded :
Barack Obama; cause his humanity is indeed greater than any office or presidency.
Femi would send me and others this piece because we just completed a book about President Barack Obama, a collection of poems, essays and critiques in which I have two poems I think within an essay. The whole collection written by a pantheon of Black Thinkers. Here is the book cover.
I choose to share this piece though, author unknown, because I like its premise, the observations but moreso, as another ode to brother Obama; brother used in the spiritual sense not the black sense, only...because I have always insisted on one thing that this author unknown sees: Barack Obama has a state of serenity, self-collection, self-awareness, grace and dignity that I have never before seen in any human being, far or close, and never in public or the US Presidency, and for that I proclaim his humanness that transcends and ignores all others about him.. The Author Unknown, puts it thus:
"Barack Obama's ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is, and He never makes a mistake!"
---------------------------------------------
Subject:
AUTHOR: A WHITE RIGHT WING SOLDIER WHO DID NOT VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA. TO MY CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, I DARE YOU ALL TO READ THIS!
[cid:1.1873897298@web120607.mail.ne1.yahoo.com]
Arrogance of being President while being Black
I don't think anyone was under some real illusion that the election of Barack Obama actually means the end of racism in America . I'm pretty sure that the president-elect knew it better than anyone. After all, he saw it every day, from the moment he announced his candidacy. To some degree, he saw it within his own party during the primaries. And he saw it in all ugliness during the general election. For half of this country, he was "That One". No matter how big and clear his victory was. No matter how smart he is. No matter how decent he is. No matter what a true patriot he is. No matter how optimistic and positive his vision for America was. All that didn't matter. Because at the end of the day, he was still black.
I'm quite old. I remember, vaguely, where my parents were on November 22, 1963. I've seen so many presidents. Some were feared, some were hated, some were adored, some popular and some not. But all of them, without exception, were treated with the highest respect deserving the office of the president of the United States .
That is until a black man won the right to occupy this office. It's been 13 months now, and in the eyes of so many, Barack Obama is still 'that one'. He is being disrespected and at the same time being held to the highest standard of any president I've ever seen – and not just by the Republican side! He has to perform three times better than any president in history, and even that may not be enough.
For the media, he is many more times just "Obama" than "President Obama". They create scandals out of nothing issues. It took them at least 6 years to start giving Bush a small part of the shit he deserved. It took them 6 months to begin crap all over Obama because he's yet to fix the huge catastrophe that was left for him.
They use condescending tones when they talk about him, and only mildly less condescending when they talk TO him. With anyone else, CNN wouldn't dare go to commercials every time the president speaks, like they did during that summit on Thursday. They wouldn't dare be counting how many minutes George Bush or Bill Clinton were talking. Chris Mathews wouldn't dare make an issue out of Ronald Regan calling members of congress by their first name, like he is not actually the president. They fully cooperate with the FOX smear machine when it comes to president Obama's national security performance – even if almost every independent and military expert actually thinks that he's a terrific Commander-in-Chief! Yes he is loved by us in the military! You'll never see them on TV, and virtually no one from the Left, in congress and outside, defend the president on this matter.
I don't care anymore about the Far-Right either. They're just crazy ignorant Neanderthals. It's the way the beltway and the mainstream treats this president that is shocking. On Thursday, almost every Republican had no trouble interrupting him in the middle of a sentence. They looked like they're going to vomit every time they had to say "Mr. president". They all had this Eric-Cantor-Smirk whenever he spoke. Then they went out and started to spit their stupid talking points, to the delight of the media. Sarah Palin, a woman whose ignorance shows every time she opens her mouth, thinks that he was "arrogant" towards John McCain, and somehow this is an important news. Because you see, "Obama's Arrogance" is the talking point of the day. Just stop and think where we would be today if the McCain/Palin team were in the White house.
Oh, those talking points. He is arrogant (because he knows the facts better than all of them combined). He is an elitist (because he uses big words that they don't understand). He is weak on national security (because he actually thinks about the consequences). He divides the country (well, he did that the day he had the audacity to win the election). Worst of all, he actually thinks that he's the president. He even dared to say so on Thursday. How arrogant of him. You'd think that previous presidents didn't have any ego. Somehow it turned out that the one president who treats even his biggest opponents with the utmost respect – is the arrogant one. I wonder why?
I expected that his winning the Presidency would bring out some ugliness, but it's been far worse than I imagined. The racism coming from the Right is obviously clear and shameless, but there's also some hidden and maybe subconscious and disturbing underline tone behind some of the things that I read here and throughout the Left blogosphere, even before the end of Obama's first year - 'He's weak, he's spineless, he's got no balls, primary him in 2012'. It'll be dishonest to deny that.
The fact is that for millions in white America , Barack Obama is this uppity black man (Not even a "real" black), who received good education only due to affirmative action, and has no right to litter the sacred Oval Office with his skin color. They just can't accept the fact that the president is a black man, who unlike his predecessor, was actually legally elected. But what's really sad is that it's not just the fringe, its deep deep in mainstream America .
Barack Obama's ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is, and He never makes a mistake!
~Author Unknown
Received, Sunday, November 14, 2010
And so without an author or title, I name this piece,
The Graceful President: Phenomenon of Serenity Unbounded :
Barack Obama; cause his humanity is indeed greater than any office or presidency.
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