August 28th

    On August 28, 1963, nearly 47 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I analyzed the speech this year in an AP english class and was truly inspired at not only his rhetoric, but at his determination and will to stand for something that a majority of the country didn't agree with. Check the entire speech here. Today, conservative right-wing psycho Glenn Beck decided to host a "Restoring Honor Rally," at the Lincoln Memorial today, August 28, 2010. Guests like Sarah Palin made short speeches, but a majority of the rally was preaching of "Christian values." "It has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with God. Everything [with] turning our face back to the values and the principles that made us great.", Glenn Beck. The rally was sponsored by FOX News and consisted of mainly Tea Party members. I guess the purpose was to honor those who died for our country but it seemed more like a right-wing tactic to promote their twisted views. A twitter tweeted it best, "Glenn Beck & Sarah Palin hosting a "restoring honor" rally is like Paris Hilton & Lindsey Lohan hosting a "healthy lifestyles" seminar. Very true.

     Also, Reverend Al Sharpton had a similar march at Washington's Dunbar High School. "Just because you got the spot doesn't mean you're standing up for the dream," he commented, regarding Beck's rally. His march was called "Reclaiming the Dream" and aimed to commemerate King's speech. "They want to disgrace this day and we're not giving them this day. This is our day and we ain't giving it away," Sharpton claimed. Although, Glenn Beck said the date of his rally was purely coincidental. Either way, it is not a 'black day' or a 'white day'! It's our country's day; and a day to celebrate great Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln. While the rallys, marches, and theatrics are entertaining, they merely break our country apart even further. Let's just focus on moving forward, leaving the two sided political fights behind us like yesterday's paper.
And since this post went over, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL JACKSON<3

Tea Party Racism

     There has been A LOT of buzz lately surrounding the NAACP, racism, and the Tea Party. The 'Tea Party' is a fairly new term so I'll define that first. The Tea Party is a socio-political movement that aims to protest several economic Federal bills including health care and taxes. TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already and also refers to the Boston Tea Party of 1773. The Tea Party is a "Grass-Roots Movement" and a mainly conservative party. It has several groups, one being the Tea Party Express. The racism claims began last week after the NAACP wrote a resolution that asked, "all people of good will to repudiate the racism of the Tea Parties, and to stand in opposition to its drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era"; along with exclaiming several heads of the Tea Party as portraying racist elements. These claims drove Mark Williams, leader of the Tea Party Express to write an extremely outlandish and bigoted blog entry. The entry was in the form of a letter to Abraham Lincoln accusing the NAACP as racist and reffered to blacks as "colored". A little after the blog entry, he removed it saying, "It's time to move on." The same day Mark Williams and the Tea Party Express were "expelled" from the Tea Party Federation. It's not like he was being paid or in an actual position so I'm not exactly sure how he was expelled...but alright. Mark Williams along with other Tea Party spokesmen have since made various talk show appearances to rebute the claims of racism. However, if the Tea Party promotes children holding signs that compare Obama to Hitler, I do feel the Party as a whole is racist. Although i'd rather not make generalitzations about the entire movement, they have not done a good job of convincing me otherwise. Also, it is never okay to call the NAACP as "making money off of race," as seen in the video below. The debate between who is really racist will continue to be heated and shows no end especially with November elections ahead.

Family Scandals

     Leave it to the Palin family for more scandals and surprises. Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston reported their engagement in an US Weekly interview, yet her parents were the last to know. On the cover of US Weekly 19 yr old Bristol is wearing an engagement ring while holding her 18 month son, Tripp. Bristol's mom, Sarah Palin, was not fond of the father of her grandchild, Levi, and was less than thrilled when she heard the announcement. The family had a falling out when he and Bristol broke up this March. "Bristol at 19 is now a young adult. We obviously want what's best for our children. Bristol believes in redemption and forgiveness to a degree most of us struggle to put in practice in our daily lives," said parents Sarah and Todd when they heard the news. Clearly Bristol is only marrying Levi to rebel against her parents or more specifically her mom. Sorry, but marrying the father of your baby does not erase the fact you had a baby at 18. Levi is no catch and already hated by the rest of her family. It is funny that her mom was the last to find out though, so props for that.

Grizzly Bears

I am not sure how many people "like" Sarah Palin on Facebook, but this video was recently released on her  FB page. The caption reads, "Enjoy the video and please support commonsense conservative candidates who will work with you and for you to take back our country!" The video was created by her political action committee, Sarah PAC and is titled, "Mama Grizzlies". What is the purpose? She is not endorsing any candidates nor does the video solicit contributions (like a typical PAC commercial would do). The theme is to 'empower young women' or 'inspire people to join to movement' but I feel the video is just a sly move hinting towards a run in 2012. This slow-motion montage is no different than the other over-played campaign commercials we see every election year. She is not presenting anything we didn't know about her; merely unsubstantial Palin rhetoric. Packed with allusions, images, and metaphor, she does a clever job at displaying her 'feminism'. One blogger, Michael Stone said it best, "Palin's feminism is no feminism at all. Palin's faux feminism represents an attempt to turn back the clock on women's rights and to send American families back to the dark ages." I disagree with everything Sarah Palin stands for and this video is just comedic, as it is whenever she opens her mouth. Miachel Stone adds "In the end intelligent women voters will choose progress over Palin. A vain glorious sentimental video full of silly self promotion will not fool American women." Exactly!! This was enough Palin I can handle. Also, last week her daughter Bristol made a special appearance on the ABC Family hit show, 'The Secret Life of the American Teenage'. Ironic that Bristol Palin had a baby as a teen while her mom strictly campaigns for abstinence and pro-life. Hmm....

U.S v ARIZONA

Finally!! Today, President Obama allowed the Justice Department to officially challenge Arizona's "legal racial profiling" immigration law. The effort to block this enforcement will take place on July 29th. Most politicians would agree that Arizona should not create their own immigration law; rather leave the laws and policies regarding the issue to the federal government. "Arizonans are understandably frustrated with illegal immigration, and the federal government has a responsibility to comprehensively address those concerns," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a written statement. This puts the conflict of state's rights on full blast and will only further divide the country. "In our constitutional system, the federal government has pre-eminent authority to regulate immigration matters," the lawsuit says. I feel the Governement should definitly take this action. There is no reason for the Govenor of Arizona to enforce this law. It makes people wonder what his motives are, ie) scaring people from coming to Arizona (Mexicans, other Hispanics). He is attempting to  intimidate Hispanics from coming over the border, and by doing so he is taking matters into his own hands when it is a federal issue! I hope this lawsuit will only propel the Obama Whitehouse into taking action on proposing a national immigration law ASAP.

Another Cool State

My best friend Maria Elena is currently on a short vacation in Arizona. The first thing I asked her was if she brought her passport. I knew she was not going out of the country, but I know that now in Arizona it is legal to pull over “Hispanics”, or “Hispanic-looking” people, without question. She and I were born in Central American countries and became US citizens together at the age of 2. Although we have lived in the US for our whole lives, the Arizona government could potentially pull her over to ensure she is not an illegal alien. This controversial immigration law is set to go into effect in July. The law was signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer in late April; and now a dozen other states are joining in on this type of legislation. A recently released ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 52% of voters said immigration enforcement should be under federal control while 46% said laws should be made and enforced by the states. I am a big supporter of big government and this is an example of why: racist states like Arizona should not be allowed to make laws that discriminate against Hispanics! Racial profiling should not be legal no matter the circumstance. Although there should be some federal laws regulating illegal immigration, this is not the way to go about it. Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum said in a statement Thursday that, “allowing states to create their own legislation would create chaos and confusion for both immigrants and law enforcement while not fixing the immigration problem at its core.” She also added, “State-based immigration proposals should be a wake-up call to Congress, they need to take the steering wheel, fix the immigration problem and finally pass comprehensive immigration reform.” I totally agree. The time is ticking and if this bill becomes law, it will cause “massive disruptions and set a dangerous precedent,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL). July and August will be critical months for this law and we are crossing our fingers it does not pass. Maria told me that before she leaves she’s making a sign that says, “WE’RE HERE TO STAY.” My kind of girl.

Ignorance

More news from my favorite state, Texas: The Republican party now wants to turn same-sex marriage into a crime! As if their current anti-homosexuality status wasn't high enough, this takes the cake-yet, still not surprising. Taken from the platform itself: Marriage Licenses – We support legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for such. [...] Basically, if someone were to help a gay couple get married, “the GOP would like to see that person serve mandatory jail time.” Although reading these articles makes me sick, I  realize that this hatred comes with the world we live in and we must accept that it will always be a part of society we'll have to overcome.