ADHD Moment…

Fair Warning: I am pissed off and, therefore, do not give a rat’s left testicle about hiding it. That being said, I am not going to waste my time cleverly disguising the “bad words” that pop up in my writing. If you don’t wish to read “bad words”, I suggest you do not read this post. God Bless America and my right to have a potty mouth if I so choose. 🙂

This is not another “excuse post” for why I haven’t written in so long. Hopefully, there are one or two readers left on my page. No explanation for the absence, really, except to say that I am overwhelmed with the level of stupidity going on in our country. (Yes, my MS black holes have been particularly annoying lately, but I bought enough asphalt to fill them in for a while.) It is so hard to concentrate on one thing when another rears its ugly head an hour later. After a nutritious breakfast of Gorton’s Fish Sticks™ and store brand Tater Tots, I now have my hip waders on and am ready to trudge through the muck.

I am so DAMNED tired of being lied to, having my intelligence insulted and being treated as an entity that only thinks with her uterus by our government and a majority of the Liberals currently running for office. Not all in government, nor all candidates, are guilty of this but most are.

Barry, ISIS (not ISIL, you jerk) calls itself the Islamic State. Because We the People have never been privy to your school records, I am going to assume that you did not do well in the reading comprehension department. Or is it that you so fear using terms like Islamic Extremists, Terrorists, Jihadists or Radical Islamists because that would blow the whole terrorists are on the run thing that you feel the need to deny the existence of Islamic beliefs in the minds of those scumbags running rampant across Iraq, Syria and who the hell knows where else. For your information, using the acronym ISIL is an insult to our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel. Levant, according to Princeton’s WordNet, is “the former name for the geographical area of the eastern Mediterranean that is now occupied by Lebanon, Syria and Israel”. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that research was not high on your list of “things I did well in school” either. Israel is not a part of this and would rather fight to the death than let one of those hooded murderers plant one of their flags on her soil. You would know that if you cared to actually get to know the Israelis instead of wasting your time trying to present anyone killing on behalf of Islam as warm, fuzzy and misunderstood – a deranged outcast who had no choice but to commit “workplace violence”. Last time I looked, a vacant desert in the middle of nowhere was not really considered a workplace – unless your work is beheading innocents.

Don’t think we haven’t been keeping track of all of the issues you have been suspiciously silent on of late, dear. I have been hip to your political manipulations since you began your campaign for President the first time. The heck with storing food and ammo. I am stockpiling aspirin and beer – oh, Yukon Jack, too – because I (like millions of others) are quite aware that we are going to get hit with a shit ton of Executive Orders and other potential violations of Constitutional Law after your party loses the majority in the Senate. Why, for instance, do we suddenly need thirty-four million blank work permits and green cards? Could it be that you are planning to give those poor MS13 members (oops, my bad – displaced children) and their adult supervisors amnesty after the mid-term elections? No, not YOU! That would cost Americans jobs and we all know how much you give a flying fuck about the American Middle Class! Still, if anyone asks you or your talking head Ernest about this, all we hear are crickets.

You should be a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” because of all of the fancy footwork you have displayed dancing around the issue of diseases being brought into this country through our wide open southern border – not to mention the whole pesky Ebola thingy. I am not one to panic about such things. If it gets much worse I will consider it. In the meantime, a friend of mine and two of her children came down with D68. Thank God they are okay. Funny thing, though. They became ill after two busloads of kids from South America and Mexico were dumped 10 miles from their home and began attending the public schools there. Coincidence – I think not. She is now home schooling her children as are many others in her area. Why is it so hard to quarantine people who come into our country illegally, or from countries where there is a raging epidemic of a deadly virus?   That is not racist. It is Common Sensist! In case you haven’t noticed “Oh, look! A squirrel!” isn’t going to work anymore when it comes to the health of our children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. I believe you have finally stepped on the last nerve of the American Moms and Dads and there is no turning back.

So, how does it feel to be unloved? Well, you don’t care. Not really. You just pull out your spoiled bitch card and remind potential voters that no matter what the Democratic candidates say, they will turn around and vote your policies in once they are in office. Between you and me, Barry babe, WE ALL FUCKING HEARD YOU! Cat’s out of the bag, sweet cheeks! I wonder how many BHO voodoo dolls are hidden in the drawers of Liberal candidates across the country. If you were wondering why your golf game might be suffering more so than usual, you might want to ask the Secret Service to check out their offices. After all, it isn’t like they are busy guarding the White House or anything. 😉

I have some shocking news for you, Barry. You are not our first Black President. You are our first mixed race President. You of all people should be concerned for ALL Americans, not just those you feel will get you the most votes. Unless something unforeseen happens, this is your last hurrah and playing the race card 24/7 is a moot point now. In fact, you have screwed up things for minorities more than any other President in my memory. Okay, okay you probably sucked at History, too. Just to help you out a little, it was the Dixiecrats who suppressed the African Americans in the earlier days, not the Republicans. FYI, your “favorite President” was a Republican! Yessiree, Bob! Lincoln was a Republican! The first Democrat that I personally can recall who helped the cause of the African Americans in those sad, horrible days in our nation’s history was John F. Kennedy. Martin Luther King, Jr., though never a President, was apolitical (that means he belonged neither to the Democratic or Republican party – just so you don’t have to look it up) and believed in peaceful protests. What you and your BFF Holder are doing is so divergent to the teachings of Dr. King that it makes me want to puke. Ferguson, Missouri is, quite frankly, none of your business. It is a local situation that was a tragedy before you, Holder and Tawana Brawley’s very own Reverend Al turned it into a calamity. Not only did your involvement stir up the bees nest and cause both Black and White owned businesses to be destroyed by mobs out to get as much cash and free shit as they could over the dead body of an 18-year-old man and the reputation of a local police officer, but you all seem to have washed your hands of it and waded through the rubble that is left of that town as you hauled balls back to your respective cozy offices. Sadly this is a pattern we are all too familiar with. I, for one, am sick of it. Let the states take care of the states. Start paying attention to what you were hired for. When we need you, we know how to get hold of you. I am sure Valerie knows what golf course you are on at any given moment.

Please, please, PLEASE stop accusing the GOP of being in bed with the wealthy and big business. You know that old saying, “People in glass houses [yada, yada, yada]…” George Soros doesn’t look like he has missed many meals, nor has Warren Buffet or Bill and Melinda Gates, although neither of the Gates’ are “pudgy”. Mark Zuckerberg is pretty fit, yet I am certain he eats well. In my opinion, things go better with Koch anyway. Instead of finding ways to screw Americans out of energy jobs, they and others have worked to improve the safety and “environmental synchronicity with nature” of the industry so that more Americans CAN work.

There is no war on women in general. There is, however, a war on Conservative and right-leaning women AND African Americans. Go ahead, try to deny it. We (those with common sense) know that the whole “uterus” issue is just a fear tactic your party is using because you have nothing else. The constant liturgy of “Uncle Tom” accusations is evidence of that, too. Sad, really. If I didn’t think two more years of a Democratic Senate would be economically and legislatively dangerous for our country, I would almost feel sorry for y’all. Just joking – no I wouldn’t.

One last thing – leave our fucking guns alone. Chicago is not in the mess it’s in because of legal gun owners. Are there any? Oh, yeah, the ones guarding your other BFF Rahm. Gang members don’t go to gun safety classes and become licensed. Nor do they go on the waiting list in order to buy a handgun. They buy them illegally. I mean, really, you can’t be that stupid. No you just think we are.

Sorry, hon. Ivory towers and golf carts are not the best places from which to lead the greatest nation in the world. You actually need to be present and give a damn.

Affirmative Action – Stepping Stone or Stumbling Block?

This is a paper I wrote for my American Government class in 2012.  Given the recent ruling by the Supreme Court regarding the issue of Affirmative Action, I thought I would share my thoughts with you.  It is well cited, so I suggest any reader should access the links provided in the Works Cited section before commenting 🙂

Affirmative Action – Stepping Stone or Stumbling Block?

Katrina L. Velsor

POS-111/500: American Government

Professor Meredith McKee

November 15, 2012

 In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order (EO) 10925 that mandated equal opportunities for employment in the Government sector “without regard to race, creed, color or national origin” (Teaching American History.org, 2012). It also prohibited discrimination when awarding government contracts to civilian contractors. At the time, sex was not included under what was later to be known as Affirmative Action (Ibid). Those who supported the concept of affirmative action in the 1960s had been fighting a long battle against segregation, discrimination and racism in the United States and EO 10925 was looked upon as a good start toward equality for all Americans. Those in opposition feared that Affirmative Action might cause them to lose income and create financial hardships for their families. It would be naïve to assume that there were not individuals who opposed the Executive Order due to racist attitudes, as well. Since 1961, many changes have been made to President Kennedy’s original Executive Order that include private sector hiring practices, the inclusion of extending equal opportunities to someone without regard to their sex and equal opportunities in the academic realm (NYU.edu, 2012). Affirmative Action, while created with the best of intentions, is no longer necessary in American society. The Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provide ample protection to all citizens. Society appears to be far less tolerant of racism and racist acts. The establishment of the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (now known as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC) in EO 10925 ensures that all job applicants, contractors and potential college students will be treated equally regardless of their minority status, not because of it (Teaching American History.org, 2012). Affirmative Action has created an environment that may cause potential employers to discriminate against non-minority citizens due to a desire by the employer to maintain a more accurate representation of the percentages of minority citizens within American society. I am not in favor of Affirmative Action as it appears to alter the perception of their capabilities as an individual in a negative manner.

Many arguments have been brought before the Supreme Court relating to Affirmative Action. Cases such as Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Gratz v. Bollinger, Grutter v. Bollinger and most recently Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin either sought to clarify or redefine Affirmative Action. In Bakke, the court determined that race could be used as a factor in college admissions, but not the only reason a person is or is not accepted. Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger were based on a premise similar to Bakke, and the Court decided that Gratz did use race above the merits of the individual applicant, whereas Grutter considered both factors when determining admission into the University Of Michigan Law School (Janda, Berry & Goldman, pp. 559-560). Fisher has yet to be decided. It is clear that the above referenced cases dealt with the effects of Affirmative Action on the academic admissions process. Being admitted to college because one is a minority and not in spite of it might cause that person to doubt their ability to compete on merits alone. If a person’s test scores are lower than those of someone who is not a minority, but that person is admitted anyway, one might question if that individual was being set up to fail. The same set of questions could be asked if the situation were reversed and a white male was admitted based on his race and not his test scores.  The testing process, though arguably not a true measure of one’s academic skills due to the potential for test anxiety, exists for a reason. If an individual does not test well in mathematics, it does not appear to be fair to that individual to admit them into a program in which they will be yards behind the starting line on day one.

“Although about three-fourths of white Americans consistently agree that blacks should “work their way up… without any special favors,” so do about half of black Americans.  Although 85% or more of whites endorse “ability” rather than “preferential treatment” to determine who gets jobs and college slots, so do about three-fifths of blacks” (Hochschild, JL, 1999).

 

There is the possibility for “reverse discrimination” when private employers, colleges or agencies within the government use Affirmative Action in their hiring or promotion practices. Reverse discrimination is defined as “discrimination against whites or males (as in employment or education)” by Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. In New Haven, Connecticut the Fire Department offered a promotional exam to those who were qualified to take it. Eighteen White and one Hispanic firefighter passed the test, but none of the African-American candidates did. The Fire Department chose to invalidate the results and no one was promoted. Mr. Ricci, the firefighter who scored highest on the test and the seventeen others who passed, brought their case to the Supreme Court on the basis of reverse discrimination. Justice Kennedy wrote the court’s decision, stating that “…allowing ‘employers to discard the results of lawful and beneficial promotional exams even when there is little if any evidence of disparate-impact discrimination…would amount to a de facto quota system’” In her dissention, Justice Ginsburg mentioned a “long history of race discrimination in firefighting.” However, one of those who passed the test is Hispanic – a minority. Justice Alito wrote a concurrence to the majority decision. He opined that “…they [the firefighters who brought the case] have a right to demand…evenhanded enforcement of the law – of Title VII’s [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] prohibition against discrimination based on race” (NYTimes.com, 2012).  So, instead of eliminating racial bias, Affirmative Action has created an avenue for bias in a different form.

It is a fact that “ those of minority are more likely to be born into poverty then [sic] those who are white; 29 percent of Hispanic kids and 33 percent of Black kids and only 10 percent of White kids are born below the poverty line” (NYU.edu, 2012). Taking the socioeconomic background of a college or job applicant into consideration is one of the possibly untended aspects of Affirmative Action. However, if the federal and state governments would institute programs such as Charter Schools and School Choice Vouchers, the parents of minority children might have a fighting chance at improving their child’s educational experience. Giving someone a fighting chance to compete from the start of their lives produces a better result for their future than allowing them to flounder in a system that isn’t working. A strong educational foundation might produce better test scores, which would allow an individual to be accepted on their merits and not the color of their skin. That, in turn, would increase the individual’s level of self-esteem which could carry forward into their personal and working lives.

There are many private organizations that are working in communities in which the population is composed predominantly of minority families. Peaches and Greens, Girls Inc., The Women’s Bean Project and Wounded Warriors’ Project among hundreds of others contribute to improving self-esteem, education programs, and ways to be financially independent in a struggling economy. Some have job fairs and even employ residents to work for their organizations. Through the good works of these organizations, individuals might begin to feel that the small bit of assistance the Affirmative Action policy gives them is unnecessary. As mentioned previously, education reform (especially in economically challenged areas) needs to take place. More attention must be paid to the conditions under which children living in the inner cities and other depressed areas of the country are being educated. Vouchers and Charter Schools are a good start.

Regarding employment and college admissions, the ideal situation would be one in which the race or sex of the job or college applicant is unknown to the decision-maker until and unless the time comes when a face-to-face meeting is necessary. At that point, one would hope that the decision-maker has pre-judged the individual on their merits and physical appearance would be inconsequential. Although racism and sexism still exist, they are no longer the norm. It seems that society judges individuals on who they are and not what they are today more so than during the 1960s when President Kennedy signed EO 10925. During that era, one can understand how a policy such as Affirmative Action would be necessary. More Americans have, all too slowly, begun to understand the true meaning of the dream Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”  (BrainyQuote.com, 2012).

 

 

References

Janda, K., Berry, J.M., Goldman, J. The Challenge of Democracy, 11^th Ed. 2008. Boston. Wadsworth.

Hochschild, JL. 1999. Affirmative Action as Culture War. The Cultural Territories of Race: Black and White Boundaries. :343-368., Chicago IL and New York: University of Chicago Press and Russell Sage Foundation. 2012. Web. http://scholar.harvard.edu/jlhochschild/publications/affirmative-action-culture-war Accessed November 15, 2012.

The New York Times. Supreme Court Finds Bias Against White Firefighters.2009. Web. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/us/30scotus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Accessed November 15, 2012.

Brainy Quote. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes. 2012. Web. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth115056.html   Accessed November 15, 2012.

TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Executive Order 10925. 2012. Web.   http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=541 Accessed November 15, 2012.

NYU.edu. Affirmative Action History. 2012. Web. http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/social.issues/papers/AfActGrG.html Accessed November 15, 2012.

 

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2012. Web.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reverse%20discrimination Accessed November 15, 2012.