Politics and Race

Politics are always becoming more and more complicated (people choose to make them as such). First I gave an introduction as to how politics and religion can be at war with one another, but now here comes the ill tempered younger brother. This younger brother I speak of is that intrinsically flawed social construct known as race. With being an American that happens to be black; or African-American for you politically correct folks, I can’t deny how race influences the sway of politics, especially today. Let’s get started shall we?

In today’s society it is no secret that most blacks on average vote in complete allegiance to the Democratic party. Many falsely assume that the Democrats are the only side of the aisle that had ever “done anything for” blacks. Those very people must not know history very well, for up until the 1930′s the black vote went to the Republican party. *Gasp* People seem to conveniently forget that the party was founded upon the idea of abolishing slavery. Oh, and back to the 1930′s, former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had this thing called the “New Deal.” Ah, the the ND.. Many fellow blacks declared FDR a champion for black people with his New Deal policies. Well, follow this very very simple analogy. If black people were experiencing a mortal wound, then FDR put a band-aid on it and peaced out. It may have helped in the short run, but look at the long run.. economists say FDR extended great depression. So much for a savior of blacks, right? I’ll fast forward a bit, we have the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which barred racial discrimination and was pushed by Kennedy, and signed into law by LBJ; though you should note that alot of segregationists were Dems who were hosing black people, and preventing them from entering certain public establishments. Another thing people seem to lose sight of is the fact that if you searched the voting record for the civil rights act, you’d find that higher percentages of repubs voted in FAVOR of it. Google it and try to prove me wrong. To be fair, neither one group should get more “credit” really. But based on what the media would tell you… oh please don’t get me started on that.. wait, too late.

There’s this group of people that I’m sure you’re all familiar with, the Tea Party. If you’re fairly conservative you’d be like cool cool, if you’re libertarian minded you’re probably thinking ABOUT FREAKING TIME. If you’re a leftist, or a ‘moderate’ who watches the likes of CBS or MSNBC all day, then you’re thinking “racist evil people! Fringe group! They’ll undo America!”. That’s funny, because this talk of limited government, balanced budgets, and liberty… that sounds pretty legit. Forgive me for using that slang term, but it applies heavily here. But no, here is the lamestream media showing a “racist gun nut”. Very clever editing MSNBC! Surely anybody who utilized their brain and cross-referenced that same story, you’d find that that it was a black man carrying an AR-15 at a tea party. Wait, a black man at a tea party? I was under the impression it was a monolithically white movement with the sole purpose of taking a black man out of power. Uh oh. But see, that’s just it, the media and many on the left would have you to believe that blacks, latinos, and other minorities belong to the democratic party like we are permanently indebted to them. If you happen to be black and happen to be conservatively minded you may hear such clever names like “uncle tom, sellout, house negro” applied to you. See, in this fantasy world there are no black conservatives, or libertarians, there are only liberals or moderates; liberal-lite. So if you’re a minority, then your political identity is defined for you, you have no choice, you have to have these views because of biological reasons out of your control. I’ve had arguments with other blacks over things such as climate change. I think it’s pretty clear where I stand on that one, but my point is I attacked the  ”facts” from An Inconvenient Truth with clear cut evidence I researched, and what I got in return was spewed emotional rhetoric. Would it happen to be because the politician with this ‘awareness’ on climate change happens to be a democrat? Sheesh. If Gore and his IPCC climate cronies were republican, I would attack just the same. Starting to get off topic, but now I’ll give a quick glimpse of my observations of the current President since I am talking about race after all.

I won’t lie to any of you, back in 2008 I really did not have a political identity at all.  I’m pretty young and at the time I just passively watched parts of campaigns and was making the mistake of taking every thing said at face value, and not reading in between the lines. Peers of mine, and pretty much the entirety of my family urged voting for then senator Barack Obama. I figured change is good, right? Right? I imagine there is silence on  your end now. A failed ‘stimulus’, government involvement in healthcare, apologizing to other nations, and spending like an air headed 16 year old with a credit card. Yikes. Heaven forbid I disagree with these things because the President is black, he can do no wrong. He is apparently incapable of lying! I also find it funny that if I show any disdain toward a course of action President Obama takes then some people assume “you would’ve voted for McCain?!” I love people who think in absolutes. I really do. If you were to ask me the universal slogan should have been “We are screwed ’08.” To conclude my tirade, I implore anybody of any race to think for yourself based on your own convictions, nobody should be a slave to any party. Political views are for the individual to formulate, not your parents, not your church, not the mainstream media. I, myself, look beyond race and most of America clearly has, but the people who play the race card will shamelessly shout whether they actually have a point or they have an agenda under the guise of being against alleged racists. I propose a toast to higher intelligence and widening of perceptual filters. Call me shamelessly optimistic.

More posts!

I apologize for the hiatus in posts that have been going on here at black and white conservatism. I, Chris Madison, have been having serious technical difficulties (which have now been resolved) coupled with an insane schedule. More posts will be coming, folks. Hang tight   –CM.

Politics and Religion

There are many things that seem to to just belong together: bread and butter, peanut butter and jelly (or substitute honey for jelly), pizza and pepperoni, well, you get the idea. You take politics; an already clustered amalgamation of conflicted ideals that apply to the social and economical means of our country, and combine it with religion, you’re basically turning a sudoku puzzle into a full living room in the design of a Rubik’s cube. With each twist and turn of the room coming as a means to solving our economic woes and societal ills, but finding ourself back where we started.. or even going in the opposite direction. If you were following my absurd analogy you’ll see that I’m saying that politics and religion can co-exist, but I would not go as far as to say they belong together. Consider this post a love letter to the religious right; which would include some neoconservatives, and to liberals.

I figure since I’ll be talking about Christianity, I’ll open up with John 17: 16. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” The ‘they’ that Christ is referring to, is that of disciples on earth. When he says “I am not of the world” it’s advocating the idea that investing TOO much of ourselves in earthly affairs can be distracting and sometimes blatantly contradicting to aspects of Christianity. We’re all guilty of it, I have my many interests,  I’m not giving myself a pass on this one. We’re humans. We’re flawed. I mention that verse in particular because for all intensive purposes, I feel that Christ was apolitical. The religious right (a now dying breed that was more prevalent in the ’80s based on what I’ve learned) would have no qualms with using the federal government to enforce the idea of making Christianity the only religion that is tolerated in the United States. While I may disagree with other religions, we cannot take away their right to practice their religion. There’s the 1st Amendment, and also, religion should NOT be something that you shove down someone’s throat since it would be against the whole point. People have to commit to it out of their own will. I love how some neoconservatives would go as far as to say that the ‘republican party is the party of God’. I shake my head at such foolishness. The best that we can do as man is draw parallels between politics and whatever religion we practice; in most cases Christianity. Now, let me address some of the things that come from the left-side of the isle.

First, let me set the record straight and say that not all conservatives are religious, and not all liberals are atheist. In fact, I feel that as far as religion being factored into politics it’s divided more evenly than most would think whether you are conservative, liberal, libertarian, or an independent. With that out of the way, I’ve had conversations with people would be consider themselves religious and identify as a modern day liberal in terms of politics. Something I commonly hear from these types is the idea of giving to the poor, and how the government is involved in it. Now, I definitely cannot argue that Christ would encourage giving money to the poor, or lending a helping hand in general. But, nowhere in the bible would you find something about creating a huge federal government that redistributes wealth, or FORCES people to give their money to others. As I said before, there is thing given to us called free will, and it is wonderful. So when people bring up the idea of giving to the poor, they think of Democrats as heroes and they do deem it a “Christ-like” action. While correct in theory, it still comes across as disingenuous. It would be like if I put a gun to Bill Gates’ head and demanded he give to some people I know. They get their money they need, but did Gates do it out of free will? The kindness of his heart? Nope. Plus the means (robbing him) does not justify the morality being pursued. If someone can actually rationalize what was mentioned above, please, contact me as it would be quite amusing!

The whole point of this post is to anyone who adheres to the ideals behind a religion, and consider themselves quite political, is just to be mindful of how those two things work in tandem; if at all. I just briefly touched on a social issue (Christianity being enforced) and an economic one (redistribution of wealth) to give an idea how how religion can pertain to politics, and how it can have a negative effect if falsely interpreted. There are many political ‘issues’ that apply to religious teachings such as imperialism (perpetually being at war as neoconservatives would love), abortion, or gay marriage. Another point to be made is that statism, is statism, no matter how you paint it. Utilizing statism, or socialism under the guise of something religious is also quite horrendous. People who do things like that *coughs* Pelosi *coughs* are polluting our politics, and religion. Stop it.

Election 2010: Republicans vs. Conservatives

As yet another establishment Republican goes down in flames at the hands of the Tea Party Express, GOP officials in Washington are railing on the Tea Party almost as much as they are on President Obama.

Tuesday night was another blow for these political failures, as Christine O’Donnell defeated Mike Castle in the Republican Senatorial primary.  Castle is a member of Congress and was the governor of Delaware before that. Despite his name recognition, GOP establishment backing, and experience, Castle lost the race by six points.

There are two ways to views this race. The first view is that conservatism has scored another victory, and that more of the country is leaning toward the political right. The other view, however, is that this result all but seals the fact that Democrats will maintain control of the Senate through 2012. These people believe O’Donnell cannot win a general election.

While she is shown trailing in polls against Democrat Chris Coons, she has time to make up ground, plus Coons has the fact that he is of the party of Obama going against him.

I’m of the belief that O’Donnell can win this race, something that could prove devastating to those out to destroy our country. First of all, ask yourself this question: how much do you know about Christine O’Donnell right now? You know she is now the Republican candidate for Senate in Delaware, and since the GOP establishment hates her, it’s a safe bet she’s solidly conservative.

Too many RINO’s forget that elections are about being represented by someone who shares your beliefs and will allow your voice to be heard. Instead, they dismiss the primary results as poor gamesmanship in the mission of gaining control of Congress.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want the Dems to control Congress anymore, but opposing a candidate just because they don’t seem electable is just dumb. Perhaps the tea party people are just naive, as Michael Steele would have you believe. Maybe they just don’t get it. There is, however, one more possibility.

Maybe the tea party mindset is a purist mindset, one that believes the dirty side of politics doesn’t always have to win out. Maybe, just maybe, the candidate who represents the people’s views can and should be elected.

My ‘favorite’ politician pt. 1

A picture really is worth a thousand words.

I figure it is time to end the hiatus of posts on the blog. Things come up, and a tragic thing called life hits you, and you’re busy beyond belief. Anyway, lets get started. This will be the beginning of a series of posts that will advocate my feelings toward a specific politician and how I feel his policies, and rhetoric are damaging on a moral and economic level. This ‘great’ man that I speak of is none other than Al Gore.

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past couple of decades, Al Gore was the vice president of Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton. Soon enough, he made his own run for presidency in the year 2000 against Republican George Bush, I’m no fan of Bush, but THANK GOD Gore did not get the nomination. I’ll end the suspense, and address a topic that I’m very vocal about in person as well, global warming; now conveniently called climate change! The worlds going to end!

When I hear the phrase global warming, I think of the following: false alarm, extreme environmentalists, more government regulation, and just general ignorance. To anybody who stumbles upon this post who actually firmly believes in global warming might be thinking “Chris, we need to be more responsible! You don’t care about the environment, or the earth at all! You’re just a dirty Republican who says no to everything! Waaahhh”. For starters, spare me the emotional rhetoric, and additionally, I would not consider myself a Republican, though I do consider my views to be generally conservative… but more on that later. The number one source for people who support the global warming theory is *drumroll* Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Now lets dig at this science fiction film.

In the documentary, Gore utilizes computers that extrapolate climate data as to make a prediction of the earth’s average temperatures in coming years based on levels of carbon dioxide. The data he presents suggests the idea that our usage of co2 is so extravagant that the levels of heat on the planet will reach levels that are dangerous to all life, and our atmosphere. Well that’s lovely and all, but there is a major problem and that is the computers were designed to assume the only variable in fluctuation of temperatures is co2, while there are other things to consider such as water vapor, the ocean’s containment and transference of heat, and cloud cover. Ironically, these computer models don’t backtrack said logic of continually rising temperatures due to co2. Don’t believe me?  Time for a brief history lesson.

To anybody who may have fallen asleep in history, or just are simply neglectful, there were these big deals known as the “Ice Age” and the “Medieval Warming Period”. These two events alone would not align with the computer models predictions of continual raises in average temperatures on the earth. I’ll bring it to a relatively more recent level, and be more specific. Post World War II, the United States began to see economic prosperity, and with that economic prosperity came increased industrialization; mass production of cars, more burning of fossil fuels, and more children being born i.e. the baby boomer generation. Why is the birth of more children pertinent to the argument you ask? Well, Al Gore seems to have conveniently forgotten that the bi-product that comes from a human’s exhalation is that of co2. Real shocker. Despite these massive increases in co2 levels, in the 1970′s there were publications insinuating the idea of another ice age. Think I’m crazy? So, with the great one’s logic, it seems with all this excess co2, there was a trend in COOLING?! That speaks for itself. I have plenty of ground to cover here, so this is just an introduction to breaking open the closet door of ignorance that Al Gore hides behind.

The New York Mosque and Its New Neighbor

There’s been a lot of talk about the mosque that is set to open at Ground Zero in New York City. Earlier this month, a panel for the Landmarks Preservation Commission ruled unanimously against declaring a building near the site as a landmark. This has cleared the way for the building to become an Islamic community center and mosque.

Americans from all across the country have voiced their opposition to such a place being so close to the site of the attacks by fundamentalist Muslim terrorists. Now, another building is set to open near the grounds. Chris Madison and Eric Revere share their thoughts on the new developments.

CM: What bothers me particularly about this development is the fact that the mayor in New York is OKAY with this.

ER: It’s definitely troublesome, but being surprised by it is like being surprised to end up wet after jumping off a diving board.

CM: I suppose that’s just me assuming nobody would stoop that LOW. Did the mayor forget about that thing called 911? You know, where extremists that were Muslim ended thousands of American lives? There are some individuals who ignorantly believe that people who oppose the Mosque are people that are discriminating against freedom of religion; in this case practicing Muslims. However, it’s not an issue of discriminating against the religion itself, but rather being mindful of building a Muslim mosque so close to ground zero. Of all places to build a mosque, why there?

ER: Perhaps he did, but either way, the mosque is set to move forward, with supporters declaring that we need to accept Islam as part of the modern world and that this mosque is merely an attempt to bridge to gap between Islam and the rest of the world. Greg Gutfield of Fox News’ “Red Eye” program clearly loves the spirit and purpose behind the mosque.

CM: Gutfeld expressed his plans to open up a gay bar in direct proximity of the Muslim mosque that’s going to be built. For those who understand Islam, homosexuality is extremely frowned upon. I, myself, may not be a fan of that lifestyle, but I cannot help but find this to be poetic justice.

ER: You say poetic justice, I say hysterically brilliant. Doing this does so many things. Here is the plan is his own words from his blog:

“So, the Muslim investors championing the construction of the new mosque near Ground Zero claim it’s all about strengthening the relationship between the Muslim and non-Muslim world.

As an American, I believe they have every right to build the mosque – after all, if they buy the land and they follow the law – who can stop them?

Which is, why, in the spirit of outreach, I’ve decided to do the same thing.

I’m announcing tonight, that I am planning to build and open the first gay bar that caters not only to the west, but also Islamic gay men. To best express my sincere desire for dialogue, the bar will be situated next to the mosque Park51, in an available commercial space.

This is not a joke. I’ve already spoken to a number of investors, who have pledged their support in this bipartisan bid for understanding and tolerance.

As you know, the Muslim faith doesn’t look kindly upon homosexuality, which is why I’m building this bar. It is an effort to break down barriers and reduce deadly homophobia in the Islamic world.

The goal, however, is not simply to open a typical gay bar, but one friendly to men of Islamic faith. An entire floor, for example, will feature non-alcoholic drinks, since booze is forbidden by the faith. The bar will be open all day and night, to accommodate men who would rather keep their sexuality under wraps – but still want to dance.

Bottom line: I hope that the mosque owners will be as open to the bar, as I am to the new mosque. After all, the belief driving them to open up their center near Ground Zero, is no different than mine.

My place, however, will have better music.”

CM: Well, upon Gutfeld opening this bar to cater to gay Muslims, which is quite the oxymoron, then business could be good. What makes it all worth it? The reactions from the Muslim community who would be so quick to have the mosque built, while being insensitive to its location. Ah, yes. I do enjoy good entertainment.

ER: Homosexuality is punishable by death is certain parts of the Muslim world. While that is not the case in New York, the same strong feelings do exist. These people now either have to say nothing and deal with the gay bar or look like hypocrites in front of the entire country. Just a stroke of genius by Gutfield.

CM: I’ll take the hypocrisy for $500, Trebec.

Polls Reflect Arizona Bill’s Popularity

Six months ago, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was in trouble in her bid for re-election. With a field full of Republicans challenging her in the primary, it seemed like an uphill battle. A simple signature on a bill out of the legislature changed everything.

In April, Brewer signed the immigration law that has been praised by some and attacked by others. Latino Major League Baseball players of are threatening to boycott the 2011 All-Star Game scheduled to be hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cities and organizations have boycotted all things Arizona. All sorts of celebrities have all sorts of different opinions about the bill. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa supports the bill. His star player, Albert Pujols, opposes it.

That bill turns out to have been the best bit of campaigning Brewer could have done. Since the bill was passed and signed, the incumbent governor has made dramatic gains in the polls.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signs S.B. 1070, the immigration bill that has received nationawide attention.

Not only is this good news because it means one more conservative holding office (or simply not losing it in this case), but it creates a scenario when liberals either have to shut up with their arguments or campaign directly against what the people want.

One can only dream of a world where liberals either repeatedly screw themselves over or simply don’t talk.

Even with the momentum of the elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, as well as the declining poll numbers for the Obama Administration, conservatives can still feel a bit cornered or on the defensive because of Hollywood and most media outlets who still spew out propaganda against all things against a liberal utopia.

We need to understand that the attacks are so constant and so stinging because the left is desperate. They know they are in trouble when Brewer’s popularity skyrockets after a bill so far removed from modern liberalism is passed.

Although the libertarian has a few concerns about rogue cops that could hassle people at random, the conservative in me know that this bill will make life easier for legal citizens of the state, and is likely to drive down crime rates and health care costs in the state. Most importantly, the people of Arizona have spoken as a whole since the bill was passed, and they overwhelmingly support it.

The bill has already been taken to court, with a federal judge striking down portions of it. That said, the battle will likely go to the Supreme Court before being decided for good.

As some in Arizona are now saying, “Viva S.B. 1070!”

Muslim Mosque to be built near Ground Zero

Muslim mosque may be built in proximity of ground zero. The only phrase that comes to mind with the approval of this mosque is “Anti-American.” That’s really the gist of it. I mean seriously, how can the mayor sleep at night knowing that Ground Zero is the burial ground for thousands of innocent Americans whose lives were abruptly taken from them. It’s not to say that ALL Muslims are bad, however, it is the very religion being promoted by extremists that would stop at nothing to see people like you, me, your family blown into bits and pieces. Building a Muslim Mosque near Ground Zero is like poking a bee hive and somehow being ignorant enough to NOT expect backlash. This is political correctness on overkill; and it needed to stop yesterday.