A Few Words

I’ve been silent for a while and there’s been a lot going on. It’s not that I haven’t cared to comment, just that I’ve been busy and to be honest I’ve heard that sometimes if you don’t have anything good to say you shouldn’t say anything at all…wait, that’s never stopped me before. From Trump to Cruz, Bernie to Hillary to the city of Cleveland with their ridiculous billing of the family of Tamir Rice for the ambulance ride to the hospital to the water poisoning of Flint, Michigan residents. Yep, a lot of craziness going on.

On the presidential scene, I like everyone else initially treated Donald Trump as a joke. Laughing at the reality show clown and sure he would burn out as soon as we were all let in on the apparent prank of the American public. But the more extreme and outrageous his claims, statements and insults, the more he rules Republican polls and he has now become a major force in state caucuses and primaries. The fact that anyone would even consider voting for this polarizing idiot scares the hell out of me but what’s really terrifying is his appeal to extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists and neo-Nazis. They flock to this man like flies to... Remember this, every time he wins so do all the racists, bigots and misogynists who make up his base…and he’s bring them out in big numbers. As for Ted Cruz, well I’ve said it before. Just Google Mr. Haney from Green Acres. Seriously, we get it Rafael, you’re a holy roller. This fake ass Christian has evoked the name of Jesus Christ more times than the book of Luke.

And let’s not forget Mr. Robot Rubio. This is the man who when Governor Chris Christie pointed out that he repeats the same blame President Obama talking points over and over responded by blaming President Obama. The man has nothing to say and to be honest he sets off my Gaydar.  Lastly there’s cry baby Jeb. He’s reminds me of the kid who gets bullied on the school yard and runs home crying to Mom. Except when Mom sends out the kid’s big brother to handle the bully, he himself ends up getting bullied even worse. GW showed up in South Carolina and Trump immediately went on the attack. Rightfully blaming the former president for everything from a failed unprovoked war in Iraq to the collapse of the American economy. A move critics were sure would hurt Trump’s poll numbers but, well you can guess what happened. Apparently invincible Trump strikes again. I say keep an eye on Kasich.

On to Hillary and Bernie. Now I’m the first to admit that the Clintons have not always been the most ardent crusaders for Black folks. Most notably Bill’s 1994 crime bill and his 1996 welfare-reform bill, both of which targeted African-Americans. If it’s fair to include former President Bush’s failures when discussing Jeb, then it’s fair to include Bill’s when discussing Hillary. However, the fact remains that Hillary has her own track record and has both national exposure as a senator and international exposure as the Secretary of State. There are those who say she unfairly attacked President Obama when they were both running in the 2008 presidential election to which I say, they were running against each other…duh that’s how elections work. Anyway he clearly thought enough of her to appoint her Secretary of State. Hillary is by no means the perfect candidate but who is. At least I’m familiar with her.

My question for Bernie is, where the hell ya been bro? I’ve heard he worked in the early civil rights movement and was a student activist who fought for desegregation while attending the University of Chicago but where you been the last 40 years dude? I don’t mean to diminish any accomplishments he may have made and perhaps he has quietly continued the fight, just saying I’ve never heard of him until now. And let’s be real, being the senator from a state with a 96% white population, it’s not like he’s ever had to worry about the African-American vote…until now. While I appreciate his economic plans, some of them are a bit unrealistic and like Rubio he can be a bit robotic, repeating the same talking points over and over. But if he’s able to follow through on his plans to expand healthcare, get corporate money out of politics and create jobs that bring back the middle class decimated by the Bush recession, more power to him because we’d all be better off. I gotta say he’s fooled a lot of people who said nobody would ever vote for an avowed socialist (me included) but there are those who said the same thing about a certain young African-American senator from Illinois about 8 years ago.

With Hillary and Bernie it seems to come down to a generational divide. Young people just don’t like Hillary…and old people like her just because. Or maybe the younger generation is simply sick of the same old same and I can’t say that I blame them. Whatever the reason I hope they appreciate the fact that whoever ends up the candidate, they better get their butts out and vote. Especially considering any of the alternatives. In reality their differences are closer than those of the Republican candidates. Both Hillary & Bernie support Obamacare, although Bernie would like to move to a single-payer plan, both have plans for college affordability, both support an increase to the minimum wage, both support background checks for gun purchases and both of them support a path to citizenship. In addition the two want to eliminate for profit prisons and each have plans to overhaul the criminal justice system. Unlike a lot of people, friends of mine included, they also understand that Latino is no more synonymous with immigration than crime is with African-American. This isn’t to say they don’t have some widely opposing views but just to point out that they do play for the same team. So, considering the options it would seem either Hillary or Bernie is the best choice, period. Anything would be better than having to choose from the Republican clown car.