PolSynth - Political Synthesis

Rapturous. Incomparable. Breathtaking. Once in a lifetime. I can find no more apropriate words to describe the sum total of the performances at the October 1st Jazz for Obama event in NYC.

Obama: Jazz man

I didn’t plan to write any of this but I just couldn’t keep this experience to myself.  Hank Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Roy Hargrove, Stanley Jordan, Roy Hanes, Jeff Tain Watts, Aaron Goldberg, Bilal, Edsel Gomez, Joe Lovano, Christian McBride, Brad Mehldau and so many others whose names I don’t have at hand but whose performances were stunning. It’s impopssible for mere words to fully capture the experience of such a signal event for a lover of Jazz. This assemblage of Jazz luminaries will most likely never happen again. I’m still in shock. The standing-ovations still seem too short. Read the rest of this entry »

So Obama contacted McCain, had a discussion, then McCain jumps in front of the media to say he’s cancelling his campaign. Seems like it was a surprise to Obama. Guess all’s fair in love and politics. 

Obama made some good points. First of all: a president needs to be able to do more than one thing at a time. Is McCain admitting here that he can’t multi-task? Makes me think McCain just realizes that he’s not ready to have a debate.

Is the McCain attack ad regarding sex education racist? I don’t know. Here’s what I do know:

My America has a long and bloody history of playing on deeply held myths and fears regarding non-mainstream ethnic groups, as blacks have been viewed for centuries. One fear (among others) pertains to black male sexuality. In the foundation and nurturing of America’s particular, and arguably dominant, “race” mythology, black men have been assigned several roles, one being that of sexual predator juxtaposed against the pure, wholesomeness of white womanhood. In short, the black man is cast as the despoiler of virtue, against which white manliness must contend by all means available. Read the rest of this entry »