Sorry, No Fluffy Stuff:)

Ok, so I know I've been talking politics and heavy stuff a good bit over the last couple weeks. But, it's my blog and I'll politicize if I want to!! Haha. A very weird take on a Cyndi Lauper classic. Anyway, I might be using this blog as my platform in this manner several times over the next 36 days. If anyone takes issue with that, please feel free to email me and ask me to remove your name from my update list. I won't be mad, I promise. I just have a lot to say and this is my place to do that and this election is that important to me.

Now, on to my commentary on the debate. Several things I took note of.

1) McCain refused to look at Obama-throughout the entire debate. Even when they shook hands, McCain wouldnt look at him. Obama tried numerous times to directly engage McCain, tried to make eye contact, and McCain would have none of it. He wouldn't even look in Obama's direction. This seemed extremely discourteous to me. It's just plain rude.

2) Obama made it clear that he has an excellent grasp of foreign policy, regardless of his supposed inexperience.

3) Obama tried to find common ground with McCain. Several times he said "John and I agree on this point" or "I agree with John on that, but here's where we differ". For McCain, who's supposed to be such a "maverick" and who's supposed to be the one who can "reach across the aisle", he sure did manage to look antagonistic as all get out and reluctant to agree on even the smallest point.

4) Every time Obama talked, McCain was smirking, huffing and puffing, scoffing, etc. He just made a point of making rude noises and faces while Obama was speaking. In contrast, the only time Obama interrupted McCain is when McCain was making a statement that was patently false (which happened quite a few times). And when that happened, Obama would cut in to say "that's just not true John". Then, when McCain was finished talking, Obama would rebut McCain's untrue statement.

Here's a video compilation of all of McCain's smirky rudeness.



So, in summation, I thought that Obama came off very well. I think that he looked knowledgeable, diplomatic, firm, and very calm and collected. I think McCain looked angry, flustered, and antagonistic. I read this article on the dailyKos yesterday and it really touched me. It emphasized one of the things I really like about Obama. He's just a good man. So, here it goes:

An Unsung Moment of the Debate

(the author's foreword)

I am writing to share what was for me, the most quietly inspiring moment of the the debate last night, and why, along with the obvious policy positions, why Senator Obama is my candidate. There were plenty of points, very important points made and scored by Senator Obama. All the blogs have them, and they were significant and clear positions articulated by Senator Obama, detailing why he is the candidate to lead us forward.

But the moment that made me feel like this man is more than a politician, more than a candidate, came right in the middle of this debate when Senator McCain was struggling to say the name Ahmadinejad.

(the main text)

After waiting for what has felt like an eternity for this debate to occur, I watched every second on the edge of my seat, on an emotional roller coaster. I was sitting there cheering for points scored (I'm a sports addict, it's just how I approach situations like this, it is after all a competition). And there were plenty of points, very important points made and scored by Senator Obama. All the blogs have them, and they were wonderful. After the debate's conclusion, I checked some blogs and some talking heads.

And then I watched the replay of the debate to digest the whole thing. To think rather than emote my way through the responses. And it was in watching the replay that I picked up my absolute favorite unsung moment of the debate.

It came when Senator McCain was stumbling with Ahmadinejad's name. He was stumbling hard, almost unable to get the name or any semblance of it pronounced. Very quietly, but audibly Senator Obama can be heard saying something. In the first viewing, I knew he had said something there, but was unable to decipher exactly what he had said. In listening to the replay it's easy to hear his comment.

He quietly acknowledged to Senator McCain "That's a tough one." When I heard his remark, his gracious nod to the Senator's struggle to pronounce a very difficult name, his compassion for the man, I choked up. It humbled me. It made me briefly look inward, and feel lesser for originally maybe hoping that it was some cutting barb. And it showed him as a man greater than politics, greater for inspiring empathy and compassion for a fellow man.

Senator McCain's demeaning, belittling style in the debate has drawn criticism. Rightly so in my opinion. Some has been said of Senator Obama's gracious and respectful style, some even criticizing his style for not being more vicious, more attacking. But to me, the real measure of the man, not his "style", but who he is, came in that comment.

It was a very quiet statement. But what it said about Barack Obama is loud and clear.

This man is not only a great leader, he is a very good man.

And here's video of the moment she's talking about.







Also, yes, Obama is my candidate. I believe in him wholeheartedly, with every fiber of my being. Of course that will tend to color my perspective of his performance in the debate. So, here are some polls and surveys taken following the debate.

A CNN poll:

Who Did the Best Job In the Debate?

Obama 51%
McCain 38%

Who Would Better Handle Economy?
Obama 58%
McCain 37%

Who Would Better Handle Iraq?
Obama 52%
McCain 47%

Now, of course most Republicans think McCain won, while most Democrats think Obama won. What's important are the independent/moderate/swing voters. Here's some info regarding that:

Independents in the MediaCurves focus group "gave the debate to Obama 61-39. They also think he won every individual segment. Republicans gave the debate to McCain 90-10, Democrats to Obama 93-7."

Here's some video of a FOX News focus group, made up entirely of undecided voters:



Now, in that last video, you can see what I meant by McCain never even looking in Obama's direction. Obama's trying to talk directly to him, has his body angled towards him and is looking at him, and McCain won't even turn his head.

So, that's all for today! Like I said, I hope I'm not bringing you guys down with all my serious talk, but these are things that I have to say and as I said before, this is my platform for doing so. I hope y'all understand!

Shutter Click & Chat 09/21

Sorry I'm so late on this Tameka!!! Ok, so the topic is "My Special Book". Here's mine:

Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin. It's a nonfiction book about John Howard Griffin, a white man who chemically alters his skin color so that he can live as a black man in the late 1950s South. This book is a compilation of his journals during that time, as well as his later musings while reflecting on those journals.

This book is...it's really hard to even put into words. I first read it in the fall of 1996. It was my first semester in college and I had to do a paper for English Comp I. There was a list of reading material to choose from and I chose this book. I know this may sound trite, even a little strange, but this book changed my life. It forever changed the lens through which I viewed racism.

Prior to reading Black Like Me, I already knew that racism was a horrible thing and that it was very much alive and well. Even though I lived in Mississippi at the time, I still kind of viewed racism distantly. I knew that I felt it was wrong. I knew that it bothered me. I knew that I didn't agree with it. But, I was never very open or outspoken about that fact. Racism had affected me personally in certain ways that I won't discuss here, but for the most part I looked at racism from the perspective of a passive observer. It was impossible to continue in that vein after reading this book.

I'd like to post some excerpts from the book and maybe all of you will see why it had such an enormous impact on me. This first passage is detailing Griffin's experience as he rode a bus in New Orleans. New Orleans was the first place he entered society as a black man. Also, please note that this book was written using the language in place at the time, which included the word Negro. Please know that in posting excerpts using that particular word, I mean no disrespect.

...I caught the bus into town, choosing a seat halfway to the rear. As we neared Canal, the car began to fill with whites. Unless they could find a place to themselves or beside another white, they stood in the aisle.

A middle-aged woman with stringy gray hair stood near my seat. She wore a clean but faded print house-dress that was hoisted to one side as she clung to an overhead pendant support. Her face looked tired and I felt uncomfortable. As she staggered with the bus's movement my lack of gallantry tormented me. I half rose from my seat to give it to her, but Negroes behind me frowned disapproval. I realized I was "going against the race" and the subtle tug-of-war became instantly clear. If the whites would not sit with us, let them stand. When they became tired enough or uncomfortable enough, they would eventually take seats beside us and soon see that it was not so poisonous after all. But to give them your seat was to let them win. I slumped back under the intensity of their stares.

But my movement had attracted the white woman's attention. For an instant our eyes met. I felt sympathy for her, and thought I detected sympathy in her glance. The exchange blurred the barriers of race (so new to me) long enough for me to smile and vaguely indicate the empty seat beside me, letting her know she was welcome to accept it.

Her blue eyes, so pale before, sharpened and she spat out, "What're you looking at me like that for?"

I felt myself flush. Other white passengers craned to look at me. The silent onrush of hostility frightened me.

"I'm sorry," I said, staring at my knees. "I'm not from here." The pattern of her skirt turned abruptly as she faced the front.

"They're getting sassier every day," she said loudly. Another woman agreed and the two fell into conversation.

My flesh prickled with shame, for I knew the Negroes rightly resented me for attracting such unfavorable attention. I sat the way I had seen them do, sphinxlike, pretending unawareness. Gradually people lost interest. Hostility drained to boredom. The poor woman chattered on, reluctant apparently to lose the spotlight.

I learned a strange thing-that in a jumble of unintelligible talk, the word "n***er" leaps out with electric clarity. You always hear it and always it stings. And always it casts the person using it into a category of brute ignorance. I thought with some amusement that if these two women only knew what they were revealing about themselves to every Negro on that bus, they would have been outraged.

This next passage is from a time when Griffin was at a Greyhound station, awaiting a bus to Mississippi. He was going there because the Pearl River County Grand Jury had just failed to return an indictment on the lynching of Mack Charles Parker. They failed to return an indictment in spite of the fact that the FBI had compiled a dossier of evidence identifying the lynchers. Griffin wanted to get a feel for the racial climate during such a painful time. The passage details Griffin's accidental foray into a waiting area that was not designated "Colored".

Once again a "hate stare" drew my attention like a magnet. It came from a middle-aged, heavyset, well-dressed white man. He sat a few yards away, fixing his eyes on me. Nothing can describe the withering horror of this. You feel lost, sick at heart before such unmasked hatred, not so much because it threatens you as because it shows humans in such an inhuman light. You see a kind of insanity, something so obscene the very obscenity of it (rather than its threat) terrifies you. It was so new I could not take my eyes from the man's face. I felt like saying: "What in God's name are you doing to yourself?"

A Negro porter sidled over to me. I glimpsed his white coat and turned to him. His glance met mine and communicated the sorrow, the understanding.

"Where am I supposed to go?" I asked him.

He touched my arm in that mute and reassuring way of men who share a moment of crisis. "Go outside and around the corner of the building. You'll find the room."

The white man continued to stare, his mouth twisted with loathing as he turned his head to watch me move away.

In the colored waiting room, which was not labeled as such, but rather as COLORED CAFÉ, presumably because of interstate travel regulations, I took the last empty seat. The room was crowded with glum faces, faces dead to all enthusiasm, faces of people waiting.

The books I had bought from the Catholic Book Store weighed heavily in my pocket. I pulled one of them out and, without looking at the title, let it fall open in my lap. I read:

"...it is by justice that we can authentically measure man's value or his nullity....the absence of justice is the absence of what makes him man." Plato.

I have heard it said another way, as a dictum: "He who is less than just is less than man."

I copied the passage in a little pocket notebook. A Negro woman, her face expressionless, flat, highlighted with sweat, watched me write. When I turned in my seat to put the notebook in my hip pocket, I detected the faintest smile at the corners of her mouth.

This book is full of stories like this. I had such a mix of emotions the first time I read it. I still feel that same mix every time I read it again. It's a combination of sadness, horror, deep shame that this our country's history, anger, guilt for not understanding how deeply it runs sooner than I did, the unfairness of it all...I can't really put into words all the things I feel. This book just tears at my heart. Please read it. You might find that it will change your life too.

Stenciling: Version 2.0

Ok, so here's how to do a bleach stencil!

List of supplies:

Freezer Paper
X-Acto Knife
A surface to cut the stencil out on
An iron
A piece of cardboard or something to stick inside the shirt for when you're ready to bleach
An image to stencil
A shirt
2 paint brushes (one very small one for detailing and a bigger one)

So, here's my stuff:



We already went over how to get your image on the paper the last time, so we don't need to do that again.

Now, the most important thing you need to remember for bleach stenciling is that you're cutting out the opposites of what you would cut out for regular paint stenciling. So, based on that principle, your black free floating pieces are your islands. The white parts will be cut out. And there will be black pieces that are still attached. Here's my image:



First, you'll want to cut out an outline all the way around your image, staying just a hair outside the lines (like maybe 1/8-1/4 inch to the outside). You'll end up with this:



Let's take a closer look:



Now, look at the close up of the image again and you'll see that there are some parts that need to be cut out that are still attached to your outline. This is because the lines closing those bits off aren't all connected. That sentence doesn't make any sense, but look at this:



See? Ok, what you need to do is connect all the lines. Here's how it'll look at that point:



See how all of those lines are now connected? Ok good. Now it's time to start cutting. Time for another diagram!



Ok, so I took the pictures out of order. This picture doesn't have all of it's lines connected, but just pretend. So, like you did before, just set the islands aside for now. Also, that piece of paper with your text on it? Set it aside also. Once you have your stuff cut out, you should have this:



So, you have all of your islands to the left there. It helps to lay them out in generally the same position that they'll go back in. It just cuts down on poking around trying to figure out what piece goes where. Then, you have your main stencil. That's the gray outline of the face. Then, you have your big white part. You'll use that later with your islands to get them positioned properly. So, now you iron your main stencil down. Like so:



Then, using your big white part as a puzzle piece, position and attach your islands. Like this:




Now for the text! Cut out all your letters and again, save the ones that have middles. Since I used a different font, this time I had more middles to be saved. Dang, Obama, why there gotta be so many middles in your name?



Now, you'll want to kind of match up the bottom of your stencil with the top of the piece that has the text on it. Like this:



When you iron it down, leave a bit of space (again, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch-just be consistent with how much room you left on your outline). So, now you should have this:



Now, cut out and attach all of your middles and you'll have this:



Now, it's finally time for some bleaching!! Stick your piece of cardboard or whatever inside your shirt. Get a little plate or something and squirt some of your gel bleach onto it. You'll be using it as if it were paint. What you're going to do is "paint" the bleach just inside the lines of your stencil and just outside the lines of your island. You have to do it this way. You cannot do like you do with the paint and just brush all over the stencil. The bleach will eat through the paper and you'll just end up with a Rorschach looking blob. I know because that's what happened to me the first time I tried bleach stenciling.

One of the really interesting things about using bleach is that it's different every time. You'll never know what color the bleached part will be. Sometimes it turns white, sometimes yellow, sometimes a light purple, sometimes a brownish red. Because gel bleach is a diluted form of regular bleach, it can safely sit on the fabric for a while without it being corrosive and eating a hole in your shirt. So, depending on your particular shirt, you won't necessarily see instant bleaching. It may take a minute or so before it starts "developing", so to speak. Also, it doesn't look the same on every part of your fabric. Some parts will be lighter than others, but it makes for a very cool effect. You'll see.

Once you're finished with all of your "painting", you'll need to go all around your stencil in a line. Not the part with the text, just the outline of the head. The reason you have to do this is because if you don't, all of the dark parts will just blend in with the rest of the shirt and you'll have a face kind of free floating. Here's what I have now:



As you can see, the shirt is just barely changing color at this point. This fabric was particularly stubborn (maybe because it was a sweatshirt?) and I just left the bleach sitting for about 3 or 4 hours, until it was sufficiently lightened for my tastes. I've never had to leave one that long before. Usually by the time I've finished "painting" my bleach on, the first parts that I started on have already lightened enough.

Now, once everything has lightened fairly evenly, go ahead and peel your stencil off, carefully, so that you don't touch any non-stencil portions of the shirt with bleach. If you can throw it in the washer right away (by itself, obviously), go ahead and do that. If you can't, just run it under some cold water to get the bleach off and leave it until you can wash it. Just machine wash and dry it as usual. Here's my finished product:



See what I mean about it not bleaching uniformly but making for a really cool effect?

Here are a couple close ups:





And here it is on the ridiculously cute Dorian:



So, there you have it!! Again, if anyone has questions, just ask them!!! Peace, love, and happy stenciling!

How To Stencil a Shirt Using a Freezer Paper Stencil

Alrighty folks. Here is a detailed tutorial on how to stencil a shirt using the freezer paper method. First things first. Here is a list of supplies that you need:

Freezer Paper
Fabric Paint OR Acrylic Paint and Textile Medium
X-Acto Knife
A surface to cut the stencil out on
An iron
A piece of cardboard or something to stick inside the shirt for when you're ready to paint
An image to stencil
A shirt
A paint brush






Ok, so let's tackle the image first. I used this image:



In order to keep the text lined up straight, I like to insert my image into a word file and then play around with my text size and font and all that till I get it how I like it. To get the image from the computer onto the shirt, you have two options.

Option 1) Print directly onto the freezer paper. This is by far the easiest way. First, you'll need to find out which way to put the freezer paper in your particular printer. This is crucial because the image has to be printed on the non-waxy/dull side of the freezer paper. I have a very high tech way of doing this (heehee). I take a regular piece of printer paper and write "shiny" on one side and "dull" on the other. I put it in the printer and take note of which side is facing up. For instance, say the "dull" side is face up and it comes out printed on the shiny side. That would mean you need to hereafter put it in with the "shiny" side facing up so it will print on the dull side. If you put it in "dull" side up and it comes out printed on the "dull" side, hereafter you'll put it in that same way. I hope that makes sense. Also, of course, you'll have to cut the freezer paper to the size of a regular piece of printer paper.

Option 2) The option I'm currently using (sighh). Well, our printer is broken. So I have to just put my piece of paper on the computer screen and trace my image off of the computer.



This sucks and is more labor intensive, but sometimes we must do what we must, right? If you're using this method, you'll need to cut your paper to roughly the size of the stencilable area on the shirt like so:



Now, time for cutting out your image. This is what my image looks like at this point:



I colored it in for you guys for purposes of this tutorial. You don't have to do that. Ok, so as you can see, there are 3 different bits. There are black bits. There are white bits that are still attached to the larger portion of the paper. And there are free floating white bits. These are called islands. Confused? Check out this handy dandy diagram (click to make it bigger):



(Since it may not be clear-in the diagram when I point at the white bit still attached to the larger portion of paper, I'm referring to that white part of his cheek, not the white bit on his eye.) What you want to do is cut out the black parts. This will make an empty space where paint will eventually be. So, try to cut out the biggest black part in one piece. Leave the islands for now. We'll deal with those later. If you cut out a black part and there's no island in it, you can toss it. If you cut out a black part and there is an island in it, set it to the side. Here's what my stencil looked like after I started cutting:



So as you're cutting, like I said, place the black parts with islands to the side. Cut out your letters last. You'll need to save any letters that have middles. Because of the kind of font I used, my only letters with free floating middles were O's. Here are my black bits with islands:



And here are my two O's that I saved:




Here's my stencil completely cut out:



Now it's time to start ironing the stencil down!! Woohoo!! Ok, get your cardboard or whatever and put it inside the shirt. This is to prevent the paint from bleeding through the front of the shirt and onto the back.

Now, just iron down your main stencil. After you get that ironed down, you need to cut out your islands and attach them. I usually do this by using the black bit and the island as puzzle pieces to get them properly placed. Like this:



Here's the island after I get it all ironed down:



So, do that with all of your islands and with the middles of your letters. I always go back over everything with the iron again to make sure that it's ironed down really well. And now you paint! If you're using fabric paint, just follow the directions on the bottle. If you're using acrylic paint and fabric/textile medium, you'll have to mix them. Directions vary by brand, but mine says to use 2 parts of textile medium to 1 part of paint. I prefer Tulip Soft Fabric Paint, but I was out, so I used what I had instead.



Just make sure that you don't go off the edges of the paper onto the part of the shirt that you don't want painted. You can do a second coat if the first coat looks spotty or if your particular shirt seems to have soaked up a lot of paint. Now, you just have to wait for it to dry enough to take the stencil off. I recommend waiting till it's 100% dry so that your lines will be really clean. Once it's dry, and you're ready to remove the stencil, just peel it off. You can use your X-Acto knife to peel up the edges of the little bitty island pieces. And then you have this:



Ignore all that crap on the shirt. I don't know what it is. I think it came off of my iron. But, isn't it awesome???!!! And if I put it on my ultra cute baby boo, it looks like this:



Lastly, you need to turn the shirt inside out and iron over the design on the wrong side for at least 30 seconds on high heat. This will heat set the paint and make it last longer. I have several shirts that I've made like this for my kids and they've all lasted well over a year.

Now, a few tips:

1) Don't use any kind of ribbed fabric. The paint will bleed like crazy and you will cry.
2) If you can find one, use a swivel X-Acto. They're way easier to use on corners and curves.
3) The reason that the freezer paper works is that it's wax coated and the wax melts just enough with the ironing that it bonds to the fabric.
4) Although tracing your image off the computer screen sucks, it does have one advantage. If you print directly onto the paper, you're limited to the area of that piece of paper. If you trace off the screen, you can make your image as big as the area of the shirt that you're using. It'll involve some scrolling and repositioning of the paper, but that's no biggie if you're already going to the trouble of tracing anyway.
5) DO NOT use a dark colored shirt like black or navy blue. If you do, you'll have to use a lighter paint color and the paint will be a lighter color than the shirt fabric and your image will look reversed, like a negative. If you guys like, at some later point, I can teach you how to do a bleach stencil so that you can use a dark colored shirt. By the by, you don't have to use black paint. I also like to use navy blue or chocolate brown paint a lot.
6) Make sure that your edges are ironed down realllllly good. And when you paint, try and do so from the edges in so there's less chance of any bleeding under the stencil. I rarely ever have this problem, but I've made at least 40 shirts like this, so that may be a factor.
7) If you have any questions, just ask!!!! You know where to find me:)

Please, save us from the idiots.

So, Justin told me last night about some bumper stickers that he saw on a car. I should've guessed how stupid they'd be when he prefaced the story with "I saw this car today and the bumper stickers on it just made me want to ram it with my car". So, first off, there's this bit of loveliness:



Yes. Someone had this on their car. And they're actually for sale online. How much do we wanna bet that the moron selling this thing is using the proceeds to fund his meth lab? Anyway, my response to this bumper sticker would be, "Uncle Sam wants YOU to stop being an ignorant asshole". Seriously, though, what is wrong with people? I fully believe that if someone immigrates to the U.S., they should learn to speak English. But, it isn't an instantaneous process. And all these people that bitch and moan about automated menus on phones using Spanish and signs for state and federal government services in Spanish and directions on different products being in Spanish...JUST SHUT UP. What are people supposed to do in that transitional period between learning English and having to freaking survive here? And in what way does it negatively affect your dumb ass anyway? I'm pretty sure that people didn't leave their homes and families and everything they know to come to this country seeking a better life only to be treated like dog crap because they're not learning English fast enough to suit you.

Oh, and the other bumper sticker? Luckily they're not for sale online yet, but that guy does need to support his meth lab, so I'm pretty sure they'll add them to their Fall line sometime soon. Anyway, here's what it said:

Jesus Never Said No Comprendé


NO, I am not kidding. There are just so many things wrong with that. First and foremost is that Jesus never said "no comprendé" because Jesus spoke freaking Aramaic, you IDIOT. And English, much less American English, wasn't even a gleam in Jesus' eye. Besides which, I think Jesus probably has more important things to worry about right now than your xenophobic ass.

Okay, I feel better now.

Brevity

Just a quick little post for all you crazy kids. First off, I've lost another 3 lbs. That puts me at 19 lbs lost so far. Go me!!!! Pat on the back, round of applause, all that. Now, on to more exciting things! Bethany and Sebastian both got haircuts over the weekend. Booooo. Yeah, we didn't want to cut Sebastian's hair, but he really wanted us to. He said that he was tired of it being in his eyes and on his face and stuff. And Bethany wanted to mod it up a bit. So, I present you with some before/after pictures.


Bethany Before




Bethany After




And another cute picture, for good measure.



Eeeek. I positively ache when I think of her teenage years. They'll be a bastard.


Now, Sebastian's haircut!


Sebastian Before



Sebastian After
Haha! The sun was in his eyes. And look at us kickin' it old school with the Big Wheel.

Here's a bonus picture with him making an even funnier face:



Heehee!!! He cracks me up. Anyway, don't both of their haircuts look super cute? Bethany's frames her face just perfectly. And Sebastian looks so much more grown with his hair cut short. So, that's all for now. I'm still knitting the charity hats and probably will be for at least another week. Till next time!

On Race in The Race

So, this post isn't going to be about who's the better candidate, specifically; although I think we all have a pretty good grasp of who I think that is, haha. Anyway, this post is going to be about the specter of race that's been the invisible elephant in the room throughout this campaign. I myself have noticed many forms of racism-some obvious, some not so much. Most recently, there was the case of Congressman Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia calling Michelle and Barack Obama uppity. Now, a lot of us are from the South and we immediately know the connotations of that word. Even if you're not from the South and you don't get it, I guarantee you that any person of color does get it.

Then, let's take Governor Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani's remarks at the RNC. Palin said "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." and Giuliani said “You have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a-community organizer. What???!!!". Please note that in both instances, the words "community organizer" were injected with as much sneering and mockery as can be squeezed into two words. Let's look at the facts. As a general rule, community organizers are some kind of minority (whether it be ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation), simply by virtue of the kind of work they do. Compare that to Palin's qualification of being a "hockey mom". Now, community organizing is a very ethnic, inner city, urban type of thing. Hockey mom is a very white, suburban type of thing.

Still don't see it? How about the latest ad by McCain's campaign? I'm not going to post the video on my blog because I can't stand to see it on here, but I'll give the text from it:

Narrator: "He was the world's biggest celebrity, but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin." "Dismissed her as "good looking". That backfired. So they said she was doing "what she was told". Then, desperately, called Sarah Palin a liar. How disrespectful. And how Governor Sarah Palin proves them wrong every day."

Okay, first off, let's correct all those out of context quotes that they attribute to Obama. On the "good looking" comment, here's what was actually said and who actually said it. Joe Biden, in Toledo, Ohio, "There's a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent," he said. "She's good looking." So, yeah, obviously kidding around, obviously making light of their differences in policy and also, um, NOT Barack Obama talking.

Secondly, there's the "doing 'what she was told'" comment. Now, what actually happened was that one of Obama's advisers said that she made a false claim about Obama's legislative record and said, "maybe that's what she was told."

Then, we'll take on the "liar" comment. Unfortunately for Palin, it's a matter of record that she is in fact a liar. She did support the Bridge to Nowhere and she has lied about that fact 9 times, to date.

All of that stuff is beside the point, but I couldn't let the lies stand without calling them out for what they are.

Finally, let's take on the "how disrespectful" bit. If you could only see this ad, you'd probably catch it. It's the black-man-disrespecting-white-woman schtick that hearkens back to the days preceding the Civil Rights movement. When a black man could be lynched and killed simply for looking at a white woman. This ad echoes the "oh lawd, the black mens is trying to rape our white women" hysteria that was so prevalent back then.

There's also the case of Representative Geoff Davis of Kentucky calling Obama that boy. I don't have to tell you all the things that are wrong with that, do I?

I think it should be pretty clear to anyone that racism has definitely been a part of this campaign. The only question is whether or not you choose to acknowledge it. I know a lot of people won't vote for Obama because he's black. And they admit it to themselves. Other people hide behind words like "I just don't know enough about him" or "I just don't trust him" or "There's just something about him..." because their racism and denial runs so deep that they can't even own up to it to themselves, much less anyone else. It makes me so unbearably sad that either of these scenarios could be true. As I've heard many people say lately, the dog whistles in this campaign are deafening.

This post is already getting long, but I'd like to post the text of an article that I read today. It's by an author named Tim Wise.

Here it is, in its entirety:

White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election


By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "f****n’ redneck," like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their f****n' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a "light" burden.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull.

This article was originally published on Buzzflash.org. Please share this blog post with anyone that you think should see it. Whether you want them to see it because they commiserate with you on this issue, or because they don't believe that it even is an issue.