The Sum of All Fears... A Realistic Version

We as a nation have this notion that there is only one way to tell and view a story which is only through our own point of view.  Our lives and our experiences are individual to us, the more diverse the people, the more diverse the experiences.  In this melting pot of ours, there are so many experiences that are different from our own and this causes misconception, stereotypes, judgment and misunderstanding.

The movie The Sum of All Fears is based on a book by Tom Clancy and is a great piece of fiction. Without giving the movie away a group of terrorists try to push the United States and Russia to the brink of nuclear war by playing up their misconceptions, preconceived notions, and their fears about the other.

Allow me to present to you our real version of this story, the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial in the killing of Trevon Martin.  We all know the dividing lines to start with.  Just like the Russians and the United States in the movie, this real version majorialy deals with African Americans and "White America".  There is nothing more "nuclear" here than the state of race in the United States and yes the fear is on both sides.

For African Americans (which I am one of) it is the unjust criminal justice system that sends mainly African American males to prison in a higher proportion than other racial groups, higher unemployment, a higher rate of single parent households mostly led by unmarried women, and by far a higher murder rate of young African American males committed by young African American males.  We also have fewer opportunities for justice and it is usually unlikely that a white person will be found guilty of murdering an African American than the converse.  When an unfair or what is considered an unjust verdict is made like in this case or the Oscar Grant murder case that happened in my hometown, protest and riots ensue.   Now take note that most of these people who riot, made the choice to riot before they arrived at these said protests and the media is there because they as well as everyone else knows that this will happen.  After all of the rioting and the civil disobedience is over, we (through the media,) have a conversation about race (like CNN just had this week) and some action happens, but somehow we return to the status quo, because once the passion of anger and outrage passes, we become numb and inactive to more young African American males being killed and we remain silent.

For White America, my best guess (which all I can do since I am not White) is that they perceive most African Americans mainly young African American males as threatening, not intelligent, and lazy.  What doesn't help the situation are the assumptions made upon African Americans based of reality and daytime television that African Americans are in and the "hip-hop culture" of baggy pants, 20-24 inch rims (which I especially detest), men wanting to be hustlers, gangstas, wanna be pimps, professional athletes and rappers, and the belief that every African American male is this way.  Just to let you know, we all not this way and while this is prevalent in the African American community, we as African Americans have a responsibility to do what I would like to call "family business" to take care of these idiots that give us real men a bad name.

Here's where the fear comes in.  When a young man wearing a hoodie can't walk home without the fear of being shot and killed because of fear, stereotypes, and misjudgements that he was grouped into. While I wear a shirt and tie to work almost everyday, like President Barack Obama said, this could have been me while taking a morning jog on a cold day.  While these judgments still exist, there are forces that continue to divide us, the media, which points and counterpoints to delirium and the extremists on both sides that have no common sense and want to tear down walls instead of building bridges of understanding.

This ending must be one similar to one portrayed in the movie.  Both sides must back down from their fears of the other and in time we just may start to understand each other.

Oh and one final thing, ALL life is precious regardless of skin color.  Whether it be in Florida, Chicago, Oakland, Colorado, or Connecticut the families of those departed have lost a child, a brother, a father, or a husband. They suffer with their loss and that pain never goes away.  I just hope that your family don't have to endure what the Martin family is right now.

Mr. Trump...You're Fired

I don't usually post video but Donald Trump doesn't know when to leave well enough alone.  The "issue" of President Obama's birth certificate has been beaten to the ground.  If you are on this "birther" bandwagon, you may need to see a doctor and get some help.  If Mr. Trump does not like the President's politics why doesn't he discuss his dissatisfaction on the issues.  Barrack Obama is the President of the United States, he's Black, he was born in Hawaii, and had done some good things for our nation.  Get over it...and Mr. Trump...you're fired!

For the benefit for those who have not seen this here is the entire interview with Wolf Blitzer.  Credit goes to CNN which was the network that aired this interview.

If We Really Want to Honor the Troops...

Today is Memorial Day, a day when our country honors the men and women who give their lives so we can have liberty and enjoy various freedoms.  Today, the American flag waves proudly in countless American homes and on top of various buildings.  Tomorrow we will all go back to work and continue with our normal lives.  For two days a year, we pretend that we care and appreciate about our military and on this one we have parades, fireworks, have barbecues, and we eat tons of apple pie.  Lately we have taken our basic freedoms for granted that our troops defend and die for willingly.  We bicker, we argue, and our politics are so dirty the military is now just another political football.  I say this because this is the sad truth of the state of our military, the one we say that we cherish and appreciate so much:

1. The unemployment rate for our discharged military is estimated to be as high as 28%
2. The suicide rate in the Army is up 80% in the last four years.
3. 1,985 U.S. troops (and counting) have died in Afganistan, and 4486 U.S. troops have died in Iraq with countless others returning with brain damage and lost limbs.
4. The rate for PTSD is estimated to be at 11-20% among those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, 10% for the first Iraq war in 1990 and 30% of Vietnam vets.
5. The military homeless rate is as high as 1 in 3 (33%) of homeless men
6. There were 19,000 estimated violent sexual assaults by the Department of Defense in 2010 alone.  20% of women in the military are or have been sexually assaulted and are more likely to be raped by their fellow soldiers than be killed by enemy fire.

This like many issues doesn't often prompt significant attention until an election is on the horizon.  More is being done to reduce the suicide rate among the troops and there has been a recognition by the Department of Defense that violent sex assaults on women (and men) need to be addressed.  One topic that should be most relevant on this day is why are we still in Afghanistan?  Wasn't the mission to hunt and bring Bin Laden to justice?  Mission Accomplished, right?  Why can't we pull the troops.  These troops that have obeyed commands and risked their lives, and for what purpose now?  Are we attempting to install democracy in a place that may not be ready for it?  Speaking of that, why do we want to clone our country else where because we only recently cleaned our act 50 years ago and for a democracy we are still far from those "socialist" European countries.  We are one court ruling away from not having universal health care before it started, our crime rate is horrendous, speaking of which our criminals have better healthcare than our citizen, and maybe our military.

If we really want to honor the troops we would give them the best opportunities to succeed: a home, health care, therapy from illnesses like PTSD, and an economy that supports their exit from the military and entry into the workforce.  We would bring them home so we can begin to "nation build" here and allow Afghanistan to rebuild itself, find its own identity, and form their own government.  

With that said, thank you military men and women for all you do to defend us (and corporations and oil) and for all that you sacrifice.  I just wish that we as a country treated and appreciate you better.

A Year Wiser...

To My Readers,

I have been away for a very long time and if you have checked this blog for the past year yearning for new thoughts and opinions, I appreciate your loyalty and your hunger for real, true conversation and discourse.

For the past year, I have been rebuilding my life in the real world, defining my career, and discovering or I should say rediscovering many lessons not only in life but also in general human behavior.  I recently had a birthday and I have also had some great conversations that have brought some exciting breakthroughs.

I have thought about these lessons and at the urging of many including one of my mentors and friend, BlackWomanBlogging (a great blog if you haven't read her) to post some of these thoughts that are listed below.

The 2012 Practical and Common Sense Lessons Learned:

1. People lie, and lie often even when they think that they are not.  
2. OK does not mean ok, OK means be quiet, my thoughts are on something else.
3. Ownership means that when something is YOUR fault and YOUR responsibility you fall on your sword and admit it.
4. A distinctive "NO" is always better that a bullshit YES!
5. Reality Television is an addiction and does not depict positive thought.  It rots your brain and can make someone fall for anything.  It boggles my minds that the Kardashians, the Basketball Wives, The "Real Housewives" and other can make that much money acting so dumb.  In fact most of these shows don't even feature wives. They are ex-wives, baby mamas and the formerly engaged.  
6. Take the time to live your life critically.  Before you argue about what a woman can do with her body or who can marry, make sure that your own house is in order.  Which leads to....
7. People in general are hypocrites!!!  Many persecute too quickly and spend to much time in judgement and not enough time reflecting on their own thoughts and actions.  It's time to look into the mirror folks because we all have skeletons in the closet.
8. If you form your opinions solely by watching CNN or Fox News or MSNBC or listening to one viewpoint on radio then you are drinking the kool aid.  These interviews aren't even interviews anymore, they are gotcha questions.  People don't even answer questions anymore, they just pull talking point after talking point.  Which leads to...
9. WE must take action to help ourselves because the government is like the police in the movies.  They arrive in force way too late.  We blame government for much of what has happened in the past few years which I fully agree with.  After years of deadlock, we must realize that the solutions must come from Main Street which means that we must grow a pair and vote out the imbeciles who are playing politics and sound bytes and get to some solutions.  And finally...
10. If any of these hit home for you and you find yourself upset, frustrated, or you think that I am full of it, GOOD, because the truth hurts and denial is weakness.  It is very easy to blame others for our own circumstances.  It is always someone else's fault when you should instead look into the mirror.  We are offended when someone says something controversial that we don't agree with.  I would prefer someone tell me to my face what they think about me than the politically-correct banter we tolerate today.
11. And a postscript: One that I couldn't resist putting up:  Life really begins when one stops caring about what people think of you.  No matter who you are or what great things you may have done, certain people may never like you for some unreasonable reason and guess what that's fine.  There is a word for people like that: haters!!  Ignore them and live the best life that you can. Better yet channel their negative energy to drive you because the best revenge is success. 

There is plenty more to talk about so I will be around.  Thanks for reading.

Back to Business as Usual

In the next few hours the party formerly known as the Party of No, will have its first "political victory" and fulfill one its first promises to the American people.  The newly Republican House of Representative is on the verge of repealing the Health Care Reform bill of 2010.  Keep in mind that this reversal will not change anything because the Senate is Democratically controlled and the President would certainly veto this act if this miraculously passed the Senate (trust me, it won't).

I certainly agree that the Health Care Bill did not do everything that was promised and needed to solve.  A lot of matters were sacrificed in the matter of compromise and while this was landmark legislation, it is just a start to correcting the health care issues of our nation that was years in the making.  A majority of the Americans have a problem with this law for one reason or another and it is by no means perfect, but with 309 million people what is.  Some say it doesn't do enough while other state that it intrudes too much.  I will just say that this is like everything else in Washington, political posturing to an audience, to the people at home that I gave an half-assed effort to fix health care without promoting new ideas or solutions.  People unfortunately, the Party of No is back to business as usual.  Their sole goal is 2012, long term aspirations at the sacrifice of the short term help for millions that are plagued with access to good and basic health care for them and their families.  I seriously hope that in eve of all that has happened this month that Congress can actually solve problems, but then again hope was so 2008.

I'm Back With More To Say

I'm back and there is still a lot to be outraged about.  While it is hopeful that on the eve of the Tucson tragedy that the pundits, the cable television networks, and the blogoshere (myself included) turn the heated rhetoric of 2010 that does not mean that there could not have and continue to have spirited debate.  I believe and have always believed that public discourse is the responsibility of all as long as it is based on accurate information.

Before I begin the next chapter of the Outraged Citizen, I must state what this blog is and what it is not.  The Outraged Citizen began as a person unhappy at the political bickering, the wasteful spending of our government, the scaling decline of morals, the love and obsession of celebrity and reality television along with the complete dismissal of common sense. There were way too many distorted truths from cable television and thought that I may not be the only person that wanted something more real, more intelligent and I know while my sarcasm and political affiliation may swing more left than right, I thought that I could be more honest the other things out there. My idea is and was not to promote hate or violence but to add a bit of satire, some humor, and to give a different take compared to what is found elsewhere.

For purposes of full disclosure, I started this blog angry at what our country had become mainly in 2008 and 2009.  When corporations like the one I worked for greedily constantly forecast to raise its gross revenue percentage to double digit growth year after year.  In this process they made bad decisions, made bad loans to people who didn't know any better and make huge profits.  Instead of accepting the consequences of making these bad loans they along their competitors who did the same thing were rewarded with a public-backed bailout.  In turn those same people what nearly sent these companies to bankruptcy were not received company bonuses back by the public that they wronged.  I was dismissed from my company which I will call the stagecoach after I made a decision not to make deceptive sales. I chose not to commit the same actions of countless others that cared less about the consequences of their actions --of not only themselves but consumers who believed in them, who thought that their best interest were paramount --to increase their own paychecks.  I did see some who tried to live above their means but the majority were wronged.  The wrong people were bailed out and most of those were the victims are still being wronged today.

We arrived at this place because of greed and that is what I was outraged with about the most.  I have seen money be the evil of people for over ten years and I am not surprised to see people continue to profit from other's pain.  Speaking of pain isn't it amazing that we only become human after something painful.  Why does it take a 9/11 or a massacre to notice that fact?  It is also sad that once that pain fades everything goes back to normal.

I'm back and maybe not as outraged, but the title is staying.  Thanks for reading!!

A Nation Divided, Uniting

On the eve of the violence, loss of life, and wounding in Tucson our nation is uniting once again.  It is sobering that this happens mostly in a sense of tragedy.   Politicians suddenly become human again and for some time the us versus them game is paused.  The arguments and the political backbiting has stalled on red states versus blue states and I am reminded and at the same time distantly hopeful that this is the way our politics should work.  We can have spirited and calm conversation.  We should have the ability to disagree that all should be able to state their ideas and their opinions without threat or reprisal.  It is the very essence of our country.  I just hope that we don't go back to yesterday and the bickering of 2010.

We have had this opportunity many times before.  I vividly remember September 12, 2001.  As I took the train that morning, people were human as they somberly walked to their destinations.  Strangers said hello with friendly glances and gone was some of the road rage that plagued the streets and highways.  We stood together united and some weeks later that unity began to break apart and we went back to business as usual.  There is an opportunity for us to try again and we must all take a part.