Proud to be an American....

The "water cooler" talk for the past couple of weeks at my job has been about Tiger Woods. Anyone who maintains contact with the outside world knows by now that Mr. Woods has admitted to cheating on his wife, Elin, and he was in a very unfortunate car accident. Now, there are all types of speculation as to how and why this car accident actually occurred. The most popular "rumor" is that Elin found out about Tiger's affair (or affairs given the laundry list of women who have outed ya boy) and commenced to whooping his "bleeeeeep". Therefore, Tiger ran out of the house ( a bit under dressed) and crashed his car. Now, there are many lessons that can be learned from this incident. I am only going to mention the two most important lessons in my opinion. First, many women want the richest, most powerful, and famous man on earth to be their husband (you know how the song goes: money, power, respect is the key to life). I'm not telling anyone what type of man to like or dislike, but if this is your ideal man, then you need to understand the issues and complexities that come along with this type of life. It is highly likely that there will be numerous women throwing themselves at your man. Also, you can probably expect to have a difficult time maintaining your privacy because the paparazzi is always just around the corner. It has to be difficult for any man or woman in that position to stare down temptation everyday and always make the right decision to go home (now, just because it is difficult doesn't mean that anyone gets a pass to cheat. Cheating will now and forever always will be WRONG!!!). This brings me to my second point, men need to understand that today's woman is not like yesterday's "girl". If Tiger Woods and Steve McNair have taught us (especially men) anything, it is that adultery can be a dangerous and deadly game to play. The days of the silent mistress who knew her place are over. The "unsuspecting" wife who would look the other way is no longer around or at the very least on the decline. It would be very wise and prudent to think and pray over adultery these days versus letting another part of the anatomy do all of the "thinking" for you. Having said all of this, I actually am starting to feel sorry for Tiger Woods, and, yes, I do know that everything that you do in the dark will come to light. However, at some point we should let this man try to repair his family in peace (for goodness sake, the media was even making a big deal about his mother-in-law going to the hospital for irritable bowel syndrome. I mean, really, reaaaaalllly?). As much as I enjoyed the SNL skit from last Saturday (come on, it was gut busting funny), it is now time to give this man a break.



Anyway Tiger's infamous debacle was overshadowed this week by the guilty verdict in the Amanda Knox trial. For those who may have had more important things to focus on this week (like Christmas shopping), Amanda Knox is the American girl who was accused of murdering her room mate in a sex game gone wrong (or something like that). Apparently, there were three supposed players in this murder. Amanda (aka Barbie), her boyfriend :Raffaelle Sollecito (aka Super Mario/Luigi), and Rudy Guede (aka Riley Boondocks). The first person tried and convicted by the Italian courts was Rudy Guede whose case was pretty much open and shut. Rudy's DNA was found in the victim, her toilet, and in the blood surrounding her body so not much to argue with there (also, it appears as though Mr. Guede was a known drug dealer and thief in the neighborhood and oh yeah, he's black so he KNEW that he was going to jail). Next up was Amanda and her boyfriend who it appears initially lied to the police and using a very old and tired playbook blamed the crime on a black man who was found to have an airtight alibi for that night. It has also been stated that Amanda did not seem very remorseful about the death of her roommate (apparently, spinning cartwheels at the police station isn't a good way to express your grief, who knew??). Long story short, Amanda and Mario (er, Raffaelle) were found guilty and sentenced to approximately 30 years in prison. An appeal is already in the works, and it does appear that there was some fishy business going on in regards to the prosecutor's case so they may just win (Secretary Clinton has already been contacted to look into this "situation"). Whether they lose or win an appeal, my question is: Have they and all other Americans learned our lesson?

What lesson is this, you ask? I am interested to know if Americans have finally figured out that people in other countries don't give a rat's arse about me, you, or any other American citizen being,well, American. I believe travelling the country and, indeed, the world is one of the greatest experiences and luxuries one can allow his/herself. Exposure and education about the world around us is a key remedy to selfishness and ignorance. However, lately, it seems that all to often Americans have "forgotten" how to conduct themselves overseas. The minute we leave American shores and land on foreign soil, we are subject to the rules and regulations of that country. Therefore, I don't think it is necessarily a wise decision to go snooping around in countries that are openly hostile to the United States. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were over in North Korea (can it get any more hostile?) trying to get a story and got busted. Now, they say that technically they were on the Chinese border and unintentionally crossed into North Korea. Hmmmm..., I don't know if I buy this story. Even if I did buy the story, why were you that close to North Korea that your pinkie toe could cross into their territory anyway? The sentence for Laura and Euna was 12 years hard labor (Another call to the state department). In July, 3 American hikers are arrested in Iran (definitely no love lost here) for illegally crossing the border between Iraq and Iran. They were then charged with espionage (Yes that's right, each one of us would like to use our one call to phone a Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State for the United States). Again I ask why the freak were they close enough to Iran that they could be picked up on Iranian soil and charged with espionage?

People, common sense has to prevail at some point. We have to take responsibility for our actions, and we can't always depend on our government to bail us out when we "accidentally" fall into someone else's country or blatantly show disrespect in another country (spinning cartwheels). Come on, Hilary Clinton has far more important things to worry about than continuously bailing Americans out of jail in foreign lands (of course, she may have some experience being married to "I didn't inhale" Bill). Anyway, I say the buck has got to stop here. I believe that Americans who legitimately are taken hostage in a foreign land should receive aid, but if you are just out "hiking" or spinning cartwheels on someone else's turf (particularly those countries known to be enemies of the United States), then you have to suffer the consequences on your own. Ultimately, Americans should enjoy themselves when travelling abroad but always be mindful that we are guests in someone else's house and we should conduct ourselves accordingly.

Afghanistan! Need I say more...

Well, Atlantans took to the polls yesterday to elect a new mayor and city council president, and we technically still don't have a mayor yet. However, the likely winner is Kasim Reed. (the young, GA state senator who came from relative obscurity. Remind you of anyone????) The winner for city council president was Ceaser Mitchell (another fortyish, black male. I must say it is shaping up to be a rather good year for youngish, black males.) There are some interesting similarities between the Atlanta mayoral race and the democratic primaries of 08. However, I will have to review the run off after we officially have a mayor (come on Mary Norwood, let's not drag this thing out forever). I would like to take a moment to express how proud I am that the citizens of Atlanta actually had a more than decent showing at the polls yesterday(who knew that more people would turn out for the run off a couple of days after Thanksgiving than the general election?? Is there some recall on turkeys due to them being stuffed with "unknown substances" that I don't know about? ). Compared to the elections in November, it was an absolute triumph. If we are truly going to make a difference in this town, this is the type of turn out that we must have at every single election.

Moving on, I really want to address the president's decision on Afghanistan. Last night, President Obama announced that he would be sending an additional 30,000 troops into Afghanistan as part of a "surge" effort. He said that this is necessary to ensure the security of the United States and her interests. He also mentioned that we would only be there a grand total of 18 months, but, of course, that will depend on "conditions on the ground" (code for if we haven't made progress in 18 months, this could start looking like another Iraq). He also made very little mention of funding this war. The president did a wonderful job of informing the nation on his decision. However, for the first time during his tenure as commander-in-chief, I don't think he sold it. He has been able to sell a majority of this country on bail outs, healthcare, and most importantly hope that things will get better. Until last night, it seemed as if everyone (excluding our "buddies" in the Republican party) was on board the Obama express. I hope that this is the right decision for our country, and this war may very well prove to be successful. However, I'm not sure Obama will be able to claim victory.

As it stands, president Obama has made a decision that elates Republicans and has severely fractured his own base in the Democratic party. I repeat: Obama has made a decision that elates Republicans and has severely fractured his own base in the Democratic party. The question becomes, can Obama trust Republicans enough to support him in this war effort? Could this all possibly be a set up by Republicans down the line? I honestly think that president Obama is an intelligent, thoughtful, and kind man, but there comes a time when you have to put down the white flag and throw up your middle finger to the opposition. I don't know if this war in Afghanistan will be successful, but I do know that you can not alienate your base and expect to win an election. Now, over years, your base may become more moderate (conservative Republicans need to take note) and be more willing to compromise with the opposition on certain key issues. However, the Democratic base has not grown more moderate and, last time I checked, are staunchly anti-war. Hmmmm, could it be that some wise Republican realized that all we have to do is divide the democratic party over key issues (healthcare reform, blue dog democrats need to "GET ON BOARD"), and in 2 years we will waltz back into Congress. 2 more years after that (provided the right candidate comes along), we are back in the oval office sitting pretty.

It is precisely for this reason that Democrats need to support the president in his decision to send more troops into Afghanistan although, many Democrats fundamentally oppose sending anymore of our resources (human or monetary) over to the Middle East when we should be taking care of home, first ( I would have to agree with them on this point. Actually, Obama campaigned on this very premise). I say this all the time, and I think it bears repeating: no matter how upset the Republican party got with Dubya, when he made a decision, everyone fell in line and supported him to the hilt. The bottom line is united you stand and divided you fall. Unless this democratic party wants to be on the outside looking in come 2010 and 2012, they can not allow themselves to fall.

Finally, in the mean time, president Obama needs to check himself about the people who are his true supporters and have his back. I will always respect him for having his own mind in making decisions, but some of those decisions better start falling the other way and quickly. Things like escalating a war in Afghanistan and bailing out Wall Street ( people who are now making record amounts of money while American citizens are still jobless and homeless) are not the type of decisions that endear you to the hearts of the people. Healthcare reform could honestly be the best Christmas present that this president ever receives.