Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Missing the Leadership Boat on Race

    The Obama administration is finally getting a lot more scrutiny- all the scrutiny is well-deserved- for its continued instigation of a police state against the American people. Not so well noted, and maybe, slipping by on account that the other issues are "more glamorous"- was the total lack of preparation or position statements on the Supreme Court's decision against the Voting Rights Act of 1965- an act which, of course, without which this president could never have possibly even been elected.
     One big reason I did [did I, really? damn!] vote for Hif Majeftie on the first go round was an expectation that, as a native Hawai'ian, he might be of some help in pulling our nation out of its usual racial muck. Separate insular and Balkanized communities, which have as little to do with one another as possible, still seem to be the general rule in large cities and small towns across America. In Honolulu, however, one is thrust into a much more tightly knit network of diversity, and one must either deal with it, or be ostracized. My own childhood felt blessed, actually, for this experience, because it helped me to be someone who bases my consideration of the character of others due to the way I am treated, and not solely by their appearance.
     When this decision of the Supreme Court was due to be announced, was there any general policy statement offered by the White House in defense of the Voting Rights Act? No. The White House, basically, punted, and left the Act to twist in the wind. Subsequent  to the SCOTUS running back the ball for an unopposed touchdown, the WH sent out the Atty. General to make haste to attack the Texas statutes which could not have been made acceptable, without that Court opinion. And with that, we get a taste of just what sort of "leadership" is being offered here- not progressive action, but reaction. Additionally, the WH and AG might have come cleaner a LOT sooner on their "sentencing guidelines reform" as per drug laws, but instead, deferred early on to the prison industry. A little too late, actually, to give more than the appearance of trying to play politics again with the idea of civil liberties. What they take away with one hand- due process for suspects, mass surveillance of private citizens- they offer back with the other, as if to say "See? We really DO care." This strikes me as being just more grist for the mill. The Constitution is not a negotiable item, and the people of the United States have the right-as well as the duty- to hold the government and representatives of this nation accountable for their crimes against it. I suppose they think we're all too concerned with trying to get work, as so we may be- or just, happy feeding off what we're allowed to believe makes for our little lot, but Freedom and Liberty used to mean something else entirely in this nation than they do today. I would think the Buck Needs to Stop Someplace.

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