Barack Obama supporters were enthusiastic, walking the streets taking it all in. Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, young and old, the atmosphere is electric.

But then there’s the Hillary Clinton supporters. It’s like they have their own pitty party going on. One guy told us he’ll vote for Barack Obama in November, but he won’t campaign or raise funds like he usually does for the Democrats. One lady I talked to seemed sad that she was even going to Denver. She wore a shirt that said “Thanks Hillary” The Hillary supporters are garbed out…but so are Obama supporters.

When we got on the plane I heard the first of many conversations broken up into “Hillary Supporters” and “Obama Supporters.” One vendor pulled us aside in the Red Lion (Texas Delegation) and told us to “watch out for the Hillary people.” I’m not sure what we were supposed to watch out for, but he was pretty adamant about it. I heard a conversation between three “hard-working, blue-collar, middle class” voters who said “they need to just get over it,” speaking of Clinton supporters, “it’s time to move on.”

Not so sure they’re ready to do that with talk of an 18 million voters protest scheduled for later this week. When we get a read on this Hillary for V.P. petition, we’ll let you know.

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Prior to the pseudo-debate, Warren assured the audience while he was interviewing Mr. Obama that “we have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence.” and that he could not hear the questions.  Apparently Warren didn’t get the memo that McCain hadn’t arrived.

Now the McCain folks et. al. are starting to spin McCain’s late arrival.  Mike Allen of The Politico has word from the McCain camp that both candidates got some questions in advance.  The Politico reports that a source close to Warren tells Allen that the candidates knew in advance they would be asked their own greatest moral failure, America’s greatest moral failure, and the three wisest people in their lives.

At the beginning of McCain’s portion of the interview, Warren asked “…was the cone of silence comfortable that you were in just now?  McCain answered, “I was trying to hear through the wall.”  Through the wall of his car?

Rick Warren now says McCain didn’t break the so-called “cone of silence.”  Yet he did.  If he wasn’t in the designated room, then he broke the rules.  Warren should come out and apologize for leading the audience to believe that McCain was there.  This is why Obama was right in turning down the town hall debates (that and he can’t get his words out).  If  people have the potential to feed a candidate questions ahead of time it’s too much room for error.

The quick, rapid fire responses McCain was shooting at Warren’s questions is of great concern.  If the shoe were on the other foot, the Republicans would be screaming bloody murder.

I haven’t watched as much baseball as in years past, but I happened to be watching when Texas Rangers “closer” C.J. Wilson made two Busch League moves.  The latest came Tuesday night when Wilson showed blatant disrespect for Rangers manager Ron Washington in the team’s 8-6 win over the New York Yankees.

But let’s go back to Sunday July 13, in a game between the Rangers and the Chicago White Sox.  Wilson entered that game in a non-save situation with the Rangers leading 12-8.  Jim Thome smacked one of Wilson’s so called meatball pitch over the fence making the score 12-11 and causing White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to start taunting Wilson from the dugout.  Wilson then “closed” the game and threw his arms up in a “how you like me now?” fashion.

As a fan I was upset that a guy who almost blew a 4 run lead would show that type of emotion after a performance like that.  Wipe your brow, point to God, anything, but don’t act like you retired the side in order.

Now fast forward to Tuesday night, when Wilson started warming in the 7th inning with the score 5-2.  A three-run triple by Chris Davis gave the Rangers a 6 run lead before Wilson entered in the top of the 8th.  Wilson proceeded to walk two batters, hit A-Rod, and eventually gave up a grand slam to .226 hitting Richie Sexon.  C.J. glared at manager Ron Washington as he made his way out to remove him from the game.  Then something weird happened.

Washington grabbed Wilson’s arm and made him come back to the mound.  I saw Wilson come back and hand the ball to his manager and assumed he was so mad that he forgot to give Washington the ball.  It was still odd for Washington to put his hands on a player in that fashion, but I would later find out what stirred the baseball man to that course of action.

Wilson actually threw/tossed the ball at Washington as evidenced in the picture to the left.  The television cameras didn’t really pick up the incident and the Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve didn’t really say much about it on the broadcast.   It makes sense: if Wilson was going to pout like a child, Washington was right in treating him like one and making him hand the ball over like a big boy.

Wilson has gotten a pass all year for his lackluster performance as a closer.  His save numbers are decent, but his ERA is a sky high 6.02.  And even when looking at his save ratio it doesn’t account for the non-save games he entered that became save situations because of his poor pitching.

Because he’s a cool dude, plays guitar, and talks to the media he hasn’t caught a lot of heat for his play.  But to date, Wilson has accomplished nothing in the majors and didn’t even win the closing job it was given to him.  You might have to look the other way if Mariano Rivera tossed the ball at his 2nd year manager, but not C.J. Wilson.

Marlon Byrd noticed Wilson’s actions.  “I didn’t like it one bit,” Byrd told the Dallas Morning News.  “…when the manger comes out to get you, you hand him the ball and show him the respect he deserves.”  After pulling this team out of the toilet -and getting no credit for it- I think Washington has earned more that a stunt like Wilson’s.

We all get upset and we all take it a bit too far sometimes.  But in the game of baseball, it’s always the little things that matter most.  An overblown celebration or tossing the ball at a manager may seem like a little, but they are often signs of a player that’s not right.  C.J. Wilson is not right, and he needs to think about his actions as of late.

Obama’s trip overseas also put him in a similar damned if you do, damned if you don’t predicament. John McCain and the GOP folks slammed him for weeks because he had not visited Iraq. Now all of a sudden they have tried to spin the warm reception he received abroad into a negative.

Making matters worse, McCain has brought on some of George W’s cronies to further smear Obama’s trip. Now they are saying that Obama didn’t visit wounded soldiers in Germany because he couldn’t take the media with him. There’s not a shred of evidence to support this claim.

In some political circles he’s viewed as the most liberal Senator in Congress, while many (of us) say he’s moved too far right with his support of FISA legislation. His Kenyan heritage and Hawaiian upbringing leave whites with the impression that that he’s not American enough, while the fact that his father wasn’t part of the Civil Rights struggle leaves some African-Americans with the impression that he’s not black enough.

In many ways that’s politics. There’s nothing that you can do to find favor in the eyes of your opponent or your detractors/haters. But in the case of Senator Obama there’s always more to it, and its frustrating to watch it play out.

Anytime someone black says -or raps- something during the campaign, Obama has to answer questions about it. We hear conservative talk use code words referring to his race, but if he responds then he’s “playing the race card from the bottom of the deck.”

Throughout the year Obama has made a habit of turning no win situations into victory speeches. We’ll see if this holds true when McCain and his Low Road Express throw the kitchen sink at him.

As your daily politics watcher, it is my responsibility to raise concerns that are of interest to you. Since that is the case, I would like to pose a question: Why are poor, uneducated Whites called blue collar workers?

It is interesting to me that poor uneducated Whites get more credit and recognition than poor uneducated Blacks or Hispanics? As a matter of fact, most poor uneducated Blacks and Hispanics are not even thought of as likely voters. But not poor uneducated Whites.  Poor uneducated Whites are give a fancy title, like NASCAR dads.  Is something wrong with this picture or is it just me?

Why is it that when the Democratic primary came down to Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, poor uneducated Whites were the ones that everyone wanted Barack Obama to cater to? Do the poor make up a majority of the U.S. electorate? I’m just trying to understand what’s really going on.

It’s time for law agencies across the country to revisit the use of this device.  The rate at which African-Americans are subject to taser shocks seems out of whack to say the least.  But a revision in the Use of Force Continuum could make this deadly tool less likely to be used as an instrument of torture and retaliation.

As documented here by way of Electronic Village, the use of force continuum provides law enforcement with a guide of how much force to use against a resisting subject.  Those guidelines go as follows:

Level One * Officer Presence

Level Two * Verbal Commands

Level Three * Empty Hand Control

Level Four * Pepper Spray, Baton, Taser

Level Five * Less Lethal

Level Six * Deadly Force

My suggestion would be that law enforcement consider moving the Taser away from level 4 and creating a 7th level.  The new continuum might look like this:

1) Officer Presence - 2) Verbal Commands - 3) Empty Hand Control - 4) Pepper Spray/Baton - 5) Less Lethal Force - 6) Taser - 7) Lethal Force

The reason for this change would be that tasers have been shown to be quite lethal.  Taser Nation reports that there have been  360 people to die in North America as a result of tasers since 2001.  Truth Not Tasers posts a lists 363 individuals that they report have been killed by tasers.  Here is a list of 46 people that they say have died in 2008 from tasers, which includes a recent death in Dallas.

318. January 2, 2008: Brandon Smiley, 27, Mobile, Alabama
319. January 5, 2008: Ryan Rich, 33, Las Vegas, Nevada
320. January 9, 2008: Otis C. Anderson, 36, Fayetteville, North Carolina
321. January 11, 2008: Xavier Jones, 29, Coral Gables, Florida
322. January 15, 2008: Mark Backlund, 29, New Brighton, Minnesota
323. January 17, 2008: Baron Pikes, 21, Winnfield, Louisiana
324. January 18, 2008: Daniel Hanrahan, 44, Staten Island, New York
325. February 3, 2008: Louis Cryer, 32, Port Arthur, Texas
326. February 3, 2008: Joseph Davis, 50, Brandon, Mississippi
327. February 7, 2008: Richard Earl Abston, 53, Merced, California
328. February 19, 2008: Garrett Sean Farn, 41, Bakersfield, California
329. February 26, 2008: Barron Harvey Davis, 44, Mayes County, Oklahoma
330. March 4, 2008: Christopher Jackson, 37, Clay, New York
331. March 6, 2008: Javier Aguilar, 46, Roswell, New Mexica
332. March 18, 2008: Roberto Gonzalez, 24, Chicago, Illinois
333. March 20, 2008: Darryl Wayne Turner, 17, Charlotte, North Carolina
334. March 21, 2008: James Garland, 41, Deerfield Beach, Florida
335. March 29, 2008: Henry Bryant, 35, Indianapolis, Indiana
336. March 30, 2008: Walter Edward Haake Jr., 59, Topeka, Kansas
337. April 2, 2008: Jason Jesus Gomez, 35, Santa Ana, California
338. April 6, 2008: Yvelt Occean, 31, New Kent County, Virginia
339. April 22, 2008: Uriah Samson Dach, 26, Richmond, California
340. April 24, 2008: Kevin Piskura, 24, Cincinnati, Ohio
341. April 24, 2008: Dewayne Chatt, 39, Memphis, Tennessee
342. April 27, 2008: Paul Thompson, 24, Greensboro, North Carolina
343. April 28, 2008: Jermaine Ward, 28, Jackson, Tennessee
344. May 4, 2008: Joe Kubat, 21, St. Paul, Minnesota
345. May 6, 2008: James S. Wilson, 22, Alton, Missouri
346. May 28, 2008: Ricardo Manuel Abrahams, 44, Woodland, California
347. May 31, 2008: Robert Ingram, 27, Raceland, Louisiana
348. June 5, 2008: Willie Maye, 43, Birmingham, Alabama
349. June 6, 2008: Donovan Graham, 39, Meriden, Connecticut
350. June 8, 2008: Quintrell T. Brannon, 25, Vincennes, Indiana
351. June 9, 2008: Tony Curtis Bradway, 26, Brooklyn, New York
352. June 23, 2008: Jeffrey Marreel, 36, Norfolk, Ontario
353. June 24, 2008: Ernest Graves, 26, Rockford, Illinois
354. June 27, 2008: Nicholas Cody, 27, Dothan, Alabama
355. July 2, 2008: Isaac Bass, 34, Louisville, Kentucky
356. July 4, 2008: Othello Pierre, 23, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
357. July 8, 2008: Samuel DeBoise, 29, St. Louis, Missouri
358. July 8, 2008: Carlos Vargas, 42, San Bernardino, California
359. July 14, 2008: Marion Wilson Jr., 52, Houston, Texas
360. July 14, 2008: Deshoun Keyon Torrence, 18, Long Beach, California
361. July 22, 2008: Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, Manitoba
362. July 23, 2008: Richard Smith, 46, Dallas, Texas
363. July 26, 2008: Anthony Davidson, Statesville, 29, North Carolina

The uneven use of tasers against African-Americans is alarming and is documented at Tasered While Black.  But a common sense solution by law enforcement could make it more difficult for officers to misuse this deadly weapon.  We must continue to put pressure on the agencies involved until the changes are made.

This weekend, 60 bloggers gathered in Atlanta for the inaugural Blogging While Brown International Conference of Bloggers of Color. The event was produced by Executive Director Gina McCauley who also publishes the blog What About Our Daughters.

There were established blogs represented, Black Web 2.0, Electronic Village, and Clutch. And there were new bloggers also in attendance, like LaQuitta Jones who started her Terrell Tax and Planning blog about a month ago.

The conference kicked off on Friday night with a meet and greet at Fox Sports Grill in the Atlantic Station District. There were many bloggers in the room who had known each other for years via the web, but it was the first time that they had the opportunity to lay eyes on one another.

As each person stood up giving their name and website, you could literally see people around the room shaking their heads and saying “Oh she’s the one who runs that blog.” It was a great atmosphere for folks to get to know one another before the more structured workshop format that was scheduled for the following day.

After the meet up, I hung out with a group of bloggers who were discussing the merits of CNN’s Black in American. As a matter of fact, Soledad O’Brien’s special report was a hot topic throughout the weekend.

Saturday Morning’s session started bright and early with a presentation from Black Web 2.0’s founder Angela-Conyers-Benton and general manager Markus Robinson. Their session was called The Ultimate Blog Experience. From the very beginning, I was struck by the two 20 somethings addressing the group who were at the top of the black blogging game.

Angela and Markus shared so much great information during their session. Many of us found out just how much blogging technology attendees were using that we had never even heard of. ELance, Meebo, Twiter Feed, MoFuse, Blog Burst, and Global Grind were offerings that I was unfamiliar with prior to Saturday. Even my tech saavy roommate for the weekend Theo Johnson from That’s What I’m Talking About was able to pick up lots of pointers.

Next we heard from representatives of the Republican and Libertarian parties. Each party that has a candidate in the general election was invited to participate, however these were the only two felt compelled to attend Blogging While Brown.

By this time the blogger energy really kicked in and the laptops started rolling. Many of the conference participants started Tweeting one another. ATLiens (Straight from the ‘A’) had me rolling so I’m sorry to any presenter who I laughed at…my bad. Theo even set up a live feed on UStream.

After lunch, there was a panel discussion about….well I’m still not sure what it was about. The panelist included Clarissa Goodlett from ColorofChange.org, Tamera Reynolds of Glam Media, and Necole Bitchie. The session was moderated by Kevin Ross of Three Brothers and a Sister.

A number of topics were touched on from activism, to civil rights to advertising. But many were left wanting to hear more from Necole, who in seven months (and some struggles prior to that) has created a couple of recognizable brands with both Necole Bitchie and The Urban Blogger. As a matter of fact, both Necole and Clarissa will be on Gina’s Blog Talk Radio Show this week.

Necole Bitchie

After that session was (finally) finished, Carmen (Carmen D.) Dixon from All About Race presented and informative session titled “Secrets from a Media Insider”. Carmen shared some of 10 plus years of experience in the television industry with attendees. She broke down the make up of a news room, how to pitch yourself to news directors, and creating the ins and outs of a media kit. Not only did the bloggers in attendees appreciate Carmen’s content, but people I talked to also appreciated Carmen’s energy and passion.

Finally AfroSpear member Wayne Hicks (Electronic Village) lead and Umoja session that focused on blogger unity and sustainability. As a matter of fact, AfroSpear members Villager, Carmen D., Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend (ranked #1 in latest Black Blogger Rankings) and I all ended up sitting together on the front row all day. The AfroSpear’s Bruce Dixon from Black Agenda Report was also represented.

There were also a podcast session lead by Mixed Chicks and a legal session lead by Attorney Mom that I missed.

In summary, this was a very well organized, informing and inspiring conference. Gina must be commended for stepping out on faith and making it happen. When we were taking the group photo, I was reminded of the picture from the Niagara Movement in 1905. One day far in the future -which means 2010 in internet years-we’ll look back at the photo and think that a new movement took root, or was furthered in Atlanta in July of 2008. But for now, I’m looking forward to BWB 2009.

Though NetRoots Nation was covered heavily last weekend in Austin, there’s been hardly a peep about BWB. In fairness, Blogging While Brown was held on the same weekend as Unity (conference of minority journalists) in Chicago. I’m sure next year’s event will be held at a time when journalists can be part of the mix. But this time I think it was best for bloggers -many whom have little or no journalistic training- to come together and make their own way. There will be plenty of time for media exposure.

Sponsors for this historic conference included BlogHer, Service Employees Industry Union, Daily Kos, Glam Media, and Common Sense Media.

By Jazzy

Education and hard work are the consistent mantra that permeates the essence of the American Dream. Education, as we know, is not created equally nor is it extolled equally. Schools in lower socioeconomic areas are rife with underperforming curricula, in desperate need of updated teaching materials, and innovated ideas to excite beaten down students to achieve a goal they believe unattainable in the first place.

For many students in lower socioeconomic areas the belief that they have a chance to enter college is surreal. Many struggle with the basics because they are never driven to learn or even taught but rather pushed on to the next level. For those not lost in the public school systems they head off to college earn their degree and look forward to their future. A future, according to the America dream, should grant them privileges and entrance into a new world far from what many of them knew.

Even though -according to data-there is a closing in income among Black household incomes in comparison to their white counterparts, a glaring disparity exists between white men and black men to the tune of approximately $10,000 with the same degree and experience.

Soledad Obrien mentioned in the CNN special Black in America that White men who are ex-cons are more likely to receive a job offer in comparison to black men with an education, because the perception is that black men are lazy and don’t know how to dress properly.

There are no more visible chains and shackles than these biases, but what remains is far more pervasive, unjustified perceptions and insidious stereotypes that are used as excuses to permit and mask underlining racial prejudices; be they conscious or subconscious.

So what then happens when you do everything according to the playbook and you still come up short? How do we keep young Black adults encouraged when they realize that even with the Great American Equalizer they still come up short?

Well there have been more cases of taser abuse across the nation as of late, and Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune details another such instance. In his article Taser death ignites racial tension, Witt chronicles an incident that occurred in a small Louisiana town.

• At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron “Scooter” Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.
  What happened in the 39 minutes in between–during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser device, while reportedly pleading for mercy–is now spawning fears of a political cover-up in this backwoods Louisiana lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.

• Even more ominously, because Pikes was black and the officer who repeatedly Tasered him is white, racial tensions over the case are mounting in a place that’s just 40 miles from Jena, La. Jena is the site of the racially explosive prosecution of six black teenagers charged with beating a white youth that last year triggered one of the largest American civil rights demonstrations in decades. And in a bizarre coincidence, Pikes turns out to have been a first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena 6 case.

• Here in the birthplace of two of Louisiana’s most colorful and notorious governors-Huey and Earl Long-the police chief committed suicide three years ago after losing a close election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-buying.
  Just four months later, the district attorney killed himself after allegedly skimming $200,000 from his office budget and extorting payments from criminal defendants to make their cases go away.

• An autopsy determined there were no drugs in Pikes’ system and that he did not have asthma, according to Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner.

• Moreover, Pikes did not resist arrest, and he was handcuffed while lying on the ground, according to Nugent’s police report of the incident. It was only after Pikes refused Nugent’s command to stand up that the officer applied the first Taser shock in the middle of his back, Nugent wrote.

• Only after Pikes was carried into the police station and slumped into a chair did police call for an ambulance. He was pronounced dead soon afterward at the local hospital.

If you are unfamiliar with the dangers of taser guns, please visit African American Political Pundits excellent Tasered While Black website.

Earlier this year, Electronic Villager outlined the Use of Force Continuum used by many police forces to subdue suspects. That list looks something like this:

Level One * Officer Presence

Level Two * Verbal Commands

Level Three * Empty Hand Control

Level Four * Pepper Spray, Baton, Taser

Level Five * Less Lethal

Level Six * Deadly Force

We back the blue here at Dallas South, no doubt. But there are those out there wearing the badge who give good cops a bad name on a daily basis. Many are those who use tasers when less lethal options are available.

But I would argue that many uniformed officers are unaware of the true dangers of tasers. They probably don’t know -as AAPP and CBC News point out- that 1/3 of taser subjects end up needing medical attention.

I will argue, more coherently at a later date, that the use of force continuum needs a 7th step. Pepper Spray, Batons, and Tasers are not created equal. Stun guns need there own level, just before deadly force. In the case of Baron Pikes and others, the use of a taser was lethal.