Gangstas Cry why they get in trouble?

So, word on the streets is that Snoop Dogg was arrested again after a search warrant on his vehicle revealed cocaine, marijuana, and a gun. In regards to the warrant, I can only assume that he is a felon on probation and must submit to searches of his person (which would include his car if he was in it) which ordinary citizens would not have to submit to. I doubt the validity of the warrant, mainly because I doubt the police had enough information to submit to a magistrate to give him, the magistrate, “probable cause” to issue the warrant. So, on that basis, I doubt Snoop will wind up on jail.  But, if he is a felon which must submit to searches, the point may be moot.

 

However, interestingly enough, Suge Knight came out in response to the Snoop Dogg beef. He describes Snoop as a person who throws up, likely because of fear, and cries to police. WAIT! Snoop is a gang member! He claims to be so hard! A gangsta’! Snoop would never cry or get nervous about trouble. Would he?

 

Not that any of these rap stars are credible, but I believe Suge on this. I believe Snoop gets scared when he believes he is going to jail, because then he will have to move away from his mansion and body guards, and in with men whom he taught, persuaded, and encouraged to be thugs. They listened, and will want to prove they are really thugs by messin’ with the very  person they were influenced by. Snoop should be scared of those thugs.

 

Snoop may have been in a gang. But now he does Girls Gone Wild videos and puts his kids in private schools. Snoop has money, a family, and things to live for. He is not ready for the thugs whom he told to “not give a fuck!” When Snoop goes to jail, they won’t care. They won’t care about Snoop, his family, his money, or his “hoes.” They will treat him like any other guy who goes to jail. My friends, I don’t know from experience, but from what they say, it ain’t good.

 

All of these rappers who brag about being from the streets, being “hard,” and moving “weight” should all spend some recent time in jail. Let’s see if they can really live the lives they make up on compact disks. Snoop, if that warrant was valid, it might be time to start throwing up and crying!  

Slow Down Al Sharpton. You need to take a seat beside Jesse.

It is a sub-heading in most columns, but a black man was shot and killed, on his wedding day, outside a strip club in New York. The reports are they the black man was in a verbal altercation and then ran over an under cover police officer before the police shot multiple times at his car.

Now, the African American community is going to get on the band wagon because he was unarmed. No doubt, Al Sharpton, as a fellow blogger calls him, the “VP to Jesse Jackson” is ready to march and get his chubby face all over television to stir racial tensions. And, I do not condone anyone dying;  but,  is this the guy we want to riot over?

First, he wasat a strip club on his wedding day. Yes, he has rights, but come on, hours before walking down the aisle doesn’t seem to be the appropriate time to get a table dance. Maybe that’s just me not buying into the racial stereotypes that MTV, BET, and rappers have been trying to sell me since I was a child.

Second, saying he was unarmed is misleading. He may not have had a gun, but he used a car to run over someone. In the law, a car used in such a way can be considered a deadly weapon. Murder, or manslaughter, charges could have been brought if the person he hit died. Thus, the deceased used deadly force. Let us not forget that before we rally behind him before we know all the facts.

I am not from New York, and have only been there once in my life for a weekend. I do not understand the cuture nor the racial climate up there.  I can imagine that the black powers that be, who make a living over-hyping and racially thinking everything, will make this a big deal up there.  

Here in NC, we had our own racial drama. A stripper who stripped for the Duke University Lacrosse team claimed she was raped. The New Black Panthers were down here in a second. Everyone was claiming how the white boys should be executed. Now, as more facts come out, this doesn’t seem to be as much of a tragedy as it does a stripper who may not have been telling the complete truth.  We should not have rushed so quick to judgment here. I hope you all do not make the same mistake in New York.   My advice, tell that negro Al Sharpton to sit down! Form your opinion on this on your own and be a free thinker.

Jesse Jackson needs to sit down

The Associated Press is reporting that Michael Richards, also known as K.K.Kramer, was on Jesse Jackson’s nationally syndicated radio program, “Keep Hope Alive,” to truly make amends for his racial tirade. Apparently, going on Jackson’s show is the solution because if he forgives, then the entire African American community follows.

This is what I hate about the leadership in the African American community. We allow ourselves to be represented by certain blacks who only profit off of our struggles.  Jesse Jackson does not represent me. After all, he is the reverend who has had an affair on his wife, an extortionist of corporations in order to boost his salary, place his children in employment, and raise money for his group, and is a general media groupie. Yes, Jackson is a groupie.

He only pops his head out of the whole he lives in when he can spin anything into a racial issue, and then, at the same time, place himself in the middle of the situation. I am told, ‘rest assured, I can feel comfortable about the situation until Jesse Jackson tells me it is cool.’ Why? Maybe I could if I could share in the money Jesse Jackson receives to clear whites of their racial deficiencies. Instead, he profits from his position while never firmly addressing the inadequacies in our community (i.e., healthcare, welfare, employment, and education). Now, he comes out to tell me that Kramer is actually cool and did not speak as a racist.

Negro, go somewhere and sit down!  Jesse, you are a sellout and no better than the racist that put you on their payroll.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

It is ironic is it that on Thanksgiving, American news outlets want us to be thankful for our troops fighting over seas. What’s ironic about that? This holiday is based on the imperialistic notions of our (their) forefathers who wanted to take over the North American continent and were thankful that the very people they wanted to concur, Native Americans,  saved their lives and aided in their mission.

 

Now, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, the news want us to thank our troops for fighting a war and taking over yet another civilization.  I hope the troops are safe, and I am not thankful for another war our country has found its way in. Have a happy holiday.      

Michael Richards “Kramer” Is A Racist!

Michael Richards, A.K.A. KKKramer, recently apologized for his racial slurs.  I abstained from opinion until I heard what he had to say. Not that what said to the patrons could have been excused, but I truly believe that everyone makes mistakes and deserves to be heard (A little thing our legal system refers to as Due Process).

 

After watching his apology, I have come to the conclusion that he is a racist. His apology seemed forced, robotic, and as if he was just going though the motions, almost giving a “form” apology just as athletes and other entertainers give. It lacked sincerity.  It lacked emotion. He seemed mad that he is accused of being a racist. Why is that?

 

In an African American culture where we say ‘nigga’ about as much as a David Duke at home with his children, I seem to understand the argument some whites make when they say that they believed it was appropriate to say ‘nigga’ in certain context.  Those context include situations where whites are familiar with blacks, spend a lot of social time with them, and have observed them using the word to each other on repeated occasions. Richards’ situation was not that.

 

He spoke in hate. He called it anger and frustration. Again, he mis-spoke. He spoke in hate. He was upset at African American men and his true colors came out. Like an alcoholic who drinks to much, anger often brings true feelings to the forefront. He just didn’t stop at repeatedly using the word “nigga.” He said things like “that’s what happens when you interrupt a white man.” He also referred to lynching. A simple apology will not do here. What should be done, however, is by African Americans.

 

African Americans need to organize. Stop going to the Laugh Factory where they allow him to perform. Stop watching Seinfeld on television. Consistently speak out aginast this. Let people know how wrong it was for him to say what he did. By taking a lackadaisical approach to this, we only tell whites that while we may be offended by this behavior, we are not mad enough to do anything about it.

 

The sad part was the laughs in the audience as he went on his racial rampage. Why do people say racism is a thing of the past? People found a white man making racial slurs at a group of blacks was amusing. It probably was to them. It wasn’t for the rest of us.

 

Turing back to our culture, we have to stop using the word ‘nigga’ so much. I don’t believe in the opinion that there is a difference between ‘nigga’ and ‘nigger.’ After all, it seemed that Kramer put emphasis on the ‘a’ in ‘nigga.” It didn’t make it less offensive to me. Let us set the example of how we want to be treated. Then, they won’t have petty excuses to fall back on.      

One HBCU is Listening to a Young Black Man!

Last week the Durham Herald Sun reported that HBCU (school name ommited by me) would focus on customer service. (See the article below). In the article, they refer to a letter sent to the board of trustees which complained of customer service at the school. It just so happens, that I sent a letter to the board of trustees complaining of customer service. See my letter under the news paper article.

Our classmates may not like it, but speaking up is the only way to facilitate change!
 

 article, which can also be found online at: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-785275.html . 

HBCU to focus on customer service
November 5, 2006 BY GREGORY PHILLIPS, The Herald-Sun

Leaders at HBCU want to see the school’s employees paying a little more attention to customer service.     Recent incidents yielded letters to the board of trustees . And they have that body’s executive committee concerned that, while Chancellor James Ammons has set up an office reporting directly to him to handle complaints, more needs to be done to prevent them from happening in the first place.    

” Every time we get a letter like that we have lost a potential contributor to the university ,” Chairman Cressie Thigpen told the trustees executive committee last week. “Sometimes I wonder if we are moving as quickly on that as we should.”    

Thigpen said a complaints office, while necessary, amounts to a Band-Aid approach when what’s needed is a change in the way HBCU hires and trains employees.    

The committee will present a list of recommendations to the full board of trustees meeting later this month, including customer service training for new employees, a mandatory annual seminar for all workers, monitors to deal with university departments and rate their service, plus a reward program for customer service.    

Board Secretary George Miller said some employees need reminding that, “We’re here to provide service and an education, not to keep someone in their place.”    

Any directive from the trustees is just a recommendation, but Thigpen said changing the customer service culture at HBCU has to come from the top.    

” The chancellor has to send the word out that we’re not going to tolerate people treating other people badly ,” he said.    

Thigpen also wants to see the trustees more actively involved in the university’s capital fundraising campaign. The committee agreed that all trustees should contribute money, but past chairman Ed Stewart also pushed for a minimum pledge level.    

“We all should be a participant of at least $1,000 each,” he said.    

Although Stewart’s suggestion got no traction, Miller said he’d never been asked for a donation during six years on the board.    

“I don’t think we need to set a dollar amount, but each trustee needs to know there’s an expectation,” he said.    

     COPYRIGHT 2006 by The Durham Herald Company. All rights reserved.

My letter to the board of trustees.

I have attended HBCU School of Law for two years. I have enjoyed my experience here at the law school. The staff is educated, respectful, and the facilities are exceptional. However, that is where my love for this institution ends. While I have attended the law school, there has not been a year where the main campus staff and employees have been anything more than rude, disrespectful, and completely unhelpful.    Unlike many who attend the Law School, my undergraduate degree is from a historically black college/university. I understand the struggles which face our HBCUs. However, HBCU ranks, in my mind, as administratively, one of the worst institutions a person could attend. Some of the reasons why include:  

  Financial Aid I have never seen such an unorganized group of individuals like what I have seen in the fiancial aid building. It is typical to wait for hours on the phone in an attempt to talk with someone. Once someone is on the phone, students are greeted with an unpleasant employee who chides students and rushes people off the phone before disseminating any useful information. In person, financial aid workers are often on cell phones while lines wrap around the room. Like over the phone, workers treat students like children and chastise them about problems. Students are there for information about their money. Such lines would not be necessary if financial aid did their job through out the year explaining the processes and procedures. In financial aid, students are not treated as if they are respected and valued, but as a burden in the day of the workers. You may make undergraduate students believe it is like this everywhere, but the graduate students know better, and we know you do as well.  

Now, financial aid tells the law students we will not receive our refund checks until October of this year. What is equally as frustrating is that the financial aid office is placing the blame on the students! What did we do wrong other than fill out the same forms and financial aid with came in September last year? If a change occurred in procedure, I would assume it would be financial aid’s job to inform students about it. However, that would require people to do their job, and at HBCU, that is always asking for too much.

Parking

Why are the law school parking lots VIP parking for football games? There is no where to park on Saturday’s to do school work. Students cannot study our rigorous course work because of these events. Indeed, there is no parking for students to use the undergraduate library during games. So, attending the athletic events is the focus on HBCU. Funny, at most schools, getting an education comes first. What do you think your serious students do instead? They travel to UNC-CH, Duke, or NC State to have a place to study. When students feel that it is too much of a hassle to study at their own institution, do you think they will become an alumni dedicated to giving contributions to improve the university? I hope not, because most students I talk to feel it was a mistake to come here, mainly because of the issues dealing with administration.

In regards to the daily parking problems revolving around the school, what attempts have been made to increase parking areas? All many students see is increased enrollment with no new lots. The law school itself has enough students to fill all the lots surrounding it. Because your administration is slow to act on anything non athletic, the law school pays a local church to rent parking spaces for its students. At least the law school takes swift, affirmative steps to show its students it is working with and for them.

Cafeteria and other services

At HBCU, I have witnessed, on multiple occasions, employees of this institution using profanity at students for asking questions like: ‘what is that for dinner’; ‘is there anywhere to park’; and ‘why can’t I wear my undergraduate school paraphernalia in the gym’? Overall, the staff at your institution is disrespectful and rude. Most graduate students feel being on campus only leads to hassle, and head-ache and prefer to stay here only for class. Is that the reputation you want for this university?

Before the Law School MPRE exam, a white individual said, “I was told to not take the exam at HBCU. Hopefully nothing will go wrong.” Not surprisingly, a fire alarm went off during the test. Many students are appealing the scores and want to invalidate the results. This is embarrassing to the institution. The students who took the exam are not just HBCU students, but students from across the world taking the NC Bar examination. The widely known reputation of HBCU as being ghetto, inefficient, unprofessional, unorganized, and dangerously susceptible to crime continues to grow with each instance where outsiders come on campus. Most students at the law school leave immediately after class because they do not feel safe here. In addition, many students here illuminate their undergraduate institutions in interviews because HBCU is thought to be a stain on any resume. After internships, many employers remark that they are impressed with our work despite coming from HBCU. All of this combines to make this institution the worst collegiate experience most of us here at the law school have ever experienced.

HBCU is a business and the students are its customers. The customers are dissatisfied. Most of my classmates agree that our children will never attend this institution. Further, we have no since of pride for anything here outside the law school. This letter could be longer, but you have heard all I have to say before. The question is, will you do anything about it or continue to hide behind the fake guise that this is a great institution with no problems?  

Young Black Man

School of Law, Class of 2007

HBCUs Administratively, are a bunch of Sell-Outs!

Frederick Douglas was beaten by a slave owner for attempting to read. See, generally, the Narratives of Fredrick Douglas. Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted his children to be able to go to school and play with children of different races. See, generally, Dr. King Jr. I Have A Dream Speech.  During most of African American history, whites have been the divisive line between African Americans and education. Now, however, the line has been drawn by African American leaders at HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) who make a fortune off of hindering the students they proclaim to serve.

 

Yes, there are exceptions. N.C. A&T State University had Renick, who has transformed the school into a modern university and a beautiful campus to which the entire state system can be envious. But, what about the others? Sadly, they fall short of providing students what they need to succeed. Further, they don’t come close to facilitating simple amenities that others students at predominately white schools enjoy.  

 

Recently, I sent an email to the Board of Trustees to an HBCU asking, why is their campus closed off during football games? No student can get on campus to do what they came to the institution for, which is to study and to get good grades. They act as if every student wishes to participate in homecoming. This school has a professional school. Yet, most of the professional school students which to go elsewhere to study.

The Law School building at this HBCU closes at midnight, while every other law school is open 24 hours a day. Yes, they have access cards, and so does everyone else at the schools they attend. The security says they refuse to patrol the law school past midnight, and see it as a waste of time. What they should say is the truth, they do not want to do their job and am not going to be responsible if someone gets hurt because they didn’t feel like making sure the building was secure.  And, blacks wonder why more HBCU do not have professional schools. The answer is clear, because black administration will not run an professional school with the class, leadership, and integrity that these schools deserve.  Blacks universities wish to have professional schools for the sake of having them with no intention of properly funding and supporting them.  

What if Fredrick Douglass lived today? Supposed he went to an HBCU law school. He would be prevented from diligently studying because other blacks don’t want to support him. Yet, these same blacks want to proclaim heritage to their race. The security will work a step show, a homecoming concert with other African Americans who promote a lifestyle that is detrimental to our race, but won’t support students attempting to get an education.

 

In youth culture, a sell-out is someone who does work, studies, does not get in trouble, and attempts to make a good living because they are not “acting black.” (See, Act Like the Middle Class Negro You Are).  Now, I am changing the mold. I am calling any black a sell-out if they  do not support other African Americans in getting a quality education or advancing in their careers.

 

So, HBCU administration, are you a sell-out? Who cares if homecoming is great? Are your students employable upon graduation? Can they get into a graduate degree program other than ones at an HBCU?  Are they competent in the work force? Are they seen as graduating from a respectable university? They have to pay back a lot of loans. Figures say that over 3/4of students at HBCU are on financial aid. Are they getting their monies worth? Is your salary too high for the work you do? Do you REALLY care about the student body? So far, I think the answer to all the before mentioned questions is no, and HBCU administration, as a whole, is a bunch of sell-outs.  Now, I want you to do something about it.

Duke Lacrosse, from the Start to Now, from a Durham, NC Perspective

Now that the trial in the Duke Lacrosse Case is a mere formality, I want to share my views on the case. For those who do not know, I attend law school in Durham NC.  There are only two law schools in Durham, and both have students involved in the case. When the news of the accusation broke last spring, I was in a class named Criminal Procedure. Of course, after class, we had our views of what was going on. The females were ready to join the protest in front of the players’ house, spoke of racism and how wrong the players’ were. I reminded them that “WE ARE IN LAW SCHOOL” and that they need some actual facts before they could make an accurate decision or opinion.

 

Then, I said something that changed my fate at the law school for the rest of my time here. I said, “What you ladies need to do is go to NCCU’s Main Campus and hold a forum with other students groups telling our black women to stop hoe-ing, stop stripping, and start acting like intelligent women” (a clear theme on this blog).  The black women thought the forum was a terrible idea. They said, “She had a child. She had to do what she had to do to put money in the child’s mouth. You don’t understand the struggles of a black woman!” To this day, many of those women will not speak to me, do not respect me, and various other things not to be mentioned here.

 

Now, we know the alleged victim lived with her parents. So, while people claim that stripping pays the bills, it did not afford her enough money to get her own place. These black women didn’t believe me, but most strippers don’t make a lot of money.

 

The truth is a stripper may make a lot of money living in a major city like Atlanta, New York, California, etc. But, in Durham, a predominately African American city, where the majority of wealth is still in the hands of whites, the average black stripper in a black strip club will not make any more than she would make working at Leaner. Don’t believe me?

 

First, most people are cheap in strip clubs and throw out one dollar bills. Further, most of the African American males in Durham are either in high school, in college with student loan money, or adult locals who are not making a decent living.  Therefore, there is not a large amount of wealth within the African American community. And, the money they do have gets spent on the frivolous things blacks spend money on, i.e., rims, a car, shoes, hats, jerseys, and just anything that does not appreciate in value. Jay Z and big named rappers are not throwing hundred dollar bills around in Durham strip clubs. Second, the club takes a large percentage of private dances for which they charge the most. So, even the money she gets is taxed.

 

Third, because Durham is not a major city, every night is not a party night. A stripper has to make the majority of her money during weekends, and specifically around pay days, because Monday-Thursday will yield low profits for a stripper. It’s just not in Durham’s culture to go out on a Monday night. This is still the south, has southern ways, and nothing has modernized the city to change that.

 

I am digressing.  These women had convicted the boys from the beginning. I wanted to wait. Never the less, asking to wait for facts, in their eyes, made me anti-black, anti-woman, and just an outcast. How could I side with the white boys?  But, I wasn’t. I just wanted to hear some concrete evidence before making a decision. 

 

The forum I proposed wasn’t totally about money. I thought it was needed to show our young black women that they won’t make enough money to pay back those student loans, so don’t use that excuse. Notwithstanding that, it was more about not placing themselves in adverse situations.

I told the black women I know, “take the victim out of the picture, no black women should be shaking her ass for money at anyone’s house.” But, the excuses continued. Men need to stop hiring them. I agree with that statement, but the issue at hand is black women and stripping. Can black women admit that stripping is wrong?

And, young black women need to know, that while no woman deserves to get raped, putting yourself in adverse situations will increase the odds that something bad will happen. No black man deserves to get killed, but dealing in drugs will increase the odds of a man reaching that fate. Can we tell women that if you strip, you may get raped, and you will have to prosecute the man, and the world will know that you are a stripper? The men will deserve to go to jail, but your secret of stripping will fade. So, if you strip, the odds of your secret being revealed are greater. Are they ready for that? Are they ready to be disrespected?    

 

Now, because the case involves the underworld of stripping, we have a situation where every stripper involved is standing up, telling anything and everything they can, trying to get national media attention, and trying to work the media like the men they work in the VIP rooms.  The case has become an embarrassment to our culture.

 

Speaking of culture, what happened to the New Black Panthers Party? They came down to our town, made a little stir, were mostly disorganized, did not raise the level of fear and shock that they wanted, and left. They promised to be back, but we haven’t seen them sense. We will likely never see them again. What a joke. If you’re going to do something, be organized and follow through. They tried to march on Duke and got shut down so fast the national audience may have missed it. I was there when they came. The media was laughing at them. CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC, everyone was there. They laughed. They found it funny. They were mocking the New Black Panther Party, taunting them when they were late to arrive to their own press conference. They were left to hold their press conference at the gates of Duke’s West Campus. Hell, any other idiot can ride through campus anytime of the day or night. It’s never shut down. To be so political, I am suprised the New Black Panther Party could not find one student to reserve a room for them!

 

Further, the racial rhetoric doesn’t work well in Durham. Jackie Waggstaff  (former Durham County School Board Member) was voted out of office here for using similar rhetoric. So, when she appeared with the Black Panther Party, the credibility of the party was lessened worse than imaginable. And, before radical blacks respond about us being too middle class, she was voted out in a predominately black, lower income, part of Durham. Yes, we all know that the Duke family gained wealth using slave labor and tobacco. Tell me something new within the past 100 years. The so called refrences to Duke as the “Plantation” were only for national media. I have lived in Durham for my entire life, minus 4 years of undergraduate school, both of my African American parents work at Duke, as do many African Americans in Durham, and I had never heard that phrase until this case. So, for the New Black Panther Party to come in and tell me about my city, when they were not even here long enough to be called visitors, showed how wrong, off point, and comical they truely were.

 

Those who were ready to hang the white lacrosse players last spring are really quiet now. I hope the lesson learned is to take race out of the equation, wait until facts come out, and make as much as an informed decision as possible.

Black Women, Enough is Enough!

My inaugural post on my blog (see very bottom post below) talked about women consenting to being touched in a club. Now, I will briefly discuss how such behavior is just foolish. The below You Tube video is my example. Why, in the world, would women rotate on grinding on a wguy? Why would they allow this behavior to be recorded in front of hundreds of people, singled out for the crowd to see?  I wonder if they think this behavior will make them marriage, girlfriend, or eployment material? I believe that this behavior makes them look like sluts, and further affirms the stereotypes that whites have of our culture.  Sadly, you can see whites in the crowd cheering more than most of the blacks in the crowd. Have you read Ralf Ellison’s Invisible Man (appogies for using Richard Wright in the original post. Heis, however, my favorite writer)? The video is all to similar to the book. Except, it is black women put on display for the enjoyment of others oppopsed to black men.

The sad part about this is that these women are put on a spot light. Singled out to see who can dance the most slutty. Interestingly, at the end of the clip the camera man pans the audience, and you can see that many black men and women in the audience are not comfortable being on tape. They do not want to be seen there. They do not want to be precieved to condone this behavior. The women do not have to get on stage. And comparing the bottom video with the top one, it is clear that SOME women will dance this way notwithstanding a man being there or not. This is not an excuse for men to act in any way, this is a plea from a black man, asking black women to not act and dance like sluts.

 

Ellison wrote the the embarrasment that blacks suffered by being put on display for the entertainment of others (whites particularly). Here, these women do not seem embarassed or ashamed. They seem proud to be there and happy to entertain the crowd. Is this the state of our black women in society? I want them to be ashamed. I want them not to act that way. I want them to be better. Am I asking too much?

 

It is clear from the video, however, that the men are not to touch the women. Based on my first post (see bottom post on page) these women did not consent to the touch! But, does that mean that they are any more respected? You be the judge.

 

One final observation. You look look to the side of the stage you will see that theNational Basketball Association (NBA) is a sponsor of this event. As if we didn’t already know they were in the business of exploiting our culture and community.

 

Did John Kerry Belittle the Troops, or was he Honest?

It’s the new big news in politics. John Kerry said if you try hard in school you’ll be alright, and if not, you’ll be in Iraq (See You tube video below for actual quote). Kerry was speaking to a group of young people. The Republicans have jumped on this quickly. This is a good diversion from Rush Limbaugh and the troubles of the GOP as of late. Even Democrats have found themselves distancing themselves from Kerry because of his self described “failed attempt at humor.” I have opinions on politics, but I defer comments on this topic, politically, for Skeptikal Brotha (link on the blogroll) and others who am sure will give a proper analysis.

My comments come from a more basic question, is what he said true? In this politically correct society, we can’t say anything bad about anyone (unless the Republicans are speaking about Democrats). Worse yet, The Republicans have successfully make the American public analogize discontent with the war for being unpatriotic and un-supportive of the troops. So, when Kerry said that the troops are a bunch of people who couldn’t go to college, even he should have known that was trouble.  If he couldn’t spot that, we are probably lucky he didn’t win the election.  

But, the point that Kerry was trying to make, and he is scared to admit it, is that if you get good grades, work hard in school, the military will not become a last resort to do something respectable.  Kerry knows, like everyone else knows, that going to Iraq in these days could be your death sentence. An education gives you more options than solely enlisting in this war. Kerry was saying if you work hard, there are more options for success, pride, and dignity in the profession you work without having to risk your life. Those who do not work hard, may have to enlist to get the respect and honor from a profession they would like to have. Truthfully, I agree with that. No one else would, but that’s because you can’t speak controversially during election season.

But, one thing Kerry made clear, whenyou’re in Iraq, you will be “stuck” over there.