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Why Mitt Romney and the GOP Lost: Ask Maya Angelou

Because he got fewer votes than Obama.
There ends the reason.

"When people show you who they are, believe them."

~ Dr. Maya Angelou

There's been a lot of punditry going on about Mitt Romney and the GOP's loss of the presidential election.   It just isn't all that deep.  Just ask Dr. Maya Angelou.

No I think I figured it out.

Dr. Angelou has been quoted a bazillion times for saying, "When people show you who they are, believe them."  Simply put, Mitt Romney and the GOP showed the American electorate who they are.  And we believed them.

...
He showed them he was a man who got fewer votes--
so therefore he isn't president.
Why is this such a complicated concept for people?

Gentle Readers, you know how I am:  If I find something that I think will help someone, I feel compelled to share it.  Well, these past few days, I've been treated to -- no, blessed with -- some real words of wisdom that have not only lifted me, but freed me.  Perhaps they'll do the same for you.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Truly one of the wisest men to ever walk the earth.
Despite emphatically not marrying a brown girl when that was pretty much what Rome was busy conquering.
Brown girl land.
I dunno, man.
He married his maternal cousin, in fact. What's that about anyway?

First are words of wisdom from my second-oldest sister (SOS).  Before I begin, let me tell you the value of having older sisters around when your mother is deceased.  Older sisters are like vaults of your late mom's wisdom, if for no other reason, because they knew your mom longer than you did and have more of her wisdom. 

"A man should be upright, not kept upright."

I was also blessed with words of wisdom from one of my book club members, Joann, who turned 70 last week and doesn't look a day over 45.  God has been good to Joann.  That's not to say she hasn't had her struggles -- who hasn't?-- but she looks good and has a happy spirit.  When I asked Joann for words of wisdom to reach the age of 70 looking and feeling like she does, she gave me these words of wisdom someone imparted upon her:

1) Find a church;
2) Keep a job;
3) Rest.

Of these three, she said the most important was getting enough rest.  

"A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions."

As for keeping a job, I've done that, but I want more than a job:  I want a calling.  That leads me to some words of wisdom imparted upon me by a former law teaching colleague who, like Joann, has been blessed with fabulous genes (she doesn't look a day over 40 and she's in her 60's), and an even more fabulous spirit.

“Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back.” 

 I told her how frustrated I am about continuing in the practice of law when I feel I have other skills and talents I want to use, but I just don't know how.  

And the one quote that if the world learns nothing from Marcus Aurelius but this it should be his:
“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” 
YOU SEE THAT YOU WEAK-WILLED TWATS?

This time, I'm voting for President Obama because he's black.  Before you accuse me of "playing the race card," a phrase I find offensive because it is intended to thwart any meaningful and real discussion of race and racism in America, hear me out.

I'm voting for Mittens because he's white.

Last time, I voted for President Obama because I believed he was the candidate with the better intellect and temperament to deal with the challenges American would face.

I was not disappointed.

... You weren't?
I was.
Go see that Lincoln movie and stand in awe at how shit modern politicians are. Lincoln was a guy who got shit done.
Even if you don't agree with him you have to at least give him credit: he did some shit.

I knew that there was no way he was going to be able to reverse the tsunami that would become the Great Recession in only four years.

Lincoln ended the Civil War and slavery in four years.
Just saying.

To my knowledge, the GOP didn't even conspire to make Roosevelt a "one-term president," and his agenda was decidedly more radical than President Obama's.

Also a great doer of shit.
That's what I'm starting to learn. Conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican--
as long as you do some shit you're okay.
The problem is no one wants to do some shit.

To my mind, the only plausible explanation is that a whole lot of white folks just aren't comfortable having a black president, no matter what he's done to save many of their broke behinds.

So I've already voted for Barack Obama because he's black. 

I voted for Gaius Julius Caesar personally.
I think Caesar's ashes would make a better president than the two chucklefucks running.

Since he's not been graded fairly because of his race, I've decided to balance the unspoken racial bias with my racially biased vote.  As a fellow African-American Ivy League-educated professional, I totally get it.  Been there, got the "unspoken racial bias" t-shirt many times over. 

Caesar: assassinated
Lincoln: assassinated
FDR: attempted assassination
If someone doesn't try to axe you you aren't doing a very good job is what I'm learning.

Hell, it's not like a whole lot of evangelical white folks aren't holding their noses about Romney's religion and voting for him just because he's white.

I haven't really heard anyone say they're voting for Mittens because he's white.
Outside of the joke I made a bit ago, that is.

Last week, "Take Our Daughters and Our Sons to Work" day occurred. I didn't take anybody's daughter or son to work with me. The obvious reason is that I don't have a son or a daughter. I could have taken countless great-nephews and great-nieces to work, though. The reason why I didn't is this: I don't want to teach my great-nieces and great-nephews to be employees like I am.

Don't want to teach them to be successful.
Okay.

I want them to be entrepreneurs and business owners, even if they have a small business on the side.

The reality is that, at least in a good economy, anybody with a high school diploma and a pulse can get a job.albeit not one the pays a living wage. And in a bad economy, anybody can lose a job regardless of his or her qualifications or experience.  That's because, in bad economy, bosses -- or the government, if you're a government employee like me -- get to decide who stays and who goes. If you happen to be on the poopy end of that decision stick, you're stuck. You have a greater measure of control, to my mind, if you are your own boss and supply and demand, not people, 

Economic shrinkage is well known for being especially kind to small scale entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Please, do continue.

If you have a skill or a product that is needed or desired even in the worst of times (e.g., iPhone sales in a down economy -- WTF?)

>Apple
>small business
I think I found a critical flaw in your logic.

When I was young, my parents would tell my older brothers all kinds of things to do in order to protect themselves from racism, such as "Don't run at night," "When you buy something, always ask for a receipt and bag," "If you get stopped in your car by the police, keep your hands on the steering wheel and don't reach for anything without asking first. And don't mouth off." At the time I wondered, "Do white parents tell their sons the same thing?"

Yeah pretty sure I heard all of these things at some point in my life.

Those words also reminded me of a sermon at my husband's church that boiled down to this: Guard your peace. I don't know what it is about the holidays, but somehow evil people feel the need to let loose with whatever comes into their minds, no matter how evil and hurtful it is, as did the author of the email in question. And it reminded me of this:

The devil don't celebrate Christmas, and evil don't take no holidays.

Shut the fuck up, Jesus Christ.
Do you ever shut up?
Have you ever just stopped and had a moment of introspection?
Have you ever just stopped and thought about why?
Or are you always going a thousand words a minute?
Silence and introspection, holy fuck.

She is reclusive, mysterious, breathtakingly beautiful, with a singing voice like no other that you recognize the instant you hear it. If you are a Sade fan like I am, do not miss this once-in-a-decade opportunity to see Sade (the singer AND the phenomenal band of the same name), because, and these are not my words: 

Sade.
Pronounced Shah-day.
Because--
because letters work that way and fuck you, that's why.

What I Would Say to Today's High School Girls

Plz stop inviting me to bowling.
I know some of you were kind of joking but some of you weren't and while flattering I can't go bowling with you.
Yes I'm aware other teachers will (ostensibly) be there but I can't go because I'm not actually a teacher of this school.
I'm sure this woman's message will be some bullshit but mine is literal and immediate.

I had the pleasure of having drinks and appetizers with some of my high school classmates, all of us Black women, all of us in our late 40's.  

Also:
inquiries about whether I have a girlfriend and then giggling to your friends when I tell you no and emphatically not telling me if you have an older sister is not helping a motherfucker out.
I can't ask because it looks creepy. I need you to take initiative.

6) Know that God's got your back. 

Oh boy, the deity that drowned the entire planet and demanded his most faithful follower to sacrifice his own son to show is devotion before, indeed, sacrificing his own son has my back.
I'd feel more comfortable if you said Zeus had my back and he was pissed.
At least Zeus can be reasoned with.

All the ladies I dined with are church-going women. I'm not, but I consider myself to have a relationship with God. Having a relationship with God allows you to see beyond whatever current trouble you're going through and know that you'll get through it because He's got your back. I really don't know what atheists do in times of trouble, but I wouldn't want to be one. 

Considering 90% of the quotes people pull from the Bible aren't actually in the Bible and are later paraphrasing from sometimes unrelated texts from such exemplars of literature as Dante Alighieri and John Milton I don't think you need to be religious to find comfort in commonly cited religious thoughts.

You're a child of God. God created you. Act like it.

We, as the Greeks rightly believed, are children of Chaos.

There's A Reason They Call It A "Not Guilty" Verdict
I've been somewhat surprised at the backlash against the jury in the Casey Anthony trial. No sentient being with warm blood could help but be repulsed at the prospect of what Ms. Anthony was accused of. But proving beyond a reasonable doubt that she did indeed murder her daughter? That's another story.

The very notion of this is 100% alien to me.
It's 2012. Why isn't there a group of highly trained people who act as judge, jury and executioner?

"If you continually give, you will continually have."

~ A friend of mine

"As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can."






~ Julius "the motherfucker" Caesar

 "Give. That's where your blessings come from."

~ My mother-in-law

"One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived."

~Niccolo "top pro" Machiavelli 
If you combine the philosophy of Aurelius, Caesar, Machiavelli and Musashi you create a philosophy that handles every problem in life absolutely.
Got a problem in life?
They wrote books for you idiots to read so you won't have these problems.
Not their fucking problem you're too stupid to apply them.
They made this shit simple.
This goes on as I'm sure you can well imagine.
I'm going to bed.
Gotta teach 9th graders about The Odyssey.
The greatest book ever written.
Or, as I've been told, "it's, like, so boring."
It has a guy stabbing a giant in the eye with a fiery poker. Read it you uneducated twat.
Homer just invented writing for the purpose of telling your dumbass this story.
People literally died preserving it.
Nothing happens?
NOTHING HAPPENS?
Just adventure on the high seas, murder, sex, vengeful gods and battling fantastic creatures.
Also it has a romance story or something I don't know.