Happy Birthday Mr. President

Here's Prince doing the song America with the Marcus Garvey flag behind him.

I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company.

Hat Tip to the Daily Voice

Senator John McCain is coming under fire today after MSNBC played video Thursday night of the Republican presidential candidate appearing to say that he did not love his country until he was a prisoner of war.

"I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company," McCain said in an interview with Fox News earlier this year. The remark raised the eyebrows of critics who complained that McCain was being treated differently from Senator Barack Obama's wife Michelle, who earlier this year said she was "really proud" of her country for the first time in her adult lifetime.

Obama's critics jumped on his wife's remarks, and many said that they had always been proud of their country. John McCain's wife Cindy even used Mrs. Obama's words against her. At a rally speech in February, Mrs. McCain said, "I'm proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier. I'm very proud of my country."

Critics quickly seized on McCain's remarks. "Now that Dan Abrams of MSNBC uncovered repeated statements by John McCain on camera...maybe we can put the right-wing attacks against Michelle Obama to rest," writes one blogger.

Another blogger on The Daily Kos web site writes: "While there isn't necessarily anything wrong with [McCain's] statements (Abrams even says that they are eloquent) how are they really any different from Michelle Obama's comments that she was proud of her country for the first time in her adult life?"

And yet another critic on The Daily Kos site pointed out that McCain was 31 years old at the time. "Johnny Mac, the son and grandson of Navy Admirals, who attended the United States Naval Academy on the public's dime, did not appreciate our great country until well into his adulthood," the blogger writes.

Meanwhile, John McCain's supporters defended his remarks and distinguished them from Michelle Obama's comments. Writing on Sean Hannity's online message board, one defender called the criticism "whining cry-baby liberal *******s trying to equate it to what michelle obama said. It was PATHETIC!!"

Another comment on Hannity's board criticized reporters for taking McCain's words out of context. "It is sad (in my opinion) that people don't quite understand the fullness of what he is saying," the commenter wrote.

See the full video below.

Am I American

This is from a new friend I met on newshounds and she has something to say, I let her do the speaking:


This racist dung is pissing me off so much I wrote a poem. Yeah, Granny wrote a poem, and I'm not a poet. It gave me something to do to get rid of the anger I'm feeling about the primaries election. Whatever negative label anyone chooses to give it, well, if so, pay close attention to the last line of my poem and that is my reply to them.
Here it is:

AM I AMERICAN

My eyes are not blue
My eyes are black
My hair is not blond
My hair is black
My skin is not white
My skin is black
Am I American?

If I am assertive
They say I'm belligerent
If I am persistent
They say I'm pushy
If I am confident
They say I’m aggressive
Am I American?

Birthed in America
Took my first baby steps
Not on foreign soil
But in America
Buried my ancestors here
Their blood stains from toil
Am I American?

I pledged allegiance to the flag
And sung patriotic songs
I baked and ate apple pie
Yet my black brothers were hung
My emotions were suppressed
My black soldier man died
Am I American?

Fought for freedom
But confined to certain residents
Paid my citizen debts to Uncle Sam
I helped vote for Presidents
Yet, suffered disparity throughout life
But because I’m black
Intelligence they say I lack
Am I American?

What others think or say I am
I do not give a damn
I am who I am
GrannyStandingforTruth | 04.25.08 - 2:36 am