Manns Medium

I ask this question because I am hearing and seeing women voting for those who support this recent rash of an assault on women.   Politicians who have signed bills to make rape legal as long as it is done by her doctor and refuse to step up and stand out by publically calling for an end to this assault.   They voted because it is said that they are not a single issue voter and while I can respect that, I cannot understand how one can justify voting for or supporting someone who do not see them as intelligent enough to know what to do with their own body. I have a mother and sisters, daughters and a loving girlfriend.   I would like to think that as a former US Marine, I fought and was willing to lay down my life so that they would be free to choose what life they wanted for themselves.   Where they would be free to choose their own destiny without governmental involvement from state or federal.       A life where the final decision is theirs wh...

I was again surprised to find that the top political news of the past few days were the new poll taken which showed Republicans voters still thinking that President Obama was a Muslim or didn’t know either way.   I wasn’t surprised by the numbers but more surprised by the cable news bunch thinking that this was really news.   I mean, what did they expect those numbers to show?   Breaking news would have been had those Republicans interviewed had changed their minds and voted to say that President Obama was a Christian.   This is not news. If you have an elect rid that will whole-heartedly accept the word of other people when they say that they are Christian but refuse to accept the word of Obama, you cannot expect for any other result.   When you have an elect ride that supports the abuse and denial women and their rights to deciding what happens to their own bodies, you cannot expect any other result.   When you have an elect rid that believes the ...

Being trapped in a life of poverty for so long, I am quite aware of how disappointing it is to believe in something or someone and have that faith shattered.   This is probably what many in the Tea Party is now feeling after starting off with such great promise only to now be seen as a meager figment of its former self.   Confused as to my announcement so far, let me explain. The Tea Party first formed to hold officials accountable, lessen the role of government in our everyday lives, curb the spending and bring in leaders who will create jobs.   They have failed on 3 of the 4.   I give them a pass on the curbing spending mainly because without government involvement, this economy would not be seeing any type of recovery but the other 3 I cannot help but ask each and every remaining person who claims the label of Tea Partier, what happened?   You were given an opportunity to demonstrate what you said that you could do but right now that which you are eat...

Commentators, pundits and experts wonder aloud why it is that this President and his Administration does not get the credit that they deserve.   While it is true that it is due to those opposing this president at every step are allowed to misrepresent his accomplishments, it may be also because many news agencies concentrate more on the confrontations than they do the real meat of the argument. Take for example an article written by Laura Rozen for The Envoy titled U.S. announces diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea .   All day today, we have heard nothing much mentioned about this huge milestone in the fight to give credit where it belongs.   Instead they have spoken mostly about the Arizona and Michigan primaries.   Now while that is also an important news story, I believe that something this huge would at least get an honorable mention. In this article Ms. Rozen reports that “t he United States announced a major diplomatic breakthrough with Nort...

With all of the recent rhetoric about who may or may not be a Christian, I decided to check the only true authority on the subject.   I looked through my Bible and here is what I discovered. First John Chapter 1 to 6, 9 through 11, 15 through 17, and 26 through the 27 th .   I combine these because I believe each verse has a particular message that we all need to hear.   It begins; “my little children, I am telling you this so that you will stay away from sin.   But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father.   His name is Jesus Christ, the one who is all that is good and who pleases God completely.   He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself, and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins and not only ours but all the world’s.   And how can we be sure that we belong to him?   By looking within ourselves:   are we really trying to do what he wants us to? ...

In a month where many celebrate the achievements and advancements of African-Americans which contributed a lot to the current status of this nation, another group which has had the same dramatic effect has been the plight of women rights which appears to be under assault by those who claim to want a smaller government but are now willing to place police in the examination rooms.   Take for example the recent decision made by Susan G. Komen to stop funding breast cancer screenings through Planned Parenthood.   In an article by Lylah M. Alphonse titled Planned Parenthood Decision Puts Spotlight on Susan G. Komen's Politics she reports that “The Huffington Post reports the decision came just months after Komen hired Karen Handel to be their senior vice president for policy in April 2011. Handel ran for governor of Georgia in 2010 on a pro-life platform and promised to eliminate state grants to Planned Parenthood, even as she acknowledged that the state money did not fund a...

I have seen a trend but until recently never really thought about it until now. I would wonder, sometimes, how Blacks could be a part of something that refused to respect their history, a business or organization that looked upon all that they have endured as nothing more than a fluke or irrelevant in many ways.   A business or organization that never considered their struggles or sacrifices but was only useful to have around for no other reason than “window dressing”.     Then it occurred to me, maybe it was for the same reason that women were paraded around in front of the cameras.   Something to use and show that some was not as exclusive as their rhetoric describes them.   I speak about the current GOP and its leaders. During the reign of Herman Cain, I did not see too many Blacks paraded in front of the camera in the GOP to comment on his policies and ideas about what was wrong with this country and his vision of where we should be headed.   Th...

According to Deborah Charles of Reuter’s article titled Evangelical leaders back Santorum “at a weekend meeting at a ranch outside Houston, Texas, the group of 150 conservatives agreed on the third ballot to support the former Pennsylvania senator.”   Now to truly understand what this really mean as far as the Republican nomination process, we first need to understand the definition of Evangelism. The free dictionary describes it in two different forms.   Both are nouns but the distinction is whether it is spelled with a small “e” or large one.   Small “e” evangelist is defined “any zealous advocate of a cause” which may explain why they seemed more interested in pushing their agenda than teaching God’s word.   Big “e” evangelism is defined as “any of the writers of the New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John” which explains why this definition appears to not be relevant to this topic because none of those leaders are any one of those authors. T...

The media is going gaga over who’s in and who’s out of the Republican primary run for their parties nomination, while we still face enormous challenges attempting to get those already in Washington to cease with the “mine is bigger than yours” attitude and get down to doing the people’s business.   While many of us have come to realize that the motto of the Republican party is still to do all that they can to make sure that this president is a one-termer, even if it means defaulting on our debts as a country or letting our people starve because the only bills we want to pass are those that assault women’s rights.   Go back and listen to the freshmen class’s campaign promises and tell me how many of them promised to take away a woman’s right to choose raises taxes on the poor and middle class or privatize Medicare and Social Security. Out of those currently vowing for the nomination, it appears that only one really has any ideas as to what he could do if given the chance of...

Philip Elliott of the Associated Press pens an article titled Romney: Obama 'threw Israel under the bus' in which he reports that “Republicans looking to unseat President Barack Obama charged that he undermined the sensitive and delicate negotiations for Middle East peace.   Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said Obama undercut an opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians to build trust, acknowledging he didn't watch Obama's speech and was reacting to news coverage.   Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Obama "threw Israel under the bus"; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called it "the most dangerous speech ever made by an American president for the survival of Israel."   "The current administration needs to come to terms with its confused and dangerous foreign policy soon, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said in a statement.   Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota called the border suggestions "a shocking display of betrayal" to I...

This week should give anyone who is watching a great look into how hypocritical the far right really is and those representing the Tea Party in the Republican Party.  Newt Gingrich stepped all in it when he spoke the truth about Paul Ryan’s budget and how it will radically change Medicare and Medicaid as we know it.  The flood gates opened and he is now still trying to find the sides before he gets swept up by the wave of criticism coming from his party.  We will learn about them by the way Rick Santorum is treated by these same individuals and groups. According to an article by the Associated Press titled Santorum: McCain doesn't understand interrogation , “former Sen. Rick Santorum said today that Sen. John McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years enduring brutal treatment at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors, doesn't know how effective waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques can be.”  He told this lie trying to defend torture as a part of the Ame...

While you will not see me asking for a Republican ballot at the polling place come the general election, I still was quite disturbed by the first Republican debate hosted by Fox and the Republican Party of South Carolina.   I was disappointed for several reasons but the ultimate was the disregard shown by those who had spoke like they were going to run, defended the party as if it was a close family member but did not show up at all. According to a staff reporter for My Fox Phoenix in an article titled First Republican Presidential Debate Kicks Off , the reason “some top tier candidates were excluded from competing due to FOX rules specifying that candidates must have formed a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and paid a filing fee with the Republican Party of South Carolina.”   I believe that these debates had been scheduled far enough in advance that those top tier candidates had plenty of time to prepare.   Even though th...