The Media Fail of 2012

The News Media often referred to as the "Fourth Estate" or the 'Fourth Branch" of Government seem to have taken a turn for the worst in 2012. Media which shapes public opinion and has an influence on politics is suppose to be the Peoples' access to information that is true and accurate. In 2012 it seems that media has fallen prey to the feelings and opinions of the so called pundits and journalist. There are media outlets such as Fox News that seems to be an arm of the Republican party which spews out misinformation and lies against Presidents Obama and every Democrat that opposes the Republican agenda. This is not only limited to FOX but now it seems that other outlets that champions fair and balanced coverage such as CNN has taken on the ways of Fox news with not challenging the lies and misinformation as well as the continue spreading these lies. There has even been and infiltration of these practices by journalist and pundits on MSNBC which has sent its viewers into an outrage. How is this happening? What caused it?
Money has been called out as the culprit. Paid media? Yes, advertising is a billion dollar industry and has now become a part of the News outlets as well. This has allowed the lies and misinformation to be spread in the name of money. These are paid headlines and talking points. This has tainted the "Fourth Estate" which facilitated the process of the PEOPLE obtaining facts to make an informed decision on candidates, issues, and policies that affect their lives and the future course of America. The Power is with the People as we can see that there has been a push back of such misinformation and lies by fact checkers and social media outlets such as Twitter. you can sometimes get factual information faster on Twitter. You can also get facts checked from multiple sources which has become the Peoples filter of Lies and misinformation. So is Twitter and social media now the "Fifth Estate?" A necessary tool to create a balance that is beneficial for the People is needed and it seems appreciated. This new phenomenon has been a great push back to lies as well as a tool for the uninformed public. We the people must continue to press the Press for Truth and Facts. There is really Power in the People.

Higher Education: The New Bubble or Racket

Higher Education is part of the American Dream. We were told when we were in school that if you go to college and work hard that there would be a job waiting for you after graduation. You would be able to buy that home and car along with marrying and starting a family. Fast forward to 2012 and it seems like it is a "dream" deferred. College grads are not finding jobs therefore causing them to stay at home with parents along with student loan debt that they can't repay. The banks which were middle men in the student loan process made off like bandits leaving students with a "handsome Kings Ransom" of loan debt. The Universities have been noted to have inflated the tuition prices knowing that students and parents had the ability to take out student and parent plus loans. It has also been said that Universities were literally banking on the fact that parents could refinance on their homes especially during the housing bubble if necessary to finance their  kids education. Now as an option to seek further education or to escape repayment of loans is the emergence of the online programs. Students are pursuing masters degrees which puts current loans in deferment.  These programs are most times over priced thereby forcing the student to seek further loans which is deeper debt. So who is making money from education? Is it the student? The banks? The universities and online programs? The answer is clearly not the student.

Trayvon Martin Case: Race Revisited

The Trayvon Martin tragedy has cause  the conversation to arise on whether America is post-racial. This tragedy was caused by profiling which is rooted in racism. The fact that a large amount of African American surveyed feels that race caused this tragedy but only a small portion of Whites believe it was race induced screams polarization. We have to be honest as a nation that the ills of slavery, Jim Crow Laws, and other unfair institutional practices to African American and other minorities has had a long lasting effect that has not subsided. Some would say that racism does not exist because we have an African American President or that we have Blacks that are famous such as Oprah or Jordan. These are just individuals and should not be used to accurately describe the state of racial affairs in America. We can look at the disrespectful disdain from GOP members against the President. They have made racial remarks, racial cartoons, etc. in the media about an African American President. They have made threatening remarks about the President based on Race.
Every Black male know that we are judged by our color first in society. Women still clutch their purses when walking near Black men whether the men are college educated or not. These fears are based on racial stereotypes that are still played out in the media in 2012 although slavery was abolished in 1865. We are in denial if we say that racism does not exist. We have to face the problem with simple open minded discussion.

The Danger of Super Pacs

It has always been said that money can buy anything. We are seeing in 2012 something that has never happened in the history of this country. When the Supreme Court decided to allow Millionaires to donate relentlessly with no restrictions it open the flood gates for a bought election. The sad irony is that the American public who knows whats going on yet fall for these false ads and misinformation campaigns. Millionaires and Billionaires should not be allowed to control these elections because they do not represent the interest of the common American. Their interest would be to protect their wealth and in order to do that they have to maintain a poor class. Its simple economics and capitalism. If they are champions of capitalism and striving to maintain and grow their wealth it would make logical sense for them to implement systems that suffice this. This is just another example of money in politics. We already have the lobbyist and special interest groups carrying their suitcases full of money through the halls of Congress. Now we have the elusive Pac Men wielding their big millions into a candidate. President Obama called out the Supreme Court last year on this during is SOTU address  and one justice had the audacity and gall  to shake his head "no" as the President was saying that this was a bad idea. The question should be, "What was the motivation for this precedent being set? It clearly is not fair to the people of the United States of America.

Race and Politics: The Tipping Point

Race relations has been problematic in this country since its inception. With all of the dreadful history, lives lost and lives changed due to the fight for equality in this country it is atrocious that racial incendiary language and tactics being used by the GOP candidates is allowed. This dangerous and careless behavior can lead to a Tipping point come the fall election. Newt Gingrich uses the word Food Stamp as a coded attack to imply a certain connotation especially when he intertwines it with our President who is African American. Newt further insults the African American community by saying kids have no role models. They have African American teachers who are their role models in addition to other hardworking people in the Black Community. Remember we have to work because most of us did not inherited wealth like the elitist out of touch GOP is who is slinging this bile. Governor Chris Christie continues with his recent insanity saying that the Civil Rights movement should have been a referendum. This comment is just jaw dropping to say the least. Either he was race baiting like Newt or just plain ignorant. These type of tactics will only increase as these elections go on especially in the general election. The peoples reaction to this is unknown however we cannot be naive to think that there will be no significant and hostile reactions. The theory of crowd frenzy starts to take place at these rallies and peoples emotions get the best of them. This can be combustible come fall. The GOP Candidates need to take heed and be more responsible and less careless in their tactics. After they have ran the race the people are still in these communities with these emotions riled up based on these lies and deceptions used by these candidates to win an election. The media pundits need to diffuse these lies with the truth. People also need to educate themselves so they would not fall for this trickery. I am speaking Black and White as well every minority in this country. We have to really know the truth in order to combat the lies.

The Lack of Social Studies in Education

The essential element of any country is its citizens. In our country we have social studies in the educational curriculum but it is not being pushed as hard as the other disciplines specifically Math and Science. In the last 20 years there has been a race with other nations in Math and Science with our youth as it relates to test scores. Now I agree that we have to have great thinkers in Math and Science however basic knowledge and advance concepts in Social Studies promote better citizenship as well as active participation in the political process. If more citizens knew how this government worked there are a lot of things that would not have been allowed to happen such as Super Pacs. The so called Voter Id laws are unconstitutional but yet there is not enough public outcry about it. Of course people care but they do not know. Ignorance really is bliss but yet dangerous. The Political process of how to pass a Bill is something that the average American is aloof about. Long gone are the days of School House Rock, a Saturday Morning cartoon that showed the process of how a Bill is passed. It is not emphasized enough in school curricula. In some states it is not even tested like its Math and Science counterparts. The average American student does not know the name of the Vice President let alone who replaces the Vice President if something was to happen to the President and Vice President. This lack of knowledge of processes and information has caused an ignorance that has allowed political parties and candidates to run deceptive campaigns as it relates to the issues. It has also allowed unconstitutional implementation of laws such as the aforementioned Voter ID Laws. Candidates accusing the President of not passing Bills is slanderous because they know he needs the congress to pass the Bill. If more people knew this it would not work nor would it be used by these candidates. Parents have to be aware of this and push for better curriculum standards as it relates to Social Studies. I say start with the  parents because they are the tax payers and their kids are the investment. Citizens also have to make it their personal responsibility to become knowledgeable of how our country works as well as how to actively participate in it. The idea is Power to the People but the people have to be knowledgeable, well informed and active.

Poverty and Education

There has been an increase in child poverty in the United States and its affecting education. Whenever this topic is brought up some people like to point to the few examples of people who were blessed enough to make it. That is not the point. We know that people can succeed coming out of poverty but the sad fact remains that there are many who can't due to poverty and everything that comes along with it. Poverty is a real variable in the formula of attaining success through education. As an educator who has taught all over the United States in poverty stricken neighborhoods, I have witnessed some extreme poverty situations that put the kids at a serious disadvantage. When kids have to worry about where they are going to sleep at night and what they are going to eat after school, this can cause an inability to concentrate on the lesson of the day. I know of situations where a student and their siblings had to go and wait in a park after school for their parent to come and get them after she was finished at her domestic job. They did not have a house to go to. So of course this affects them doing their homework in a conducive environment.There are students whose only meals come when they are at school. You can use the day of the week to determine how a student in poverty would react. If its a Friday most kids are happy for the weekend but you will see some that are sad because they are not guaranteed to eat on Saturday and Sunday like they would have at school during the week. If its a Monday they are the ones happy to be back in some structure, warmth, and guaranteed meals.These are just a couple of examples from a myriad of thousands cases of poverty affecting education.
No candidate has addressed this correlation in their speeches and debates. These are the real issues affecting American Citizens all across America. According to the U.S. Census there are 1 in 4 children living in poverty. That is over 15 million people! This is an outrage and there should be public outcry. President Obama is the only one who addressed it by saying that we have to fight poverty from the bottom up starting with education and providing jobs for the parents of these kids. This question should have been explored in every Republican Debate but fails to surface. If this issue is not addressed it can destroy the future of our country. If children are the future how can we ignore the problems for our children in the present?

Mitt Romney: Outsourcing American Jobs

Mitt Romney likes to tout that he is a good business man and a champion of the private sector but that can be debated. While with Bain Captial Romney outsourced jobs. Holson Burnes(a Bain owned company) in 1992 sold its company for 2.8 million dollars. After this the company manufactured nearly 75 % of its product overseas. This was job lost to workers in South Carolina. Workers in Rhode Island faced a similar fate when a clock making division sent work overseas. This is not what America needs. We have lost thousands of manufacturing jobs to outsourcing overseas. These so called American companies are making there profit with cheap overseas labor. This is also costing workers their jobs here in America leading to them losing their homes. There should be sanctions put on these companies. American voters need to be on alert of this possible trend if Mitt Romney is elected. He needs to held accountable on this by the news media as well as his opponents. The Obama campaign can use this against him in relentless fashion. I am sure the workers who lost their jobs will not let him forget. Romney has proved that he is not for the middle class. He does not care about the unemployed and cannot to expect to be President if he cannot truly identify with the people he is suppose to represent.

Obama Vs. The Republican Circus

The Republicans are obviously not happy with Mitt Romney. He is only getting 25% of the vote at best from his party. Big money wielders in the party are supposedly meeting in Texas to come up with an anti Mitt candidate to put money and resources behind. The other Republican candidates are not any better. The racist rants of Rick Santorum coupled with his sexist and other zany remarks is unbelievable. Ron Paul another known racist is on the fringe side of zany. Newt...well Newt is just Newt. The Obama administration and campaign has to be happy with this Republican circus. The Democrats who are running for office can also capitalize from this in their upcoming elections. The Republicans are in such disarray that President Obama may not only get the Independent vote but also some Republican voters. His plan going forward is what the people are asking for and even some polls suggest that a majority of Republicans agree. Lets look at some of the groups that President Obama has a lock on: The military men and women including their family members, veterans and wives that Michelle Obama has worked with, the workers in the auto industry that Obama revived, the workers and family members of McDonnell Douglas for getting the big contract, the domestic care workers who now will be paid overtime, the people who got unemployment insurance extensions, and the construction workers who want to go to work to rebuild the infrastructure. That is a major block of citizens across the country. This is a "no brainer" and its proving that the Republican party is the party with no brains.

Rick Santorum: Racist Rant

Rick Santorum has just showed who he is or either said some silliness to pander to the base of  Republicans who like this psycho talk. Rick Santorum went as far to say that he did not want to help Black people by giving them other peoples money. He was referring to welfare and food stamps hinting that there are more Blacks on food stamps when actually that is not true. According to USDA.Gov there are 34% Whites on food stamps. On the contrary there are only 22% of Blacks receiving food stamps and 17% Hispanic. So Who is he really hurting when he say this? The fact is that his perception did not have to be guessed because he stated "Black People" clearly in his racist rant. We cannot afford to have this country run by people who are clearly stating their agenda of hate. In the United States of America we expect a President who want to not only represent the entire spectrum of the population but also uphold the morals and values of helping those who cannot help themselves. This is simply one of the functions of government. This candidate is going against the very moral fiber of this country and its constitution.