Don't I know you?

The tragedy in Aurora, Colorado Friday morning is stupefying and shocking— that is, until you recall Columbine in 1999, Virginia Tech in 2007, Utoya (Oslo) 12 months ago, or Tucson just 18 months ago.

Each of the horrible events (as well as others less-recalled, but no less memorable) were each carried out by individuals remarkable only by their isolation and seeming invisibility to the rest of us.

The “profile” and demonic characteristics of these loners is better-understood than society cares to admit.  Other than reporters questioning of acquaintances of the perpetrator for “telltale signs” that habitually go unnoticed, the story of “how-can-this-happen?” is implausibly short-lived.

Do I think there are too many guns floating around?  Yes.  But I prefer not to console myself this way.

The “pivot” in the wake of such tragedy, from mourning the victims to stoking the politics of gun control is as routine and perhaps as deadly as the incidents themselves.  The uncomfortable notion that possibly a parent or a loved one, a co-worker or teacher, a Facebook acquaintance or a twitter follower might have “seen it coming”-- albeit without knowing what they were seeing or hearing-- is a harder concept to face compared to the ease of blaming and banning guns.

What about a shared, apolitical responsibility to prevent a future tragedy?  Do we even have one?  A society that lets loners such as these plot and plan in our midst isn’t to blame, but it’s not off the hook, either.  At some point we need to ask ourselves why, in the busy-body of our chaotic lives and daily breakneck routines, we can’t or don’t slow down long enough to spot these people?

And how has society communicated with all these would-be armed lunatics among us?  For those who don’t commit suicide on-the-spot, we coddle their delusions with instant celebrity, give them historical footnotes, and surrounded them with psychiatrists who dote on their every word while taking copious notes at each ridiculous utterance.  If you happen to crazy, this is like winning the Powerball.

Surely the premeditation shown in these many cases over the years would tell us sane people to reward the assailants with the death penalty.  Yet somehow we’re the ones so fascinated by what they were thinking that we refuse to.  The argument given against executing mass killers is that the death penalty would not have deterred them “anyway,” and keeping them alive to “study” could prevent future tragedies.

How’s that one working out for you in Littleton, Tucson, and Aurora?

Does anyone doubt our latest celebrity nutcase didn’t think that one through?  Unless they plan to take their own life, they know from brooding and planning as they meticulously do, that the chance of dying in the commission of the mass hysteria and bloodshed is slim, but the chance of dying from being punished for it is zero.

So without giving Aurora’s diabolical madman more credit than he deserves (And note that I have refused to grant him the use of his name), consider this spectacle… Once his booby-trapped apartment is entered and his computer hard drive is dissected by the FBI, we’ll find ourselves staring at the fitting final diversion: The whitewashed face of the “Joker,” aiming gun control in our faces as he again flees responsibility and death.

Governor Romney Speaks the the NAACP

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney addresses the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) annual convention in Houston, TX on Wednesday, July 11.  Here is what Mr. Romney should say (or should have said):

Greetings to my fellow American citizens.  Thank you, Chairman [Roslyn M.] Brock and President [Benjamin Todd] Jealous-- to the NAACP Board, and to all of you for the invitation to speak and for welcoming me here on a hot summer day in the great City of Houston where "global warming" is nothing to fear, but is actually a way-of-life.  Nobody has ever accused me of being cool, except for with respect to the heat of this election season.

And I also want to give my thanks to the many, many corporate sponsors of the NAACP and this convention; I see we do have a great deal in common, after all.

The theme of this gathering is "Your Power, Your Decision, Your Vote."  And I would like to just take a few minutes on "your power" and "your decision," before concluding and asking you for your vote.

Like all Americans, but particularly for Americans of color, your power has been severely diminished by the sitting US President and the policies and actions of his administration.

Whether it's the power of holding a job or finding a new job, or the power of expanding your business by getting a loan, or the power of owning your home, or the power of sending your child to a school that teaches-- the day-to-day things that empower all people of color and all people of liberty-- all that power is gone for now.  You see it, you feel it, and you know it.

Yet, there are some in this audience who will argue with me, saying they never experienced that power in the first place, or that the people they serve in our communities and inner-city neighborhoods only dream about having the kinds of problems I just talked about.  There are some who will never believe that a Republican will restore the power they have never really had-- because generations of Democrats that they so urgently believed in until now, have actually taken the power away.

Don't take my word for it.  Look around your neighborhoods and cities, the boarded-up businesses, crime in the streets, people idled by an economic crisis they did not create, with no end in sight after four years under an inexperienced President who has not understood that "government power" is not the same as "people power."

We have a vast and powerful government to be sure.  When the economic crisis began in 2008, the critical emergency response of government was to assure liquidity and credit for the financial system.  It did so swiftly and forcefully, and I don't know anyone who believes it was a mistake for the government to act.

But everything else that followed-- the stimulus, the bail-outs of specific companies, the passing of mandatory health insurance, the heavy subsidies to unproven energy companies with political clout-- are not just matters for debate and discussion, they are really just about taking power out of your hands, and giving it to Washington functionaries.

But I am personally angry with the sitting President because I believe he squandered money and opportunity by making bad policies.  It's way too easy for me to list the things I would not do as President.  So here are a few things I will do instead, that will put power back where it belongs-- in our cities and among our people:

[INSERT SPECIFIC PROMISES HERE]

So as never before in our lifetimes, your power, and the power of all America's citizens, is exactly and really the only thing, bottom-line, that this election is all about.  If you want power returned to your communities and businesses to rebuild your cities and restore your dreams, your decision will be to vote for me.

Yet while I happen to think your decision is simple, I know it's complicated by powerful symbols and old-school allegiances that are hard to relinquish.  It can't be an easy decision for many in the NAACP.  It may be the first time you have voted for a Republican.  There will be pressure to show support and loyalty for the first African-American US President, even if his policies have failed and failed African-Americans the most.

And then, there's the unfairness of it all.  Those who have been fortunate, such as myself and other "one-percenters," can actually afford the economic disaster we have under this President.  We don't like it, but unlike most Americans, the rich can suffer through and go on as we have, mostly unhurt by his policies.

Yet to middle-income earners, the working poor, and the poor poor, on the other hand, his policies and job-killing tax programs have been ruthlessly cruel.

Instead, rich people can afford to oppose the President's policies on moral grounds, saying as we do, that we're sincerely afraid the "American Way of Life" is at stake. But if you've never experienced the "American Way of Life" as the so-called "well-off" have, it's a damn meaningless argument-- and probably why Republican candidates have not won support from people of color, except from those among you who have succeeded economically.

So when the President talks as he does so often about "basic fairness," I wonder who he is talking about.  I know he's not talking about me.  But is he really talking about you?

Does anyone here believe that raising taxes to pay for the same Washington-led failed programs is more fair than cutting taxes on small businesses and creating jobs, or using block-grants instead of bureaucracies to solve local problems?

Is the President talking about your communities when he says those making over $250,000 a year should pay more taxes?  Does anyone here believe they will see that money, other than as it leaves your city and the person who earned it has to let an employee go?

Does anyone believe that taking a dollar out of Chicago or Queens, NY or East LA, or New Orleans and sending it to the bureaucracy in Washington is more fair to the people of Chicago, New York, LA or New Orleans than keeping the money home and creating jobs?

When the President talks about "basic fairness" in our upcoming debates, believe me, I will too.

Your decision is about who gets your power.  Make no mistake, it is not your vote that's at stake, it's your power.  And it's not just "black power" that's at stake in this election, the power of all citizens is pitted against the machinery of bureaucracy and bloated, dysfunctional government.  At this moment of crisis for our country, where the balance of power can be seen as having reached a "tipping point" after which the government becomes a ruling class of its own-- there can be no black and white, no rich and poor; our struggle is joined.

On the other hand, if you still believe your power belongs in Washington, is safer and better-off in Washington, the sitting President will take your vote, your money, and your power so you can come see it at rallies on the Mall and your children can visit it along with all the other monuments in Washington.

It's your power, it's your decision.

So in asking you for your vote, I humbly offer this suggestion: If government power has helped you, has strengthened you, has protected you, has supported your family-- Ask yourself, why is it you still don't feel powerful?

And if you believe-- after thinking about "your power" and "your decision" throughout this convention and when you return home-- that government has exceeded its ability to help our cities and our neighborhoods because through its excessive policies and regulations and mandates, it limits the ability of your friends and families and your children to succeed-- it's time to join me.

Thank you very much.  May God continue to bless the citizens of our great nation.

The Choice

Obama

Romney

The candidates have spoken.  Whose family vacation memories will Americans choose in November?

Memo to Mitt

How dare you blow this election!

The country has never needed a new president more than it does today.  I could list all the reasons why President Obama has failed on jobs and the economy, defense and national security, leadership and international prestige-- but you've been doing that ad-nauseum, and it's still not broken Barack Obama's lead in the polls.

As you head into your coronation in Tampa as the Republican Party Nominee, you've got to shift gears.  Rupert Murdoch said it first, the Wall Street Journal second, and your own biggest blogger-backers are telling you: It's time to clear your throat.

I am not among those who want you to "humanize" who you are, or "show your likable angles" to the voters.  In fact the voters could care less.  In 2008, they went with their gut and hired the guy they liked best, and onto whom they imbued and assigned their best hopes without any reason to do so.

Your astute and charming wife has sought to solve your "likability" shortfall by saying cute things about you you shouldn't say yourself.  The voters may really like Ann Romney, but they could care less if you are fun to be around when they don't have time to shoot the breeze like they used to.

Pure and simple, the voters have not "latched" to you because at this ripe stage of the campaign cycle you are still talking about the problem-- President Obama.  Tell us something we don't know!  Unusual as it sounds to the legions of political image makers who surround you and muffle your voice, this election is only about your solutions to our nation's mounting problems.

Allow me a brief illustration.  There's a current flowing out of your campaign that says you'd be a better president because of your business experience, that you've met a payroll and made tough decisions.  That isn't a bad "narrative," mind you, but it's a "why" not a "what."  People who voted for Obama in 2008 now tell us it was because he had a "compelling narrative."

Compelling narratives are only compelling if voters are in the mood for a fairy tale-- which they were in 2008-- not when they're still struggling four years later, still out of work, unable to pay their debts, and can't make retirement decisions.

Folks don't want a compelling narrative in 2012, they just want answers.

When the bereft opposition moans about Bain Capital, don't apologize.  But don't explain, either.  Instead say, "It's true, I have gotten rich by fixing failed managements.  I come before you with my offer to fix the failed Obama government.  Here is exactly what I will do..."

So instead of telling voters why they should vote for you, next time you open your mouth, tell them what you will do-- to jump-start the moribund economy, encourage banks to lend again, and assure businesses they are safe to hire again.  Tell us what you will do to regulatory agencies that have strangled and punished small business.  Tell us which taxes you will cut, not why you like tax cuts.  Tell us which programs you will end, not why you don't like them.  See the difference?

As long as I'm giving advice on what to say, don't say another word about healthcare or the Supreme Court unless you tell what changes you will make to it.  Saying you will "repeal and replace" doesn't cut it, and the less time you spend sprucing-up the Obama agenda, the better-off you will be.

For that matter, don't say another word about any subject if you are not telling us what you will do about it.  Voters are past being told, "I understand, here's a(nother) problem..."  Trust me, they know.  All they want to hear from you is what you will do.  You still have their attention, barely.  Now use short, specific sentences with clear verbs and you will notice a huge difference in the polls.