Charity Begins At Home By Roy Douglas Malonson

While watching Pres. George Walker Bush connect with the crowd, during the final debate with Sen. John Kerry, it suddenly occurred to us that either man, “who would be president” (for the next four years--after the Nov. 2, 2004 elections), probably would have a very difficult time qualifying for Mensa International.
In other words, Bush and Kerry appeared to be kinda dumb--at best, or stuck on stupid, at the very worse to ramble on so excessively-- about making the world a better for other nations-- at a time when their own country is experiencing one of the worse economy downturns and periods of long term joblessness, since “The Great Depression” of 1929.
Political rhetoric aside, mainstream America’s voters might be a little, bit conflicted between the lesser of two evils, but from a common sense, objective Black Texan’s perspective, we shouldn’t have to flip a coin, insofar as it only makes good, old, “mother-wit” to give Kerry, a so-called liberal, a chance to fail, because we’ve already seen the frightening direction that George W., a so-called “compassionate conservative,” is taking our divided and confused country. What we’re saying is, although Black Texans have historically allowed the Democratic Party to pimp our vote, after seeing Bush mess up Texas, we would be foolish to choose this election to jump off the donkey and try that elephant. If truth is told, one has to ask… why in the hell did any political astute Texan, who voted for Bush in 2000, expect him to “ruin” (Opps, we meant run) America any better than he did his home state?
So-called Independent thinking Black voters can argue until hell freezes over, but just as African American News & Issues predicted, Bush has gotten America in a helluva mess. Bipartisan politics aside, there’s a lot of merit to the suggestion that it’s time for African Americans to start playing one party against the other, because what we thought was a relationship has turned out to be a political “booty call” arrangements. Then again, we should go even further and start playing one candidate against the other.
Unfortunately, it takes a whole lot of research to choose the right public official to endorse, regardless of their party affiliation. Need we even comment on how unlikely that possibility is for people who don’t even know what is going on in their own homes, churches, and/or neighborhoods? It’s obvious that voter apathy and political illiteracy is a common denominator among at least 50% of all Americans.
Frankly, that’s why citizens would like to believe that elected officials, including the president is obligated to serve all of the people, all of the time. Even so, since we’ve been indoctrinated to take care of our own first, one would think that Bush has to be concerned when he reads headlines declaring, “Poverty numbers climb in Texas” (in the August 27, 2004 edition of the Houston Chronicle), because charity begins at home. Since we don’t know Kerry’s 20-year senate record, we don’t know if he served Massachusetts any better than Bush served Texas. But, the kind of charity we’re alluding to have more to do with the biblical scripture, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal,” that’s found in 1 Corinthians 13:1.
We Must Understand that freedom of religion is one of the perks of America’s democracy (Although America has elected only one Catholic president, as opposed to at least three avowed atheist, e.g., Abraham Lincoln.) But, since Bush, a born again Christian and Kerry, a former alter boy, opened the door to a religious discussion, we would be remiss not to challenged their claims of Chistian charity. Therefore, we must point out the sad fact that Bush, with his rolled, up sleeves “country boy” persona, or the buttoned down Kerry apparently fail to grasp the concept of charity, which, is: defined in the dictionary “Universal love, benevolence; the position to think favorably of others.” Then again, Bush’s Saddam bashing, “kick butt” attitude, nor Kerry’s focusing on how he regrettable killed men, women and children in Viet Nam, revealed how dumb they were to mix politics and religion.
However, as we said before, neither is Mensa material (FYI: Roland Berrill, a barrister, founded Mensa International, in England in 1946 and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population.) Obviously, America doesn’t want a smart president. We need a leader who’s cold blooded enough to order preempted strikes and drop atomic bombs on innocent people. Bush is “The Man,” according to an article (“Texas Executions: GW Bush Has Defined Himself, Unforgettably, As Shallow And Callous”) that appeared in the June 17, 2000 edition of the New York Times.
“In his five years as governor of Texas, the state executed 131 prisoners—far more than any other state,” the article cited. “ In answer to questions about that record, Gov. Bush has repeatedly said the he has no qualms, ‘I’m confident,’ he said last February, ‘that every person that has been put to death in Texas under my watch has been guilty of the crime charged, and has full access to the courts.” On the other hand, Kerry’s post-war history and the fact that Massachusetts has executed only 65 Americans (since the electric chair was installed at the State Prison, Charlestown Massachusetts on January 1, 1900 and used for the first time on Dec. 17, 1901), could disqualified him as leader of the most powerful nation in the history of civilization
We Must Understand, if voters truly want a cold blooded man in the White House, who isn’t reluctant to pull the trigger, need we mention the many times G.W. B. has stared (albeit blinking like a liar) into network TV cameras and told the American people, “I’m confident, that I did the right thing (to bomb innocent Iraqi citizens), “to remove Saddam from power.” So what if no weapons of mass destruction were found? If it’s war and a draft you want, we suggest that you vote for a man who can destroy a sovereign nation and declare that the world is better off without its president (just as Texas is better off without 131 executed Texans, that he turned thumbs down on under his watch as the Lone Star State’s governor), on Nov. 2, 2004.