The Sable Verity

It’s hard for me to even say that…as a parent I know all too well the desire to protect one’s children, so as a father, I can understand why Obama regrets the fact that his daughters are all over the news after they, along with their famous parents, gave an interview to Access Hollywood.  Trust, no one was more shocked than I, when that breaking news tidbit came across the feed.  Here is a snippet:

So, as I said, I understand, completely that he is taken aback by the fact that Access Hollywood sold that tape to anyone and everyone who could pay the note.  I giggled when you hear Brian Williams say something to the effect of “one of two clips we’ve been given to show you…”

You lie Brian.  NBC paid for that just like eveyrone else.

But I’ve gotten off topic.

Again, just to say it outloud, I understand fully his concern as a father…

…

But as a politician?  That was pure genius.  Everyone was starting to get really, really bored with the lack of anything new in recent weeks, I know I was.

When I watched the first half of the interview my face hurt I was smiling so much.  Seeing the girls and how at ease they were was just brilliant, truly.

He may feel that their privacy as a family took a hit, but he shouldn’t look at it that way.

Instead he should realize the wicked advantage he has over John McCain.  Let’s compare the two families:

Lest we forget, their is the pre POW family for McCain, and the post.  We know that he left his first wife after coming home, and, as it were, after she was in a horrible accident that disfigured her.  She insists her accident had nothing to do with their divorce, but at the same time acknowledges that Johnny boy wanted a newer, fresher model that would remind him of his youth; Cindy “my face never moves”, McCain (Oh, yeah–and she set up a children’s charity to score opiates for her own habit–then cruelly dismissed the director when the story was about to go public).
. 

Calm down, calm down; that wasn’t a mean statement, it was a trutful one.  She me some pictures of video of Cindy McCain’s forehead moving like a normal woman of 54, and I’ll recant that statement.

(But come on, don’t you think it’s strange that at 17 years younger than Johnny, she actually looks as old as him because she’s had so much work done?)

Back to the family comparison: We never see Bridget McCain doing interviews with her dad, like his other daughter, Meghan, who looks like she stepped out of an episode of the Hills.  All Meghan ever talks about is the “best” qualities of her father, and insists he will be a great President.  She never, ever talks about the things Johnny does wrong…like calling Cindy a cunt, for example.

But with the Obama girls, we know that Barack leaves his shit all over the house, that he doesn’t do ice cream, and that he only chews minty gum.

We also learn that the girls like the fact that their parents are in love; while not using that exact verbage, they still made it very clear.  Michelle and Barack cuddle, hold hands, and kiss.  Barack brings his wife flowers regularly (damn good moe there, Barack), and Michelle still sits on her man’s lap every now and then, to hold and be held.

Pump yer breaks.

Close your eyes and picture Cindy on Johnny’s lap.  It’s not happening.  It’s just not happening.  First of all, it’s beneath her and ight wrinkle her clothes.

Second of all, when you have a man that is that verbally abusive to you, that he would call you a cunt and do so when other people are around.

You don’t jump from zero to cunt.  There were some other incidents between them to get there, and I’m not inclined to believe, in general, that their’s is a healthy relationship, I’m just not.

I am not impress by a husband with a temper, a wife with such low self esteem she had to hire Joan Rivers’ plastic surgeon, who are parents of an “adopted daughter” they treat like a token charity case.  That is not the model family.

I want a First Family that is real, and relatable.  When Maria asked Michelle what romantic things she does for her husband, Michelle said “hmmm…(looking to her man), I raise your children”.

You can’t get more real than that.

First of all, here is my two cents on this issue.  I would be suing the hell outta the school, on behalf of the yearbook committee for this.  I know some of you think that’s silly or even insane, but let me tell you something:  I don’t care.

This report from the AP:

COVINA, Calif. - Phony “ghetto” names were printed under a yearbook photo of Black Student Union members at a suburban Los Angeles high school, leaving some angry students and parents calling for an apology and a reprint.

“Tay Tay Shaniqua,” “Crisphy Nanos” and “Laquan White” were among the nine names placed next to the club’s photo in Charter Oak High School’s yearbook, Charter Oak Unified School District Superintendent Clint Harwick said.

“A yearbook is very significant and something you always hold on to,” said Toi Jackson, whose daughter, Evanne, is a BSU member at the school in Covina. “When she shows it to her kids she will have to explain why she has the name Crisphy.”

School ended about two weeks ago, and authorities said the names were discovered only after the yearbooks were handed out.

“Someone was just trying to be funny, but it’s not funny,” said Jordan Smith, a BSU member. “It’s upsetting. It’s a mistake that should not have been overlooked.”

Board president calls it ‘atrocious’
The district office and the school were closed Friday. Joseph M. Probst, the school board’s president, called the incident “atrocious” in an interview with the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

“I am sure the students will be spoken to and given an apology if they haven’t been already,” he said.

Probst said the student responsible for the names will be a senior next year. He did not know the student’s race or gender but said that “appropriate actions will be taken.”

Students were given printed stickers with the correct names to put into the yearbook.

But some of the BSU members and their parents want the books recalled and reprinted. Toi Jackson told the Tribune that on the last day of school, her daughter was given a handful of stickers and told to pass them out to her friends.

“How humiliating,” she said. “The school is responsible, and they ask the victim to pass out the stickers.”

Officials at the 2,000-student school about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles say the student body is about 4.5 percent black, 45 percent Hispanic and 30 percent white.

 

 

May 18, 2008

Elisabeth Fritzl will be interviewed by the same reporter who spoke to Natascha Kampusch

Elisabeth Fritzl is to talk about the 24 years she was imprisoned in her father’s dungeon on Austrian TV.

 

 

Miss Fritzl, 42, is thought to have chosen the same interviewer who spoke to Natascha Kampusch about the eight and a half years she was imprisoned in a cellar.

Miss Kampusch, now 20, escaped in August 2006 and told of her ordeal on Austrian ORF TV.

 

Miss Fritzl could make millions of pounds in syndicated rights for the interview. It is thought that more than 300 TV stations will broadcast it.

 

She is expected to talk about the first time she was raped by her father Josef, 73, and how she coped with multiple births alone in the dungeon.

 

The interview has been organised in part to reduce the pressure on the family from photographers camped at the door to Amstetten-Mauer hospital where Miss Fritzl is in a secure ward with her mother Rosemarie, 69, and five of her six children.

Miss Fritzl’s eldest daughter Kerstin, 19, is still in a coma.

 

Josef Fritzl is to undergo DNA testing to see if he is the killer of three women whose murders have remained unsolved in Austria.

 

Natascha Kampusch broke free from an eight-and-a-half year captivity in August 2006 and told the world of her ordeal on ORF TV in her homeland.

Media reports in Austria say that Elisabeth is now poised to do the same after marathon negotiations between the TV station and her lawyer.

Upwards of 300 TV stations globally will pay handsomely to beam it live or in repeat showings.

Media in Austria said none of the children - either the three she gave birth to who lived upstairs from her underground tomb nor the two of three healthy ones forced to endure her captivity below - will be in the studio with her.

Christoph Feurstein, the journalist who interviewed Natascha for her first - and subsequent - TV appearances, has been lined up for what promises to be a gripping television spectacle.

It is expected to be broadcast next Monday evening (May 26).

Elisabeth is also expected to talk about how she felt after one of her stillborn child was burned in a stove by her father after it died; how she thought she would never see sunlight again; and her hopes for a more normal future with the children who adore her.

“Elisabeth’s hatred of her father is a bottomless pit,” said one ORF source.

Scroll down for more…

Dungeon: The hallway in the cellar leading to one of the bedrooms where the children slept

The cellar bathroom: Bright decorations cannot disguise the ramshackle state of the hiding place

“It might not be good for the psychological healing process but Elisabeth’s heart pumps nothing but pure venom for him.”

It is unclear whether she will have to wear tinted glasses for the interview. Her eyes are still very weak from years of never seeing sunshine and high-powered studio lights could, fear doctors, be too much for her.

There is increasing tension between authorities and paparazzi who know that a picture of Elisabeth or her children would be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

 

Monster: Josef Fritzl confessed to holding his daught captive for 24 years and fathering seven children

In a weekend fracas a security guard at the hospital was injured after he fell from a balcony while tackling a photographer.

Hospital officials confirmed that 17 lensmen have been caught in recent weeks trying to get into the Amstetten Mauer hospital.

They included one dressed as a policeman, another that disguised himself as a cleaner and a third who dug a hole in the grounds, filled it with provisions and then covered himself with a bird watcher’s hide in the hope of the life-changing picture.

He was caught by a sniffer dog while several others hiding in trees have been rumbled with thermal imaging cameras provided by local mountain rescue guides usually used to spot trapped climbers or stranded skiiers.

Austrian media also reported yesterday that a hospital worker had taken secret pictures of the family and was offering them for sale at 300,000 euros - £260,000.

Officials have sent a letter to staff warning them that there will be legal consequences and a claim for damages that would “far exceed any profit made from the sale of such photos.”

The Fritzl family staying at the clinic include Elisabeth and her two children from the cellar Stefan, 18, and Felix six, and her three children that lived in freedom - Alexander 12, Monika 14 and Lisa 15.

Elisabeth’s mother Rosemarie is also in the hospital.

Daughter Kerstin, 19, the third cellar captive, is still in a coma. Meanwhile Josef Fritzl is to undergo new DNA testing to see if he is the killer of three women whose murders have gone unsolved in his homeland.

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Elisabeth Fritzl and her children are being cared for at this private Austrian hospital

Police chief Franz Polzer says he is being considered as a suspect in the 1986 murder of 17-year-old Martina Posch, and two other murders in 1966 and 2007.

Also on Sunday another major newspaper, the Kurier, asked the question in a headline: “Is Austria the heart of darkness?”

It said that 64 percent of Austrians believe the image of the country has been damaged as a result of the Amstetten case.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=567131&in_page_id=1770

Originally posted June 11, 2008

Earlier today one of my friends sent me this really touching, emotional, honest piece about Michelle Obama written by Kim McLarin and posted on THEROOT.COM entitled The Real Prize.  Here is an excerpt:

Yes, yes, I know damn well, in my higher self, that there are better reasons for liking Barack…

…But, if I’m honest, I must admit that none of those fine attributes are what tipped me over from Obama admiration to Obama love. It was something else, something entirely personal, something deeply revealing, if not about the man then certainly about me. It was Michelle Obama—or, more particularly, his choice of her as wifely material…Barack chose Michelle. He chose one of us, and I am thrilled…

…But there you go. I look at Michelle Obama, and I see—at least not at first—not the strength of her character nor her fierce intelligence nor even her Ivy League degree, but the plain and plainly striking fact that she in no way resembles either Halle Berry or Heidi Klum. She more favors my friend Damita. She reminds me of my sister Michelle. She looks like me…

…What does this say about Michelle Obama? Not a thing, of course. About her husband? Perhaps more so. 

…What I am saying is that beautiful, beautiful Michelle has the potential to counter in a real and powerful way the still all-too-real internalized belief by many dark-skinned black American women that we are still not pretty enough, not desirable enough, not worthy to be loved. Howl all you want; there is no use in pretending this stuff doesn’t still cut deep among us. Check out that young sister’s film re-creating the Clark black doll experience. Watch that last little black girl as she points to that little black doll, and get back to me.

…Maybe Barack made this choice because of his international upbringing. Maybe he did the hard work early on of rooting around in his subconscious, teasing out which parts of his identity were inherent, which were random, which were family-based, and, yes, which were imposed by cultural hegemony. Or, maybe he just liked the way she smiled at him. Barack looked past what Hollywood and Madison Avenue and even BET would have said about Michelle and saw the stunning beauty she possessed. He chose one of us. 

When I read the full piece, I wound up teary eyed.  People send me lots of stuff to read throughout the day, and most of it isn’t important and gets skimmed…but this grabbed me right away, it touched me in a very real place.

Women of color, Black women in particular, know that the way that are percieved is unfair, yet completely out of their control.  Dark skinned sistas can wind up resenting light skinned sistas and light skinned sistas wind up resenting them.  It’s an often unconscious mentality that is one of the many offspring of slavery and plantation life.

Black has not always been beautiful.  We don’t see dark skinned, thick haired women on the cover of every single magazine.  Dark is associated with bad (look up ‘dark’ and ‘black’ in the dictionary) and ‘light’ or ‘white’ has always been given all of the glory.

I have a deep, deep, deep respect for Michelle Obama.  I’ve never met the woman, never talked to her personally, but as a sista I have to say there is something about her.  She is so authentic, and she is so true to herself, her children and her man, it’s almost overwhelming.

Barack Obama was smart enough to look at that Black woman and know that she had the strength in character and conviction in self, and a heart full of love…that is key.  Key, key, key.

I know a LOT of married people, or previously married people, depending, we all do.  Most of them are Black folks.  Of all of those married folks that I know, which is dozens and dozens, there are only 2 maybe 3 that have something special, sacred.  It’s in their every interaction with each other.  It’s in the children they’re raising together.  I feel blessed (as some lucky man’s future wife) to have seen that kind of love, to have talked to them about all of the work they pour into their relationship and their family, the things they need from each other, the things they have to give to each other, and so on.

Barack and Michelle have that.  It’s like a rare, endangered species (like college educated Black men).  It’s not something that can be faked.

When Michelle gave her husband dap for all the world to see, and he gave her a quick tap below the waist, it was not contrived, or sexist, or inapropriate, nor was it a terrorist fist jab.  Instead, it was simply who these two people are, and who they are as a couple. 

Giving your husband dap in front of people, that’s not just funny or cute, it’s real.  Different strokes for different folks.  One person’s PDA is another person’s dap.

About a month ago or so there was a little dust up over Barack saying he had a “good looking family”.  One comentator thought that women in this day in age would prefer to be called “smart”, before “good looking”.  My man Roland Martin called that shit to the carpet, particularly in reference to Black women; Black women luuuuuuuuv a compliment from their man.  And, his family is good looking.  Much better than a man who doesn’t know how to smile without being somewhat scary, standing next to a White woman who looks like she dipped her entire face in some sort of shellac mix; her mouth moves (barely) and she can blink, but that’s about it.

I”m getting off track.  Bottom line, I think the country would be lucky to have her as its first lady.  As Barack has progressed in this campaign, the jabs at Michelle have increased, and gotten sharper.  A few weeks ago I was pissed to see this picture of Michelle.  We’ve all heared about the “Whitey” video, and then today, clearing my news feeds, I stumbled upon this, reported by the Huffington Post. Look at the captions under Michelle:

 

Oh, so many things come to mind.

First of all, WTF?!  Who says that?  What respectable news agency calls…oh.  Right.  It’s Fox News.

Second of all, this shit is not in the least bit funny.

Finally, we have no one else to blaim but ourselves.  How and the hell and when the fuck did people start embracing the terms ‘baby mama’ and ‘baby daddy’?  What kind of ignorant ass shit is that?  I’m divorced.  I have never, ever, never, eva, eva, eva referred to that man as a ‘baby daddy’…that term just denotes trifflin’ ass negro, and that is not the message that a mother should send.  It also denotes ‘not married’.  Baby daddies are not husbands, they’re baby daddies.  Likewise for the mama’s.  It stinks of negative messages, ‘broken home’, ’single parent’, on and on and on.

Also, in case this was lost on folks, Barack and Michelle were married before children came into the picture.  That’s not a baby mama.

Show some GOT DAYUM respect for each other.  Here, borrow some of mine:

My child’s father

The father of my children

The boys’ dad

You know what those three things suggest?  Respect, respect, respect. Even if he might be a punk ass man, that’s not on public desplay for all- it’s not accepted as a given.  He might be a punk ass, but what does that make me?  I can dog him out all the time and use language that is negative towards him and about him, or I can put for the respect that I demand for myself.

Now let’s not get it twisted.  There are some sorry ass moms and dads out there, who often times we think are not fit to be called ‘mom’ or ‘dad’, but that’s just tough.  What kind of messages are we sending to our kids when we talk this way about people that should be more important than that.

WTF do you mean, stop picking om Obama’s baby mama?  I can guarandamntee the “liberals” did not say the words ‘baby mama’.  I mean, hell to the no. 

And let’s set the “mother of his children” role aside.

That’s the man’s wife.  She is not a “baby mama”.  She’s his wife, his partner with whom he raises and co-parents two beautiful girls.

The folks that want to make light, and send nasty comments (like they’ll ever make it past the moderator) and try and get in a dig or two, just don’t.  Just don’t.

What Fox news did was unacceptable, and they should be held accountable for it (aka, I wanna slap somebody upside the head)…

Michelle is a wife and mother with a successful career.  She is by no stretch, anyone’s baby mama, certainly not Barack Obama’s. 

–Sable Verity

BABY MAMA DEFINED

1.  The mother of your child(ren), whom you did not marry and with whom you are not currently involved.

A stereotype associated with baby mama’s is they are poor, lazy bitches who trapped the man into getting her pregnant or tricked him by saying she was on the pill, thinking the man would pay her way in life just because she has a child with him. Not all baby mama’s are like that. The majority of them just act like they can control the man just because they had a seed with them, and make it difficult for the man and threaten to take the child away or sue for more child support if the baby mama doesn’t get her way.

We’re bickering over who will pay Hill’s campaign debt (cuz it won’t be her), yet as trite as it sounds, children ARE still starving in the world.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has appealed for extra resources to help thousands of severely malnourished children in Ethiopia.

The organisation says more than 126,000 children could be affected.  The World Food Programme says nearly 3m Ethiopians will need emergency food aid this year because of late rains and the high cost of food.

A BBC correspondent who visited a feeding centre says she saw a child whose arm was as thin as a man’s thumb.