"None Of The Above"

Richard Pryor sure did have it right. Its election season again which 4 years ago I was already dreading. Before I go any further let me make my position clear, I am "registered" as a democrat and voted for President Obama in the last campaign. Unlike most Americans these days I have the capacity to change my mind on certain topics and positions based on the information that's been either given to me or researched on my own. So instead of calling myself a "democrat" I choose to publicly not align myself with ANY party because neither party has the PEOPLE'S best interests in mind.

Let the rant begin:

Of course I am among the chorus of supporters who ran with the "Bush had 8 years to fuck up, give Obama a chance" argument. I must say now that that argument is no longer valid. In 3 years time instead of making sweeping drastic changes, the President kept many of Bush's policies and spent a majority of this term arguing for a health care package that NOBODY asked for because we're too busy looking for JOBS THAT AREN'T THERE to PAY for health care and when you ask the normal American on the street they can't begin to tell you ANYTHING about "Obamacare" other than the neanderthal cry of "ITS OBAMACARE AND I DON'T WANT IT". Many Black Progressives are sadly disappointed in what's happened in the last 3 years, we expected sweeping changes but instead got more "politician bullshit" from Obama instead of sticking to core principles of changes he got elected upon. Now that its re-election time the shit he was SUPPOSED to do in the first term NOW he's gonna do in the second?? My apologies and I say this with the utmost respect Mr. President but GTFOHWTBS.....

SOOOOOOO... let's talk about the alternative.... "Mack Mittens" Romney. (gonna talk to Mitt like a brother here yall so rock with me)

Mitt, can't front, that was a ballsy move you pulled in front the NAACP. Telling black folks (with a straight face mind you) that we'll do better under you than Obama..... MAN grapefruit sized nuts Mittens. I admire that. Of course we don't believe you but still we admire that. Americans over the last decade have fallen into the belief that the same people who have had a hand in the near collapse of our economic system due to "greed" SUDDENLY are perfect candidates for public office. "Hey that guys rich, I wanna be rich, I'm gonna vote for that guy" seems to be the mentality of many Americans these days, (consider the fact that Americans are actually contemplating voting for Trump speaks to that). Yes Mitt your stories great, you used the same opportunities we regular Americans have at our disposal to be a success in this country (gonna look past the whole "Thanks Dad and former Governor of Michigan" hook-up) and you're gonna help save us from fiscal ruin because you ran a conglomerate so you know the answers. Right? If I'm missing anything let me know. I agree with the "Less dependent on government" rhetoric and all that, I don't care about your tax returns, don't care about how much dough you made with Bain, I'm still waiting to hear WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO (besides repeal Obamacare) IF YOU'RE ELECTED?

But the gist of this piece is this, I have yet to hear any of these candidates or their media connects talk about anything that helps THE PEOPLE. The MAJORITY of us that have level heads, can keep our voices calm, that compromise with irrational muhfuckas DAILY just so we can make it through the day, are too busy taking care of our families to REALLY care but we want to know what our government is doing to make things better. Instead its pandering to the fucking NUT JOBS, the extremists, the people who SCREAM AND YELL AND JUMP AROUND and say the most illogical shit that we're shaping our way of life around. Its "tax returns" this and "fast and furious" that or the story I hear about daily with this election is the running tab on HOW MUCH MONEY BOTH CANDIDATES HAVE TO SPEND ON THEIR CAMPAIGNS. We (the people) have officially lost control of this government in every way. We have NO SAY. The next President of The United States will be determined by who can amass the most campaign dollars and spend them effectively on convincing you that the other guy is trash. This isn't a new game, its been going on since this country's inception. But the stakes are much too high. Who's to say that China isn't "investing" in the candidate they want to win? Invest a significant amount of money to the right candidate and you OWN them. Which makes Obama's campaign that much more disappointing.

 Its been said that:

"Public office is the last refuge of the incompetent"-Boies Penrose

Once again I will be checking back into "Le Inn of Ignorant Bliss" with politics because when the sun goes down and the last vote is counted, the next President of the U.S. will be sponsored by Carl's Jr. and Mountain Dew with promotional consideration from BASF and McDonald's. These people DO NOT care about us, they are just there to eat good, look good, and keep you talking about shit that has ZERO impact on your day to day operations. I'm not giving up....yet.....but I'm very damn close.


VOTE NONE OF THE ABOVE!

The Sports Dead Zone

Over the last decade, spearheaded by the NFL, major sports leagues in America (in an effort to better brand themselves) have created their own TV networks, websites etc. to control and keep more revenue for themselves and their owners and investors. With the inception of  MLB Network, NBATV, NFL Network & others we can pretty much talk about our favorite sports year round. If you know anything about marketing, you know that consumers will go with the BRAND name they are most familiar with....and even though we're less than a month away from the start of our American PASSION (football) we've never stopped talking about football since the last whistle was blown in the Super Bowl. At least twice a day during the off season you will see a tweet or two about the NFL.

That's cool and all but there's a point during the summer where we, American sports fans, are reaching pretty hard to find things "sports-wise" to talk about or enjoy. It happens EVERY July when the NBA season ends and we have to wait for the first preseason NFL game, and its called "The Dead Zone" when we find ourselves trapped without any "major" sports to watch (we'll get to MLB in a second). We "thirst" for sports so bad that we watch ANYTHING with just a "tinge" of athletic competition to it (don't front you are watching "American Ninja Warrior" and Olympic Gymnastics Trials). Our days are spent debating trades, POSSIBLE trades, offer sheets, franchise tenders, who's showing up to camp and who ain't, all fun but mostly useless jibber jabber that has nothing to do with us as fans.

We spend our Sundays like lost children in the wilderness BEGGING for the water that is the NFL kickoff and you will likely hear for the next couple of Sundays the "countdown" to kickoff. My friends, I ask this question: "When did it come to this?" You could blame ESPN but that's their job to keep us distracted with this "talk" all day. Blame the leagues? Nope, the same rule applies. The person to blame is your reflection in the mirror.

This is not a bad thing, I'm not knocking you for wanting to keep up with the day to day operations of your favorite franchise but you have to say to yourself "Why am I caring about this so much?" Colin Cowherd is one my favorite voices in sports talk radio, He will tell you that every July is when he takes his vacation because he has NOTHING to talk about, instead of boring us with talk of an EXCRUCIATINGLY LONG baseball season which plays ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO games with no REAL excitement until October, he rather take that time to spend with the family.

 MLB is like "background noise" to us on Sportscenter. It takes damn near 8 months to complete the season when usually by the All Star break we know who the top 4 teams are but we have to WAIT ANOTHER 3 months for the playoffs to start. Add on its extremely slow pace & its reluctance to adopt new technology and you'll quickly understand why more and more, less and less of us care about baseball.

My appeal to you American sports fan is this: Use this time wisely. Spend time with your kids, take the wife out on a date or two, start that business or side hustle you've been talking about, go OUTSIDE. Sports are meant to be a distraction and entertainment from our mundane existence on Earth, that's one of the reasons why we love it. This was not meant to be a "there's more important things in life" write-up....not in the least. But I'll put it to you in terms you can understand then I will end this...

NCAA just dropped and pretty soon a new Madden. If you use this "dead zone" to take your girl out to dinner or a movie a couple of times you could have a "nag-free" football season free to enjoy with no problems, no interruptions, because you're "paying it forward" now. The LAST thing you want to have happen in Week 10 is your girl complaining that all you do is watch sports and never take her anywhere.... Trust me....
DON'T STAY THIRSTY MY FRIENDS...