Herman Cain: Practice What You Preach

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain opined in the New York Post that protestors on Occupy Wall Street should stop protesting, look in the mirror, and "examine their own failures ."

But almost a week after a Politico reporter confronted Mr. Cain about decade-old sexual harassment allegations against him , Mr. Cain refuses to take that advice himself.

Saturday, after a one-on-one debate with fellow rival Newt Gingrich, reporters asked the former CEO if he refuses to address further questions about accusations made by two women of "inappropriate" and "sexually suggestive" behavior while he was head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. His reply: "You got it."

But Mr. Cain would be wise to remember what he does not have: the Republican nomination for President of the United States. He needs to remember what President Obama said to members of Congress during his American Jobs Act speech, that the American people, "hired us to work for them."

And right now Mr. Cain, you don't have the job.

We rely on our press to ask hard questions so that we can make our decision as to who would best represent this country. As a former CEO he knows how important first impressions make. According to the Huffington Post, when a reporter tried to ask again about the allegations, Cain immediately interrupted:

"Don't even go there," Cain said before the reporter from The Washington Post could finish his question. "Can I ask my question?" the reporter said.
"No," Cain snapped.
"Please send him the journalistic code of ethics," Cain instructed his chief of staff, Mark Block.

Please send him the journalistic code of ethics. Can you imagine saying this to an interviewer for a job that you want? I wonder how quickly an interview would end, if a job applicant at Godfather's addressed an interviewer the way Mr. Cain addressed the press, the interviewers on behalf of the American people.

If Mr. Cain really wants to preside over the American people, then he must answer our questions. This includes lingering questions on the allegations of sexual harassment. If he doesn't, he shouldn't be surprised when what he told protestors on Occupy Wall Street, actually happens to him: "If you don't have a job, blame yourself!"

Memo to Herman Cain: You Don't Have the Job originally published on the Yahoo! Contributor Network

Bishop Eddie Long's Little Church of Horrors

I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt

Some ministers wear robes. Others wear suits. Still others, dress casual.

Then, you've got Bishop Eddie Long.

Tyra Banks Would Be Proud
Now, there's nothing wrong with men wearing spandex tops. It's just that we're used to seeing men in them, at say, sporting events or working out at the gym.

He's doing neither.

All I'm trying to understand is this:

How did members at New Birth Baptist Church explain these pictures to themselves?



Did they say, "Maybe he's entering a Mr. Universe contest and no one was around to snap the picture?" 

Where Is The Outrage?

Bishop Eddie L. Long- Wardrobe Change

How else could members read the chilling details of the lawsuits that describe grooming, seduction, and abundance of gifts to boys who just needed a father figure to love them, without being outraged? 

As if it wasn't bad enough, he rapes them and tells them that its healthy, normal, a part of living as a Christian.

And you know what, maybe he's telling us a little bit about his truth. That he learned the crime of sexual abuse was really love.

It wouldn't be the first time. Check out the stacks of evidence from the 11,000 victims of sexual abuse found in the Roman Catholic Church.

Still after all of that, your pastor settles out of court for a reported $15 million dollars - money probably that came from their own pockets - you'd think that members would feel outraged or betrayed or at least demand answers. 

Hardly. What did they do instead? They had a celebration!

Celebrate Good Times, Come On

Isn't that what anyone would do?

Robyn Rushing thought so.

According to the Christian Post, Ms. Rushing, apparently still intoxicated from the previous night's festivities, took to the virtual streets of face book:

“Love you Bishop Eddie Long. So Still in Awe of Your 24th Pastoral Anniversary,” she wrote. “You deserve every bit and some. That was a good thing to see so many honor you.”

This should not surprise us.  Jesus warned that His sheep know His voice and follow Him, so too does Bishop Long's sheep hear Long's voice and follow him...

... Right to the Collection Plate

The bloggers at AT2W,  report that when it was time for offering, the announcer made his sales pitch short and sweet: “Those who rule over us, should not lack for anything.”

Of course not.

No respectable predator gives something away or participates in activities that does not reap a substantial benefit for themselves. The announcer underscores this point, quickly telling the congregation that the Bishop “has serviced well and they should sow well.”

To those who left this congregation, I would imagine you feel betrayed, just as those young men did and still feel today. My prayers are with you for strength in grieving and trying to trust again.  I also pray for those left behind consciously denying the reality right in front of them.

If these allegations are true, which I believe they are, you are putting your children in harms way.  You are putting your children at risk of encountering a sexual predator who doesn't care about you are your child, only what he can get from you.

I, sadly, speak from first hand experience. And I share my warning as those brave young men shared theirs. 


What do you think?  Please feel free to comment.  Let me know your take.

Obama to America: All things are possible

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
- Dr. Martin Luther King

Why I'm Voting for Obama

It's been said that you can tell alot about a person by how they treat their mother. I would like to add to that. You can tell alot about a person by what they learned from their mother that they don't want to repeat in their own lives. Obama sets an example in both respects. Taking the best of his mother and taking the hurts that he's experienced in his life and making sure he starts a different legacy for his family.

According to a Time article called "The Story of Barack Obama's mother"

Today Obama is partly a product of what his mother was not. Whereas she swept her children off to unfamiliar lands and even lived apart from her son when he was a teenager, Obama has tried to ground his children in the Midwest. "We've created stability for our kids in a way that my mom didn't do for us," he says. "My choosing to put down roots in Chicago and marry a woman who is very rooted in one place probably indicates a desire for stability that maybe I was missing."

Passing down a legacy that takes the diamonds that our family provided, along with creating the diamonds that were in the rough for the next generation, is what keeps a nation getting better and better.
King David in Psalms said:

That the generation to come might know them (the love, power, and mighty acts of the one True God), even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: Psalm 78:6

This story is a living example of this verse.

Many of us, stay in a fairy tale world of who we wanted our family to be. By doing this, we miss a unique opportunity in our lives that could transform our world.

When our world is transformed, we can transform the world.
I remember telling my mom about 10 years ago that I wanted to be a good mom just like her one day. What she said in response both surprised me and awed me.

"I hope that you will be an even better mom", she said.

That statement brings tears to my eyes still today.

God used that experience to show me that there is courage in our embracing imperfections. Even more courage in expressing them. She was and still is a living example of God's love and power. Both my mom and dad.

Knowing these things from our families allows us to let go of self-defeating patterns that we embraced early on in our lives. Our brains not yet matured tried to make sense of the world in the best ways possible, while being influenced by peers, media, and society.

Each influence had a different requirement for inclusion or acceptance. We developed a pattern of living that best met the needs we had at that time. The problem is, those patterns were formed by an uninformed mind.

And if not recognized and confronted when we reach adulthood, these patterns take a life of their own.
We become the pawn in a game we don't like and think there is no way out.

Barak Obama's life is one example of " there is a way out".

Could this happen as well in our own lives? Does this give you hope that your life is not destined to what your history dictates?

Contrary to the display of Christianity in the 21st century, focused on "sowing a seed" and "Bling Bling" theology - God sent Christ to give you a way out of the life that pronounces you "not worthy."

Jesus came not to limit you from fun by giving you a list of rules. He wants to show you what is possible when the world tells you differently.

Barak Obama and Joe Biden, thank you for living your examples out loud with courage and transparency so that we can see that "regular people" not born into wealth or using wealth as a crutch to avoid telling ourselves the truth, can actually hope for a better future.
Vote for hope knowing that change is possible.
It starts with you.

We want the Unedited Roberta McCain Back!

"They won't let me be interviewed," McCain lamented to the radio host who approached her Tuesday during the Republican convention in St. Paul. "They won't let me talk."

After being sequestered by the McCain Campaign for several months, Roberta McCain was allowed to speak to us again.

Yeah!

In case you aren't familiar with Roberta McCain, she is the feisty 96 year old mother of Republican Presidential candidate John McCain.

She was the only part of that campaign that was "off script."

Here are my favorite quotes:

When asked on a tv interview what she thought
of her son's Paris Hilton/Britney Ad against Obama,
Roberta had this to say:

" I think it's kinda stupid,"

In another interview earlier this year
Roberta gives her opinion on "Johnny's"
backing from the Republican party.

Here's part of the interview:

How much support do you think he has among the base of the republican party?

:: I don't think he has any. I don't know what the base -- maybe I don't know enough about it but I have not seen any help whatsoever.

:: So can he then go on and become the nominee of this party?

:: Yes. I think holding their nose they are going to have to take him. Now, i'm really popping off,

Pop off, Roberta! Pop off.

So imagine my excitement when I saw that Roberta was speaking last week.

I immediately sought quotes from her.

What I found instead, saddened me.

While addressing a group Roberta said:

His experiences (John McCain) in the military and in Washington, she said, prepare him for the Presidency and “there’s no on the job training with him.”

Wait a minute!

What did you do with Roberta McCain?
Where is she?
We want her back.

Now they've reduced her to "talking points."

The " He doesn't need any on the job training" is a McCainism.

As if being president is like remembering to ride a bike or something.

What new position in life have you not needed some on the job training?

Even churches have membership classes to acclimate new members to church doctrine. Although
you may be Christian, processes at that specific church maybe different from where you've been before.

Try another one, McCain.

This is what I don't care for.

Why censure her because she tells the truth?

Don't we admire people that have the internal fortitude to tell-it-like-it-is
from the depths of who they are?

Authenticity is magnetic. Scripts are for actors.

And we don't need any more actors playing a part of "President of the United States."

We need a person who isn't afraid of exposing what's inside themselves.

A person who isn't afraid of being "off script" because they weren't on script in the first place.

A person, like Obama said, "we can trust that what we see is who he is all the time"

Let's reclaim our nation back from "bad scripts", and live like the nation we were founded to be.


A nation not afraid of embracing change.
A nation that demonstrates "sane" leadership.
A nation respected and loved by its citizens because we know
that our President has "all of our best interests" at heart.

Let's show the world that we're grown up and done "playing house."

Hope we can believe in!

Colin Powell : Obama Endorsement Criteria

Colin Powell crosses racial lines. His leadership standards and reputation echoes louder than nationality.

After reading his primer on the 18 qualities of leadership, I understand why America sees Colin Powell's endorsement as significant to electing the next President of the United States.

What I admired from yesterday's endorsement besides who he endorsed, was how he announced it.

He laid out what his selection process. Balanced and thought provoking, Colin Powell gives the America people, especially undecided voters, a template on making decisions.

His decision defies the refrain "Oh, he's voting for Obama because he's black." Colin Powell is voting for Sen Obama because he saw the steadiness America needs in the turbulent storm we've had over the last 8 years.

Let's learn a lesson from Colin Powell in decision making. This endorsement and decision to cross party lines had to be tough. Not only is John McCain a friend, but he's given his support to him as a republican.

This election must be looked at from an objective view point instead of an "US vs Them" mentality that's easy to fall in.

America is known for leadership and steadfastness in the eyes of other nations. Let's regain what our founding fathers aimed for when writing the Constitution.

Vote Obama change you can believe in... because he believes in you.

Cindy McCain: Drugs, Lies, and Cover ups

I saw this picture on the internet after reading about Cindy McCain's Addiction Cover up, I couldn't resist. More on the story later