Barackface

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Dress Code

My current dress code is this all black stuff above but instead of a black shirt, I wear the red, white and blue Reshma 2010 shirt. The first thing to go out the window for me was the tie. Then out went the dress shirt. But I like the rest. And I like the color black.

I bought black pants and black Brazil and Argentina shirts for the World Cup. Made me look like an amateur.

The picture at the top is from the India Day Parade from 2009.

New York Times: Blazing Campaign Trails In A Certain 3-Inch Heel: I found myself increasingly, and in spite of myself, wondering about her shoes..... Despite the three-inch wedge heels on her black patent leather shoes, after hours of walking, Ms. Saujani, a former hedge-fund general counsel and a successful political fund-raiser, seemed as calmly cheerful as she did at the outset of the day. .... Finally, as we returned to her office, I asked: About those shoes? .... “They’re the Kate Spade wedges,” she said, sagging slightly, as if she had only just then been reminded that she had feet. “They’re these politician-woman shoes.” ...... She had gotten the tip from someone who worked for Hillary Rodham Clinton. They are apparently something of an “it” shoe right now for women in politics: Ms. Saujani said that Kathleen M. Rice, who is running for attorney general, also wore them (a photograph on Ms. Rice’s Facebook page bears that out). The chief of staff for a prominent woman in Congress told me that she, too, religiously relied on her Kate Spade wedge heels (though she spoke on the condition of anonymity because she preferred not to be known for her brand of footwear). ...... “They’re very comfy,” said Annie Mullaly, Ms. Saujani’s finance director. “They’re like Crocs. You’ll see them everywhere once you’ve identified them.” ...... I know. We, the news media, are not supposed to ask female candidates about their hairstyle or their choice of pantsuits over skirts or their shoes. It is irrelevant. It is trivializing. It is sexist. “You would never write about Chuck Schumer’s shoes,” Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand said in a New York magazine article in response to a question about her flats. ...... But the Kate Spade wedge heels are not just one candidate’s shoes. They seem to be the shoes of a circle of younger women aspiring to power or already in it, women directly and indirectly passing on to one another ways of navigating the particular challenges of being a woman in the public eye. A woman must look put-together, but not as if she is a slave to fashion; she must look groomed, but never be spotted grooming..... “we made a bulk order,” said Ms. Mullaly: a pair for Ms. Saujani, and pairs for two campaign workers. Ms. Mullaly said she had a friend in the State Department who raced around airports and bought several pairs.... There was something distinctly next-generation about the sight of Ms. Saujani, in a red dress just above the knee, legs bare atop her three-inch wedges. Ms. Saujani’s comfort level with fashion, with showing off her own good looks, could be considered progress — the latest evolution for female candidates, who first wore versions of male drag, then graduated to the salmon or aqua skirt suits that seemed sold out of a catalog distributed exclusively to female members of Congress..... Whether the news media discuss it or not, women running for office still walk a fine line when deciding what to wear. Their shoes had better be comfortable.

Hillary's Support For Reshma Can Not Be Spinned Away

Image via WikipediaHillary Clinton Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani
Maloney, You Are Not Reshma's Role Model
Reshma Is Bigger Than Hillary
Political Office, Political Essence
Carolyn Maloney Is The Problem
Mainstream Media Kept Saying John Liu Was Losing
How My Grandfather Became Mayor The First Time
An Empire State Of Mind: The Final Countdown
My Progressive Political Religion
Reshma Saujani Loves America
Carolyn Maloney: Feeling Ugly?
Barack Obama Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani
Carolyn Maloney's Newest Lie

New York Daily News (blog): Clinton On Sidelines In NY Cong Race: Democrats are quietly working to kill rumors that Secretary of State Clinton is “unofficially” backing Democrat Reshma Saujani in her longshot bid to unseat Rep. Carolyn Maloney.......The whispers that Hillary Clinton is secretly backing Saujani enraged party officials and even some folks close to Clinton..... The rumors hit a new high mark this past weekend when the New York Post wrote that “Hillary Clinton … gave her campaign an unofficial nod of approval.” Maloney was surprised to read that since she has long been loyal to Clinton, a source told The Mouth...... Saujani has had a past professional relationship with Clinton, working with her political action committee to raise money and turning down a job she was offered at the State Department..... Saujani and Clinton did meet to talk about the campaign at one point ..... Maloney, meanwhile, was warned early in the campaign not to cart out any past endorsements from Clinton, who backed her in her previous races, a source said. Maloney pulled down from her website one reference to a past Clinton endorsement in the spring

Why would Hillary Clinton support Reshma Saujani? I could think of a few very good reasons.

One would be to say thank you. Reshma was the first scare Hillary 08 gave to Obama 08. Reshma is the reason Obama 08 nicknamed Hillary the Democrat from Punjab before a single vote had been cast. The second scare was the New Hampshire victory.

But it is my suspicion that the bigger reason is not about the past but the future. How would have an Indian felt in 1946? When independence was finally in sight? Hillary has dreamed of gender equality her entire life. And finally she sees it in plain sight.

September 14 Will Birth The New Woman

It also helps that they are friends.

Hillary Clinton Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani

New York Times: Blazing Campaign Trails In A Certain 3-Inch Heel: I found myself increasingly, and in spite of myself, wondering about her shoes..... Despite the three-inch wedge heels on her black patent leather shoes, after hours of walking, Ms. Saujani, a former hedge-fund general counsel and a successful political fund-raiser, seemed as calmly cheerful as she did at the outset of the day. .... Finally, as we returned to her office, I asked: About those shoes? .... “They’re the Kate Spade wedges,” she said, sagging slightly, as if she had only just then been reminded that she had feet. “They’re these politician-woman shoes.” ...... She had gotten the tip from someone who worked for Hillary Rodham Clinton. They are apparently something of an “it” shoe right now for women in politics: Ms. Saujani said that Kathleen M. Rice, who is running for attorney general, also wore them (a photograph on Ms. Rice’s Facebook page bears that out). The chief of staff for a prominent woman in Congress told me that she, too, religiously relied on her Kate Spade wedge heels (though she spoke on the condition of anonymity because she preferred not to be known for her brand of footwear). ...... “They’re very comfy,” said Annie Mullaly, Ms. Saujani’s finance director. “They’re like Crocs. You’ll see them everywhere once you’ve identified them.” ...... I know. We, the news media, are not supposed to ask female candidates about their hairstyle or their choice of pantsuits over skirts or their shoes. It is irrelevant. It is trivializing. It is sexist. “You would never write about Chuck Schumer’s shoes,” Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand said in a New York magazine article in response to a question about her flats. ...... But the Kate Spade wedge heels are not just one candidate’s shoes. They seem to be the shoes of a circle of younger women aspiring to power or already in it, women directly and indirectly passing on to one another ways of navigating the particular challenges of being a woman in the public eye. A woman must look put-together, but not as if she is a slave to fashion; she must look groomed, but never be spotted grooming..... “we made a bulk order,” said Ms. Mullaly: a pair for Ms. Saujani, and pairs for two campaign workers. Ms. Mullaly said she had a friend in the State Department who raced around airports and bought several pairs.... There was something distinctly next-generation about the sight of Ms. Saujani, in a red dress just above the knee, legs bare atop her three-inch wedges. Ms. Saujani’s comfort level with fashion, with showing off her own good looks, could be considered progress — the latest evolution for female candidates, who first wore versions of male drag, then graduated to the salmon or aqua skirt suits that seemed sold out of a catalog distributed exclusively to female members of Congress..... Whether the news media discuss it or not, women running for office still walk a fine line when deciding what to wear. Their shoes had better be comfortable.

Credit For Credit Card Bill Goes To Barack Obama
Reshma Is Bigger Than Hillary
Political Office, Political Essence
Carolyn Maloney Is The Problem
Mainstream Media Kept Saying John Liu Was Losing
How My Grandfather Became Mayor The First Time
My Progressive Political Religion
Reshma Saujani Loves America
Barack Obama Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani

Credit For Credit Card Bill Goes To Barack Obama

Image via Wikipedia

Carolyn Maloney Is The Problem

It is beyond disingenuous, it is downright dishonest but not out of character for Carolyn Maloney to try and take credit for a non existent Second Avenue subway line, a Brooklyn Bridge that does exist, and a credit card bill that was the work of a guy I was rooting for in 2007 and 2008: Barack Obama.

Barack Obama Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani
And I'd Like To Take Credit For The Brooklyn Bridge
Carolyn Maloney's Work On The Second Avenue Subway Line

Barack Obama likes to do what great leaders do. He does the work and he gives credit to others on the team. He did the work on health care reform and gave the credit to Nancy Pelosi. That is not to say Pelosi did not work on health care reform. Pelosi did big work on health care reform. Many other members of Congress did. But that one indispensable person was the president himself. He set the pace, he ran the race, and it was he who decided when it was finally time to end the debate and go for the vote. Too early or too late would have meant failure.

Al Hagan, Carolyn Maloney: Did They Apologize Yet?
Al Hagan: Capable Of A Hate Crime
Nadler Should Vacate The Maloney Sinking Ship
Hard Fact For Al Hagan: Maloney Failed To Pass 9/11 Health Bill
Organized Labor Bosses Backing Maloney Are Acting Blind And Stupid

Carolyn Maloney's failure to pass the 9/11 health bill shows she does not have the chops to get anything done in Congress. Senioritis is not what gets things done apparently. This time she was on her own, the president was on the sidelines busy doing other things. But now the president has pledged to get behind the 9/11 health bill. So the next time it is up for a vote, you can expect to see it passed.

Reshma Saujani Loves America
Sep 15 - Oct 31: Obama-Reshma Should Crisscross The Country
September 14 Will Birth The New Woman
Carolyn Maloney: The Alan Keyes Of District 14
Reshma's Is Top Primary Race To Watch In America: BusinessWeek In May
Reshma Saujani Is The Second Stimulus Bill This Country Needs
Reshma: Obama's Number One Weapon For November 2010

Maloney, You Are Not Reshma's Role Model

Image via WikipediaOne question Maloney has consistently asked is as to why Reshma can't run for City Council first like Maloney did. Why does a run for Congress have to be Reshma's first run for office? That question is a primary theme in a Village Voice hack article by Wayne Barrett.

Wayne Barrett: Suspicious Package
Village Idiot Wayne Barrett

Why did not Bill Gates go work at IBM first and acquire some experience? Why did he start a company? Beats me. Beats Maloney.

You can expect dumb people like Carolyn Maloney to pose a question like this one. If she were smart, she would have posed a question like this in 1999: Why am I voting for Wall Street deregulation when this could cause a mega recession? If she were smart she would have posed questions like these in the early 2000s. Why am I voting for the Iraq War? Why am I voting for the Patriot Act? Why am I voting to make life easy for oil companies and hard for the ordinary people? If she were smart.

There is a very, extremely direct relationship between Carolyn Maloney asking as to why Reshma can't run for City Council first and her absolutely refusing to debate Reshma Saujani in a series of TV debates. This woman lacks fundamental respect for the democratic process. This woman has no respect whatsoever for the voters. Her personal net worth of 20 million dollars blinds her.

Someone running for a political office as a career move is at the low end. At the high end someone runs for office because it is a calling. For Reshma Saujani running for Congress is a calling. The Great Recession is now. This country can't afford for Reshma to lose now and run again in 2012 and win. That might make sense for Reshma's personal political career, but it makes no sense for the district, for the city and for the country. Reshma has to win now, Reshma has to win this very first time.

The biggest reason Reshma can't run for City Council before she runs for Congress? Carolyn Maloney is not her role model. She has never mentioned or hinted to me that Carolyn Maloney might be her role model. I am 100% positive Carolyn Maloney is not Reshma Saujani's role model.

After Bill Clinton was done with Yale, he went to Arkansas and ran for Congress. That dude knew Arkansas like the back of his hand. I am sure he could have found a City Council seat to run for somewhere in those woods.

Reshma Is Bigger Than Hillary

Reshma Saujani and Carolyn Maloney don't even live in the same political city, let alone the same political neighborhood. Maloney, you are out of your league in comparing yourself to Reshma Saujani. You are Al Sharpton. Reshma is Barack Obama. Al Sharpton is a good guy, but he never was Barack Obama's role model.

Wayne Barrett: Suspicious Package

Image via WikipediaVillage Idiot Wayne Barrett

Wayne Barrett has a track record of doing the bidding for the Maloney 2010 campaign manager dude. Barrett puts out hack articles on behalf of whoever this campaign manager dude might be working for at any particular time. It is okay to do paid blog posts, but when you do the FCC requires that you make it clear it is a paid blog post. Wayne Barrett has violated the FCC rules, and the same people who are going after Rangel, and should be but are not going after Maloney need to now go after this Wayne Barrett guy. (Rangel And Maloney Need To Vacate The Premises And For The Same Reasons) This guy is a disgrace to journalism in this city. I hereby report this asshole Wayne Barrett as a suspicious package. Like Bush said. Where is President Bush when I need him? (Bush: Genius? Visionary?)

What Maloney 2010 and its lackeys like Wayne Barrett have been saying for months since the start of this race is Reshma Saujani's weakest point is actually her strongest. This country's biggest crisis right now is its 10% unemployment rate. That kind of unemployment sustained for too long could lead to social unrest and potential domestic terrorism. A high unemployment level is a security threat. Mending the frayed relationship between Wall Street and Main Street to get the private sector to invest two trillion dollars into the creation of new jobs has got to be this country's very top priority. When she is in Congress, Reshma Saujani is going to be best positioned of all people in Congress to bring that mending about.

To say Reshma Saujani's Wall Street experience is a bad thing is to say Howard Dean's being a medical doctor is a bad thing. You can list me all the names of all the departments and Wall Street firms that Reshma worked for and that does not change a thing. It takes me one split second to decide not only does Reshma have Wall Street knowledge but that she was entrepreneurial. In tech you could go work for a big company like IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Intel or Google, or you could go work for a small startup. On Wall Street Reshma had a tendency to go work for small startup types.

Goldman Sachs paid a huge fine to the SEC. That does not make all workers of Goldman Sachs criminals. One of Reshma's former bosses was indicted for something. You can't rope in Reshma into that. That is not how justice works in real life, or in Hollywood, and it should not on the campaign trail.

Hedge funds were supposed to be these small, agile, innovative entities. Perhaps they still will be. A lot of dot coms flamed out in the late 1990s. I would know. I was part of a few of them. That does not make me a criminal.

Candidate Reshma has always been for Wall Street reform. Actually she feels like the reform did not go far enough. Candidate Reshma has not taken a dime in corporate PAC money from Wall Street or any other industry. People who think individuals working on Wall Street no longer have a right to make their individual contributions to political candidates are one step away from denying the Bill of Rights to the people working on Wall Street. That is not Wall Street reform. That is Wall Street demonization. And this country can not afford to pay the price of Wall Street demonization.

Congress made Wall Street bad behavior possible. That Congress has not been reformed. There is a direct relationship between Maloney voting for deregulation in 1999 and the Great Recession 10 years later. Maloney should be indicted. If not, she needs to be voted out.

Maloney owns BP stocks. Don't tell me that has not swayed her votes on the oil industry. She was with Bush-Cheney on the Iraq War, on the Patriot Act, and on oil industry legislation. Blaming Maloney for the Gulf Oil Spill is not political sleight of hand. It is like adding two plus two and saying the answer is four.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Digital Cheerleader

Image via WikipediaI have a Google Alerts thing set up in Reshma Saujani's name, and these past few days the number of items that show up in my inbox has gone up dramatically. I get a daily email. The email contains links to news articles and blog posts that mention Reshma. I guess this shows the campaign has hit its final stretch.

This increase in volume might also be a hint to me to focus more on digital cheerleading for the campaign.

I attended the Upper East Side event earlier. And it was very well organized, very well attended. It was good to reconnect with many of the staff members.

Instead of saying hello to many who attended, I focused on long conversations with a few.

These are tough times. The 10% unemployment rate is always the elephant in the room.

Village Idiot Wayne Barrett

This guy should leave Reshma Saujani alone and instead blame me for the nuclear winter, as it is known in the tech industry. I was an early member of a dot com in the late 1990s that flamed out.

Village Voice: Wayne Barrett: Reshma Saujani's Road to Congress? Right Down Wall Street. Let Me Be Your Guide.

These idiots don't seem to realize that now we live in the post Wall Street reform era, and now we need to mend the frayed relationship between Wall Street and Main Street to bring the unemployment rate down.

Reshma Is Bigger Than Hillary

Hillary has the smarts but then so does an engineer, a doctor and an astronaut. I am talking here about political instincts and political kinetics. There Reshma is way out there. In her autobiography Hillary credits Bill Clinton of seeing "connections that the rest of us don't see." That rest of us is primarily Hillary.

Someone like me can cut through political brand names like Obama, Clinton, Bush, Kennedy, Gandhi and look at the essence of a political operative. I am talking at that level.

I got sharp political instincts. And I got super political kinetics when it comes to the digital realm. Look at my Nepal work during 2006. I put all that to the service of Obama 08. But as of today I have atrophied social muscles. And my political kinetics are rusty in the social realm. I have been good at it before and I can reclaim it, I think, but as of today, I am not there.

Reshma has super political instincts and she has super political kinetics. She is a political athlete who is in top shape. The thing about political instincts, either you have it or you don't. I don't think you can go to school for that.

The Clintons belong to a different era. In his autobiography Bill Clinton has said he has sent a total of two emails in his life. He is a telephone guy. The internet is my telephone. Bill Clinton is garrulous. If I am garrulous, I am garrulous through my blog. One big reason Bill Clinton was not slam dunk effective in the 2008 race was because social media had caught up on him. One Hillary quote has her saying she can not think in front of a computer. Me, I can not think when I am not in front of a computer. Well, not true. But I do seem to do a lot of thinking in front of my computer. When I am consuming news online, I am all too eager to fire away an email or a blog post. I take interactive seriously.

As far as I am concerned digital is all the rage. Digital levels out the playing field for me. Digital makes my world global. And I need the world to feel global. Digital is more egalitarian. Digital is a richer world.

You could argue some things don't get old, like saying hello, like when you work a podium or a room. Some old prejudices die hard. True and not true. If the web social is web 2.0 I have long called face time web 5.0. But even there a 5.0 experience that is constantly feeding on 2.0 will have an edge.

Hillary is Reshma's Carter.

Cordoba Controversy: America In Early Stages Of War On Terror
Political Office, Political Essence
How My Grandfather Became Mayor The First Time
My Progressive Political Religion
Reshma Saujani Loves America
September 14 Will Birth The New Woman
Reshma, Obama And The Ground Zero Mosque
Gandhi, Reshma And Tornadoes
Extrapolations To Reshma 2016
Positivity, Excellence, Dark Matter
Rangel Has Gone Radioactive
Charlie Rangel: Motherfucker
The First Time I Heard The Obama Name
Obama, Reshma

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Reshma's Lower East Side Community Conversation

I am blogging today from Boston where I am visiting with my sweet little sister Babita for Rakchha Bandhan. (I Was In Chicago? Facebook Places Messing Up) In NYC it feels like the buildings will all fall down on you. Boston is more manageable. She moved here from NYC over a year ago. Her place is much, much nicer than mine for a similar price. Like much much. Her neighborhood is straight out of the textbook. Mine only a few blocks away looks like I never left my country of origin. A North Carolina dude once told me, the only thing I like about New York is the doughnuts. I, on the other hand, love the city. My love is for the whole package deal, the filth, the crowds, especially the crowds.

I am going to be back in town to attend the Upper East Side community conversation, which is tomorrow.

Last night I showed up for the Lower East Side conversation. It was near the 14th Street and First Avenue intersection. It was well attended. It felt to me like I was seeing Reshma for the first time. I think the town hall format is my favorite setting in which to see Reshma in action, although I think she looks great on TV too. She is an amazing, amazing candidate. She is the most amazing politician I ever met. She makes it sound like Obama's health care reform has been the 1.0 version, and some day she would like to take a crack at Health Care Reform 2.0. Same about Wall Street reform.

The question answer session went great. There were one or two agitated ones, but that is statistical. You have to expect that.

It was good to see the staff again after long. It must have been two weeks since I last saw them, but it felt like ages. Reshma has a wonderful relationship with her staff. I used to hear that about John Liu last year on the campaign trail.

It was good to see Arthur, it was good to see Josh. And I bumped into Nina near 33rd Street when I went for a long walk after the event. She informed me of a major Reshma fundraiser that was taking place this evening. The host was someone who was a major player with Obama 08, yet another piece of evidence that the Obama people are slowly but surely coalescing around Reshma 2010. The Obama 08 people owe me one on this one. And it helps that Reshma is an Obama like candidate.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Cordoba Controversy: America In Early Stages Of War On Terror

Image via WikipediaFirst of all, it is not a mosque, it is a community center. It is not a new idea. That community center has been in that location for ages. They are just trying to put a new building in that old place. It can not be called a Ground Zero mosque. It is not a Ground Zero mosque. It is not a mosque, and it is nothing to do with Ground Zero. The location just so happens to be a few blocks from Ground Zero. But that location predates the 9/11 tragedy.

9/11 killed many Muslims the day it happened. 9/11 has killed many Muslims in the ensuing years back there in the Arab world. Both the Bush soldiers and the Al Qaeda have gone on to kill many innocent Muslims.

But then since when did prejudice have logic? Prejudice by definition is illogical.

The American public opinion on the so called Ground Zero mosque controversy tells me America is very much in the early stages of the War On Terror. We are perhaps in the 1950s of the Cold War, or maybe 1960s. There is too much existent anti-Muslim racism in America for America to make rapid progress on the War On Terror. Politicians avoiding the debate and succumbing to the prejudice are not helping any.

America is going to have to become a non racist country to conclude the War On Terror.

Two major transformations have to take place. All Arab countries have to be turned into democracies, and my method of choice is nonviolent mass movements. And America is going to get rid of its anti-Muslim prejudice and racism.

Politicians succumbing to the prejudice should empathize with those forces that try to bring democracy to an Arab country and have a hard time doing it. Clinging to the status quo of prejudice or non democracy are not exactly forces of progress and change.

Similarly America is going to have to make progress on total campaign finance reform if it wishes to see multi-party democracy and federalism in China.

America is a concept, an idea, a mission. A total spread of democracy is America's mission. That is what this country was born for.

America needed the FDR transformation of its capitalism to be able to defeat communism. America is going to have to work to get rid of its Islamophobia to conclude the War On Terror.

Reshma, Obama And The Ground Zero Mosque

Political Office, Political Essence

Image via WikipediaJimmy Carter was President Of The United States. Bill Clinton was a first term Governor of a small state occupied by "four men and a dog." Their political offices did not even compare. But even then Jimmy Carter was able to see Bill Clinton was a bigger deal than him. Jimmy Carter's political office was bigger, but Bill Clinton's political essence was bigger, and Carter could sense that already. And so he did the natural thing to do, he shit on Clinton. He unleashed a whole bunch of Cuban refugees on Arkansas costing Bill Clinton reelection. Bill Clinton was Jimmy Carter's chosen one. Carter wanted Clinton to feel the pain of an electoral loss. It is not much fun being a one term president. You are not even considered for greatness by historians if you are a one termer.

It can be argued Jimmy Carter was Bill Clinton's Charlie Rangel. (Charlie Rangel: Motherfucker)

Barack Obama has surpassed Bill Clinton in the greatness department. Barack has been wading FDR waters since the passage of health care reform.

My Progressive Political Religion
Positivity, Excellence, Dark Matter