If you believed Hillary Clinton before this week, she appeared to have been a miraculous sort of First Lady. You know, the kind that dreams up exotic health care programs, reforms medicare, negotiates free-trade agreements and best of all, goes into a war-torn country and dodges bullets and grenades to get to her car from a helicopter. Sounds like Wonder Woman, doesn't it? Except it isn't true...none of it.
Based on transcripts belatedly released last week, after much pressure from the Obama camp (and strangely, none from the media), it has been shown that she exaggerated her role in several of the so-called policy decisions of the Clinton Presidency. Now, I'm by no means suggesting that First Ladies do not influence the decisions of their husbands, but at the same time, I'm pretty sure no first lady has done any of the things listed above. My issue with this whole matter has been the role of the press, which "appeared" to believe her stories without cross-checking their facts. After all, weren't CNN, Fox etc. on air in the mid to late 90s? Surely, we shouldn't have to rely on her private documents to reveal that this is one demagogue who will say anything to get elected!
It may sound twisted, but I'm actually hoping Hillary wins that Democratic nomination, so that she can go up against McCain in November. That, my friends, promises to be a spectacular event...if you are a Republican, and absolutely catastrophic...if you are a Democrat. If, like me, you want to see the better person and candidate succeed, it will be the perfect result because the Hill-Bill machine shouldn't be let near the White House. Perhaps, now that we know that Hillary wasn't really part of the machine, we should come up with a new name for it.....nope, I like Hill-Bill and Hill-Bill it is. Mostly because it leads into a more appropriate word - hillbillies :-)
In other matters, The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Convention was held in Orlando last week. It's always a great inspiration to see young black men and women who are excelling in their studies or professional fields, and I wish more mention was made of such positive events, rather than the focus on the negative that seems to stymie the progress of black persons the world over. Think about it, when was the last time you heard about Africa without hearing about wars and conflict, or about black America without hearing about violence and instability, or even about black Canada without hearing about gun crimes and teenage mothers? Yet, over 9,500 black engineers and engineers-to-be gathered in Orlando, and not one peep was heard. Of course, I'm not advocating that every small achievement of black folks be highlighted, because that would ultimately defeat the purpose...but a bit of balanced coverage (or no coverage at all, good or bad) wouldn't hurt.
Just my own 2 cents.
P.S. - The Black Conservative is in love...and the lucky lady doesn't even know who she is! More on that later, perhaps.
See? You finally blogged.
ReplyDeleteI am blank on this Obama/Clinton thing really...May God's will be done is where i'm at.
On the conference, I must say that it was a great conference, I didnt get to attend most of the events but I heard great things from people.
I am greatly concerned about the timing of the conference. First of all, it wasn't spring break for more than 70% of the students present, which meant most of them (just like myself) had to miss classes, potential exams, quizzes, etc. An earlier period in the semester would have been appropriate.
As a matter of fact, I move that they change the timing of the convention to early Fall semester. That will potentially increase the number of internship offers since most companies recruit interns in the Fall and only take in extras in the spring.
An earlier conference in the Fall will also increase the number of attendees, since most black engineers are still in search of interns and their schools probably doesn’t have a massive career fair or their career fair is yet to happen. To be honest, I don’t mind missing classes earlier in the semester than in the middle of the semester when I totally have to buckle up on my classes. Black students are amongst the demographics that struggle in engineering, we need to come up with strategies and systems that will make it easier on them in engineering, not taking them away for a full week, luring them with Disney or Universal tickets.
I was talking to my professor couple of days ago, and he wasn’t pleased that I missed classes. We only have two exams in the semester, and he told me, three black students he had taught over the years failed his class because of this same organization. They came back and did poorly, obviously because they missed lectures worth two solid important chapters. I pray I am not part of that statistics (Amen), because I am obviously sleeping in his office now as you can imagine, but it all comes down to, what is really important to us as an organization. Are we fulfilling our mission in a very grandiose way that it overshadows the purpose?
I am not insinuating that NSBE sets you up for failure; I am saying that the leaders should sit down and make proper adjustments and modifications to the timing and execution of the convention.
Its Vegas next year, what can I say – another irrational decision. I hope they set some money aside for NSBE members caught for underage drinking and misconduct or something. And where are they going to house PCI in the renowned Sin City? *shakes head*
And yeah, that lady must be really lucky (goodluck!)
Really, why wouldn't she know sho she is....like saying u don't know who u are. Abeg gist us! lol
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