Random Reflections
on Contemporary Issues:
The USA in 2017 so
far…..
With no iota of regret nor apology,
one of my most admired
President
of the United States of America
is #44
Mr. President Barack Hussain
Obama!
The bar was set so high in order for the first minority
presidential candidate to actually become the president of the United States of
America. Today, I wonder what standards are in place that orchestrates the
emergence of #45.
In my noble opinion, Mr. President Barack Obama epitomizes
the idealism of America as a land of the free and the brave, where justice for
all and the pursuit of happiness for all converged and became a reality. The
separation of state and church was not in any way detrimental to either body,
and in fact on the contrary, there was a clear quest for unionism and mutual
respect and understanding.
The church was even free to opt out of the birth control
provision of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
Nevertheless and without doubt, the same church relentlessly undermined
President Barack Obama in the same way that White Evangelicals treated him like
a dog!
The emergence of #45 is therefore not surprising given the
freedom that permeate the country and even to the extent that folks with
different sexual orientations have the courage to come out of their closets and
publicly showcase their divergence from the norm. This development even went as
far as redefining the status quo of marriage, as not just between a man and a
woman, but even people of the same sex can get married. In my opinion, this
development informed the limitation of human understanding and the necessity of
Christian values to supersede carnality.
President Barack Obama is married to Michelle and they have
two daughters! I do not need to look any further, if I am looking for a family
role model, period!
This #44 was a humble president, compassionate and kind
toward all mankind and irrespective of the stereotypes about the people of
color, specifically the Black man, President Barack Obama was able to debunk
all the negativity associated with such folks and this without doubt, further
irritated the racists, who hide under the disguise of Evangelicals, to even
antagonized him the more! In it all, he bore his pain in a calm, moderate and
idealistic fashion and I believe, he survived the 8 years in office by the
grace of God.
As a pragmatist, nationalist and patriotic individual,
President Barack Obama aligned his Christian belief with the necessity to be as
diverse as possible, making room to celebrate with others who practice
different religion. He was always an advocate of freedom for all.
In comparison, when I reflect on the prevailing National
Football League National Anthem/Flag protest engineered by former Quarterback
Mr. Colin Kaepernick via the use of #TakeAKnee demonstration and the aftermath
of the barrage of criticism, insults and denigration directed at the players
and specifically Mr. Colin to the extent, in spite of his capability, remained
unemployed, in a country that is not North Korea, by #45 and his
administration, I am shocked, appalled and disappointed, nevertheless, not
surprised because, these folks are racists, period.
The definition of Nationalism is now authoritarianism
directed by a supposed leader of the number one superpower nation,
unfortunately clueless, dotard and a moron as severally described by those who
are close to him.
These are not my words, but copied, since I do not know him
as a person, other than what I see and hear in the media.
No matter my disappointment, I am nevertheless so happy that
God is forever at work in my life. And it is a fact that no man can live
forever without first transitioning from physical living to physical death, and
then come the resurrection to life or death. This is a great consolation to me
and a reminder that, all man are mortal and so is the administration they lead
or rule over!
There used to be a King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonian
empire, who is evil, arrogant and think himself to be a god! And through the
intervention of the prophet Daniel, over and again, God made the evil king to
confess that he is not god, but only the God of Daniel is indeed the true God
that must be worshipped. Today, there is charade of evangelists; some are pure
evil men and women that tolerate the nastiness and detrimental actions of the
current leader and all for their selfish needs and ego too.
I believe God will deal with us accordingly, because, my God
is a just one!
The standard of justice in the country is unfortunately
two-fold, rather than unison!
If you are a European- American or White, the justice system
applies the maxim, ‘Innocent until found guilty” and on the other hand, if you
are an African-American or Black or a person of color, you are at a different
spectrum of justice system defined as “guilty until proven innocent’.
This ugly justice trend is detrimental and hypocritical, but
nevertheless not surprising, since it is simply the metamorphosis of slavery or
slave trade mentality that treated some as properties rather than as a human
being.
In our contemporary society, a mass shooting perpetrated by
a White- American is hardly define as a terrorist act, whereas, a less shooting
with less casualty by a person of color is immediately construe as an act of
terrorism, especially when you factor in another dimension- religion! It is
therefore safe to say with little iota of doubt that a mass shooter that is a
white man with a Christian name is rather referred to as a lone wolf or
mentally deranged and if he killed a cop, called a survivalist! On the
contrary, even without casualty, the mere handling of gun by a Black man,
simply burden the carrier with the proof of no allegiance with terrorism.
The police seem to be train to kill Blacks and go
unquestioned or without prosecution, however, the same does not apply to
Whites, who can kill police and the justice system is burden with the proof of
guilt against them.
If you are a Black and a Christian, unfortunately, you are
never Christian enough to the White Catholics and evangelicals, even they, many
of them are racists that the Christian religion has failed to change their
hearts.
Rev (Dr.) Jeremiah Wright, a spiritual adviser to President
Barack Obama was a veteran that fought for this country and yet, the system
considered such an educated- minded personality as a militant and thug than a
respected Pastor and a veteran! He is feared by the system that considers
everything Black as a threat to their freedom.
Fast-forward, we have religious hooligans ministering to a
man in the White House who in his bodily 70 plus years, act like a toddler. He
is also so obsessed with #44 that, the only legacy he seems to want to achieve
other than orchestration of dichotomy and perpetual racial discrimination and
hatred, is the erasing of the legacy of Obama.
Well, any good legacy is difficult to erase because, goodness is a
characteristic of God, and God can never be erased!
God is speaking to us through both natural and human made
disasters and yet it seems we are not listening! And yet, #45 find the time to
orchestrate the channeling of the national consciousness from the real issues
such as #healthcare, #IranNuclearDeal, #ClimateChange, #NorthKorea, #Russia,
#Hurricanes, #WidlfireInCalifornia, #CrisisIn PuertoRico, among others, to
focus on irrelevant subject like #TakeAKnee and the Flag protest.
A forced patriotism is a fake patriotism, period!
I believe the uniqueness of the USA is in part due to the
freedom that comes with self-respect, responsibility and nationalism and
therefore make the country different from North Korea to say the least.
Consequently, a leader, who intend to force her citizenry to perform an act of
patriotism based on his own narrative and myopic perspective is essentially
being un-American and in fact, expressing the Slave-Master relationship that
has since been abolished, at least by words of documents, as contained in the
emancipation of slaves.
Let it be clear, I, Peter Odeh without reservation
completely support Mr. Colin Kaepernick intuition to use his platform as an
internationally reputable athlete to showcase and fight against racial
injustice and police brutality directed especially against the minorities, who
happens to African- Americans. We have come to stay! This land, the United
States of America belong as much to the Native Americans as it now belongs to
all mankind, including Americans with ancestry from Europe, Africa and Asia and
others.
Love is a battlefield and as long as we are strong, stay
united and do what is right before our God, we shall overcome and come out
triumphantly and to the glory of the Almighty, who created heaven and earth.
Amen!
Peter
BONUS EXCEPT:
Coach Popovich on DONALD TRUMP
October 16, 2017
This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks
that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a
common practice of his, but to do it in this manner—and to lie about how
previous Presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers—is as low as it gets.
We have a pathological liar in the White House: unfit intellectually,
emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office and the whole world knows
it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this
President should be ashamed because they know it better than anyone just how
unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame
most of all.
In addition to his military service, Popovich is now the
head coach of Team USA. Luckily, his boss his Jerry Colangelo—not Trump.
