Yes, I’m joining the flock of women who are looking for their own Barack Obama's. From the strut in his walk, to poignant gaze of interest he gives when listening, the charming and alluring smile, those perfect teeth, the slim frame in suits that make the Five Percent look homeless, to the short cropped hair and the age defying grays sprinkled by his side burns, the commanding tone to his voice, and his diction which flows like the perfect composition. This man has grace, this man is distinguished, this man commands attention. I want a man. Just. Like. That. Or as close to it as possible.
My Barack however, might look a little different. He might be tattooed and pierced in odd places, his pants might even be sagging, he might be bald or have a mane of unruly hair, and brogues would not be his choice of footwear. But this is all surface. The qualities of my Barack would include intelligence, dedication, passion, drive, inspiration, devotion, sincerity, and a love for ME! That's my Barack. Where are you, man?!!
I can't begin to tell you how moved I was last night. Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States of America! It was meant to be and feels as though it was a divine intervention. The journey was rough and still he handled himself with such grace, making his run for president the perfect one. We have lived through some serious storms, and now, we can see over the horizon that better and brighter days are ahead of us as a people. A lot is weighted on this man, and it was wonderful that Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledged and voiced this as expectations are extremely high right now. As Obama said last night in true democratic fashion, "I need your help to make change." 
I came across this through my web travels and thought I should share. How would you feel if you received an ecard telling you to get tested for an STD? Pretty awful, I bet. Especially if you suspect, or it is implied, you are the culprit in spreading the STD. While this is a very cowardly way of letting your booty know they need to seek a cure, it is way better than not saying anything at all. inSpot.org allows you to send these ecards anonymously (or with your name attached), linking to information on where to get tested and provides resources for those who take their health lightly. Sending ecards like these to people who you think are living frivolously might actually get them to rethink their actions and more importantly BE SAFE. Now, I'm not implying to go out there and start scaring the exes or currents, but if you know someone who is living recklessly, a greeting card of this kind is a subtle way to get them to change or even save their life. Prevention is far better than cure.
Since the Eliot Spitzer case back in March, the question of whether to legalize prostitution creeps up in the news from time to time. I'm pretty torn about it. The moralistic side of me says, Get those ho's off the street!, then my humanistic side says, They are consenting adults who live in an allegedly free world. They should be free to do whatever it is they want. However, looking at this age old profession, how really, can a government crackdown on prostitution?
Advocates believe this country would benefit by making prostitution legal. But what effects have we seen prohibition have in the past? Well... we learned that the crackdown on alcohol in the 1920s had no baring. In fact, it actually hurt the nation. We saw the birth of the bootleg trade of making whiskey and bathtub gin, which put many people in jail, cost the government (the society) money, and put citizens at risk due to its unhygienic form of production. Despite prohibitive laws, people found ways to indulge in alcoholic intake. The same is such for drugs and abortion. Activists who want prostitution prohibited, want to protect young women who have yet to develop those survival skills to combat pimps and drug lords, which breed violent, misogynistic, and oppressive behavior patterns.
I'm still stuck on the how are they going to govern this occupation? Will prospective hookers need to take a course to qualify? What will be the parameters? How will their income be monitored? What about putting some income tax on that arse?! That money might help the national deficit. Would the government become the pimp in this? How can this really be done? From what we see through the media, or even firsthand through acquaintances, these women are there for a reason, which usually is to escape something or they genuinely enjoy what they do. Policing them is moot. Mary Madeline was the first prostitute written about. And guess what happened to her? She was stoned, beaten, ostracized, and still, Jesus saw her worth. Nothing has changed. I am in no way saying that it's right, but prostitution has been around since the beginning of time. For those with the "Pay to Play" mentality, the government will have great difficulty stopping their transactions as they are completely "off the books" and often times, in private.
If the government tries to regulate prostitution, it will only cause it to form in other mediums, as we have seen through the Internet. Sex sells. Literally. We will always see help wanted/needed classified ads, Internet hook up sites, and those 900 number chat lines. Mankind is a visual and tactile one and prostitution fulfils a need for some.
So my verdict. There's that saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It's so broken, it's unrepairable. Due to the increase of people being diagnosed with STDs, HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis, and Tuberculosis, maybe with the government's intervention, medical checkups can become mandatory. But wait, that's moot too! Who actually admits to being a prostitute? Strippers don't call themselves "strippers," they call themselves "dancers." A prostitute probably calls herself a Human Resource/Personnel Manager. With that said, tax payers hard earned cash will continue to be funneled into arresting pimps and ho's and housing them in county jails only for them to return over and over again.
I often wonder, what actually goes on in a man's mind when he sees a woman he likes and she walks in a way that is obvious she doesn't want to be pursued. The above photo was first seen by me about a year ago, in my local pizzeria. As I patiently waited for my pizza slice to be warmed, I looked around Pete's Pizzeria for the first time in the 9 years that I lived in the neighbourhood and saw this photo. My first reaction was, how odd that this picture would adorn the walls in this family eatery and then it made me chuckle. American Woman in Italy by Ruth Orkin was taken in the 50s. The woman isn't particularly beautiful. She looks like a nun clasping her crucifix, mumbling Hail Mary's as she passes the unwelcoming gazes. What sets her apart from these men is that her name is simply - WOMAN.
As we get closer to election, we will see many more onslaughts like this against Barack Obama. The reputable New Yorker magazine, added fuel to the fire with their cover treatment on Monday, where their reasoning behind the satirical caricature featuring Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as a demonstration of how politics is marred with extremities of hate and fear and the offensive cover was a reflection of that. Fair answer, but isn't putting the image out there in the first place, and on the cover, perpetuating those extremities? Yes, the audience of New Yorker are highly intelligent, however, the humor is completely lost in light of how this presidential campaign has progressed. What is apparent is the continued confirmation that "they" (and I'll use it loosely here) can do whatever it is they want to black people, and hide behind freedom of speech and expression.
