P-Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy, Diddy, Sean Combs, or whatever he goes by this week is afraid of Gov. Sarah Palin.

Sean Combs (since that is his name that is what I will call him) posted two video blogs on YouTube explaining his fear of Gov. Palin.

In this video Combs does a spoof on previous viral videos by hiding under his covers to proclaim to the world that he is scared of Gov. Palin.

I admit Gov. Palin’s answer to the Katie Couric’s question about which magazines and newspapers she regularly reads was not a great answer. I’m sure Barack Obama could have provided a much more eloquent response to that question.

I guess I would rather have someone in office who has had the ultimate responsibility of getting things done than someone who can provide “warm and fuzzy” answers to questions. Words are great, but words don’t get things done and bring about change.

Watch Sean Combs scared video. Don’t get too excited there really isn’t much content or any real entertainment value. Hmmm. kind of like most of his music.

In a previous video by Sean Combs explains “oh so eloquently” why he is scared of Gov. Palin.
Spoiler Alert: His reason. Alaska doesn’t have any black people?

It is comments like this that proves racism is alive and well in America. Rather than justify his fear with concerns for her policies, his basis of fear is the fact that the state she Governs has a low percentage of black people. In my opinion this is a racist view.

If this is not racist, then Combs should have been equally outraged when Al Gore was elected Vice President from the state of Tennessee. The percentage of Hispanic Americans in Tennessee was roughly the same as the Black population in Alaska. I don’t remember Mr. Combs professing his fear of Al Gore because he came from a state that has a low Hispanic population.

If we are to overcome racism in this country why can’t we consider the fact that Sarah Palin is the Governor of 600,000 people? Why not consider the fact that she has the highest approval rating of any Governor?

No, Combs only looks at the percentage of Black people in her state to determine her ability to lead.

Sean Combs’ opinion will not have any influence in my decisions. What say you? Leave your comment below.

Flickr Photo Credit: watchwithkristin

Will.i.am from the band Black Eyed Peas was inspired to write and produce the song “Yes We Can” after listening to a 2008 Presidential campaign speech given by Barack Obama in New Hampshire.

Here he explains his thought process and how the song came about.

After reading him explain how he was inspired, I was intrigued to see what was his inspiration. If you haven’t heard the speech, you can watch it here.

The “Yes We Can” part of the speech starts around the 10:30 mark.

“It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the
destiny of a nation.”

“Yes We Can.”

“It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail
toward freedom through the darkest of nights.”

“Yes We Can.”

“It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and
pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.”

“Yes We Can.”

“It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the
ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.”

“Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and
prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this
world. Yes we can.”

As I listened, I couldn’t help but think of another speech with a similar repetitive line. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech used the same format of example and repeated theme.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.”

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”

“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.”

“I have a dream today.”

“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

“I have a dream today.”

After going back and reading Dr. Kings speech and comparing it to Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech one thing stood out to me. The “I Have A Dream” speech had a purpose, a specific calling that one day people would be treated equally not because of race or skin color, but because of humanity.

Obama’s speech was passionate and well delivered, but everything Obama mentioned was in the past. There was no clear purpose to what Obama’s change was. Change for the sake of change does nothing. Saying we need change, but not explaining what that change should be is empty.

I decided to watch the Will.i.am “Yes We Can” video to see if I could get some more specifics from it.

The video speaks to “justice”, “equality”, “opportunity”, and “prosperity”. Sign me up. I don’t think there is anyone in this great nation that does not want these.

Obama is inspirational. He is a tremendous speaker. Inspiration and amazing speeches can bring about change. But if the change it inspires brings the wrong change where does that put us.

The one take away from this video and this speech was the line “there has never been anything false about hope”. Again, I agree 100%. Hope is a powerful thing and is necessary to keep this country the greatest country in the world. But hope is nothing without a plan. A plan only brings about change with execution. And an executed plan that brings change is only beneficial when that change produces positive results.

If Obama can inspire so many people to change, he must have introduced amazing changes for the good of this country in his personal and short political live.

One change he voted against was the Illinois’ Born Alive Infant Protection Act that which would have protected babies that survived late-term abortions. These babies that were living outside the womb on their own would have been saved under this new act. Obama felt “No We Can’t” give medical attention to these innocent babies that were living and breathing human beings because this would “create one more burden on a woman and I can’t support that.”

One change Obama has made recently was his support of his pastor Rev. Wright. This change came after knowing Rev. Wright and attending his church for 17 years. Change is often made because it is required to further your political career.

In the world of politics, change is made by voting for or against legislation. A NY Times article speaks to Obama’s inability to make change by calling attention to his voting record.

I find it hard to believe that an agent of change, voted “present” (equivalent to “I’m not sure how I feel about an issue”) 130 times as a state Senator. Not much change happening there.

I am convinced that Will.i.am and the other 36 celebrities that appear in the “Yes We Can” video believe that Obama stands for change, and he does.

My concern is not knowing what that change entails because of his limited resume of change. His previous judgment that he has shown causes me concern for the change he may try to impose if he truly is an agent of change that he says he is and that the celebrities believe he can be.

Celebrities that appear in the video include:
adam rodriguez, alfonso ribeiro, amaury nolasco, amber valletta, auden mccaw, anson mount, austin nichols, aisha tyler, bryan greenberg, cliff collins, common, derek watkins, ed kowalczyk, enrique murciano, eric balfour, eric olsen, esthero, fred goldring, harold perrineau, herbie hancock, hill harper, john legend, john schaech, kareem abdul jabbar, kate walsh, kelly hu, maya rubin, nick cannon, nicole scherzinger, sam page, sarah wright, scarlett johansson, shoshannah stern, taryn manning, tatyana ali, tracee ellis ross, will.i.am

Technorati Tags: Will.i.am, Barack Obama, Yes We Can, I have a dream

In a August 22, 2008, Kidd Rock told CMT, “I think celebrity endorsements hurt politicians.”

Rock went on to say, “Because as soon as somebody comes out for a politician, especially in Hollywood, when they all go, ‘I’m voting for this guy!’ — I go, ‘That’s not who I’m voting for!’”.

What do you think? Should Celebrities voice their political views publicly and use their celebrity to influence public policy? If a celebrity speaks out, does that influence your opinion?

Kidd Rock Photo Credit: jvh33 on Flickr

Technorati Tags: Kidd Rock, Celebrities

It seems more and more musicians are wining more and more about where and when their songs are getting played. The Republican National Convention caused a number of non-McCain supporting musicians to make it clear that just because their song was played did not mean support from them.

Van Halen apparently did not give the John McCain campaign permission to use the bands “Right Now” song during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. According to TMZ the band had no idea the song was going to be used and, “Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given.”

Heart sent a cease-and-desist notice to the McCain-Palin campaign after using their song Barracuda after Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah “Barracuda” Palin address the convention goers and the national audience.

Do sports arenas require permission from the artist to use their music to pump up the crowd? Imagine that the band Queen is a huge Washington Redskins fan and hates everything about the Dallas Cowboys. If the Cowboys beat the Redskins to win the conference championship, does Queen have the right to not allow the Cowboys to play “We are the champions” in the stadium?

I’m not talking about use of a song in a political advertisement or a YouTube video, but how far does this go? What are your thoughts? Do musicians have the right over what music a political campaign uses at a convention or other political gathering?

Listening to John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change” would make you think there is political message he was trying to make.

“now if we had the power
to bring our neighbors home from war
they would have never missed a Christmas
no more ribbons on their door”

A recent interview with Mayer shows otherwise. “I just have to be very careful with my words, because I think I know the difference between offering people an emotional observation and my opinion,” Mayer says. “My opinion is worth nothing. My emotional observation is worth everything. I want to be able to keep that trust to at least get people to think. All you have to do is think — we’ll talk about it later.”

I am of the opinion that there certainly are some political undertones with the song, but he leaves it up to the listener to decide what they think. This is one reason why Mayer is on my personal playlist because he poses questions which forces you to think and form your own decision.

Mayer does touch on the media coverage of political and news events.

“when you trust your television
what you get is what you got
cause when they own the information, oh
they can bend it all they want”

Media coverage has become “the story” in the 2008 presidential election with the Republican party strongly voicing their disgust with the “elite left-wing media” (aka NBC & CNN). Whereas the people on the Left have often felt Fox News is the voice of the Right.

Mayer leaves it up to the listener to draw their own conclusion as to his opinion of who “owns the information” and who is bending it in which direction.

If you are unfamiliar with the song, here are the lyrics for you to decide:

“me and all my friends
we’re all misunderstood
they say we stand for nothing and
there’s no way we ever could”

“now we see everything that’s going wrong
with the world and those who lead it
we just feel like we don’t have the means
to rise above and beat it”

“so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change”

“it’s hard to beat the system
when we’re standing at a distance
so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change”

“now if we had the power
to bring our neighbors home from war
they would have never missed a Christmas
no more ribbons on their door
and when you trust your television
what you get is what you got
cause when they own the information, oh
they can bend it all they want”

“that’s why we’re waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change”

“it’s not that we don’t care,
we just know that the fight ain’t fair
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change”

“and we’re still waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting waiting on the world to change
one day our generation
is gonna rule the population
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change”

“we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change”

What do you think? Leave a comment below to let us know what you think.

John Mayer Photo Credit: sushla on Flickr