Wading In

There was a delay posting last week's column due to the holidays and a website glitch. Here it is in it's entirety. The murky, lurky side of Christmas By Kelvin Wade | | December 25, 2008 12:34 There is a war on Christmas. But not the one you're thinking about. I'm talking about Christmas contempt. Underneath a lot of the faux good cheer and syrupy entreaties to have a 'Merry Christmas' lies the beating heart of a Grinch. And I'm talking about the one that's two sizes too small, before the Grinch got his Christmas makeover. Christmas, far from being the most wonderful time of the year as the song goes, is probably the most stressful time of the year. Parking is atrocious. Granted most of us can use the exercise of walking a bit to get into our favorite store but its frustrating circling around a parking lot looking for an open space. Have you noticed that every store is packed at Christmastime? You wonder where all people were the othe...

Playing Santa is in the details By Kelvin Wade | | December 18, 2008 16:42 It's time for some practical advice regarding Santa Claus portrayals. If you can't get to the mall for your children to see Santa, it's probably best the kids don't actually see Santa. You can have them write letters Santa answers. Or shoot Santa an e-mail because I hear the North Pole has wi-fi now. You can even have your children set out the time honored glass of milk and cookies on Christmas Eve. It'll go a long way to keeping the magic alive. When the kids awaken to see an empty glass and trace evidence of cookie crumbs, they're amazed. It's like Santa CSI. If at all possible, leave the actual Santa playing to the professionals. Maintaining the integrity of the Santa Claus illusion is harder than it seems at first glance. No, you don't have to be Criss Angel to be Kris Kringle but you do have to realize, as most magicians can attest, children can be a toughe...

Gay advocates' efforts misguided By Kelvin Wade | | December 11, 2008 22:50 This week saw the 'Day Without A Gay' protest where gays were encouraged to call in 'gay' to work, take the day off and volunteer in their communities. It is patterned on the 'day without Latinos' protest that has been conducted on May 1 the past three years to protest immigration laws. This protest was fueled by the recent passage of Proposition 8 in California banning gay marriage. While volunteering in one's community is admirable, I don't think the day is going to be a game changer in the gay marriage debate. If we want to blame someone for Proposition 8's passage, first point the finger at the No on 8 campaign. The No on 8 campaign was an abomination. This was a measure that was losing by 17 points two months before the election. Complacency obviously set in because they seemed caught off guard when the pro-Proposition 8 ads hit. There was virtually no...

Dollar Tree ruling smacks of injustice By Kelvin Wade | | December 04, 2008 23:16 The 2006 murder of Taneka Talley at the North Texas Dollar Tree store was a brutal, shocking crime. It was also brutally shocking to find out that Dollar Tree stores' insurer is denying death benefits to Talley's 11-year-old son because the alleged killer said in a psychiatric report that he killed Talley because she was black. While I'm familiar with racial profiling and its various incarnations such as DWB (driving while black), I must confess I didn't know there was a category Dollar Tree apparently recognized as WWB (working while black). According to California workers compensation law, a claim can be denied if victim and killer have/had a personal relationship. Apparently, Dollar Tree's insurers see the suspect's alleged hatred of black people as creating a personal relationship between he and Talley and are thus denying the claim. Talley was, by all publish...

This past week, my friend's daughter's sister in law passed away suddenly at the age of 34, leaving a husband and three children, the last just days old. It's a tragedy beyond words. I didn't know Jennifer but from all I've heard from my friend Joyce, she was a very nice person with a loving family and great extended family. She will be terribly missed. When something like this happens, it inevitably causes me to think of my own mortality. My mother always told me, "Tomorrow isn't promised to you" and while we often take tomorrow for granted, she was absolutely right. So live life the way you want to live it. Let your loved ones know they're loved. Jennifer Alene Gilbert Jennifer was born June 6, 1974 and passed away suddenly on Monday, November 24, 2008 at the age of 34 in Sacramento. A Sacramento resident all her life, she is survived by her beloved husband, Troy, and three loving children, Makenzy, age 7, Kacy, age 5, and Jake, 9 days old. She w...

There's always reason to be thankful By Kelvin Wade | | November 27, 2008 18:10 Something is not quite right this Thanksgiving. I mean, I'm all set to rendezvous with the guest of honor on Thursday with her golden brown skin, plump breasts, succulent thighs and alluring scent. Just imagining her laying there all smoking hot on that platter makes me all ready to masticate. I'm ready for the parade of side dishes, eager to surround that bird on my plate. I'm all set for thick, steaming slices of moist turkey breast resting on a bed of fluffy seasoned stuffing with a river of hot turkey gravy cascading down your plate accompanied by thick slices of jellied cranberry sauce. What is turkey without its supporting cast? I'm practiced and ready to wield my fork like Anakin Skywalker putting a lightsaber through its paces. When we say grace the final 'Amen' will be the equivalent of a starter pistol signaling the start of the autumnal feast. And (...

We can't condone irresponsible lending, borrowing By Kelvin Wade | | November 20, 2008 20:19 I read a newspaper story this week on our fair city's dire financial situation, asking if we were the next Vallejo. This community, like ones up and down the state and in most of the country, has been hit hard by the mortgage meltdown. I, like many of you, am feeling the pinch. When you buy your first home, it's an amazing, proud feeling. It's the fulfillment of the American Dream in a lot of respects. Owning your own property gives you a stake in your community. You're concerned about the other homes on your block, the area schools, crime, jobs, etc. When I purchased my house four and a half years ago, homes sold in the blink of an eye. Soon selling a house was like trying to sell a winter coat to an Arizonan. It was dismaying watching owners on my block dropping the prices of their homes in order to sell them. Then the foreclosures began. An unholy alliance...

The nation is truly hopeful. Polls are showing President Elect Obama with a 70% approval rating. That's astonishing considering he got 53% of the vote. It means people are ready to put partisanship aside and work and hope for better days. This president gives us hope on the economy, on health care, on international relations, on education, on volunteerism, on young people getting involved in politics, on Iraq, on the hunt for Bin Laden, on immigration reform etc... There's so much possibility hanging in the air. It's a daunting time to be alive, a challenging time, but there is hope that there's brighter days ahead. So it's with all of that in fhe front of my mind, that it's a shame that I have that feeling of dread in the back of my mind. The unspoken fear of an assassin's bullet. God, don't let us go down that road. Obama has more threats than other presidents-elect By EILEEN SULLIVAN,...

Initiative process needs an overhaul By Kelvin Wade | | November 13, 2008 17:45 The initiative process in California needs a makeover. In the past week, I've heard backers of Proposition 8 wonder what good an initiative passed by popular vote is if it gets tied up and undone in the courts? And I've heard opponents of Proposition 8 complain that civil rights shouldn't be put to a popular vote and that altering the state constitution should require a two-thirds vote. But it's worse than that. While I do like the idea of direct democracy, there are four things that bother me about the initiative process. No. 1, it's no longer a grassroots operation. When California Gov. Hiram Johnson championed the initiative process almost 100 years ago, he envisioned grassroots movements of Californians working together to pass measures to improve their lot. We seldom see that anymore. Most propositions are dreamt up by interest groups, put on the ballot through paid signature gathe...

Time to stand behind president-elect By Kelvin Wade | | November 06, 2008 16:06 Seven score and four years ago, Abraham Lincoln, in a speech to the 166th Ohio Regiment, said, 'I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has.' Of course that wasn't true for blacks at the time and even the Great Emancipator would've never envisioned a black man as president. When Barack Obama was announced as the next president of the United States, the television screens were filled with people celebrating and many people, especially blacks, weeping. At that moment, I was supposed to call my brother Tony who was working at a polling station to tell him the news but could only manage to text 'Barack is president' before dropping the phone and sobbing. The improbable victory caps an amazing American journey. I, and many others I'm sure,...

The Netherlands Paris, France Australia Shanghai Kenya Jerusalem Obama, Japan Iraq India Hawaii Denmark Athens, Greece Martin Luther King's sister.

Obama will bring new direction to nation By Kelvin Wade | | October 30, 2008 18:09 The presidential choice is clear. Don't buy the fear that John McCain is selling. Barack Obama brings the right experience, judgment and inspiration to be president. Barack Obama graduated from Columbia University with a BA in political science, briefly worked in the corporate world but then moved to Chicago to be executive director of the Developing Communities Project, a faith-based organization. After a trip to Europe and Africa, he went to Harvard Law School. He was editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude. Instead of becoming a Supreme Court clerk like most in his position, he went back to Chicago to lead Project Vote in the largest minority voter registration drive in Chicago history. Obama spent nearly a decade as a civil rights attorney and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for 12 years. After our current president, we n...

Play the real American song (Hulk Hogan theme song). In search of the 'real' Americans By Kelvin Wade | | October 22, 2008 21:20 '. . . (A) house divided against itself shall not stand.' - Matthew 12:25 Are you a real American? Is a gay guy working to defeat Proposition 8 and planning his wedding a real American? Are members of Code Pink who protest the war in Iraq real Americans? Is my friend who donates to Democratic candidates and who happens to be an atheist a real American? If you support a progressive tax code with higher taxes on the wealthy, are you a real American? Conservative Republicans lately have been drawing a troubling distinction. Last week, Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann told MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 'I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people of Congress and find out if they're pro-America or anti-America.' McCain senior adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer rece...

“It was totally about race. The Powell nomination — or endorsement — totally about race.” ---Rush Limbaugh, October 20, 2008 Radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh, conservative firebrand Pat Buchanan, and other right wingers have dismissed Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama for President as racially motivated. Give me a break. Colin Powell is a Vietnam Veteran, four star general, former National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State. In addition to his numerous military awards, he’s been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, two Presidential Medals of Freedom, and the President’s Citizen Medal. So we’re talking about someone whose life has been dedicated to service of this country. But those critics would have you believe that Powell, after establishing his integrity his entire life, would sell out for racial reasons in the sunset of his years. Name something that Colin Powell has done that has been racially motivated in the past. Do...

Let's drop the mud-slinging and compromise By Kelvin Wade | | October 16, 2008 23:35 Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage, is the measure that has commanded most of the attention this election season. However, Proposition 4, which if passed would mandate a 48-hour waiting period and parental notification before a minor can terminate a pregnancy, also deserves our attention. It also deserves to become law. It's an idea that passes the common sense test. There are so many things in our society that require parental consent for minors to participate in. Body piercing of minors requires parental consent. We require parental consent for surgery on a minor. We require parental consent to teach a child sex education but minors can currently terminate a pregnancy without their parents knowing. This law would just require notification. Similar parental notification measures narrowly lost in 2005 and 2006. This measure is even more reasonable because it comes with numerous excepti...

Too much is at stake to be on the fence By Kelvin Wade | | October 09, 2008 17:49 Who are undecided voters? How can anyone be undecided about the presidential election at this time? First, let me admit that I'm an elitist. No, I'm not wealthy by anyone's standards and I didn't attend an Ivy League school. I don't eat arugula. I don't even know what it is. I've never driven a Volvo, hugged a tree, or drank a latte in my life. I've never been windsurfing. I own three guns. But I'm still an elitist because I think if you're undecided at this point, perhaps you should sit the election out so as to not skew the results. If you could sit through Enron, 9/11, the politicization of 9/11, the Iraq war, outrageous government spending, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Swiftboating, Katrina, Supreme Court appointments, high gas prices, the housing bubble bursting, the Obama-Clinton primary, banking meltdown, and Sarah Palin and be undecided in this el...

This is an article from the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine that every voter needs to read. It's eye opening. It's very long but it's worth it. Make-Believe Maverick A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty TIM DICKINSON Posted Oct 16, 2008 7:00 PM Advertisement • VIDEO : Five Myths About John McCain • The Double-Talk Express • Mad Dog Palin: The Full Story A t Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation's capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two former POWs. It's the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that, according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured i...