Astroturfing, the Tea Party and the cure for hope in America

Barack Obama promised change and gave a nation and the world hope that America might finally live up to all of her promises. That hope infected millions and led to him being elected President of The United States of America.

But alas, the Republicans in their unyielding desire to regain power at all costs soon discovered a cure, a hope vaccine.

The cure is called the Tea Party movement and although clearly borne out of racism, in what must be said is one of the best examples of astroturfing, quickly mutated, disguising itself as conservatism and a "grassroots" movement after being adopted by certain commercial enterprises and many in the republican party itself.

Moving rapidly and with the precision on the Gaestapo under the Third Reich, the movement injected itself into the populous using a voracious media as it's delivery system.

So clever is the disguise that many of those who would have benefited from change were quickly cured of hope. As a side effect, some even became delusional, joining the party under the illusion of inclusion.

And now in what could be one of the greatest victories in history of might over right, the Republicans armed with their Tea Party vaccine are poised to turn back the clock and bring America crawling back to her roots as a great nation offering equality and justice (and healthcare) for all who can afford it.

In defence, not support, of Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto

I didn't vote for Rob Ford for Mayor of Toronto in the last election and it's not likely that I will in the next one. I don't particularly have an opinion on the dozens of celebrations that go on in the city each year except to say that I find it particularly distasteful when politicians show up just for photo ops when they could clearly care less about the event itself or it's purpose. To me, better they be unseen and unheard.

I am straight so I will not claim to have any true knowledge of the struggles of the gay and lesbian community; but as a black man, even one living in one of the best countries in the world as far as equality (I hesitate to say the best because I haven't lived in all of the others and don't know anyone who has), I have still both witnessed and experienced first hand my share of prejudice and racism, so at the very least I think my own experience enables me to look at things from a place of compassion and understanding. 

Now that I've hopefully made it clear that I am not anti anything, I simply wish to say that I find the reaction to Rob Ford's decision not to attend the Pride Parade deeply disturbing. I understand that he is the Mayor and I appreciate the desire to have him show his support, however I believe the way some have demonized him is completely wrong.

Equality means fair treatment not special treatment. Some will like & support you while those who don't should simply let you be. No one should purposely stand in your way or try to hold you back but you shouldn't expect everyone to march in your parade either... live and let live as the saying goes. When you demonize those who don't openly support you but do nothing to harm you, you just seem petty and hypocritical. Don't demand equal and fair treatment and freedom of choice then deny the same to others, even those you may have helped elect to public office.

Random Thoughts - On Perseverance

Keep trying until the number of reasons you can offer for your successes is greater than the number of excuses you can think of for your failures.

Random Thoughts - Changing Beliefs

There was a time I believed in everything and everyone.

There was a time I believed in nothing and no one.

Now I believe that no one can be everything to anyone but everyone needs to believe they are everything to someone.

Random Thoughts - Could failure be the key to success?

If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn you might have gathered from the abundance of quotes that I choose on the subjects, that I am fixated on the juxtaposition of failure and success. In fact, it’s two of my favourite and most often repeated quotes that led me to write in my blog after a fairly long absence. One is a quote by Colin L. Powell, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure Colin L. Powell”. The second is a humorous take on a William E. Hickson quote by W.C. Fields, “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it.”

With this in mind, here’s what recently came to my mind. Every day I have at least one new idea for a business that I'm absolutely certain will succeed. At the same time, I’m absolutely certain that if I tried even a few of them in conjunction with my current business, that each and every one of them, including my current business, would fail.

For me personally, it's very important to stay focused, and looking at many successful people, I've found the ability to focus to be a common trait. More important though, it's the ability to stay focused even when faced with failure. They seemed to focus on one thing and either mastered it or gave it their all but failed to become successful before moving on to the next thing. On the occasions that they failed, they moved on decisively; and those who achieved the greatest and most lasting success, had more instances of failure than success.

Of course there are those who appear only to succeed and never fail; those who seem to possess the mythical Midas Touch. Those however are very rare and a subject for another post. For most, the instances of failure are invariably greater than the occasions of measurable and lasting success.

So what does this mean? Well here’s what I’ve come up with: In order to succeed you first have to try. You have to try to prove that you can or prove that you can't. Once you’ve proven one or the other you’ll either have succeeded or failed at what you have tried. When you are done trying, move on. Your failures will provide you with the knowledge and wisdom you need to succeed and your successes with afford you the confidence, means and freedom to fail on your way to achieving new successes.

What do you think? Could failure be the key to success?

"Could failure be the key to success?" was written by Nigel Corneal nigel@thinkbdm.com http://thinkbdm.com/ and may be reprinted without permission provided that the entire article is used unedited and that this paragraph is included unchanged at the end of the article and made clearly visible to the reader.