Obama: 'Say My Name!'

The winds of change don't smell so great these days.
Thank goodness for another whiff of President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama's spunk in today's headlines.
Obama spoke plainly to a reporter, saying that, of course, his middle name would be stated out loud when he takes the Oath of Office. He's joked before about the middle name's baggage, but how better to show the world the weight of his authentic convictions?

VIDEO: YOUTUBE

(FUNNY!!! AS I'M WRITING THIS WOLFE BLITZER POINTS OUT THAT THE MIDDLE NAME OF OBAMA'S CHIEF OF STAFF IS....GET THIS...ISRAEL.)

Anyway...whether the given names we bear are honored or not, notorious or not, changed or not, mispronounced or not, embraced personally or not, they're OUR NAMES!

The point of this existence is to make them mean something. Not, selfishly for you. Dummy. For those who will or won't claim being named after you based on how well you held it in the road and cleared a wider, clearer path for them.

Right?

While Obama assembles his Dream Team...

Let's look on the bright side.
Give this President-elect time to work things out.
It looks like his master plan is in full effect as far as cabinet placements go.
In the meantime, let's wake up every morning from until after Tax Day or Barack's first 100 Days (whichever comes first) realizing that things actually could be worse.
Here's this household's new theme song to help soothe the cold, early a.m. aches and pangs.


VIDEO: YOUTUBE

If nothing else, current conditions teach us that it truly is, as the Soul Stirrers sang, "A Mean Ol' World". This "Ray Sings / Basie Swings" (Concorde Music) CD I just bought on a whim hits back with a certain, determined meanness that showed "the Genius" up against a full big band at his prime and fuels me. Not that I'm endorsing it or anything...
Back to the main point: Rise up singin' people! Show your kids by example that you've got the gumption to persevere. Fight back, at all costs, the shadows of doubt that might cloud their eyes.
Like that Big Buford burger I wolfed down after a volunteer stint at that germy pre-school this afternoon, this too shall pass.

Does Barack Obama play golf?

I'm frankly still feeling too wiped out from all the election hysteria that culminated two nights ago to go through Google to find out what else the President-elect and I might have in common; hobby-wise.


VIDEO: YOUTUBE

But I will; and if the golf industry sees any chance to make his connection to the game a win-win in terms of publicity, it'll soon be known anyway.

For some reason, I keep envisioning Barack and Tiger Woods in a dream pairing; playing privately at Woods' Isleworth compound. Imagine the conversation, the laughs, the bets, the precious pauses.

To lighten things up on this blog, for a change, let's focus on golf. Black men who play golf. How black men play golf differently, if at all. What draws more and more black men to the fairways?

More importantly: what's the best way to get more of our black children into the game? My son is 5, so I can't get him into the First Tee program for another two years. I've tried, without pushing, to get him used to swinging clubs. But it's hard to hold his attention for more than 20 minutes.

Any suggestions?