Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Obama's Speech is Great and That's the Real Issue

The left and the right are both unable to see the attractive elephant in the room. The right went nuts on the fact Obama was going to speak to the children of America because they thought he was going to slip in socialist ideology and start the little ones on the way to joining an Obama youth core.

The left went bananas in return crying foul that the right is looking for every opportunity to destroy Barack Obama and his presidency. Today, with Obama giving a really lovely inspirational talk about responsibility and goal setting that would make any right wing American thrilled if a right wing politician had said it, those to the left can claim victory that those citizens to the right made fools of themselves and proved they are all a bunch of racist, angry, nutcases out to get Obama.

Both sides are not seeing the picture clearly.

The real problem for all citizens of the United States is that Obama gave a good speech, a nonpartisan speech, and a truly morally sound speech to the young people of America. In other words, he was likable and came across as someone you can respect.

So what? This speech is a moment in time, written by advisers, and promoted on national television; it was intended to make Obama look good in a time when tea parties and town hall meetings have made him look bad.

We can't say that Obama concern for children is the reason he gave the speech but, 0n the other hand, it can't be proven that this wasn't the motivation behind the speech. It might be about helping kids or it might be about restoring one's beleaguered public image. It might be that both motivations are at play. Nothing really wrong in that; most of us work in jobs that help people but we like to collect a paycheck as well.

The true elephant in the room is that Obama has a history of lying and changing course without clarifying why he was on that previous course or why he changed (and throwing folks under that bus while doing it). There is a lot not to not trust about Obama and that is why the right thought he was trying to do something squirrelly with his speech. But, they forgot that he just might be giving a great speech to repair his image and Obama is good at speaking at looking pretty. People like good speakers and people that look pretty. They tend to forget anything questionable they have done (or forget to question what they are about to do) because of a smiling face. Humans are easily suckered.

Police have this problem with suspects. If he seems nice, they will often not check an alibi or do a thorough background. Women take back abusive husbands when they get an apology and flowers. Humans, through simple biological need and training, classify people quickly and move on. Nice people we trust; nasty people we don't. Obama is trying to be nice so we trust him.

I say to the right and the left; look past the moment and examine the behavior. Talk IS cheap but behavior is something that is rock solid. Pay attention to the hands, not the mouth of a politician. Just like a magician, you get swayed by the patter and the showmanship instead of paying attention to what is really happening.

Obama is a showman. He is a good speaker. That's nice. Rewind history and examine his past and pay a lot of attention to what he is actually doing. Then make your conclusions about the man and his mission. Anyone can have a good day or a bad day; one good moment (Obama dancing tenderly with his wife, Michelle) or one bad moment (Obama tossing out inappropriate, but kind of funny, Special Olympics joke on The Tonight Show) do not tell us what our suspect is about or what our leader is working toward. It is the accumulation of behaviors that let us know what he is truly thinking and doing. Do your own thorough analysis and then you will have a clearer understanding of where American is headed and what we want to do about it.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: The REAL Reason the Obama Birth Certificate Issue Won't Go Away

Hundreds of articles and blogs are missing the point, perhaps purposely. The reason so many people are questioning Obama's birth issue is not only because they don't want him to be President of the United States (they don't) and it isn't only because they are searching desperately for some legal mechanism to kick him out of the office (they are), but because they actually may have caught him in a technicality which could prevent him from being President and they may have caught him lying about it.

The biggest problem lies in Barack Obama's history. He has a rather concerning way of rewriting history for expediency. History is always the most important indicator of likely future behavior especially when one is has decades of ingrained methodologies. One of Obama's patterns is to do whatever it takes to move up, regardless of whether those choices are exactly moral or ethical. This was well exemplified with his association with Reverend Wright, Rezko, and Ayers. Obama found them useful and moved up in the political world with their assistance and, then, when those associations became a threat to his future, he essentially denied they existed or that they existed to the extent anyone claimed. He speaks so well, one tends to believe him even in the face of contradictory information.

So, now, let me offer the scenario that I do not think is born solely of conspiracy theory.

Barack Obama achieves the quite unbelievable! He actually is chosen to run for President of the United States on the Democratic ticket. Although I am sure he always wanted this, he may have had moments of realization that the odds were not in his favor. Even if he weren't dealing with being biracial, only a very few people ever have the opportunity to run for the top job in the country.

So, here is Barack, suddenly achieving his dream! Wonderful! Incredible! And, then it occurs to him. OMG! I am technically not qualified to be President! Just a stupid technicality created by my impulsive and somewhat careless mother. She shouldn't have traveled to Kenya so late in her pregnancy and ended up delivering there. Yes, she did return within a week and was smart enough to register me as a home birth in Hawaii so I could get my birth certificate and be an American. After all, how fair is it to deny me citizenship because my mother went on vacation? So, I do have a Hawaiian birth certificate and if no one decides to run down exactly where I was born and who saw me being born, I am fine. Hopefully, too many years have passed and most of the witnesses are dead. Perhaps, if anyone does question my birth location, they will still not actually be able to prove that I wasn't born in Hawaii. To be on the safe side, however, no sense in having the home birth registration issue come out and open up that can of worms.

I know about the home birth registration issue. My son, David, was born in my home and I just filled out the paperwork later. I didn't even need a witness as it was filed as an "unattended home birth". Essentially I could have had that baby anywhere and claimed he was born in Maryland.

Of course, it is possible that Ann Dunham, Barack's mother, did indeed have a home birth. If so, why not say so? Well, here is where some people who don't always tell the truth or who tend to obfuscate the truth run into problems. IF they perceive that the truth might cause difficulties, they decide not to be quite forthright about the issue, hoping in doing so, the issue will never rear its annoying head. But, in doing so, sometimes they make matters worse. If, however, one is always a truth-teller, then there is no option and the chips just fall where they must fall. Whether one hides the truth or tells the truth, one may suffer unwanted consequences.

Is Barack Obama a naturally born American citizen? I have no idea. At this point, there is not any legitimate evidence to disprove his right to be President of this country. However, the fact he has not shown his original birth certificate is a problem because the questions lingers as to why he had not done so. Some will say it wouldn't matter if there was a video of Obama being born in a Hawaiian hospital with a bunch of big local docs around him (and by "local" I mean true Hawaiian as in really big guys in dull Aloha shirts (as opposed to those flashy exports); the conspiracy folks would say it was digitally faked.

I beg to differ. While I believe one shouldn't have to respond to every naysayer, hater, and conspiracy theorist on the planet, if one particular issue is causing a massive problem and can be easily rebuked, for goodness sake, release the simple document that would end the criticism (or at least actually prove it for all those who are not nutty). If Obama could release the present copy of the birth certificate, why not just go all the way and release a copy of the original. Yes, someone could say that was forged, but Obama would have risen to the highest level of transparency possibly and that would be that.

But, he didn't do this and the question lingers, why not? I had the same issue with Palin and the "Whose the Mommy?" issue. Why not just toss up a copy of the birth certificate and a picture of Sarah and the baby in the hospital bed on the Internet and have done with it? Instead, all we got was a doctor (who was in Palin's employ for years) giving us a vague statement and we are supposed to believe her. Sorry, but this only leads to more curiosity. I know this and anyone who is in the public eye knows this. If there is a simple way to stop a rumor, do it, as it is not worth the battle to be all high and mighty and refuse to set things straight.

When one conducts a police investigation, the approach is no different. When a person-of-interest gives conflicting statements, or he seems to be unwilling to give up information or evidence, then red flags go up for the investigator. Many times the person being looked at will get upset that the police don't believe him and keep hounding him in spite of the fact he is the one that caused the police to be suspicious in the first place. The McCanns leave their tiny children unattended in a hotel room and then wonder why the police don't trust their parenting. Cindy Anthony, mother of suspected child killer, Casey Anthony, whines that the police are hounding her even though she has been less than truthful, destroyed evidence, and mislead the investigators.

Likewise with Obama. In his editing of history, his claims he was unaware of Reverend Wright's belief system for twenty years, that he hardly knew Ayers, and Resko, well....his ability to change his story on a dime, makes some citizens question his veracity.

The birth certificate will indeed not go away, but, I for one, would like to see the original. If it turns out it says "Home Birth" than we either have a President Elect who was not born in the country or a man who was embarrassed to admit his mum was a bohemian and birthed her baby, like an African woman in the bush, without medical attendants at her home in Hawaii. If it were the first issue, then Obama would have lied to become President in violation of the Constitution. If it were the second issue, then Obama would have lied in order to not have questions about whether his mother really did have a home birth in Hawaii or just claimed she did.

If the birth certificate says "Home Birth", Obama has put himself in a bit of a bind and maybe that is why he doesn't want the American public to see it.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profling Topic of the Day: What do James Frey and Barack Obama have in Common?

This is going to be my last bit of my three day Barack Obama commentary. I was going to move on to a different subject today, but then I ran across an excerpt from Obama's book, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" (which I had already read and I remember thinking something rang wrong about that particular bit as did much of the book which seemed awfully narcissistic and self-serving). The story goes that Obama's white grandmother who was raising and supporting him, was hassled by a bum at the bus stop. She wanted a ride to her work from Grandpa.

"Her lips pursed with irritation. 'He was very aggressive, Barry. Very aggressive. I gave him a dollar and he kept asking. If the bus hadn't come, I think he might have hit me over the head."

Apparently, Grandpa doesn't want to give her a ride and feels a need to explain this to the teenage Barack who apparently is totally in the dark about what the big deal is.

"He (Grandpa) turned around and I saw that he was shaking. "It is a big deal. It's a big deal to me. She's been bothered by men before. You know why she's so scared this time. I'll tell you why. Before you came in, she told me the fella was black." He whispered the word. "That's the real reason why she's bothered. And I just don't think that right.

"The words were like a fist in my stomach, and I wobbled to regain my composure. In my steadiest voice, I told him that such an attitude bothered me, too, but reassured him that Toot's fears would pass and that we should give her a ride in the meantime. Gramps slumped into a chair in the living room and said he was sorry he had told me. Before my eyes, he grew small and old and very sad. I put my hand on his shoulder and told him that it was all right, I understood.
"We remained like that for several minutes like that for several minutes, in painful silence. Finally he insisted that he drive Toot after all, and I thought about my grandparents. They had sacrificed again and again for me. They had poured all their lingering hopes into my success. Never had they given me reason to doubt their love; I doubted if they ever would. And yet I knew that men who might easily have been my brothers would still inspire their rawest fear."

Obama then drives over to his Frank's house, an old black communist party member and friend of Grandpa.

"What I'm trying to tell you is, your grandma's right to be scared. She's at least as right as Stanley is. She understands that black people have a reason to hate. That's just how it is. For your sake, I wish it were otherwise. But it's not. So you might as well get used to it."
"Frank closed his eyes. His breathing slowed until he seemed to be asleep. I thought about waking him, then decided against it and walked back to the car. The earth shook under my feet, ready to crack open at any moment. I stopped, trying to steady myself, and knew for the first time that I was utterly alone."

OH, PUHLEESE! Didn't we not learn anything about fabrication and self-promotion from James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces?" Think about this. Barack Obama is raised up by this loving grandmother who he obviously never thought of as racist in all his growing years. She is threatened by a scary street man who "happens to be black" (and it surely would be unusual because they live in Hawaii so a black man on the street begging is likely to be doing so serious drugs like ice or crack). She mentions he is black because it IS unusual and the word black functions as a description of the man, not a condemnation of blacks everywhere.

I have said similar things around my kids. My black husband said similar things around our kids. My husband might have said, "Some crazy white man came into the store," or I might have said "Some drunk black guy at the hospital threw a urinal at me," and just as likely my husband might have said, " Some weirdo black guy started harassing me in the parking lot, " or I might have said, "I got freaked today because while I was walking to pick up the kids at summer camp, a bunch of lowlife looking white guys were hanging on the corner and made comments at me."

I guess my husband and I could have left out those descriptors and just said guys or men but humans tend to try to conjure up pictures when they talk so they add in color of skin, hair, clothing, and any other significant feature. None of this means the person giving the description is a racist.

My kids never felt "blows to their stomachs" or felt that "their brothers" were terrifying their Mom. They never were so torn up by such comments that they lost their sense of identify and felt utterly alone. Furthermore, if they had, they wouldn't have immediately been so humble and kind and reasonable as Barack purports he was, the peacemaker and forgiver::rolls eyes::Obama is forever the good guy, the victim and never the victimizer. He is either a saint or a liar.

First of all, I doubt the entire scene happened as Obama relays it. I have a hard time believing his Grandpa would have gotten that angry over a simple comment and request for a ride to work unless he were one heck of a bastard. Maybe he was, but, if that is the case, the issue should be about him, not Grandma. Grandma had every right to be afraid and if Grandpa was that bent out of shape because the man she was afraid of just happened to be black, then Grandpa was mixing his political ideology with reality. Grandpa's communist friend would be doing the same if he came up with the bit about Grandma should be afraid of blacks because of history and not simply because this one black man was possibly a violent, desperate drug user who happened to be lurking on her street. Grandpa's friend made that man into a racist as well when all he might have been whacked out druggie. Everything in life is not politics.

So, this supposed incident becomes a pivotal moment in young Obama's life. For god's sake, Obama. Either you are blowing up a little incident into a political issue or you are seriously a narcissistic wuss and a drama queen. I remember my black son (adopted) who was barred from leaving the church (because after the program ended, the very careful lady at the door only opened it when she saw the child's mom approaching). The woman kept telling him I wasn't his mother as I came up the walk to the church. He kept saying, "Yes, she is!" and the woman thought he was just pulling her leg. Finally, she realized her mistake and let my son go with me! We all had a good laugh over it! My son didn't have an epiphany and realize the horrors of racism and think the woman was demented by history. He learned that she hadn't met to many black kids with white moms.

So, either, the people around Obama blew up minor incidents or he did the blowing up to make a good story and forward his very socialistic values. My guess is the latter because he has hooked up with Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

James Frey and Barack Obama may have a lot more in common than just authoring books. Oprah apparently hasn't figured that out and neither have a lot of goodhearted Americans who want to see this man as a messiah and a fresh voice for the future of America. I hope they don't vote the man into office only to wake up one day and realize that they had been fooled by a bunch of pretty words and nice smile. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profiling of the Day: My Vote goes To Smokey Robinson

I have to admit, although I am fairly conservative when it comes to policy and economics (and definitely crime), I felt sad and betrayed when I found out about Obama's connections to Wright. I like the way Obama speaks and carries himself and I was proud that any man of color (as well as any female) can be a top contender for the presidency of my country. Although I would not have voted for Obama for reasons that are purely issue driven, I was still happy to see him running for president and to see so many in America (of all races and subcultures) be supportive of him. It was exciting to see America has come so far.

Or has it? Reading the information posted on Reverend Wright's church's website and listening to his speeches, I feel as though the rug that I had become comfortable with under my feet had just been pulled out from under me and I came crashing back to the 1970's. All the positive changes in race relations and in the lives of blacks in America have been insulted by Wright and by the Obamas (lest we forget Michelle who wasn't ever proud of America until this election campaign) who seem to feel so little progress has been made.

I remember when I was dating my black boyfriend (American) in the early seventies, I was considered quite radical. When the two of us went out as a couple, I felt people spent an inordinate amount of time staring at us. My parents were not all that happy about the situation and worried they might suffer condemnation and social shunning because of their daughter's "behavior." I remember going to a meeting at Howard University on Africa (where I had traveled) and finding out I wasn't welcome because it was a black power meeting and not really about the country of Africa at all.

Fast forward to the end of the decade. I married a Jamaican man and my parents shrugged and held the wedding at their home. Their friends gave us presents. My New England grandmother who had never spent time with a black person in her life simply said my husband was a good looking fellow. I never felt anyone stared at us and the few times people looked our way I assumed it was because we were an attractive couple!

My kids grew up with no racism of note in their lives. Our neighborhood, in a suburb of Washington in Prince George's County (PG to those that live here)is a racial mix with the richest black population in the country (which doesn't keep PG from being considered a ghetto by neighboring counties because we also have some very poor areas as well). Whites and blacks in this county mix quite well and in the last ten years, there has been a strong cultural blend and it is no surprise to hear rap music come out of the white boy's car and find the black kid is driving the Camaro. And, they hang together; close your eyes and you couldn't tell them apart by listening to the talk.

I don't object to Reverend Wright being community driven and if the folks attending his church happen to be 100% black because they live there, well, then he should be inspiring and working to improve the lives of these black church members because this is where he preaches. I don't have any problem with being proud to be of any race or culture if what this represents is just a love of what one happens to be or has experienced. Nothing is wrong with saying I am PG through and through, or I am a product of Washington DC where we have Go-Go (a unique DC sound coming out of the black community), we have WHUR (the most awesome radio station for decades), the Tom Joyner Morning Show, and we still love Mayor Barry no matter what he has done. Wright can be Chicago proud and church proud and community proud, but to be separatist, hateful of his country, and claim to be more African than American (I bet Africans would think this funny) is truly sad.

For a great commentary on this issue, Smokey Robinson nails it on the head : Smokey Robinson - A Black American

Barack Obama, the man that could have brought us even further forward in eliminating racial bias in this country has more likely started a "debate" that is going to put America in reverse. While the 1970s were an important part of the growth of our country and racial progress, reliving them is going to be detrimental. Obama may have missed growing up black in America but he shouldn't be hanging out with people who are angry, racist and anti-American just because he wants to know what it would have felt like if he had.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

Criminal Profling Topic of the Day: Barack Obama : When Wright is Wrong

It is a simple profiling concept that "behavior makes the man." It is also a long accepted rule that "actions speak louder than words." What a person says is not nearly as important as what he does and yet it seems like a good portion of America is disregarding this truism because Obama gave a pretty speech. I rather hate to admit Hillary is correct when she admonishes us to look at Obama's past record and base our voting decisions on that and not on a bunch of words cleverly put together to make us like him and make us feel good. It seems Barack Obama is snowing us.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a racist and there is no question about that. Why anyone who is of a mixed racial heritage would want to hang around with a man who insults half of his relatives is beyond me. I would be appalled if any of my children (two biracial and one black and it wouldn't matter if they were all white like me) attended a church where the minister denigrated any race or the country in which they live. Discussing political issues is one thing but throwing out inflammatory remarks and engaging in unchristian attacks on any race or our country as a whole is totally unacceptable for any man of the cloth. Yet, Obama has hung around this pastor for twenty years and reveres him. Say what he will, but birds of a feather flock together and if Obama is a member of this man's flock, I don't want Obama as the President of my country.

Many people are quite unaware of Barack Obama's true background. He was raised by a white mother and by white grandparents in Hawaii, a state with a very Asian and local Hawaiian culture. His black African father vanished from his childhood before he had the chance to even know him. He spent part of his youth in the Indonesia in another Asian culture and then his teenage years back in Oahu, Hawaii where he attended Punahou, a school for mostly wealthy whites and Asians (which is why he snorted coke). Barack Obama had about zero exposure to the trials and tribulations of Black America until he went to Chicago and acquainted himself with a subculture of the black Chicagoan community with the help of his mentor, the Reverend Wright. Obama, the culturally white/Asian Hawaiian became a black man.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with identifying with a new community at some point in one's life. I have attended churches that were mostly white and churches that were mostly black (as it is hard to find an evenly mixed race church). I have spent a portion of my life attending Indian temples and hanging in the Indian (the country) community. I am comfortable with that culture. However, this fact does not make me repudiate my past communities nor my race (whatever that really is other than human). So if Barack Obama is comfortable in the black community at this point in his life, this is fine as long as the culture he in is not racist and hateful. It is fine if he does not pretend he grew up in it and therefore experienced what blacks in Chicago have experienced. He no more raised up in the African-American culture than I did.

Barack Obama could indeed be a fine bridge for a multiracial America. He could honestly state he has been a part of white, Asian, and black cultures in his lifetime. He could state he has learned much of the experiences of Americans in each one of these subcultures of our country. He can further add that he knows what it means to be a bit of all of these cultures as a mixed race American. But, for Barack Obama to align himself with a racist that hates and insults many Americans is foolish and concerning. And very sad. There is guilt by association and I want nothing to do with a person who keeps this kind of company.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown