The rise and fall of Herman Cain

It was simply too good to be true.

A second African American President of the United States in a row and a Republican at that!

Herman Cain, head of Godfather's Pizza chain and millionaire and self made ueber business man tested the waters and got his feet burned.

It was not enough that a slew of women came forth accusing him of all manner of sexual impropriety in recent weeks, but the final blow came with the forthcoming of a woman who claimed to have had an illicit affair for 13 years.

Yesterday, Herman Cain after much consideration and prayer stepped down and "suspended" his candidacy for President of this great nation.

As a woman of color, I would have been thrilled to see yet another black President in the White House, and yet, something about Mr. Cain appeared unsettling from the beginning. His statements about poor people and how they are responsible for their misfortune did not sit well with me. He alluded to the fact that African Americans are lazy and would rather steal a BMW than work for it......(not a direct quote, but you get my point).

Mr. Cain now has to explain to his wife of some 48 years who was conspicuously absent during the entire campaign season, who these women are, why they were essentially bought out and what he plans to do, if anything to right these aggregious wrongs to her and their marriage.

I have said it before and I reiterate. I do not expect anything more from my elected officials than I expect of myself - that is, they are not perfect individuals, rather striving to represent those whom they are called to serve. I do not expect them to stray from their marriage vows, but as we saw in the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, a blow job and indescretion does not a marriage necessarily break.

I am going to be candid now. I am not sad in the least that Cain is out of the race and wonder where those voters will now pledge their respective allegiances.....I have spoken with two intelligent individuals who happen to be Republicans who felt that Cain had what it took to be President - that was clearly not the case.

Good riddance to bad rubbish and remember folks......if you have skeletons in the closet, they always come out to get you in the end, particularly if you choose to run for public office.

The recession's racial divide

Barbara Ehrenreich and Dedrick Muhammad have done an amazing job of elucidating the issues faced by African American families in the past few years. Theirs is a story of being classless, of being middle class and falling into a black hole. Unemployed and underemployed, in strong jobs earning substantially one day and unemployed the next.

I can relate to this story on many levels. I was working as a political appointee to the mayor of a major US Capital city for over 5 years. During that time, I developed a disability - bipolar disorder. In the beginning, it was a relatively easy transition - my boss, the chief of staff, was accomodating, as the ADA required him to be - the subsequent chief of staff was equally accomodating - I shall never forget his kindness as I wrestled with mood swings, exacerbated by stress and numerous changes in medication. Unfortunately for me, the last chief of staff had a sister who was bipolar. She was always "on and off her meds" and " in and out of jail" - how do I know that? Because he told me so in a closed meeting in his office. I filed a grievance against him and did not prevail - I naively thought that the system would work in my favor.

I subsequently became unemployed when I could no longer work in such a stressful environment with an overbearing and discriminatory boss - I resigned under great duress. I loved my job and made an above average salary for a woman.

I am now homeless, living doubled up with my mum - it is a wonderful place to live, please don't misunderstand me - I just want to make it very clear that I am homeless, statistically speaking, nonetheless. I am moving out to my own place in December and shall miss my mum - she has been my friend, roomate, confidante and rock.

Some of my black brothers and sisters are not as lucky - indeed a classmate is a former employee of UBS - she is living in a hotel with her family after having lost her home as well after becoming unemployed.

That story we hear about - 1 paycheck away from the streets - as a former volunteer at the homeless shelter, and as a person who was forced from her home as she could not commit to a one year lease - I can testify to that.

If you have the means, please donate to your local shelters and foodbanks - if you have family in transition and have the space, please, please, please, take them in.

Just more food for thought and one person's opinion.