Mitch Daniels Won't Run for President; He Realizes He Can't Beat Obama

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN) is the latest in a growing list of Republican heavyweights who has pulled out of the 2012 presidential campaign. Daniels said in an email to supporters he had decided not to seek the Republican presidential nomination because of family considerations.

"The counsel and encouragement I received from important citizens like you caused me to think very deeply about becoming a national candidate," Daniels said in the email sent by Eric Holcomb, chairman of the Indiana Republican Party and a close adviser to the governor.

"In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, but that, the interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all," he said.

"If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry."

Daniels is the third GOP candidate to bow out of the race in the past eight days. Businessman Donald Trump as well as former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said no to the contest during that time frame.  They each gave their reasons for pulling out ... but, I think it is becoming obvious that the Republicans don't think that they can beat Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.

I 'spose that two people who read this blog post with a smile are Mitt Romney (current GOP frontrunner) and President Barack Obama. I also imagine that we will begin to hear more stories about Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ). Christie will be getting more pressure to be a late entrant into the presidential race now that Daniels isn't going to run.

What are your thoughts on Daniels decision to pull out of the presidential race?

Am I Not Human? Hole in the Head, A Life Revealed

Sometimes you think that you've lived long enough that nothing can surprise you. It seems that every plot in a movie has been told ... and every element of racism in America has been revealed.

Then you learn about Vertus Hardiman. Vertus Hardiman hid a shocking secret under a wig & beanie for over 80 years. He was experimented on at a county hospital in Indiana during 1927. Vertus was one of ten children, all experimented on with radiation back in the day.

I knew about the Tuskegee experiments on syphilis with unsuspecting Black men. I didn't know about the experiments on radiation with Black children until I saw the following video clip.   WARNING:  The clip starts off in a benign manner ... but, it takes a graphic turn towards the middle.





This feature length documentary tells the story of Vertus Hardiman and nine other young children, attending the same elementary school in Lyles Station Indiana who, in 1927 were severely irradiated during a medical experiment conducted at the local county hospital. The experiment was misrepresented as a newly developed cure for the scalp fungus known as ringworm. In reality the ringworm fungus was merely the lure used to gain access to innocent children whose unsuspecting parents blindly signed permission slips for the treatment.

Vertus was five years old and the youngest. Now after 20 years of friendship with writer/producer Wilbert Smith, through their church choir, Vertus unburdens himself to Wilbert with an incredible story, finally exposing the severe physical complication caused by this shocking medical crime. This crime had severe physical complications for Vertus – namely a harshly irradiated and malformed head, with an actual hole in his skull.

You can learn more about this film and this story here.  Just the idea of this happening in America turns my stomach.   However, it also reinforces the idea that we have to tell OURstory ... and never be limited or misled by HIS-story!

---

Roots of Humanity feels that each of us can fight against human rights abuses in the world. We simply need to do something. Protest. Meditate. Pray. In the case of bloggers ... we want you to blog on the 27th of each month. Just share information on behalf of our human siblings in all suffering areas who are either barred from communication by their governments, or lacking in technology to ask: Am I Not Human?

Obama Effigy Lynched in Indiana

UPDATE: This man's son removed the effigy from the tree.

---

Villagers, we have another American citizen who thinks it is good politics to show Barack Obama being lynched from a tree in his front yard.

School children, neighbors and others in Clarksville, Indiana can plainly see the Obama effigy hanging by a noose in the front yard of Kirk Deddo. Deddo called it a Halloween decoration, saying it was the most frightening one he could find.

Deddo said the effigy had nothing to do with race, and he put it up because he doesn't like Obama's stance toward the military.

Someone should tell Deddo that he can VOTE to express his opinion. Lynching an image of an American citizen ... whether it is Sarah Palin or Barack Obama ... is wrong. Period. Doesn't anyone remember how horrific it was in America when lynching was a regular form of torture, intimidation and murder in this country?

Most Dangerous States in America

Most of the time we don't bother to let facts get in the way of our stereotypes. One stereotype that is reinforced regularly in America is that Black people are dangerous. So, I read with interest the results of 2007 survey listing the most dangerous states in America. The top three dangerous states in the survey are:

1. Nevada
   
2. New Mexico
   
3. Arizona

Nevada, with its casinos and nightlife, was rated as the most dangerous state for the fourth consecutive year, followed by New Mexico. Not many nubians living in those three states.

The governor of New Mexico is running for president. I wonder what he has to say about being the leader of the 2nd most dangerous state in the country?

My current home state is Ohio. We ranked in the middle of the pack at #23 on the list. Among neighboring states, Michigan is the most dangerous at 11th, while Indiana was the 25th most dangerous state, Pennsylvania was 26th and Kentucky came in at 34th.

What do you think ... do lists such as this mean very much in the scheme of things? Care to comment on where your favorite state ranked on this list?