For hip hop mogul and yoga devotee Russell Simmons, sometimes the best way to get past difficult or unpleasant situations is to just say "om." But upon learning that Republican Mitt Romney chose House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate, Russell has struggled to stay Zen.
"As a yogi, I never speak like this, but I have to say it. With Paul Ryan as the vice president nominee for the Republicans, Mitt Romney has made his campaign slogan loud and clear: EVERYTHING'S FOR SALE!" he wrote in a Global Grind blog post. "And all of the money that is made on everything that is sold will be made on the backs of the poor and the working class."

Russell's concern is that politicians are already far more beholden to the nation's top earners and corporations than they are to the overwhelming majority of ordinary Americans whose votes put them in office. It's one of the reason he supports the Occupy movement and why he will fight to help President Obama win a second term.

"So if the choice of Tea Party favorite Paul Ryan is not a wake up call to all of us to make sure we do everything in our power to re-elect Barack Obama, then the only excuse is that we forgot to set our alarm," Russell wrote. “I will ring the alarm as loud as Beyoncé ever could and will fight to stop the literal destruction of poor people in this country. [Romney and Ryan] are two men who will destroy our people and laugh all the way to the bank with their rich friends. I pray this will never happen.”
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 (Photo: D Dipasupil/FilmMagic)