I saw a few minutes of last night's debate fight between Hillary and Barack on the PBS news tonight. Then a cut to Hillary saying that because of the results in New Hampshire and Nevada, Barack is getting "frustrated."
Does she think Barack can't add? He's AHEAD in the delegate count, Hillary. And we know you've noticed otherwise you and Bill wouldn't be beating up on him so much.
I hope Barack's attention to their attacks is merely a ploy to keep it fresh in the minds of South Carolina voters and not an indication that he's going to operate the remainder of his campaign like this.
The media presents this race for the White House like a sports competition, and I must say that the last time I felt like this was when I lived in Chicago and was rooting for the Bulls.
Unfortunately, I'm starting to feel that the outcome here is finally no more important than the outcome of a Bulls game. After all, George Bush has never actually won (in terms of votes received) a presidential election; however, he's been running the country (into the ground) for nearly 8 years.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
I love Oprah!
Today's Oprah Winfrey Show was a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Not just the usual sappy replay of "the speech," but an actual tribute to his work and his legacy.
She used clips from some little-known events of the Civil Rights Movement as well as showing what people who were inspired by King are doing today.
Despite the cruelties inevitably included in a reflection on the CRM, as usual, Oprah left her audience feeling hopeful. Cynics may disparage inspiration in favor of more concrete activity, but without inspiration, not much happens.
Everything begins with an idea in the mind/heart/spirit.
She used clips from some little-known events of the Civil Rights Movement as well as showing what people who were inspired by King are doing today.
Despite the cruelties inevitably included in a reflection on the CRM, as usual, Oprah left her audience feeling hopeful. Cynics may disparage inspiration in favor of more concrete activity, but without inspiration, not much happens.
Everything begins with an idea in the mind/heart/spirit.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
"double O's an arresting team"
I had no idea some folk were upset about Oprah's endorsement of Obama, but I was reading back issues of The Nation and found this.
O O, way to go!
O O, way to go!
Delegate totals
For those who are not reading the fine print in news reports or who get swept up in the hype, please note the delegate totals.
Obama 38, Clinton 36, Edwards 18.
Enough said.
Obama 38, Clinton 36, Edwards 18.
Enough said.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Bloomberg getting ready
Even if Bloomberg doesn't run (and I believe he will); it's good to have a voice in the mix who can speak out without worrying about offending party bosses. One of the things that bothers me is that if the Clintons get the nomination, Barack will be obligated to campaign for and support them.
Bloomberg is rich enough so that the media will not ignore him (as they have Kucinich) or make fun of him (as they did Nader). In the good old U.S. of A. having lots of money earns you respect.
Bloomberg is rich enough so that the media will not ignore him (as they have Kucinich) or make fun of him (as they did Nader). In the good old U.S. of A. having lots of money earns you respect.
Bending towards justice
In this Martin Luther King Jr. season, I want to share my favorite quotation of his.
If, in fact, the people of the United States elect another business-as-usual politician, then that is what we deserve.
But my intuiton tells me that the time is ripe for a new idea. And there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.
We shall see.
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.
If, in fact, the people of the United States elect another business-as-usual politician, then that is what we deserve.
But my intuiton tells me that the time is ripe for a new idea. And there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.
We shall see.
Monday, January 14, 2008
What have the Clintons actually done for blacks?
Up front, let me reiterate that I support Barack Obama in this presidential race.
I am also aware that Hillary and Bill Clinton are willing to pull out all the stops to assure that she gets the Democratic party's nomination. The Clintons have been playing the power broker game for a long time. They know exactly how it is played and that it can require getting down and dirty with generous doses of hypocrisy to get what you want. Bill Clinton has often been described as the consummate politician, possibly the best in the last half of the twentieth century. Translation: he knows exactly what to do to get people (and corporations) to support him.
Many African Americans have been devoted to Bill Clinton, primarily because he's the first powerful white man (and who's more powerful than the president of the U.S.) to personally treat us like human beings. Few whites in positions of power know any blacks on a personal level, yet Clinton's "first friend," Vernon Jordan, is black. And, of course, Clinton was the first president to appoint more than a token black to a cabinet post other than Housing or Education. These symbolic moves endeared him to black folk to such an extent that they have overlooked the policies he either advocated or ignored that adversely affect blacks.
Apparently, no one remembers that Clinton is the president who presided over the demise of assistance to families with dependent children, thereby contributing to the disparity between the haves and the have-nots. He did nothing to change the harsher prison sentences given to crack users versus the lighter punishment for powder cocaine users. This policy disproportionately affects African Americans. As a matter of fact, while Clinton was in office, the rates of black incarceration increased from around 3,000 per 100,000 to 3,620 per 100,000 more than when Reagan was in office.
Clinton also fired his black surgeon general when she suggested that it wasn't a bad idea to talk about masturbation in sex education classes. Lani Guinier, another black woman tapped by Clinton to run civil rights in the Department of Justice, was unceremoniously dropped from consideration because of her support for cumulative voting, a strategy that would increase black political power.
I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point. Bill Clinton talks the talk, but fails to walk the walk. And black people want more of this?
These are the kinds of cynical say-one-thing-and-do-another politicians that we've had in this country in an almost unbroken line beginning with Richard Nixon in 1968. This is the kind of politics that Barack Obama says he wants to change. He may not be able to, but at least he wants to. And we know for sure that the Clintons don't.
I am also aware that Hillary and Bill Clinton are willing to pull out all the stops to assure that she gets the Democratic party's nomination. The Clintons have been playing the power broker game for a long time. They know exactly how it is played and that it can require getting down and dirty with generous doses of hypocrisy to get what you want. Bill Clinton has often been described as the consummate politician, possibly the best in the last half of the twentieth century. Translation: he knows exactly what to do to get people (and corporations) to support him.
Many African Americans have been devoted to Bill Clinton, primarily because he's the first powerful white man (and who's more powerful than the president of the U.S.) to personally treat us like human beings. Few whites in positions of power know any blacks on a personal level, yet Clinton's "first friend," Vernon Jordan, is black. And, of course, Clinton was the first president to appoint more than a token black to a cabinet post other than Housing or Education. These symbolic moves endeared him to black folk to such an extent that they have overlooked the policies he either advocated or ignored that adversely affect blacks.
Apparently, no one remembers that Clinton is the president who presided over the demise of assistance to families with dependent children, thereby contributing to the disparity between the haves and the have-nots. He did nothing to change the harsher prison sentences given to crack users versus the lighter punishment for powder cocaine users. This policy disproportionately affects African Americans. As a matter of fact, while Clinton was in office, the rates of black incarceration increased from around 3,000 per 100,000 to 3,620 per 100,000 more than when Reagan was in office.
Clinton also fired his black surgeon general when she suggested that it wasn't a bad idea to talk about masturbation in sex education classes. Lani Guinier, another black woman tapped by Clinton to run civil rights in the Department of Justice, was unceremoniously dropped from consideration because of her support for cumulative voting, a strategy that would increase black political power.
I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point. Bill Clinton talks the talk, but fails to walk the walk. And black people want more of this?
These are the kinds of cynical say-one-thing-and-do-another politicians that we've had in this country in an almost unbroken line beginning with Richard Nixon in 1968. This is the kind of politics that Barack Obama says he wants to change. He may not be able to, but at least he wants to. And we know for sure that the Clintons don't.
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