For Love Of Liberty: The Story Of America’s Black Patriots
To illuminate the experiences of blacks in the United States’ armed forces, this PBS special - which airs in two parts starting Monday, February 1 (check your local listings) - serves up history, from as far back as the Revolutionary War to the conflict in Afghanistan. Introduced by General Colin Powell and hosted by actress Halle Berry, the film uses letters, diaries, speeches, journalistic accounts, historical text and military records to document the sacrifices made by African-American military personnel. It also includes readings by a wide variety of actors, such as Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Susan Sarandon, Lou Gossett Jr., John Travolta, the late Ossie Davis, John Goodman, Danny Glover, Sam Elliot and Delroy Lindo.
Want To Win A Free Ancestry DNA Test?
Each week in February, African Ancestry will post a new question on its blog about ancestry and heritage. The most thoughtful answer wins a free MatriClan or PatriClan test kit (value: $350). A new question will be posted every Monday, starting on February 1st. As longtime readers know, African Ancestry was the company that did my matrilineal DNA test back in 2006.
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1/31 News: Preparing For Black History Month
Michael Steele Unplugged
As readers may know, the Republican National Committee is wrapping up its annual meeting in Hawaii. The media asked the moderate-conservative chairman various questions, which I've highlighted below:
On a presidential bid in 2012: "Come on, don't ask me that," He adds: "In all honest-to-good seriousness, that is such silly Washington talk. It's just not even on my mind," Mr. Steele said.
On his gaffes: "Sometimes it's deliberate. Sometimes it's accidental. I'm a very passionate guy. Sometimes I'll push the envelope because I want to get a rise, I want to see if you're paying attention. But then I realize, oh gee, they're more focused on me as opposed to the problem I was trying to highlight. And so that's when you realize, OK, I've got to approach this a little differently and you know have some more creative ways to do that."
On whether his race is part of the reason that his critics feed some of the negative storylines about him that have emerged during his 1-year tenure: "I don't see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation. Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?", he asked in the current issue of Washingtonian magazine.
He adds: "It's not because of my race, but race is more of a factor than it ordinarily would be -- just as it is for Barack Obama," Mr. Steele said in response to a question about the Washingtonian piece. "Look," he added, "I've been in this political world for a long, long time. And it was no different when I ran for lieutenant governor, no different when I became state party chairman. There is a different way of looking at how, particularly as a Republican, how we approach issues, how we approach problems. The general mindset when you see, hear or read about an African American, you think, politically, Democrat. And all of a sudden, you've got this brother who's a Republican and you go, 'OK now, what does that look like and how does it manifest itself?' That's it. More curiosity than anything else. It's just one of the things you've got to live with."
On trying to bring tea party activists - many of whom despise both political parties - into the Republican fold: "I think it's all about attitude and approach," Mr. Steele said. "In the first instance, we don't have them in the fold. You're not trying to capture somebody and co-opt them or bring them in. What you're trying to do is figure out where you have common ground and stand on that ground together." He adds, "I think it affords us an opportunity to partner and fight the same fight on the battleground of small government, low taxes, clearly free markets, free enterprise...all those things that a lot of people out there are very nervous about."
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Don't Cheapen Christianity, Mr. President!
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe Jr., a Ghanaian-born board member of the center-right Danquah Institute (Ghana) and English professor in the United States, opposes center-left Ghanaian President John Atta-Mills' (pictured) attempt to institute an annual national Christian week of prayer in the West African country: "There is absolutely nothing wrong for President John Evans Atta-Mills to invite the leadership of the Christian Council of Ghana to his Osu-Castle office in order to broach matters of conscience and ethics. However, his rather facile and at once brazen attempt to get the established Christian Church of Ghana to institute an annual week of prayer flagrantly violates his constitutional role as President of the august Republic of Ghana (See 'National Prayer Day: Prez Seeks Support of Clergy' MyJoyOnline.com 1/30/10). And on the preceding score, of course, the reference is to the time-honored constitutional tenet, or principle, of the Separation of Church and State."
He continues: "It also appears that the President is mischievously attempting to play on the emotions of the Ghanaian Christian majority populace. It is also rather strange that knowing fully well that the font of modern Christianity is Israel – most notably the Israeli cities and towns of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth – the President, during his meeting with the Christian church leaders, had not productively suggested that his government of the so-called National Democratic Congress (NDC) would be prepared to sponsor an annual pilgrimage of Ghanaian Christians to the Holy Land, beginning in March of this year, when another week of National Prayer and Thanksgiving is scheduled for the Independence Square."
More: "To be certain, the most appropriate moment for President Atta-Mills to have called for a national Christian week of prayer was just before he flagrantly breached his constitutional trust and authority by unilaterally appointing a 9-member Constitutional Review Commission, with a whopping budget of $3 million, to go about the business of attempting to revise Ghana’s Fourth-Republican Constitution over and above the heads of the members of our National Assembly. In sum, perhaps somebody ought to remind President Atta-Mills of the fact that for those of us staunch believers in Christian precepts and tenets, prayer is not something one undertakes as a lark or hobby, after real and serious work has been done."
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Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe Closes In On Last White Farmers
Since 2000. some 4,200 white farmers have been driven from their land and at least 18 have been murdered. Don Stewart, the last to die, was strangled and burnt to death in his farmhouse in December. Of the 300 still farming, more than half - like Ray Finaughty's family (pictured) - have been served with official eviction notices. In another blow, Zimbabwe’s High Court last week rejected a South African regional court ruling, which the government was meant to follow, that the land seizures were racist and illegal and white farmers should be allowed to return to their land.. “Enforcement of that judgment would be fundamentally contrary to the public policy of this country,” said the judge.
“Without a doubt the agenda has always been to get rid of us whites. They do not want us,” responded Deon Theron, the president of the Commercial Farmers Union. Mr. Theron had hoped that the unity government would oppose the new wave of farm seizures. Since becoming prime minister in the unity government, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has dismissed the seizures as “isolated incidents”. “They [the MDC] cannot be seen to be supporting white farmers. They are still caught up with that, instead of saying what is right is right and wrong is wrong,” Mr. Theron said. “This is happening at a time when we need investors to revive the economy. But no investors want to put their money in a country that has no respect for property rights or the rule of law.”
Booker Rising response: I find it ironic that colonial occupiers who stole the land in the first place now wanna cry foul about property rights and rule of law. I don't have a problem with the land reform policy itself. Where I fault Mugabe is using the land seizures to reward his incompetent, Marxist cronies instead of pursuing capitalist, pro-economic-growth policies and training indigenous Zimbabweans to oversee commercial farming enterprises. I also don't condone the murders. And while he claims to be the great-grandson of one of Zimbabwe's first white settlers, Mr. Finaughty (and one of his sons) doesn't look white to me.
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NADRA ENZI COMMENTARY: School Discipline: A New Civil Rights Demonstration?
The crime-prevention activist and Republican in Savannah, Ga. opines: "Liberal leadership in the Black community have stamped promoting school discipline synonymous with endorsing educational apartheid. When parents refuse to parent and inner cities support the worst possible conduct, is it any wonder White responses transformed many systems into de facto penal colonies? When a group won’t raise youth performance standards there’s little complaint when others impose heavy handed solutions. Discipline has all but vanished from contemporary Black culture. The most embarrassing and destructive attitudes have been raised from the gutter and assigned glitter status. Adherents proudly bellow and rampage through our neighborhoods on collision courses with majority White criminal justice systems. Marches against racist teachers and/or policies should be matched by mass gatherings demanding discipline downloaded back into our culture."
He continues: "Criminality has become a perverse lifestyle inflicted upon low income urban stakeholders and any other unfortunates. It’s enough to make some Black concerned citizens long for segregated classrooms where instructors exercised real control. Jim Crow wasn’t a boon but many of our institutions enjoyed higher standards than present. Until Black parents and stakeholders create culture change, too many youth continue volunteering for probation; incarceration and sometimes annihilation. Discipline is an expression of Black community love all but lost. Self-discipline is that love demonstrated by individuals. Until we match the community and personal discipline of Jim Crow-era Black schools, our youth will continue being free to be disrespectful; free to be criminally violent and ultimately free to fail forever."
More commentary from Mr. Enzi: "Marchers and activists should do the community a big favor by attacking lack of self-discipline at least as hard as public education racists. Absent a two front approach, we risk counterattack by fifth columns of out of control youth attacking from the rear. That’s the cost of activist attention always being focused elsewhere. Racists will always be there. Better behaved Black children is another matter entirely. If more jails is someone else solution - what’s ours? Self-love stemming from discipline is a good start."
Booker Rising response: While too many black youth are out of control thanks to bad parenting, Mr. Enzi is overstating the case here. Why the black = poor formula, when 75% of black Americans are not poor? He implies that most black folks are into criminal activity, when the vast majority will never see the inside of a jail cell. Most black students are not causing discipline problems in the classroom. It is the undisciplined minority among us wreaking havoc (and undermining the educational experience of everyone else) who need to be nipped in the bud. It should be pointed out that Jim Crow-era black schools had corporal punishment, often with another spanking when one got home (according to my older relatives). Until I reached high school in 1984, the teachers in my racially-mixed schools in the South (where I partly grew up) would paddle unruly students in front of the classroom. The mess going down nowadays in classrooms wasn't tolerated back in the day. However, better behaved kids starts in the home.
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Le Silence Coupable (Guilty Silence)
Neoafricain, a French conservative blogger, discusses the French media's silence about a recent pro-life march in Paris, France (commentary in French): "I thank Michel Garrote, a 'neo-conservative' blogger, for this information because it's rare, rare enough to bring it up. Two weeks ago, Sunday, January 17, some 20,000 people marched peacefully through the streets of Paris to show their love for life. Knowing Catholic discretion in France, this is rather a nice surprise. Elsewhere, such events are common, but in France or Belgium, it is generally preferred that people internalize their faith. But the 'Walk For Life' participants decided to stand up to be free. One congratulates them!"
He continues his commentary: "The worst part of this story is that no national media covered this event. It demonstrates the spirit of the great editors who habitually report on events drawing even 10 times fewer people [than did this march]. As believers, we return to the laity, as members of the Church hierarchy, to become more involved in ensuring media coverage of events like this. The silence in this case is culpable negligence. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few."
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Bring Back The Mugwumps
Hat tip to reader Nanakwame for this one. During the late 19th century, a handful of Republican reformers earned the scorn of their party by standing up for their ideas — which went on to triumph. David Frum, a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, argues that today’s conservatives would be smart to follow their lead: "A ferocious but highly choreographed politics, intensely felt but also remote from the concerns of everyday life: that was American politics 125 years ago, and in many respects it is American politics today. And that was the politics against which the political reformers of the 1870s and 1880s struggled. Mostly northeastern, well educated, and comfortably affluent, these reformers formed a type that has always rubbed Americans the wrong way: a self-conscious political elite that claims to speak for the public good. The names of some Mugwumps still resound in American history: Carl Schurz and Henry Adams, Mark Twain and Charles Eliot Norton. Others, such as the civil-service reformer George Curtis, have gone brown with age. Famous or not so famous, they had to make the political decision of a lifetime in 1884, when the Republican Party nominated for president one of the most tainted men in Washington: Senator James G. Blaine. Nobody ever proved Blaine crooked, but he was widely believed to have engaged in shady business dealings and to have accepted large personal gifts from corporate benefactors."
He continues his commentary about the Mugwaumps: "Despite everything, most reformers had remained loyal to the Republican Party throughout the disappointing postwar years. The Blaine nomination, however, was one outrage more than they could swallow. The Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland, had won a reputation for honesty as the mayor of Buffalo and then the governor of New York. Cleveland supported civil-service reform, the gold standard, and free trade — the great causes of the reformers. As a block, they did something almost unimaginable in those days of white-hot partisan feelings: they broke with the party of Lincoln to support the nominee of the party of Jefferson Davis. The editor of The New York Sun, Charles Dana, mocked these party-switchers as Mugwumps, a name he apparently took from an Algonquian Indian word for an important person — self-important was what Dana ironically meant to say. Other critics, less polite, drew them as absurd cartoon characters with their 'mug' on one side of the fence and their 'wump' on the other. Their opponents sneered at them as 'hermaphrodites.' (The word homosexual had not yet entered the English language.) The boss of the New York state Republican Party, U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling, who detested Blaine, nonetheless complained, 'When Doctor Johnson defined patriotism as the last refuge of a scoundrel, he was unconscious of the then undeveloped capabilities of the word reform.'"
More: "The reformers wanted an end to patronage hiring in the civil service. In the 19th century, almost every job in federal, state, and local government, all the way down to the clerks and messengers, turned on Election Day. For hundreds of thousands of Americans, an election was not a vote on the issues, but a referendum on a single urgent question: 'Shall I keep my job?' The system conscripted every government worker — and everybody who hoped to become a government worker — into the machinery of the parties and compelled obedience to the party bosses. Beginning with the Pendleton Act of 1883, federal civil servants — and later state employees — were granted tenure for office so long as they competently performed their jobs. Over the next quarter century, the old patronage system and its accompanying kickbacks to the parties dwindled away. The Mugwumps wanted the United States to resume free trade — not only as a matter of good economics, but also because they had witnessed how the switch to protectionism in 1861 had turned Congress into an auction house for industrial favors. The United States cut its high tariffs for a tragically brief period in 1913, but adopted free trade as a permanent policy after World War II. The Mugwumps wanted to end congressional manipulation of the currency. They got their wish in 1900, when the United States wrote the gold standard into law, and in 1913, with the founding of the Federal Reserve. They also wanted secret ballots, printed by the government, not the parties, and effective measures against vote-stealing and ballot-stuffing. Yet this record of success has gained little applause. The historian Richard Hofstadter memorably denigrated the Mugwumps as snobbish, blundering goody-goodies...."
Final thoughts: "For people on my side of the aisle, the conservative side, the ancient causes seem especially distracting. Twenty-first-century America abounds in problems that ought to galvanize a modernized conservatism: excess government debt, onerous taxation of savings and investments, a dangerous overinvolvement of government in banking and finance, increasing dependence on energy from unfriendly sources, immigration policies that degrade the average skill and productivity of the American workforce, the strategic challenge from an emerging Chinese superpower. How are we to develop answers to these problems of tomorrow if in our minds it is forever 1969? The causes that animated the Mugwumps are tinged with sepia. But the demand those reformers articulated should resonate as loudly today as ever it did: it is the demand for a politics based on realities, not phantoms."
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No Sanctions For Bush Lawyers Who OK'd Torture
Mr. Grey Ghost is pleased that a government ethics report concludes that Jay Bybee (pictured left) and John Yoo (pictured right), Bush administration lawyers in the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel who drafted legal theories that led to waterboarding and other harsh treaatment of terrorism suspects, showed poor judgement but won't face sanctions for professional misconduct. The conservative Democratic blogger in New York City writes: "Good for Jay Bybee and Prof. Yoo, two of our nation's brightest intellects who have smeared for years by far-leftist loons who still hate former President Bush and believe in coddling terrorists. All Yoo did was make a legitimate argument that there is no binding law constraining the powers of the presidency in times of national emergency, and that Congress has the obligation to constrain the president once the line has been crossed. Physically abusing and humiliating prisoners has been going on since the beginning of time, it's not something that the Bush lawyers invented. And these people weren't just prisoners, they were terrorists, the kind of scum that would kill innocent people at the drop of a dime. I don't care how much they were tortured, the fact that anyone involved with planning or participating in 9/11 is still alive is fair enough."
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JUSTICE MALALA OP-ED: Foul Stench Of Rotting Cabinet
The South African center-right columnist questions the effectiveness of President Jacob Zuma's administration: "Zuma, who never tires of telling the youth just how rampant HIV is and how they need to use condoms, will walk into the room [at this week's Cabinet meeting] with the stench of yet another child out of wedlock scandal engulfing him [where he allegedly fathered his 20th child with the 39-year-old daughter of a friend and must now pay inhlawulo, the customary Zulu payment whenever a child is born out of wedlock]. It is now clear why Mbeki's two Cabinets were so silent when the man said HIV does not cause Aids. They were not afraid of him, as they like to claim nowadays. They fully agreed with him, as Zuma is demonstrating."
Mr. Malala continues his commentary about the scandal-plagued Cabinet: "Zuma's Intelligence Minister Siyabonga Cwele will walk in with the weight of his wife's alleged drug dealing [for recruiting young white female "mules" in an international cocaine-trafficking ring] hanging over him. Now, Cwele might not have known about his wife's double life, but surely the Cabinet needs to ask itself and answer to the nation whether the man in charge of intelligence for the 2010 Soccer World Cup has in any way been compromised. Do not expect any response to such a pressing matter from the Zuma administration. The newspapers have been full of stories of Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda and his numerous and lucrative contracts with state entities. These contracts seem to be a subtext in the ongoing battles at Transnet engulfing Minister of Public Enterprises Barbara Hogan. While these stories are being openly discussed in newspapers, bars and shebeens, do not expect our Cabinet to respond in any detail to any of these damaging allegations."
More commentary from Mr. Malala, on the administration: "All these things would be counted as insignificant if the Zuma administration was big on action. But what exactly has this administration done in eight months? Except for the increase in the number of Cabinet portfolios, we are surrounded by an incredible amount of verbiage, lekgotlas [government strategy meetings], alliance summits and other talk shops. A new document is unveiled every week to much fanfare, only to be consigned to the paper recycling bin the next. All these documents illustrate just how confused the ANC is on policy. Every Tom, Julius and Blade now makes grandiose and useless policy pronouncements, leading to immense confusion among foreign and domestic investors. Last week nearly every member of the ANC's top six rattled off a new policy proposal on parastatals, nationalisation and other aspects of policy. Yet there is no action. At the same time Jimmy Manyi, the department of labour's director-general, revealed that so far only R10-million [US$1.31 million] of the R2.4-billion [US$316 million] earmarked for training for retrenched workers had been spent on training programmes. The R2.4-billion is supposed to be spent by April to alleviate the plight of these jobless people. The incident displays perfectly what's wrong with the Zuma administration: long on promises, extremely short on delivery."
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University of Wisconsin To Host Controversial Author Who Rejects Islam: Ayaan Hirsi Ali In Madison On Tuesday
When Ayaan Hirsi Ali's name was first mentioned as a possible speaker at UW-Madison this semester, she was rejected as too controversial. But, ultimately, a student committee voted to bring the outspoken libertarian feminist critic of Islam and best-selling author of Infidel to Madison, despite concerns by the Muslim Student Association. The Somali-born former Dutch parliamentarian will give a speech on Tuesday.
Rashid Dar, president of the UW-Madison Muslim Student Association, said he thinks Ms. Hirsi Ali's criticisms will cause the audience to be suspicious of Muslims. "Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a speaker who attributes certain rather negative qualities to the Islamic faith as a whole," Mr. Dar said, adding that he's worried "everyone would leave thinking Islam is a little bit suspicious, something that we need to worry about and, by extension, Muslims are something we need to worry about as well." In a telephone interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, Ms. Hirsi Ali - who is a former Muslim turned atheist - said she is accustomed to Muslim students protesting her visits to college campuses. But she said she thinks a dialogue about Islam, especially the role of women in the religion, is important. "The message on freedom of expression, women's rights, the treatment of women in Islam, these are all issues that are relevant for all young people," she said.
Students first voted against bringing Ms. Hirsi Ali because they didn't want to be seen as supporting her agenda, said Reid Tice, chair of the Distinguished Lecture Series committee. But when a scheduled speaker, sportswriter Rick Reilly, fell through, the committee reconsidered Ms. Hirsi Ali. "The general public needs to realize, no matter who we're bringing, we don't necessarily support their views," Mr. Tice said. The Memorial Union is spending about $10,000 to bring her to campus. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist organization, contributed $1,500 to the cost. Because she lives under death threats from jihadists, Ms. Hirsi Ali travels with her own security, but UW-Madison Police also will provide officers, Mr. Tice said.
IF YOU GO
What: Speech by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
When: 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, February 2
Where: Union Theater, 800 Langdon Street in Madison, Wisc.
Tickets: Free and available at the Memorial Union box office
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The Beauty In Ugly
D.C. Big Pappa, a conservative Republican blogger in Washington, D.C., is upset that ABC cancelled "Ugly Betty": "Last week, ABC announced that Ugly Betty would be cancelled after the show’s current fourth season comes to a close. What’s more, the network has trimmed Betty’s episode order from 22 to 20. Those b___s! I can’t say that I am too terribly surprised. When ABC moved the show from its coveted Thursday time spot to Friday, I new what would come next. You see, this is not the first time The Alphabet brass has taken a critically received and popular show and moved it to a new night only to see the rating drop, then change it to a third new night, only to cancel it."
He continues his commentary about the television industry: "Back in 2003, at the start of its 7th season, ABC decided to move The Practice, starring sexy Dylan McDermott, from its Sunday night perch and move it to Mondays. Viewership dropped 30 percent. It was cancelled the next year. This is exactly what has happened to Betty! Viewership dropped 40 percent when they moved it to the Friday night death slot. So while I will mourn the death of Betty, I will cherish the four seasons that she and the entire Mode clan has given us. And let’s face it; no one can give the death glare like Vanessa Williams’ Wilhelmina Slater."
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Chicago And The Etymology Of “Bottom B____h”
Responding to a story in the Chicago Tribune, AfroCity, a moderate-conservative Republican blogger in Chicago, Ill., wonders why President Barack Obama has forgotten his adopted hometown. He has returned to the Windy City three times - with no overnight stay on two of those occasions - since his inauguration last year (as a comparison, he's spent as much time in Copenhagen, Denmark): "On a bitter cold winter day like today, it may be plausible to offer excuses for not visiting Chicago. However if there are very important gubernatorial and senate races going on [for the Feb. 2 primary], especially a race in which the best supporters during your presidential campaign are candidates. One would think that President Barack Obama could at least make an appearance in the Windy City rather than cast absentee ballots for his 2008 presidential campaign vote whores. Quinn, Blago, Giannoulias…these guys worked the streets hard for pimp daddy Barry O. When he became president, many Chicagoans believed it was highly probable that Obama would follow in the steps of his predecessor George W. Bush by visiting his hometown often. No such luck. A year into his presidency, there is little presence of Obama in Chicago beyond faded HOPE posters and his empty home in the Hyde Park neighborhood guarded by several police cars."
More: "In short, Chicago and the State Of Illinois, is still in the state of pre-hope and post-change. Black on black crime is still a general trend in the city since Obama’s election. Scandalous cell phone videos of youths beating each other to death and failure to secure the 2016 Olympics, did nothing for the image of Chicago. Images of Michelle Obama in he[r] red and black Narcisso Rodriguez election night dress are eclipsed by the blood of Derrion Albert’s beating last September. The premise of Obama’s hope and change message has somehow escaped the boundaries of Chicago. The process has somehow been retarded by a collective feeling of hopelessness and despair. Obama has forgotten about his Windy City bottom b___h as he is circling the globe making the rounds of with his lesser geographic hoes. Feeling up the electoral vote abundant tits and ass of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Dining in France. Ipod trading in Great Britain. Bowing to and fro and golfing under the Hawaiian sun. Chicago got the shaft."
Final thoughts from Afrocity: "Of course he won’t stay the night silly Chicago. You are a bottom b___h. Was he ever home when he was the senator from Illinois? No, he played you. Obama will see you again in 2011, when he needs you and you will still be there waiting for him with open arms and legs raising the dead so they can re-elect him. Stop checking. There is no text message for you today. May as well go back to dusting those Barry bobble heads and using those CHICAGO 2016 poster[s] to keep the fireplace going until your pager blows up. Congratulations Chicago. You are now an etymological inspirator of bottom bitches to come."
Booker Rising response: AfroCity lives on the North Side (I think), so I don't think she has personally experienced the effects of a presidential visit on surrounding neighborhoods. However, as a resident of Chicago's South Side, I say: let the president stay out of Chicago as much as he wishes. Most South Siders who I know - and these are folks who all voted for him for president - agree with me. Two of the three times that he returned to Chicago, he has jacked up my schedule by tying up traffic. During rush hour, no less! And actually, Barry was in Chicago a fair amount when he was U.S. Senator (at least before he launched his presidential bid, and even then he returned every few weeks or so), returning from D.C. pretty much every weekend to spend time with his family. He was a fairly regular sight on the South Side, running errands, going out with Mrs. Obama, and carrying on with his life like everyone else.
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1/30 News: Kids & The Haiti Earthquake Aftermath
10 Americans Arrested For Taking Children Out Of Haiti
Haitian police have arrested 10 U.S. citizens caught trying to take 33 children out of the earthquake-stricken country in a suspected illicit adoption scheme, authorities said today (hat tip: Paul Green Jr.). Laura Sillsby, one of the suspects who says she is leader of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge, denied they had done anything wrong. She claims that they were taking the children to an orphanage that the group has in the Dominican Republic, after a Baptist orphanage collapsed during the January 12 earthquake.
Authorities said the Americans had no documents to prove that they had cleared the adoption of the 33 children -- aged 2 months to 12 years -- through any embassy and no papers showing they were made orphans by the quake in the impoverished Caribbean country. The suspects were detained at Malpasse, Haiti's main border crossing with the Dominican Republic, after Haitian police conducted a routine search of their vehicle.
British Boy Raises $300,000+ For Haiti
Hat tip to reader Rikyrah for this one. A 7-year-old lad by the name of Charlie Simpson caught the world's attention when he decided to raise money for UNICEF for children affected by Haiti's earthquake. “I want to make some money to buy food, water and tents for everyone in Haiti,” the seven-year-old wrote on his JustGiving web page. To achieve his goal, Mr. Simpson chose to hold a sponsored bicycle fundraiser by riding around his local park in West London.
Even though Mr. Simpson successfully completed his bike ride last Sunday, the donations keep coming. His initial goal was to raise £500 or US$809. To date, he has raised more than £210,000 (US$336,000). Mr. Simpson's activities caught the attention of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife, who invited him to ride his bike in the halls of Downing Street (the British White House). First Lady Sarah Brown also gave him a private tour of the place. The schoolboy said: "Now I need to decide on my next plan to make the world a better place."
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BOOKERISTA DEBATE: Did The Vietnam War Destroy The Black Family In The 1960s?
YES: Akindele Akinyemi: "The Other War on Poverty: How The Vietnam War Destroyed The Black Family In the 1960s"
The conservative Republican blogger in Detroit, Mich. argues yes on his Facebook page. He asserts that black conservatives must not only focus on the late President Lyndon B. Johnson's controversial "War On Poverty" - with its assorted welfare programs - as a key cause in dividing the black family, but also the effect of the Vietnam War: ""In his essay The War on Poverty Revisited economist Dr. Thomas Sowell, who makes his point on the War on Poverty: 'In the liberal vision, slums bred crime. But brand-new government housing projects almost immediately became new centers of crime and quickly degenerated into new slums. Many of these projects later had to be demolished. Unfortunately, the assumptions behind those projects were not demolished, but live on in other disastrous programs, such as Section 8 housing. Rates of teenage pregnancy and venereal disease had been going down for years before the new 1960s attitudes toward sex spread rapidly through the schools, helped by War on Poverty money. These downward trends suddenly reversed and skyrocketed. The murder rate had also been going down, for decades, and in 1960 was just under half of what it had been in 1934. Then the new 1960s policies toward curing the 'root causes' of crime and creating new 'rights' for criminals began. Rates of violent crime, including murder, skyrocketed. The Black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life.' While Dr. Sowell's analysis is direct on both the negative socialization and economic effects of the Great Society Programs one thing he never points out in his analysis is the Vietnam War and its destructive effects on the Black family. The Vietnam War split our homes up because of Black men being drafted into the War where many were being killed in Vietnam. As a result, many women were widowed and left to raise their children as single parents."
He continues his commentary: "What many in this generation do not understand is how The Vietnam War saw the highest proportion of Blacks ever to serve in an American war. During the height of the U.S. involvement, from 1965-69, Blacks, who formed 11% of the American population at that time, made up 13% of the soldiers in Vietnam. The majority of these were in the infantry, and although authorities differ on the figures, the percentage of Black combat fatalities in that period was a staggering 15%. Our Civil Rights leaders and other critics, including the formidable Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., described the Vietnam conflict as racist — 'a White man's war, a Black man's fight.' King maintained that Black youths represented a disproportionate share of early draftees and that Blacks faced a much greater chance of seeing combat. Draft boards themselves were, by their very nature, divisive and discriminatory."
More from Mr. Akinyemi: "Although Black[s] represented only 11% of the U.S. population they accounted for almost 20 percent of all combat-related deaths in Vietnam during that period. Over 58,000 lost their lives in the conflict. Black families were destroyed through this effect. In 1965 alone African Americans represented almost one-fourth of the Army's killed in action. In 1968 African Americans, who made up roughly 12 percent of Army and Marine total strengths, frequently contributed half the men in front-line combat units, especially in rifle squads and fire teams."
He continues: "Meanwhile, Colin Powell [pictured left] began his military career in Vietnam, rising through the ranks to become General. Indeed, since Vietnam many African-Americans have been promoted to the highest ranks of the U.S Army. Therefore, a positive legacy was left for the new generation of black servicemen, but at a cost: 40% of Black veterans suffered from post-traumatic stress, compared with 20% of White veterans. Again, this post-traumatic stress was hard and explosive for Black families. Add the drug trade of heroin into the community and we had a systematic problem. Again, Black conservatives are silent on these issues that affected our community. In terms of employment Blacks suffered after returning from combat in Vietnam unforgiving working conditions, particularly in the North. Manufacturing firms were relocating southward because of cheaper land, lower taxes, and lower union membership. This placed a strain on the family component and forced some of these families to get on welfare or sell drugs which often led to incarceration or death. Again, the Black family in shambles."
Final thoughts from Mr. Akinyemi: "So while mainstream conservatives will point out consistently about how the Democrats' War on Poverty destroyed Black families, Black Republicans cannot remain silent on how the Vietnam War also destroyed Black families as well. This is a history that we must continue to explain to this generation. To omit this discussion from young Black conservatives is considered dishonest. We need to tell our story as urban conservatives to those who we are trying to free mentally and not fall for the talking points."
NO: Paul Hue: "A Minor Factor, At Best"
The libertarian, on Mr. Akinyemi's piece: "Does not seem, though, if this can be more than a minor factor in what we have seen. The males of many other nations -- Germany, Japan, France, South Korea -- were much more devastated as a fraction of their total by WWII and the Korean war. Yet families in their communities held together, and widespread depredation did not take foot and persist and worsen and expand with each subsequent generation. This website says that of the total 58,000 US troop casualties in the Vietnam war: 86.8% of the men who were KIA were Caucasian; 12.1% (5,711) were black; 14.6% (1,530) of non-combat deaths were black http://www.mrfa.org/vnstat
Mr. Hue continues his commentary about Mr. Akinyemi's piece: "Meanwhile, qualification for liberal government programs applies to every one, and persists every year, for every new generation, consistent with the trends. More likely, the racism of that war's conduct was simply yet another racist insult -- perhaps the last one -- in a centuries-old pattern (in the process then of being broken) that never destroyed the black family. On top of that, today's lingering sad patterns that began during this time in the black population -- rises in illegitimacy, poor test scores, teen pregnancy, dropping out, school discipline problems, street crimes -- also rose significantly among whites, just to a lesser extent. I am unconvinced that the Vietnam war belongs in the discussion about the origins of the shocking statistics that we confront today."
NO: Tommy Davis: "Black Folks Just Need To Get It Together"
The conservative Republican, who is a chaplain, in Rochester, N.Y. views personal responsibility to be far more important: "Black folk just have to get it together man." He adds: "There are three types of illiteracy that exists in America: Functional illiteracy, cultural illiteracy, and moral illiteracy. Functional illiteracy is to fall short of what we typically regard as the minimal level of competence such as writing, reading, and mathematics. Cultural illiteracy is to be deficient in one's u...nderstanding of the basic terms and concepts that a person needs to function properly in a community. Moral illiteracy is to lack key morals that progress civilization through the natural order of God’s creation."
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ELLIS WASHINGTON COMMENTARY: Dred Scott & Corporate Personhood
The political science professor and conservative Republican compares the recent Citizens United case overturning some campaign finance restrictions with the infamous 1857 Dred Scott case, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that black Americans who were either slaves or the descendants of slaves could not be, and never had been U.S. citizens: "I can summarize in five words the Supreme Court's Jan. 23 landmark decision, 'Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission': Corporations are persons; money = speech. The First Amendment plainly states, 'Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.' However, since the 1907 Tillman Act, American businesses and corporations, the lifeblood of our market-capitalist economy for more than 230 years, have had their political voices injustly restricted through limits on how much money they can contribute to political campaigns. Alex Barker, writing for the Financial Times gave the shameful historical background of the Tillman Act: The 1907 Tillman Act – named after 'Pitchfork Ben' Tillman, a vile racist senator who made his name rampaging through the South attacking blacks and Republicans with his 'Red Shirt' band of paramilitary terrorists – was the first attempt by Congress to clean up politics. Tillman's motive – stopping funding to civil rights politicians – was pretty disgraceful. But the means he sought was supported by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, who were more interested in tackling dirty politics."
In response to Rep. Alan Grayson's (D-Fla.) claim that the case was "the worst Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case", he adds: "Justice Roger B. Taney, a chief justice of the Supreme Court for more 28 years and a notorious racist wrote the opinion in the Dred Scott case which upheld slavery and invalidated the 1820 Missouri Comprise, which was a previous attempt to restrict slavery's spread. Taney wrote: The negro has no rights which the white man was bound to respect. In other words, prior to the 'Citizens United v. FEC' case, for more than 100 years businesses and corporations had no rights that progressives and Democrat political hacks were bound to respect; now businesses all over America can fight back with political donations to support politicians who strongly believe in capitalism and free-market policies."
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Should There Be A College Football Playoff System?
Ron Bolling, a conservative blogger in Atlanta, Ga., argues yes....but not in the manner that the Obama administration is doing it: "Truth be told, I want a college football playoff system. Just like is done with March Madness for basketball. But the reality is that this will probably not happen unless the Obama administration has its way. These guys which will not prosecute voter intimidating New Black Panther Party members will now open investigations into whether the Bowl Championship Series violates antitrust laws. This coming on the heels of granting the 'underwear bomber' Miranda rights instead of sending his butt off to a military tribunal somewhere."
He continues his commentary about the BCS: "The BCS agreement is a contractual agreement with the schools and conferences involved. Professor Obama should know that a contract is binding if there was no evidence of fraud and if both parties involved have a meeting of the minds. Every school that has signed up to play in a conference knows what is involved and they understand what the benefits and pitfalls are by joining. But these guys want to go after antitrust violations for the BCS and force the nation['s] colleges and universities into a bowl playoff system. The BCS pays out close to $150 million dollars to the nation['s] colleges and universities for having a top performing college football program. Are all conferences created equally? Hell to the naw! Just because Boise State or TCU can go undefeated in a season does not put them on the same footing or T.V. draw of a one loss University of Florida team or even a two loss Georgia Tech team. You see, it['s] all about the money. The major conferences get huge chunks of funds when their teams qualify for a BCS bowl game. The T.V. network benefits by broadcasting the best teams to the American public. Most of the major conferences share the money generated equally among their members. So the more teams that make it from each conference the better for the conference financially. I do not see this as an issue that the Justice Department should be taking up considering the cases it has before it right now. Using valuable legal time trying to determine if a binding contract violates antitrust laws while at the same time granting a known terrorist full legal rights in the U.S. court system clearly shows that this administration is still out of touch with what it should be doing for the American people."
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Atheist Group Blasts Postal Service For Mother Teresa Stamp
Mr. Grey Ghost takes issue with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, who is encouraging its supporters to boycott the stamp on the grounds that Mother Teresa's charitable work is inextricably linked to her status as a religious figure. The conservative Democratic blogger in New York City opines: "Once again, blame Barry. After all it was our very liberal Teleprompter-in-Chief who injected atheists (thereby empowering the Godless lot) in his Inauguration speech last year. Mother Teresa certainly merits her own stamp. The woman devoted her life to bringing awareness and relief to the poor and suffering. If any anti-God liberal doesn't like her getting a stamp, there's a simple solution: don't buy it. Idiots."
Booker Rising response: I don't see how President Obama gets put in the mix here. However, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. also qualified as having a "religious vocation". He also interjected his religious beliefs into his secular honors, including his Nobel Prize speech. You can't separate him being a Baptist minister from everything that he did on the civil rights front. either. Yet I don't recall the Freedom From Religion Foundation protesting his stamp. Or the Malcolm X stamp for that matter. Sounds like anti-Catholic bias to me. If folks don't like a certain commemorative stamp, then they can choose to buy another stamp.
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Miss America Pageant: The (Half?) Black Contestants
Tonight at 8:00pm EST, the 2010 Miss America pageant will be televised on TLC. While the Miss USA winner is the one who represents America in the Miss Universe pageant, the Miss America pageant has more prestige within the U.S. However, the pageant's cachet has changed over time. When I was a kid in the 1980s, this pageant was a must-see event. No more.
When Vanessa Williams (Miss New York) became the first black woman to win the Miss America pageant in 1984, it was a symbolic tsunami. She later lost her crown over some nude photos that made their way into Penthouse magazine, but first runner-up Miss New Jersey Suzette Charles - also black - ascended to the throne. Then came more black winners: Debbye Turner (Miss Missouri) in 1990, Marjorie Vincent (Miss Illinois) in 1991, Kimberly Aiken (Miss South Carolina) in 1994, Erika Harold (Miss Illinois....my fave black Miss America since Ms. Williams, because Ms. Harold is a bookerista and graduated from my alma mater) in 2003 and Ericka Dunlap (Miss Florida) in 2004. I must gloat that my home state has had the most black Miss Americas. Black folks have now won Miss America enough times where it almost doesn't get noticed anymore. Among the 53 contestants - the 50 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico - competing tonight are these three sisters:
Miss Oregon - CC Barber
Hometown: Scappoose, OR
Age: 23
Education: Samuel Merritt University
Platform Issue: "Friends of the Children" - mentoring for high-risk youth
Scholastic Ambition: To become a family nurse practitioner
Talent: Dance
Scholastic Honors: Dean's List, Sigma Theta Tau - National Honor Society of Nurses
Career Ambition: Neonatology/adult oncology nursing
Miss Oregon won the Lifestyle & Fitness portion (aka the swimsuit competition) of the preliminaries, winning a $1,000 scholarship (and presumably points toward the semifinals).
Update: Miss Oregon made it to the semifinal round of the top 15 contestants.
Miss Virginia - Caressa Cameron
**Update: Miss America 2010**
Hometown: Fredricksburg, VA
Age: 22
Education: Virginia Commonwealth University
Platform Issue: Real Talk: AIDS In America
Scholastic Ambition: To obtain a Master's degree in mass communications
Talent: vocal pop music
Scholastic Honors: Dean's List, academic honors
Career Ambition: To work as an anchor for a television news station
Ms. Virginia won the talent competition in the prelims for her rendition of Beyonce's "Listen", winning a $2,000 scholarship and presumably points for the semifinal.
These photos are of Miss Virginia during the swimsuit round, the talent competition (where she sang Beyonce's 'Listen' from "Dreamgirls"...video here), the evening gown round, & the Q&A round.
Miss Virginia's interview question tackled the issue of childhood obesity. "We need to get our kids back outside, playing with sticks in the street like I did when I was little," Ms. Cameron said. "Expand your mind, go outside and get to see what this world is like."
She was an early favorite with bookerista viewers of the pageant. Akindele Akinyemi, a conservative in Detroit, Mich., writes on Facebook: "Can I get an autography [sic] and picture with Miss Virginia? Good God..I would carry her water..LOL" He adds: "I will throw a shoe through the TV if Ms. Virginia is not in the mix. I will kick Mario Lopez ass and boycott Save[d] by the Bell..LOL" More: "Ms. Virgin[i]a just dropped the science..on teen obesity. I can mold and shape her further..LOL"
Darneshia Calixto, a conservative in Alexandria, Va., is glad that her current state won the pageant: "I can't believe I am actually watching a pageant. I haven't watched one in as long as I can remember." More: "OMG, go Miss Virginia! The new #MissAmerica2010! Bring it home girl!!!!!"
Ali Butts, a conservative, writes on Facebook: "My state of VA is representing once again!! 1st that great Republican response from my governor [earlier this week, in response to President Obama's State Of The Union address] now Ms Virginia is now the new Ms USA [sic]!!"
Through a chorus of “There She Is: Miss America”, host Mario Lopez could be heard telling Ms. Cameron, “Yes, this is really happening.” As she got ready to take her winner's walk around the stage (video here), her proud parents emerged hand-in-hand from the audience. Ms. Cameron’s mother was in tears. Sugarthegirl, a conservative Republican in Maryland, writes on Twitter: "Miss Virginia's mom is weeping like she won a record-breaking [P]owerball jackpot. lmao".
Ms. Cameron is now the third Miss Virginia to win the Miss America title, following Kylene Barker in 1979 and Nicole Johnson in 1999. She wins a $50,000 scholarship to further her education, with her title. For the next year, Ms. Cameron will tour the country promoting the Miss America pageant and her platform issue of HIV/AIDS prevention.
Miss Virgin Islands - Shayla Solomon
Hometown: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Island, USVI
Age: 24
Education: Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Platform Issue: Youth empowerment through extracurricular activities
Scholastic Ambition: To obtain a Master's degree in public relations
Talent: Steel pan drums
Scholastic Honors: Magna cum laude graduate, National Collegiate Communication Arts Award recipient, Dean's List
Career Ambition: Top PR executive at a youth-led media organization
May all three of these smart, goal-oriented, and pretty sisters make it far in the pageant, and with their life goals. I've got a hunch that Miss Oregon will place high. We'll see if I'm right. I see that Rush Limbaugh is one of the pageant judges, which ought to be interesting....
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Occam's Razor And Southern Politics
William Terence, a moderate Democratic blogger in Georgia, opines: "William of Occam was on to something: simpler explanations are better than complicated ones and using the term 'razor' to refer to shaving away unnecessary assumptions to get to the simplest explanation is too cool. I should have been doing this years ago. William of Georgia: Southern moderates would help this nation by openly stating what government shouldn’t do and what people should do. (My government name is actually William Terence) Is that simple enough? People talk about JFK all the time but fail to remember his classic quote 'ask not what this country can do for you, but what you can do for this country.' Heaven knows the Left means well with their efforts to find governmental remedies for every problem in the world. Here’s an idea: have few problems. Heaven knows the Right is also well-intended with their tough love/disciplinarian approach for those in need. However, someone gets fat on their watch also."
He continues his commentary about Occam's Razor and U.S. politics: "When the Right produces Black congressional candidates, they say the same mean-spirited rhetoric as their brethren and it does not play well in my community. Liberal candidates can be equally detrimental with their promises and hopes that government can save us…from us. I listened to every word candidate Obama said and rarely did he give the impression that this presidency would miraculous[ly] improve our lives. He spoke of creating conditions favorable for achievement for those ready to focus and work hard. Obama actually sounded like Newt Gingrich but people’s eyes were too gazed over with pure affection to hear his plan. If you want to be like the Obamas, keep your game tight like the Obamas. The natural dip in the president’s poll numbers reflect the awaking of those new to politic and policy. There won’t be a Ford in every garage because your home is in foreclosure since you tried to buy a 200K house on a 31K salary. Is that any president’s fault or did you sleep in high school econ class."
More: "William of Georgia’s Razor: Change Washington by producing congressional candidates or incumbents who simple encourage people to plan lives that function and prosper with minimum governmental involvement. Execute home economics…plan families…conserve energy…build a nestegg…stay out of court and jail…diet and exercise to avoid the healthcare system…don’t believe D.C. can help…listen to your elders’ wisdom…trust heaven."
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Dambisa Moyo on Foreign Aid & My Beloved Zambia
As her best-selling book indicting the foreign aid industry, Dead Aid, gets released in paperback this week, the Zambian-born conservative economist reflects on her breakout year: "It is a year since the publication of Dead Aid, my book on the ineffectiveness of sending developmental aid to Africa, and I have spent much of that time on the road. I have met a range of audiences – agitated aid supporters, charming government ministers, frustrated development specialists – in a range of countries, from Rwanda to Russia, from Sweden to South Africa, and many places in between. By far and away the most interesting trip, however, was a homecoming – to Zambia, the country where I was born. I have made regular trips back since leaving over a decade ago to study and work in the US and the UK, but this visit had particular significance. I’d heard that my book had sold out in the local bookstores in Zambia’s main cities but was uncertain about how people would react to the stark message that lies at the book’s core: that we must find alternative ways to finance development in Africa."
Dr. Moyo discusses participating in a number of radio call-in chat shows, meetings with academics, citizens and foreign diplomats, as well as Zambian policymakers: "What I did not expect was that my views on the inefficacy and deleterious effects of aid were, in fact, widely acknowledged by many people including some of the NGO representatives I met. In meetings, and numerous conversations, three things became apparent; upon which the majority of us agreed. First, that it was neither desirable nor reasonable for African countries to continue to depend on aid to drive their development agendas. The concern of aid-dependency has particular relevancy now as key donor countries such as the US and UK face their own enormous debt burdens and gaping fiscal deficits. Second, that Africa’s economic success relies crucially on the continent’s leadership taking the lead in designing and implementing policies that would set the continent on a promising development path. Until this happens, Africa is, I believe, going nowhere. Third, that foreign aid had, over the past five decades, contributed to the dysfunctionality of much, though not necessarily all, African leadership. Even where corruption is contained, the aid industry enables and incentivises leaders to abdicate their responsibilities in the provision of public goods such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, and national security. While the broad agreement I encountered in these areas was refreshing, I found myself asking why it has been so hard to fundamentally change things? Was it simply that donor agencies owe their very existence to parcelling out aid? Was it what the former US president George W Bush once called, when discussing the US education system, the 'soft bigotry of low expectations'; that is, a belief that Africa lacked the capacity to manage its own economic affairs?"
More commentary from the British-based development economist: "By the end of my trip – and my travels – it was clear to me that, as much as anything else, Africa suffers from appalling PR. Although there are positive things happening on the ground, the continent’s story has clearly been usurped by those who prefer to paint Africa as simply a land of war, disease, poverty and corruption. Africa needs jobs and investment, yet what investor in their right mind would want to invest in a place characterised in this way? Ultimately, it is up to Africa leaders to transform Africa’s message, much as the Chinese and Indian governments have for their own countries. Their positive economic messages at home and abroad have yielded prosperity and meaningfully put a dent in their poverty...without the yoke of foreign aid."
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1/29 NEWS: Black America & Haiti Relief Efforts
8-Year-Old Louisiana Native Donates College Savings To Haiti
Amirkis Smith is an 8-year-old, 3rd grader at Red River Elementary School in Coushatta, La who has been saving for college for the past two years. He's already deposited more than $300.00 into his savings account, yet when he saw the devastation in Haiti he decided it was time to make a withdrawal. "One day at home I had said 'You know what Pop Pop I'm going to send Haiti $50.00 that I have in my account,'" said Mr. Smith. He says he knew one person would get his donation to the people who needed it most: President Obama. Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover delivered Mr. Smith's letter to the president and President Obama acknowledged Mr. Smith on national television during the recent State Of The Union address.
Diddy, Queen Latifah, Pharrell to Host BET Concert For Haiti
Sean "Diddy" Combs, Queen Latifah and Pharrell are set to host a two-hour concert and telethon to benefit Haiti on Feb. 5. Haitian-born Wyclef Jean, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Mary J. Blige, Drake, Justin Bieber, Keri Hilson, Robin Thicke, and Monica will perform. The concert is titled "SOS Saving OurSelves -- Help for Haiti." It will be held in Miami and will air live on BET, MTV, VH1 and Centric at 8 p.m. EST. Proceeds will aid organizations including Mr. Jean's Yele Haiti foundation, CARE, Project Medishare and Children's Safe Drinking Water.
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Obama Vs. House Republicans: Bookerista Perspectives
As longtime readers know, I've long been a fan of "Prime Minister's Questions", the British prime minister's weekly Q&A session with the House of Commons. Today, we got as close to PMQ as we'll see here in USA, when President Obama fielded questions from House Republican at their annual policy retreat. Bookeristas weigh in on the testy exchange:
Clifton B.: "Obama Speaks With House GOP"
The conservative blogger in New Jersey opines: "While some House GOP members may have thought it was a good idea to tape Obama answering their questions, they utterly failed by not allowing follow up questions. Basically what we have is Obama talking to the camera with GOP members off camera and Obama being allowed to say one falsehood after another. Without follow up questions, there was absolutely no way to call Obama on his b___t. Thus Obama looks like he is batting GOP questions out of the park. Take for example Obama said that the overwhelming majority of the healthcare debate was on C-SPAN. This is just a blatant lie, worse yet; Pelosi and Reid locked Republicans out of the process. Without a follow up questions, Obama’s lie is left to stand sounding like truth. Obama is even allowed to get away with saying he is not an ideologue, despite never really perusing anything but leftwing ideas on healthcare, the economy, national security and terror. The entire 85 minutes worked in Obama’s favor, by allowing him to use falsehoods to make himself look reasonable and responsible. In other words, Obama was allowed to repeat his State of the Union performance."
Robert A. George: "The Obama-GOP Smackdown....That Wasn't"
The moderate-conservative Republican journalist and blogger in New York City opines about today's exhange: "On the contrary, today's exchange between the president and the House Republican conference was one of the best bits of live American political theater I've seen in sometime. Lots of folks on Twitter want more -- because it was so good. Republicans showed the president and the country that they have counter-ideas to what Democrats and the White House is proposing; the GOP is not the 'Party of No.' The president showed that, yeah, he may use a Teleprompter a lot, but when you ask him specific policy-oriented questions, he knows his stuff -- whether you agree with him or not. Paul Ryan, in particular, stood out."
More commentary from Mr. George: "My guess is that, while the exchanges served the short-term purposes of both sides, it's not going to happen again anytime soon. More's the pity. Unless, of course, a grassroots uprising starts demanding that a 'House of Commons'-type of event becoming something regular in American politics. Hmmm....what are the chances?"
Ripclawe: "Obama Whines And Complains At GOP Retreat"
Asserts the conservative Republican blogger in Florida, about President Barack Obama: "Leftist[s] are happy that Obama got up in the GOP['s] faces or something but they fail to see the same angry snarling narcissistic man who can't believe people are not behind his awesome policies. To Obama, bipartisanship is voting for his policies."
More commentary from Ripclawe: "The problem of course is not him or his policies it['s] the GOP bowing down to their base and voters who are angry because the GOP lied to them about his plans and himself. Now the GOP has no space to compromise with him to make sure his plans are put in place. Stop doing what your supporters ask you to do and vote for him. The GOP is acting according to the will of their supporters, they are not pulling some jedi mind trick here. People genuinely do not like Obamacare and he can't deal with that reality. To the point where he said his plan is centrist it is from his point of view when you realize he supports a single payer government program. All this aside, I am pleased to see a small version of UK question time here in America and I agree with CSPAN, more of this on a regular basis."
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Tony Blair & The Iraq Inquiry: Bookerista Pro & Con
Two bookeristas in Britain debate whether center-left former Prime Minister Tony Blair was correct in having Britain participate in the Iraq war, as Mr. Blair faces a government committee examining the British policy in the leadup to the war and the consequences of the decision:
PRO: Walaa Idris: "Tony Blair Giving Evidence"
The Conservative Party activist in London opines: "After listening to Blair speak I am now certain that he took the country to war convinced he was doing the right thing – he believed Saddam [Hussein] was a threat and the nature of the Iraqi regime then with the presence of WMDs made him very dangerous. I can understand his concern, that ha[d] he not removed Saddam – today we might be facing two tyrants (Iraq & Iran) competing on nuclear armament and in supporting terror and terrorism. His view that now Iran poses a similar threat is a concern shared by many today. He was also very aware that in his commitment to backing the US he was paying a big price and knew his decision was divisive within Europe, parliament and within the public – but on balance safety and security were a bigger concern for him – and going to war was a judgement call he made based on what was known to him then."
CON: Shaun Bailey: "Iraq Inquiry"
The co-founder of a youth group in London, who is running as the Conservative Party candidate for Parliament in his district, opines: "I believe we were taken into Iraq under false pretences and the argument around weapons of mass destruction has now been exposed as a sham. Iraq posed no threat to us and I would not be able to justify the invasion to our soldiers and their families, who are coping magnificently under intense pressure, or the countless Iraqis who have lost their lives in the aftermath and their families. I, like many others, am angered by the way in which we were led down the garden path by a leader who had already made up his mind to take our country to war. Since 20th March 2003, 179 British soldiers have given their lives in Iraq, and the responsibility for their deaths lies clearly at feet of the man who was willing to go to war at any cost."
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U.S. Economy Grows By 5.7% In Q4
Mickey Hepner, a University of Central Oklahoma economics professor and moderate Democrat, writes: "The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports this morning that the U.S. economy grew by 5.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009--the best reading since the third quarter of 2003. Naysayers will point out that the strong Q4 growth was primarily due to a growth in inventories, something that does not necessarily portend strong growth going forward. Wall Street Journal economics reporter Kelly Evans has a nice article today though arguing that the inventory growth should not be ignored."
Professor Hepner continues his commentary about the U.S. economy: "To me, this report is the latest in a series of reports showing the national economy is well on the road to recovery. After looking more deeply into today's data, the most important (and hopeful) sign to me is the continued growth in consumer spending. In the fourth quarter of 2004 real consumer spending rose by 2.0%, following a 2.8% increase in Q3. These were the strongest consecutive quarters for consumer spending since Q4 of 2006 and Q1 of 2007. When one considers that throughout these last two quarters the economy was still shedding jobs (albeit at a declining rate), the growth in consumer spending shows that consumers are regaining some confidence going forward. One would think that once the economy starts adding jobs again sometime in the current quarter, consumer optimism will continue to swell. This would provide even more support to the fragile recovery. All in all, a very good report today on the state of the U.S. economy."
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KEVIN FOBBS COMMENTARY: Sarah Palin's Life Agenda Good For We The People
Asserts the conservative Republican activist in Michigan, about former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's pro-life agenda: "This special mom — armed with a principled mission — has carried her God-inspired life belief across the nation and captured the hearts and minds of ordinary people everywhere. They are tired of national bureaucrats telling, legislating, marginalizing, and mocking them because they are life-supporting Americans of the heartland. These salt-of-the-earth supporters of life have decided that in this decade and in this election year they will determine the true political will of the people. Sarah Palin understands the true will of the people even as her detractors call her out of touch. But she has shown by her compassion and her understanding of what countless men and women in America's cities, farmlands, suburbs, small towns, and neighborhoods have been saying all along...enough is enough! We will not sacrifice life at the beginning or at the end of life because a health care bill dictates an arbitrary measurement of the value of life."
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Whoot, There It Is
He continues: "The debt ceiling hikes are frightening to be sure, and have climbed 12,000% since 1940, so at some point we have to ask when does it come back to haunt the nation. This is unsustainable no matter what kind of spin is used for justification. My bigger question is where the hell is all that money going? How much of this cash has been stolen? Just think if the debt ceiling grew at the average rate of inflation (3.99%) it would now stand at $755.8 billion. The population of the nation is up 134% since 1940. By the way, if you are wondering what your share of the debt is, try $46,278 from $371.00 back in 1940. Of course, if they had to divvy this up today I guess only the top 5% would have to fork over the dough. The sad fact is that America paid $383.0 billion in FY09 just to cover the interest payment on the national debt."
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JUSTICE MALALA OP-ED: Light On The Matter
The South African center-right commentator discusses shady spending by executives of the state-owned electricity utility, while promoting a 35%-per-year tariff hike on consumers for the next three years: "The Sunday Times revealed that though public enterprises said that sacked Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga would leave with no golden handshake, the man has other ideas. He is suing the pants off the parastatal and its political boss, Barbara Hogan. And that has led to revelations of just how cushy this position is. It explains why we, the consumers, need to shut up and pay up. In court papers Maroga explains why his job was indeed to die for. It says he is demanding everything he was entitled to had he not been given the heave-ho: 'This includes R14,5m [US$1.9 million] for loss of salary, R45m [US$6 million] for incentives and R7m [US$928,000] for other benefits."
Mr. Malala continues his commentary: "Hawu Bantu! as the Zulus say. Is this what we pay for the electricity outages we suffered in January 2008? Is this what we pay for the power cuts we continue to suffer when it rains or when the wind blows a bit? Anyway, I am happy now. This explains Eskom's demand for the 35% hike every year for three years. Someone has to pay the incompetents, and you, the consumer, are the mug who has been identified to do it. [Acting Eskom CEO Mpho] Makwana's second assertion, that 'if Eskom fails, SA fails', has also become clear now. If we fail to give his corporation the demanded hike, then it will just turn the lights off, he means. Which is a lovely patriotic thing to do, I guess. The question is: why, with its highly paid executives, isn't Eskom seeking alternative sources of funding without trying to cripple the economy? Surely anyone who makes the kind of cash that the Eskom CEO makes must be able to enter some fancy investment bank and hold out the begging bowl in the one hand and a business plan in the other? Or is that beneath our Eskom boss's dignity?"
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