AMERICA MIGHT BE GETTING WORSE!!

This is an exceptionally  rough time to search for any silver lining in the dark cloud that is America.  It seems that every day a white (paranoid) cop shoots an unarmed black person because the cop was “in fear for his life” due to the very presence of the African American.  It also seems that every other day, some District Attorney goes out of his or her way to make sure that the cop doesn’t get indicted for what- in many cases our eyes can clearly see- is at least manslaughter. 

Even as the state sponsored slaughter of African Americans continued, the Senate Intelligence Committee released its report on government torture of detainees.  For those who believe the United States government to be a paragon of morality and fairness, the report was shocking.  It detailed the spectacular cruelty inflicted on detainees, including sleep deprivation, rectal feeding/hydration, stress positions (forcing to sit/stoop/stand in extremely stressful, unnatural positions for hours at a time) and waterboarding, just to name a few of the techniques involved.  The report further stated that 26 persons were tortured who were subsequently found to have done absolutely nothing wrong.

In an effort to magically create some sort of positive spin on the report, President Obama praised the United States for our capacity to admit when we make mistakes.   Therein lies the rub.  Even as New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, whose wife is black, spoke of instructing his son on how to interact as safely as possible with police, responses were coming.   The mayor of the city has to warn his child about interacting with the police who are charged with that son’s protection.   One can only imagine that, given Obama’s commentary on admitting our mistakes and the awful killing of Eric Garner for selling loose cigarettes-not rape-not murder- selling loose cigarettes-  the police union and leadership would praise de Blasio and vow that unarmed and  NOT dangerous civilians would not be killed by police.  One would think the police leadership would take this opportunity to raise itself up, dust itself off, seek redemption and a higher level of professional comportment for itself that in and of itself, would result in greater respect and cooperation from the public, especially the African American public. Yes you would think that.  And you would be wrong. 

Patrick J. Lynch,  President of the patrolman’s benevolent society, said police feel  “they were thrown under the bus,” by the mayor.  He said the emphasis should have been on telling people not to resist arrest.  Someone should have remembered that this is the same police department that murdered Amadou Diallo back in 1999.  Police fired 41 bullets at Diallo, striking him 19 times, in the vestibule of the building in which he lived.  The reason?  They mistook his wallet for a gun!  Diallo had no criminal record and was not suspected of having committed any crime. 

The mayor of at the time of the Diallo killing, Rudy Guiliani, apparently continues his strong advocacy of killing unarmed blacks, based on his reaction to the Diallo and Garner killings.  Even as such stalwart conservatives as Charles Krauthammer and Bill O’Reilly condemned the lack of indictment in the Garner case, Guiliani, along with Sean Hannity, defended the police action and lack of indictment.  Guiliani also criticized Di Blasio’s reaction to the lack of indictment.   For every step society tries to take forward toward a more just and equitable society, there are people like Guiliani and Hannity (Not to mention their many followers) who will fight the fight to maintain all that is wrong and hated about America.

As if the racism, the killing of unarmed black folks and the torture of detainee weren’t enough, the Republican Congress, with help from the Democrats, just passed a 1.1 trillion dollar budget that eviscerates Dodd Frank.  Dodd Frank was the legislation that, in essence, stopped banks from gambling with tax payer dollars (the practice that caused the last great recession).  The Republicans also slashed the budget for the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and raised limits on campaign contributions.  The Republicans held the government hostage (a shutdown loomed)  to get their way.

But the most distressing aspect of the budget morass was the fact that there appeared to be one lone voice-crying in the wilderness, trying to defend everyday people.  I’m sure many of the black folks reading this will know exactly about whom it is I am speaking.  You got it- Elizabeth Warren.  The Obama White House helped push the budget through. 

www.williamgriggs.net

 

PROSECUTORS DON'T PROSECUTE WHEN POLICE KILL

I was more than a little nervous as I approached the soul food restaurant to speak with my mentor, the greatest of all ghetto philosophers, Cleophus Leroy Jackson.  I was afraid he’d be so angry over the recent failures to indict policemen who killed unarmed black males that he might not even want to talk with me or, worse yet, , turn his wrath on me. 

“Hey, College Boy,” He grinned when I walked in.  “Come have a seat, he waived his arm expansively, welcoming me to his booth.  Gingerly I stepped forward.  “You seem to be in a good mood.” I said meekly.  “I thought you’d be angry about the Ferguson and New York cases of cops getting off without even having to go to trial.”

“Man, I caint begin to tell you how upset I am about that.  We are gone have to deal with those situations on an ongoing basis, not just get mad for a few months and go back to everyday life.  But even if the outcome is wrong, I really get excited whenever I see excellence at work in any arena and the defense attorney in Ferguson was absolutely amazing!  I mean, even though he tried to hide it, you could tell how enthusiastic he was about finding ways to contradict the prosecution witness before the grand jury.  He was almost gleeful when he took all that time to break down how and why his client, Darren Wilson, got off.  Later on we found out he had his assistant, Kathi Alizadeh, give the grand jury an outdated, unconstitutional statue that helped the policeman.   I don’t know how the prosecutor let them get away with it, but the dude and his staff were brilliant.”

The defense attorney? I asked sheepishly.

“Yeah, the whole thing was brilliant.  But I never knew defense attorneys had so much clout.  I thought it would have been the prosecuting attorney who would come out and read the decision of the grand jury.  But the defense attorney had the prosecution so bamboozled they didn’t even ask the grand jury for an indictment!  Perry Mason wasn’t that tough!   Instead of the prosecutor coming forward and telling whether or not there would be an indictment, the defense attorney came out and bragged on how he got the officer off without an indictment. 

Do you remember the defense attorney’s name? 

Yeah, it was Robert McCulloch.  Why?

He was the prosecutor.

“Never mind.”

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The reactions to these highly publicized murders of black folks by police have highlighted how truly complicated issues have become in America.  The issue of white police beating and killing black folks is highly racial, yet a large minority of the protesters on behalf of the black victims have been white and other non-blacks.  Conversely, we can always depend on certain Negros, like Charles Barkley, to uphold the killing of black folks.  We can always depend on racist white folks and Fox News to uphold the killing of black folks.  We have seen former New York mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, along with Sean Hannity and many of the usual suspects spew their racist nonsense regarding these events.  But we have also seen Fox conservative stalwart, Bill O’Reilly, and GOP House leader, John Boehner come out strongly against the random execution of black folks by police. 

Maybe the issue isn’t as complicated as white vs. black and conservative vs. progressive.  Sometimes, just maybe, the issue comes down to right and wrong. 

www.williamgriggs.net

DO BLACK FOLKS BEAT OUR KIDS TOO MUCH?

The child abuse case of Minnesota star running back, Adrian Peterson, has focused some, but not nearly enough, attention on the issue of child abuse in the African American community.  Peterson has admitted beating his four year old child with a tree branch, explaining his actions by saying that he was only doing what his father did to him.  Most African Americans completely understand where Peterson is coming from.  One of the more popular refrains in the black community goes something like this, “My momma whipped my behind and I turned out O.K.” 

The truth is that historically, black parents had to beat their children severely to try to keep them as safe as possible in an incredibly unsafe place: The United States.  If a black child looked at a white person the wrong way (not to mention if that person was a white woman) that child could forfeit his life.  Of course the most famous case in point is that of Emmet Till, whose vicious lynching became a rallying point of the Civil Rights movement.  Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, admits, in her biography, Death of Innocence, (incidentally written by my friend, Chris Benson) that she sometimes could not bring herself to discipline little Emmet as much as she should have.  The obvious implication being that had she been more firm, perhaps he would not have whistled at a white woman and subsequently murdered.

Divergent child rearing practices are only one of a plethora of issues that demonstrate the enormous divide in the experience and culture of white and black Americans.  Black parents have looked on with disgust as white children have run utterly amok in grocery stores and other public places, throwing tantrums and engaging in behavior that would have embarrassed any black parent to death.  I remember once many years ago, being in a store in while a white child behaved so outrageously badly that I leaned over and whispered to the white woman who was ostensibly watching him, “You know, there isn’t a jury in the land that would convict you if you knocked the hell outta that child.”  She looked at me in utter bewilderment. 

I would no more condone allowing a child to run wild in a store any more than I would condone using a branch to beat a child bloody, as Peterson did.  But the world is changing and when we don’t examine why we do what we do, we wind up being stuck in inappropriate behaviors that are no longer necessary, as well as counterproductive attitudes.  The world is still very dangerous for black kids, but the nature of the danger has changed.  We have to worry about brutal police, as well as neighborhood crime; neither of which can be softened by beating our kids.  Having more than two decades experience in Child Welfare under my belt- as both a worker and an administrator- I have been appalled at some of the attitudes I’ve heard expressed by black folks concerning corporal punishment.  We have to beat our kid. They too hard headed to obey if we don’t.

It’s saddening and more than a little embarrassing to hear black folks turn what had been a survival tactic into an indictment of our own children as somehow super recalcitrant.  Yes, most of us (including this writer) who received this severe punishment turned out OK.  But if we are going to get to the next level, that attitude needs to change.  We beat our kids to make them conform; to walk in lockstep with everyone else, grow up and get a decent job.  But, I believe, the time has come to broaden our horizons and expectations for our kids, not just to get a decent job, but to create decent jobs.   The creativity and sense of self worth that is required to challenge the system and create a presence in places like Silicon Valley is the same creativity and self worth that has been deemed as “uppity” and cause for attacks from folks like the KKK. 

We teach our kids to color inside the lines and to think inside the box.  Empowered parents teach their kids the  exact opposite.   One of the most powerful (at least for me) scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie took place in the film, “Searching For Bobby Fisher.”  The protagonist’s (a kid) teacher held a conference with the father and explained that the child was being distracted by a “chess thing.”  Every black parent I know of from when I grew up would have gone home (angrily) and disciplined the child for not falling in line behind this teacher.  But the dad, played by Joe Mantegna, totally understood that his child had a genius for chess that was beyond the comprehension of this rather limited teacher.  He stood up for his kid! He stood up for his kid’s right to be that genius!  

There is another aspect to the African American approach to discipline, when it’s taken way too far.  That is the good church folks who take being “washed white as snow” just a tad too far and  literally want to “beat the black” off children.  But that story is for another blog.

WHY DEMOCRATS GET ON MY LAST NERVE

“Are you the most liberal member of Congress?” Daily Show host, Jon Stewart asking then Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry.

Stewart handed Kerry a golden opportunity to reclaim the nobility of liberalism that had been demonized by the Republicans.  He could have launched into a gorgeous soliloquy: “If liberalism means a decent minimum wage ... then yes I’m the most liberal, if it means economic opportunity for all … then yes, I’m a liberal, if it means we should have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, then, yes, I’m a liberal.”   The possibilities were endless.  But how did Kerry respond to this softball of a question?

He said, “no.”

With that answer, Kerry, in essence, agreed that being a liberal was a bad thing and he ran away from it.  The problem was that with the Republicans upholding conservatism as a great and noble calling- a position that was never challenged by the faint hearted Democrats-  there was no place to run to.

George W. Bush, who was AWOL during the entire Vietnam War, went on to discredit the military service of Kerry, a Silver Star medal recipient, and won the election.

Fast Forward to Mid-term elections 2014. It is obvious that the Democratic brand- as personified by Barak Obama- is in trouble.  But the Democrats have weapons.  The electorate is angry due to gridlock in Washington.  The Republicans are responsible for the gridlock.  They have set records for filibusters and holding up presidential appointments.   People want to raise the minimum wage.  The Republicans are against raising the minimum wage.  The previous Republican administration could not find Osama Bin Laden.  The Obama administration had Bin Laden Killed.

You could just see the advertisements.  A five year old blond girl holds a glass of dirty water with oil floating in it.  The announcer reads,” The Republicans want to take the power away from the EPA because they don’t believe in government.  If they do that, this might be what your family has to drink.” They could have run an ad with a huge man taking a sledge hammer to a model of Washington D.C.  The narrator speaks,” The Republicans hate government, but they want to run it.  Would you hire a baby sitter who hates kids?”  The ads would all end with the famous James Brown song, with a minor variation, “Say it loud.  I’m Democrat and I’m proud!”

Instead we got Democrats refusing to say that they voted for the Democrat president, ignoring their bases and running around looking absolutely ridiculous, shooting rifles.  Democrats cannot out-redneck the rednecks!  Say it loud!   I’m Democrat and I’m proud!

Of course, the president hasn’t exactly set a tone or example for the rest to follow.  Obama has shown himself to be tone deaf to the African American community and utterly obsequious to his Republican adversaries.  All of which brings us to the next related issue: poor democratic turnout in general, and poor turnout, specifically, in the African American community.

All of which leads us to two salient questions:  Do poor people not vote because they are ignored by Obama and the Democrats or do Obama and the Democrats ignore poor people because they don’t vote?  I have never heard anyone mention poor people since Obama has been in office.

The second question represents a phenomenon that completely eludes me.  It’s been just a few months since a white police officer shot and killed the unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Mo.  As the story unfolded, we learned that while Ferguson has a two-thirds majority black population, the entire power structure of the town, as well as virtually the entire police department are all white.  The mayor and police chief, in the aftermath of the shooting, displayed a disdain for the African American community that brought back memories of the pre-civil rights South.  All of this occurred because, apparently, the black folks in Ferguson do not vote.  Having watched all of this transpire, one has to wonder how and why Black folks could have stayed home during the mid- term elections.  Have we learned nothing from the Michael Brown shooting?

Has the African American community learned nothing from the efforts of the Republicans, bolstered by an incredibly activist, Right Wing Supreme Court, to deny them the right to vote?  The entire voting populace, black and white, needs to become much more sophisticated if we are going to make what passes for democracy work in the United States.  But maybe if the Democrats were not suffering from an identity crisis, their natural constituencies might show up for mid-term elections.

 www.williamgriggs.net

WHY THE WRONG FOLKS KEEP GETTING ELECTED

This is the song that never ends

It just goes on and on my friend

Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,

And they'll continue singing it forever just because .

                                    Shari Lewis

Amazing. The more I’ve learned about these upcoming mid-term elections, the more this song just popped into my head and kept playing.  Coincidence? I think not.  Some things- like American politics- never change.  In my mind there is nothing more consistently Byzantine, convoluted, absurd and ludicrous than American politics.

The majority of Democratic candidates are running away from Barak Obama like he has the cooties, while the Republicans are poised to take control of the Senate.  The Republicans have had one agenda-as articulated by their leader, Mitch McConnell who is on record saying: “As long as Republicans refused to follow his (Obama’s) lead, Americans would see partisan food fights and conclude that Obama had failed to produce change.”  

Not only do we have McConnell on record putting politics above country, but we also have him- at a time when more and more college grads are living with their parents due to the unbearable burden of student loans- fending off any efforts to make those loans more affordable. Elizabeth Warren has been trying to change the law so that student loans could be refinanced when interest rates drop.  She is trying to lower student loan interest rates on working class kids by closing tax loopholes for the wealthy.  Mortgage loans can be refinanced, auto loans can be refinanced.  The only loans that cannot be refinanced are the ones that are needed for upward mobility: school loans. What could be more American than allowing the brightest to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” by attending the best schools into which their talents can get them admitted?  Common sense tells us that if the best and brightest can attend the best schools, then society as a whole-not to mention the student him/herself- will be better off.  That is what the American Dream is all about.  Who champions the American Dream more than the Right?  What does McConnell say about all this?  “Not everybody needs to go to Yale.”

Despite McConnell consistently voting against the interests of the vast majority of his constituency, he has survived in the senate for thirty years and is still a few points ahead in his race for reelection against Democrat challenger, Alison Lundergran Grimes.  Grimes, meanwhile, is so afraid of the backlash against the head of her party, The President of The United States, that she refuses to say if she voted for Obama or not.  And what, exactly, other than the fact that he’s black, is the source of this anger and resentment of Obama?

According to Charles Krauthammer (who constitutes one third of the right wing brain trust-along with William Kristol and George F. Will) a major source of discontent is Obama’s handling of the economy.  A Republican is saying that Obama was too slow in cleaning up the George Bush (REPUBLICAN) mess- the greatest economic mess in U.S. History since the great

Depression.  Of course, Krauthammer neglects to mention that every step Obama has taken to revive the economy from its Republican induced coma had been fought bitterly by those same Republicans.

As if laying this economic mess at the feet of the president weren’t enough, Krauthammer, ever the jokester, lays a genuine thigh slapper on us when he writes: “”Moreover, here is a president who proclaims the reduction of inequality to be the greatest cause of his administration.  Yet it has radically worsened in his six years.” Every single attempt by the Obama administration to reduce the inequality has been met with accusations of SOCIALISM! (AARRGH!!!)  

The amazing thing is that these Republican tactics work!  They are like the kid who draws on the walls then sticks the crayon in the other kid’s hand.  Where Democrats are often ruled by fear, the Republicans rule by fear.  The Bush administration used the terrorism alert to keep a gullible public so worried that they had to vote for him.  With nothing but smoke and mirrors, they win election after election, correctly counting on an electorate so easily distracted that they won’t let facts get in the way. 

www.williamgriggs.net  

HOW AMERICA IS MAKING ITSELF MISERABLE

Is there a relationship between the U.S. being the most right wing of the developed nations and the fact that it is the angriest, most unhappy, and jails more of its own citizens than any other nation on Earth?  If you answered “yes” you may go to the head of the class.

Several years ago, I wrote a Science fiction novel, titled, “The Megalight Connection,” in which I tried to lay the groundwork for human potential based on internal and external harmony as well as dysfunction as a result of insecurity, resulting from disconnection, which results largely from a really, really bad idea (the world owes me … I’m better than you are) and/or fear/insecurity.  I originally conceived of connection and disconnection (C/D) as an individual, spiritual concept.  The idea was relatively simple: the more honest and authentic our inward relationship, the more connected we are with others.  The more we connect with each other, the fewer the conflicts in the world.  Ultimately, if we connect as we should, we would eliminate the whole idea of “them,” because there would only be “us.”

The political/racial backlash to Obama’s election caused me to focus more on the politics of C/D, or more specifically of disconnection.  Everything about the Tea Party, as well as those who exploit their dysfunction, a la Ted Cruz, reeks of disconnection.  Where connection lies at the core of empathy, disconnection clearly is its opposite.  As always, there is a false idea at the core of disconnection, and in this case, it’s the idea that no black man should be president. 

Then there is the economic system of disconnection.  Pure capitalism epitomizes disconnection.  Capitalism unfettered, means unsafe everything, from working conditions, to food, to water to air.  It means large companies can morph together to control markets on all commodities.  No minimum wage.  Pure capitalism is pure evil. 

Not surprisingly, the economics and politics of disconnection are inextricably interwoven and endorsed by the same constituency.  Sadly, these endorsements come more from the victims of these pernicious systems than from their beneficiaries.  What was it that the great surgeon, Ben Carson called the “worst thing since slavery” and actor Chuck Norris called “the greatest threat to our freedom”?  Was it a plague or another world war?  No. It was health insurance!  What is it in American culture that produces this mentality?

The PBS documentary, “Happy” provides some answers as well as further validation for all that I’ve been espousing regarding C/D.  According to the film, money, once basic needs have been met comfortably, has little to do with happiness.  This fact is particularly essential when one considers that one of the primary aphorisms of American culture is that time is money.  Remember, the core of disconnection is a false idea.  Time is NOT money.  Time is LIFE.  It is the allotment of life we have on this planet.  The movie went on to show that some of the happiest people on the planet live in small villages and tribal enclaves and have little more than each other.  They are happy because of strong family and community ties.  They are happy because they are connected.

Denmark was graded the happiest of first World nations.  Denmark also boasts free medical care and higher education for all its citizens.

Once again we are left with the question of what it is in the American culture that makes this nation so right Wing in comparison to the rest of the world?  America, more than any other nation, places the individual above the group.  I believe it goes back to the American mythology of the Old West.  The hero as solitary figure.  He rides off into the sunset, alone.  It is no coincidence that the most American of the American heroes, John Wayne, was also a racist in real life.  Nor is it a coincidence that, for many Americans, the most beloved president of the last half century was also a symbol of the lone American hero as well as a champion of apartheid and racism, Ronald Reagan.   

Every society must balance the rights of the individual against those of the group.  In America, there is no balance.  This elevation of the individual above the group further fosters a sense of competition over cooperation.  Capitalism is the most competitive system the world has ever seen.  As competition increases, cooperation decreases.   Cooperation breeds well being and security.  The happiest people in the “Happy” documentary also placed cooperation above competition.

I guess the old saying (paraphrasing) is true.  Americans who want everyone else to be miserable start by making themselves miserable.  

 

WHY CONSERVATIVES SHOULD NEVER WRITE ABOUT RACE

Conservatives have no business writing on anything related to race.  There. I said it.  They consistently approach all things racial from a paternalistic position of condescension, lecturing black folks on how we should feel about how they treat us!  Following the Michael Brown shooting, we were treated not only  to the spectacle of  Sean Hannity berating a black official (Democratic committeewoman Patricia Bynes) for not agreeing with him  but also his explanation that as someone registered to carry a gun, whenever he gets pulled over by the police (all the time, I’m sure) he simply tells them he has a gun in the car and he has no problem.  So why do Blacks have so many problems unless we don’t know how to act?  Not only do conservatives consistently lecture at Black folks, but their lectures are also consistently based on logic that is either twisted or non-existent.

One of the latest instances of a conservative who desperately needs to be put in check comes from Chicago Tribune columnist, John Kass, who, like Hannity, is also ALWAYS wrong on issues concerning race.   Kass wondered in his column why the African American community was not outraged at the slaying of a nine year old child (Antonio Smith) the way we were at Michael Brown’s killing.  Kass also enlisted Cook Country States Attorney, Anita Alverez in his argument about Black folks’ misplaced priorities.  He quotes Alverez: "I don't understand why people aren't as outraged when a young child like this is executed on a street," Alvarez said.

Interestingly enough, the Kass article came less than a week after a piece by fellow columnist Steve Chapman, debunking the conservative’s arguments that Blacks care only about white on black crime, citing the First Lady’s appearance at the Hadiya Pendleton funeral and Rev. Al Sharpton’s visits here to combat violence in the community.  He could also have mentioned the marches, rallies and radio initiatives all aimed at stopping violence within the African American community.  If Kass had really had a point would he not have started by exposing the flaws in the argument that we do care about black on black crime?  How could a professional journalist, writing for one of the most powerful mainstream papers in the entire country, produce apiece that ignored so many blatantly obvious facts?

Conservative commentators like Kass and Hannity are offensive to the Black community on a plethora of levels. First, how dare they accuse us of not caring about the children we have lost?  How dare they assume that the African American community lacks the human capacity to weep for our children, regardless of whose hand brought the child down? Furthermore, the reaction within the community to the shootings of Brown and Smith differ because the circumstances are different. 

Antonio Smith was killed by a mindless thug in the community.  We deplore these thugs who terrorize our communities and applaud the police for their swift action in apprehending four suspects.  We hope these perpetrators, if found guilty, will be off the streets for a very, very long time.  And while we are sick and tired of these thugs who contribute nothing but fear and death to our communities, we also know that they do not occur (at least to this degree) in nature.  They are the result of slavery, of the ongoing persecution of former slaves and the descendants of slaves with lynchings, the destruction of successful black towns (by the very people who insist we must pull ourselves up by our bootstraps), and the list goes on.  Black folks had their names, language, and identities ripped from them, and were defined as three-fifths human.  These thugs represent violence begat by violence.   These killers roam our streets perpetrating mayhem for one central reason:  They do not know who they are.  They were not born, Dr. Frankenstein/Kass, they were created by the system you so zealously defend.

And while we’re at it, The Antonio Smiths of the world are dead because of the ludicrous availability of guns in this country. I believe it is the Right Wing in this country that so vigorously supports absolute freedom to own guns.

Thugs killed Antonio Smith.  A police officer killed Michael Brown.   We do not call a thug when a policeman kills someone.  We do not pay thugs through our tax dollars to be thugs. Taxpayers do not put guns into the hands of thugs.   Where are those responsible for killing Antonio Smith and where is the person who killed Michael Brown?   We do not mourn Michael Brown any more than we do Antonio Smith.   In the case of Michael Brown, we mourn the lack of justice.  If conservatives do not understand this spectacularly obvious distinction, then they have no business writing about anything remotely related to race.   

HAS OBAMA TURNED HIS BACK ON THE BLACK COMMUNITY?

                The day after it was reported that eighty two people had been shot- sixteen of them killed- in the president’s hometown of Chicago, he immediately sprang into action, requesting almost four billion dollars from Congress to deal with a humanitarian emergency.  Unfortunately, the emergency that concerned him was that of undocumented children crossing the border into the United States.

                November, 2008 was more than magical.  The impossible happened.  We were blessed with a new “shining black prince” as Nikki Giovanni had christened the great Malcolm X.  Barak Hussein Obama became president and he was one of us!  Grown men –like me-wept openly in the streets.  Obama became the embodiment of all our hopes and dreams and he was one of us. 

Throughout his first term, we steadfastly supported him in the face of criticism that he had done nothing for the Black community.  We saw Obama under attack from the Right wing bigots of the Republican Party and from jealous Negros on the Left.  My response to criticism from within the African American community?  “He doesn’t have the political capitol to do much for Black and poor people right now.   They don’t even want him to help the middle class!  Give him time.  When his second term comes, we’ll see what he can do.” 

Yet, even as we staunch supporters backed him, there were signs- cracks in the foundation- that maybe all was not well with our new “black prince.”  Black men vicariously felt our manhood being stomped upon when he readily capitulated on the single payer provision of the Affordable Care Act.  We felt even more emasculated when he allowed the treacherous Joe Lieberman to retain his committee chairmanship after Lieberman ran to the Republican Party and endorsed the lies they told about Obama.  We began to see that Obama was tone deaf to the Black community; that he was more concerned with appeasing the Republicans (who could not be appeased) than with helping the African American community.  Back on October, 2011, I wrote a blog on Accepting the real Obama in which I wrote:

              I was all set to chide the progressives, not for racism, but for their lack of pragmatism, when the tape of Obama exhorting a Black audience (including the Congressional Black Caucus)  to  “Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. ”  was aired.  I was stunned by how completely inappropriate and inauthentic Obama’s performance was.   How dare the man who had listened so patiently to all of the complaining, grumbling and crying from his right wing adversaries have the nerve to say this to the least complaining and most hurting of all Americans, the African Americans?    How much time had he spent in the Black community, as president, before making these outrageous comments?   Where had he marched for us?   The cluelessness of Obama’s exhortation (he was trying to inspire, probably called himself taking a page from Bill Cosby) forced a quasi-epiphany: It’s time to accept Obama for what he is, not what we had hoped he would be.

                We began hearing a tiny voice from Obama whispering, I’m only one of you when I need your votes.

                Then came his re election.   Unfettered by worries about being elected again, he would be freer to support the African American community.   He immediately named a cabinet that was utterly devoid of diversity to the point that he was criticized by the media because of it. How embarrassing for our black prince!

                Obama has heaped high praise after high praise on Ronald Reagan.  Yes, the same Racist  Ronald Reagan who was pro-Apartheid; blamed all of America’s economic ills on imaginary black welfare cheats, and praised fellow racist, Jesse Helms when he, Reagan was forced to sign the King Holiday bill into law.  The nagging feeling got even stronger that maybe Obama wasn’t just trying to appease white folks.  Maybe he really does admire Racist Ronald Reagan.   That tiny voice isn’t so tiny anymore and it’s no longer whispering.  I am not really one of you!

                I could go on, but I believe the point has been made.  Obama declaring the Central American children immigration issue an emergency while ignoring the carnage of African Americans in his hometown was a true slap in the face.  Yet we had indications that we were in for a rude awakening for some time now.  We have to learn that we can support a politician while holding his feet to the fire at the same time.  While Obama seeks to cement his legacy with the white community, let us hope that the historians from the black community will document his shortcomings as well.  We must let it be known that there will be consequences for the next one who comes along and, after getting our votes, declares: I am not really one of you!

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DOES DICK CHENEY FEED(ON) AMERICAN EVIL?

                A funny thing happened on the way to writing a blog about how John McCain, William Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, and the rest of the gang that got everything wrong about the war in Iraq in the first place have the nerve, the gall, and pure unmitigated audacity to present themselves once again as the experts on Iraq.   I was going to talk about the trillions that this war has cost, not to mention the almost 5,000 American lives and uncounted wounded this TOTALLY UNECESSARY war has cost.  I was going to write about how all this money can be spent on so called nation building in Iraq, while African American communities continue to languish to the point that getting a supermarket in one makes greater news than a child being shot there.  I was going to talk about the wrong-headed values of these white men (yes, race IS crucial) when it happened.  Just like in the movies.

In grade B martial arts films there comes a time when the evil minions scatter to make way for The One.  The One is a gigantic heavily muscled being who wields the forces of darkness with a skill that makes all others kneel before him.  Just like in these movies, the arguments of McCain et al could hold only so much hubris and could deliver only so much venom.  It would take the advent of The One to wrestle reality to the ground, to magnify Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels’ assertion that the bigger the lie the better. Only The One could have told America that Iraq would greet the Americans as liberators, that Iraqi oil would pay for the war, that we would be in and out in a brief period of time, that there were weapons of mass destruction, and that Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with Al Qaida.  Only The One could have told so many falsehoods, cost so much money and so many lives then said of Obama, regarding the Iraqi war which The One instigated:  “Never before has someone been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many.”

The sheer magnitude and scope of the attack was breathtaking in its excess.  This was a clear statement of mastery of the universe.  It was The One declaring that he would never yield to reality for, in fact he was not just the master of the universe, but of reality itself.   Only The One could stare America malevolently in the eye and issue the challenge:”Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?”  The One is the spiritual twin of J. Edgar Hoover.  He is the spiritual descendant of our seventh president, the architect of Indian genocide, Andrew Jackson, as well as our 17^th president, Andrew (America is for white men) Johnson.  The One (or perhaps I should say one and a half, considering that his offspring carries his powers of darkness) of course is former vice president Dick (shoot ‘em in the face, I will not stand up for a black man’s presidential inauguration) Cheney. 

The fact that Cheney could make the statement about Obama being so wrong and follow up with another attack on Obama for withdrawing troops based on an agreement made by his administration both clarifies and elevates this debate from one of politics to one of morality; of evil vs. good.   He removes any lingering doubt as to whether he made mistakes regarding he interpretation of intelligence or if he simply was lying.   Cheney was lying then, and he’s lying now.    Even I knew before the start of the Iraqi war that there could have been no alliance between a secular dictator like Saddam Hussein and a religious fanatic like Osama Bin Laden.   Cheney presents as the pure evil that has made America hated around the world.  George W. Bush’s nonsensical  fairytale, “They hate us for our freedom” notwithstanding, America is hated because of its belief that it is ordained by God to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries, often installing brutal rulers (Shah of Iran for example)  in place of the legally elected leaders.  Cheney is the embodiment of that belief.  He is the imperialist; the colonialist.  As such, his participation in the current debate elevates it from one of mere current day politics to one of enduring metaphysical implications on a level that transcends that of Ronald Reagan’s successful battle for the soul of the nation.

Cheney’s battle is for much more than the future of Iraq.  It is for the character of America.  There have always been two Americas: one noble and capable of incredible altruism, and the other evil, capable of the genocide of Indians, the enslavement of Africans, the development of the Ku Klux Klan, the internment of Japanese during WWII and the list goes on.  Cheney’s ongoing war with Obama goes way beyond mere political differences.  Like Donald Trump, he does not recognize Obama’s presidency.   This battle goes all the way back to the Old Testament.  Cheney is fighting for the status of his people -white American men -as the Chosen People.   The anointed.  That’s why he sat in a wheelchair during the Obama inauguration.  That’s why Cheney can do no wrong, and Obama no right. 


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ARE SEXUAL ISSUES MESSING US UP?

                Sexuality and religion are, perhaps, the two most   powerful   forces on the planet.  Recent news events have prompted me to try to determine which, if either, of these two massive forces is the more dominant.  I’m afraid that before we can even begin this mammoth undertaking, we’ll need considerable defining of terms as well as context.  For our purposes, we are dealing with the negative effects of sexual and religious dysfunction in the broadest sense of both of these terms.  In this blog I’ll be advocating that sexual dysfunction is the more powerful negative force.  By “sexual,” I mean anything psychological, spiritual, cultural or symbolic that in any way pertains to or represents sexuality.  In a subsequent blog I’ll be pushing for religion.  You be the judge.

                While I have studied the role sexuality has played in human events in the past, I was re-drawn into the subject by the rants of the latest lunatic mass murderer, Elliot Rodger.  Through the haze of his twisted logic and hatred, the one idea that came across most clearly was that his intense hatred was born out of his sexual frustration from being rejected by women.   On a much, much lower level, I’ve often wondered how many interviewees either received job offers or were rejected based largely upon how “lucky” the interviewer was the night before. 

                Then there is the case of Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas.  The testimony of Anita Hill (yes, I emphatically believe her) revealed, in my opinion, not so much a man who liked to harass women, as much as a social klutz who had not the lightest clue as to how to talk to them and subsequently wound up making utterly inappropriate comments to them.  Given his social ineptitude (along with the fact that he’s no Denzel Washington) can there be any doubt that he was repeatedly rejected by black women?  Could the rejection by black women have caused Thomas to seek revenge by rejecting black people and voting against their interests in every single issue concerning black folks that has been put before him? 

                Could sexual issues play a role in wars and, dare I say it, slavery?  We know that beyond the financial rewards, the other great benefit of slavery for white men was the freedom to rape black women en masse without fear of reprisal.  As has been noted by the great black writer/advocate/intellectual and co-author of the Black National Anthem, James Weldon Johnson, the sexual appetites of the rapists had to be justified by projecting the Black man as a “dark, sexual beast.” 

                In his essay, “Male Sexuality and the Fragile Planet: A Theological Reflection,” Yale educated Dr. James B Nelson asserts that social violence, white racism and environmental abuse are all “sexually transmitted diseases.”  He follows that assertion by saying that he is being quite literal in making it.  He goes on to say that the “alienations and distortions” in our sexual existence have deep connections to these issues.  Obviously I can’t break all that down in this blog, but it is a beginning for thoughtful dialogue.

                Finally, what does it say about us when we abuse or “rape” our Mother Earth?

                So now it’s up to you, Oh thoughtful Reader. This aspect of our being has been so demonized that it’s difficult to look at it in a sober mature fashion.  But, hopefully, I’ve demonstrated in some small way, the impact sexual issues may have.  What do you say?

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