Monday, December 31, 2007

LINCOLN REVISITED

(The following unpublished op-ed piece was initially written on Feb. 5, 2005, just after the 2nd inauguration of President George W. Bush.)

In 1863 more than half of all age appropriate Americans were ineligible to vote. In the two years leading up to that, more than 200,000 Americans had been killed, there was no end to the Civil War in sight, yet Abraham Lincoln knowingly inflamed the southern resistance and signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years and a quarter of a million more deaths later, more than half of all age appropriate Americans were still not eligible to vote.

In this land of the great democratic experiment, women were not allowed to vote until tens of thousands more died in World War I, 144 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And still, after tens of thousands more American deaths from World War II, many blacks in many states were still not eligible to vote more than 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation - though many died trying. They died at the end of police batons, police dogs, and fire hoses and at the hands of hooded insurgent night riders and church bombers.

And as late as the mid 1970s, 20 years after Brown v. Board of Education, black children and their parents were stoned and beaten in Boston, Massachusetts for seeking an education in the same schools as white children. Our very own history, checkered with violence, sexism, racism, wisdom and vision is testimony to the inherent desire to be free. History is littered with people from Mosul to Mississippi and from Kabul to Kentucky, having never known freedom, willing to risk their lives to mark a piece of paper as a sign of their thirst for liberty. Iraq is merely the latest in a centurys long history of opposition to slavery, tyranny and oppression.

The present challenges to President Bush's military intervention in Iraq and his overall War on Terror belie the obligation of our elected representatives to live up to their oath to defend us from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Yet between the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and a series of attacks aimed at Americans leading up to that 21st Century Day of Infamy, the enemy was known but no defense was sought. As soldiers, sailors and civilians were repeatedly targeted for destruction, those congressional members of the Foreign Relations, Armed Forces, and Intelligence Committees mourned and wept but they did not protect and defend. Along with our protectors of freedom and liberty in the Fourth Estate, they were content to tell the American people how lucky we were to have President Clinton - how President Clinton was at his very best when he was calming our fears and soothing our pain - and how President Clinton gave us hope and confidence when he vowed that "We will hunt them down and make them pay!" However, after each successive terrorist attack no one in the Congress and no one in the Fourth Estate demanded a progress report on our mission to hunt them down and make them pay.

Suddenly, they have all become smart about fighting terror. Suddenly they know how we could have captured bin Laden. And suddenly they know how we could have disarmed Saddam Hussein without a shot being fired or an American life being lost. The hue and cry that the sacrifices in lives and resources have been too great flies in the face of history. Through the sorrow and tears of their sacrifice we saw it when Solidarity rose up in Poland. Through their sorrow, tears and inestimable poverty we saw it when the Haitians drove out the Duvaliers. We saw it at American lunch counters, at the doors of our schools, in the open casket of Emmett Till, and the mass grave of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman. And we saw it again on the ink-stained fingers of the Iraqi people.

Freedom is not an Anglo-American, Anglo European or burgeoning Third World concept. It is a genetic characteristic intrinsic to the human DNA. However, freedom is rarely born without great vision. Just and noble causes require great visionaries. September 11th was the clarion call to search farther and deeper. In the tradition of Lincoln and FDR, President George W. Bush has the courage to look farther forward. And it is an abomination when the representatives and beneficiaries of the world's greatest democracy insult the bravery and sacrifice of those who march toward freedom and those who lead the way.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

BREATHING LIFE INTO TERROR: The Death of Benazir Bhutto

We have seen this all before. Throngs of grieving and angry mourners amidst the bodies of their heroines, presidents, religious leaders and innocent children. The Palestinians, Israelis - in Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and now Pakistan - where the brutal and senseless attacks breed fear, doubt and the troubling concern that an unstable lack of mutual respect and understanding in a small corner of the world threatens the world itself. It has all come before.

We clutch our loved ones and are falsely thankful that our little corner of the world does not breed such an alarming magnitude of disrespect for human life. We have already forgotten that when the pictures and video of those mourning throngs came from Kenya and Tanzania, dead American ambassadors were being shipped home from that carnage. We forget that when those pictures came from Saudi Arabia, dead American soldiers were being shipped back home. And we forget the murdered American sailors and civilians who felt safe and secure in their workplace, their normal daily routines forever interrupted and their families forever haunted.

The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto points out the glaring omissions in the more than year long presidential campaign and so-called debates as the candidates argued life experience versus pseudo experience, whose beliefs in God were more valid, and who changes their mind more often. As the name Osama bin Laden might occasionally cross a candidate's lips, their stand on the threat of worldwide terrorism and how best to combat it did not. Even more unfortunate, the press has not bothered to ask. The multitude of criticism of present American policy failed to yield any coherent plan to go after Al Qaeda. Cries that "We should have finished the job in Afghanistan," failed to recognize that Al Qaeda has continued to wreak havoc on continents around the globe even since we invaded Afghanistan. The aggressive American response since Sept. 11th belies Osama bin Laden's past wartime proclamation that America is "a paper tiger." Our collective suffering during the 1990s, and beyond, at the hands of his maniacal disciples was the result of being saddled with a "paper president." And praising that president's flowery eulogies at the arrival of flag-draped coffins is not a sufficient response to terrorism. Nor is "threatening" to respond an adequate response to terrorism.

As the Iraqi citizenry began to turn against the barbaric insanity of Al Qaeda, its terrorist founder publicly declared that his minions should be actively engaged in planning attacks inside the United States. And as the alleged "experienced" presidential candidates, their supporters and the news media treated that announcement like a short story, the assassination of Ms. Bhutto has revealed that the real presidential campaign may have finally begun. Now if we could only get a few real journalists to ask a few really important questions.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Democratic Media Bias - Take #7

Try as she may to appear to remain an unbiased and objective member of the Fourth Estate, a pajama clad Mika Brzezinski allowed her Hillary Clinton bumper sticker to show on the Dec. 26th episode of MORNING JOE on MSNBC. In reference to a New York Times article questioning Mrs. Clinton's claim to being experienced as a result of being in the White House (as first lady) for 8 years, Ms. Brzezinski repeatedly used the term "You know she was involved...," etc. No proof was offered to substantiate these continuing claims, yet the "You know" assertions kept coming. This is akin to Mrs. Clinton's promotional declarations of her "35 years of experience" working on the issues she cares about. Like what? What exactly does that mean - getting sweetheart cattle futures deals - getting in on Jim McDougal's Madison Guaranty S & L legal team - watching the aforesaid Madison S & L go under - greeting the grieving families of Americans killed overseas courtesy of Osama bin Laden - burning down the compound at Waco - or calling the White House more than a dozen times to see if Vince Foster was really dead? Was her husband illegally giving her access to classified information to seek her council in between his conjugal visits from the former intern?

Give us something, anything to even remotely believe Hillary Clinton possesses, as she insists, the best qualifications and the most experience of all her rivals to be President. At least something more substantial than the fact that she sat there watching.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Democratic Media Bias - Take #6

Bill Clinton's recent attack on Senator Barack Obama on the Charlie Rose program continues to point out the weakness and desperation of Hillary Clinton in her quest to be the Democratic nominee and eventual President of the United States.

His attack, and her past attacks, on Sen. Obama's alleged lack of experience would be totally laughable if the major national news media would bother to point out that Bill Clinton's experience led the state of Arkansas to become one of the worst four of the fifty states in virtually every category that is used to determine quality of life when he was Arkansas governor. The media also neglects to point out that most of the positive results that occurred during the Clinton Administration came after the Republican takeover of the Congress in 1994 and not as a result of his wife's joint collaboration.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Letter to the New York Post - 12/21/2007

Dear Editor:

The NY Post editorial (Bill and Hill's Latest Intrigue - Dec. 21) should not surprise anyone except their interviewers and debate moderators. From the extremely smelly cattle futures bonanza to the present - with Charlie Trie, Buddhist monks, Mark Rich, and the rental of Lincoln Bedroom in between, the Clinton's lack of ethics and violations of the law have been duly noted but poorly scrutinized. "There's too much money in politics," was Bill Clinton's response when Vice President Al Gore was caught having an illegal fund raiser at a Buddhist Temple. The Clintons seem to always have an unjustifiable justification for violating both ethics and law.

And the Post's expectation that the Clintons "provide some genuine transparency" about anything must supply both Bill and Hillary with waves of uncontrollable laughter.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Democratic Media Bias - Take #5

For what reasons are the major news media reluctant, or refusing, to recall that after leaving office, Bill Clinton met with Special Prosecutor Robert Ray and copped to commiting crimes while President - behavior which his wife considered to be "private, personal matters" when she was out promoting her book?

In light of his admission, are Senators Biden and Dodd regretful or remorseful at having voted to keep Mr. Clinton in office during his impeachment? Which of the Democratic candidates would pardon Bill Clinton if they become President? Why should American voters feel comfortable at having Hillary Clinton as president if she believes that commiting crimes while president is a"private, personal matter?"

After all of the inane, irrelevant questions posed to the Republican candidates during their debates, one would think that at some point the above topics might be broached if a responsible journalist or two just decided to ask the Democratic candidates about ethics in their debates or interviews.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Democratic Media Bias - Take #4

Considering the Clinton's history of offense in "the politics of personal destruction," it defies belief that Mr. Shaheen's statements regarding Sen. Obama's past drug use was not orchestrated at the highest level (Mrs. Clinton). In the past James Carville has publicly referred to Bill's alleged affairs as "trailer trash" - Monica Lewinsky was labeled a stalker at the height of Perjurygate - and Kathleen Willey was likewise disparaged, just to name a few. No opponent, political or personal, challenges them and goes unscathed. These little tidbits should, but are not being served as reminders to the voting public.

The possibility that Mrs. Clinton may have suborned perjury during the so-called bimbo eruptions episodes also seems to be part of the media's deaf, dumb and blind act. Past reports have alleged that Mrs. Clinton actually sat in the room while the so-called bimbo(s), with another attorney, knowingly falsified an affidavit that she did not have a sexual relationship with Bill Clinton.

A lot more serious breach of journalistic ethics regarding the Clintons that neither the public is being reminded of nor has Mrs. Clinton's campaign been asked about, are ugly and possibly illegal statements made on Election Day 2000. With reporters in attendance at Hillary's campaign night headquarters during her first Senatorial campaign, while watching the election returns Bill Clinton was calling out all the states where Ralph Nader was hurting Al Gore. One of Mrs. Clinton's people said, aloud, "Somebody ought to kill Ralph Nader." To which Hillary Clinton responded, "That's not a bad idea." Her crew quickly rushed to holler, "That's off the record, that's off the record!" - a little too late. Unfortunately most of the major media does not consider this newsworthy enough to point out about a presidential candidate.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Democratic Media Bias - Take #3

Upon his return to the radio on December 3rd, Don Imus said, "I musta missed that," in reference to the 'national dialog on race' that was being clamored for after his forced April departure from the airwaves.

Also missed were any disclosures by CNN hosts, anchors and correspondents during that April that CNN is a division of Time-Warner - and that Time-Warner has been a major distributor of black artists who promote and use offensive and degrading language to describe black people in general and black women in particular.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

SHOW ME THE EMMY

(Initially written April 15, 2006)

It may be an honor just to be nominated but it is virtually criminal that the television academy has failed to nominate the other Liza with a Z. Anyone who has watched GILMORE GIRLS through the years knows that, next to Doris Roberts' Marie Barone of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, none of the Emmy nominated comedic supporting actresses comes close to Liza Weil's portrayal of the irrepressible Paris Geller. Not only is Paris Geller one of the great television characters of the decade, but Miss Weil plays her to a fare-thee-well.

In addition to finally giving the lovingly, leggy Lauren Graham a smart and capable role other than her perennial sitcom performances as the ditzy friend, the ditzy co-worker or the ditzy neighbor, Amy Sherman-Palladino has fashioned an intriguingly comic plethora of quirky characters in small town America reminiscent of David E. Kelley's PICKET FENCES. From the recurring role of Liz Torres as the zaftig, man-eating Miss Patty to the adorable Sally Struthers' Babette running through the streets of fictional Stars Hollow, Connecticut while holding onto her ample flopping bosom, GILMORE GIRLS is the 21st Century version of early cable television when the television academy ignored cable's contributions and their talent.

From her portrayal as a youthful, Harvard obsessed, privileged high school student to her college life and relationship angst, every appearance of Liza, as Paris, is a raucous, scene stealing tour-de-force. And though the character Paris Geller is an over-the-top, overachieving dynamo, Weil never plays her as such. Each syllabic utterance, gesture, and put down is exactly what you would expect of the character.

Unfortunately, the television academy turned the Emmy Awards from the artistry of recognition based performances into a People Magazine, Entertainment Tonight type popularity contest wherein the so-called "hot" shows and "hot" actors get most of the nominations; often with multiple nominees from the same show nominated for the same award. They repeatedly ignore Emmy caliber work by the likes of Kurtwood Smith and Mila Kunis as the irascible Red Forman and the vain Jackie Burkhart, respectively, of THAT 70'S SHOW; Ron Rifkin as evil genius Arvin Sloane of ALIAS; former Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Jill Marie Jones as the diva-licious Toni Childs on GIRLFRIENDS; young Jeremy Suarez who plays Jordan on the always hilarious BERNIE MAC SHOW; and the incredible Kelly Bishop on the aforementioned GILMORE GIRLS, just to name a few.

And though Maura Tierney's dramatic stint on ER has been duly recognized with Emmy nominations, the Academy repeatedly failed to acknowledge the understated comedic brilliance she exhibited on NEWSRADIO, reminiscent of Helen Hunt's award winning portrayal of Jamie Buchman on MAD ABOUT YOU.

It is also time for the television academy to start bestowing a BEST RECURRING CHARACTER award for those individuals that make four or five appearances a season but are not part of the regular cast. Scott Cohen's turn on NYPD BLUE immediately comes to mind along with the wonderful Sylvia Harris as Mrs. Buchman on MAD ABOUT YOU. Think about it. If they can bestow an award for a one time, guest starring performance, surely repeat performances by a non-cast actor over a quarter of a season should be seriously considered.

However, this is my ode to Paris. There has been no character so completely, lovably and fascinatingly unique since Lucy Liu's Ling Wu walked into the law offices of Cage and Fish on ALLY McBEAL. And it is past time for the television academy to wake up and show Liza (Weil)the Emmy.

BELATED FOOTNOTE: To get the full effect of how great Ms. Weil's portrayal is, rent or buy GILMORE GIRLS from Season One through the present and watch the natural progression.

Democratic Media Bias - Take #2

Back in April, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton was quick to jump on the anti-Imus bandwagon with a much publicized visit to the Rutgers Womens Basketball Team in what was an apparent politicized show of "sisterhood" solidarity. The fickle news media neglected to show any of the photos of Mr. and Mrs. Clinton with Russell Simmons or P. Diddy Combs at Democratic fund raisers where they took their campaign donations. It's not as though all of the leading Democrats who are quick to embrace Messers Simmons and Combs don't know that they are two of the major producers of the offensive, degrading language that Miss Hillary went to Rutgers to disdain. And when the Congress held hearings regarding this lyrical abomination where C. Dolores Tucker, (who received death threats), Joe Lieberman and Tipper Gore testified, Mrs. Clinton was nowhere in sight.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Democratic Media Bias - Take #1

Tim Russert of NBC News and host of MEET THE PRESS (MTP) is repeatedly lauded by his colleagues in the world of journalism for being a tough questioner. His MTP interview with GOP candidate Rudy Giuliani was no less heralded. However, his interview with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton bared no such toughness when it came to ethics. He never bothered to ask her if she still thinks that her husband, who actually admitted to commiting crimes while in office, was still impeached over "a personal matter?" Or, how is it "a private, personal matter" that Monica Lewinsky was being paid by the Pentagon to have sexual relations with Bill Clinton during business hours? (Can you say Wayne Hays and Elizabeth Ray?)

Saturday, December 8, 2007

LETTER to the EDITOR (NY Times)

(I have a saying; "If you're gonna read Pravda, you should first learn Russian." Consequently, I rarely read the New York Times. In one of those rare moments I was sufficiently pissed about a Maureen Dowd column that I felt compelled to write a letter to the editor. Unfortunately, the New York times found all my news unfit to print. The following is the aforementioned, unpublished, Letter to the Editor.)

Dear Editor:

It appears that John Kerry has found a staunch and highly literate ally in Maureen Dowd to do his whining for him. Her Thursday (Sept.9, 2004) treatise, (Cheney Spits Toads) is a well written conglomeration of misinformation and misleading political rhetoric. If John Kerry and his Democratic supporters can't stand a little heat from Dick Cheney and Zell Miller, they should find a candidate with a little more guts.

Over the years the Republican presidential candidates have had to endure false charges that they were going to take away Social Security, take away Medicare and force senior citizens and poverty level children to eat dog food and go without medicine. And when the underage drinking of the Bush twins became front page fodder for comics and news shows there were no editorial opinions for being over the line or hitting below the belt.

Ms. Dowd's assertion of the Bush administration's "pumped up" WMD claims totally belies the fact that in 1998 Sen. Kerry voted to oust Saddam Hussein, unilaterally if necessary, over those very WMDs. She also conveniently forgets that Bush's National Security team was formulating a comprehensive plan to go after Al Qaeda and bin Laden when Sept. 11th became our 21st century Day of Infamy. If the best that Bill Clinton and Sandy Berger could do was to tell W. that bin Laden was a priority, even after subsequent Al Qaeda attacks got more sophisticated and more deadly over the 7 years after WTC bombing #1, then Ms. Dowd's presidential terrorist angst is clearly misplaced. And so is her insinuation that Saddam Hussein was not an imposing threat worthy of immediate extinction. What does Ms. Dowd think that all of those meetings between Al Qaeda operatives and the Iraqi heirarchy were; Koran bible study sessions!

The US march into Baghdad and the subsequent capture of Saddam Hussein unearthed millions of dollars in hard US currency; not euros, yen or rubles. Add to that, bin Laden was said to be broke after his ouster from Sudan, and that much of the financing that sustained the Sept. 11th hijackers has yet to be traced, one could justly make a credible circumstancial case of collaboration. Apparently Ms. Dowd and the anti-Bush, anti-war contingent feel that we should have waited until we found a series of checks with Saddam Hussein's logo made out to Al Qaeda and WTC hijackers.

As for her snide little assault on the military service of the president 35 years ago, I would say that President Bush was better off missing a few Guard meetings and Dick Cheney was better off getting five deferments if all they had to look forward to was being spit on and having John Kerry and his ilk calling them rapists and baby killers.

C. Hill (Brooklyn)

BELATED FOOTNOTE: I neglected to add that Saddam Hussein spent all 8 years of the Clinton administration trying to shoot down US and allied aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone. Would you consider someone an imposing threat if they were in your neighborhood shooting at vehicles for eight years - even if they hit none?

THE HIGH COST OF WINDOW SHOPPING

(I wrote the following unpublished article five days after what became our 21st Century Day of Infamy (Sept. 16, 2001). At that time, the only major statement made by President George W. Bush had been at Ground Zero in New York City amidst the police, firefighters and rescue workers. The press was clamoring for the president to speak to the nation. Historians invoked the names of FDR and Pearl Harbor to remind the public of how it was necessary for a president to speak to the nation quickly and assuredly. We were also reminded of how quickly and confidently Bill Clinton was before the nation in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.)


Does anyone believe that the remaining members of New York's Ladder Company #5 could take any comfort in Bill Clinton's speech after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center? Would the families of the employees of Cantor-Fitzgerald feel comforted if George W. Bush gave Bill Clinton's hangar speech among the American body bags that arrived after the African embassy bombings; or Clinton's post USS Cole bombing speech?

Talk is cheap! Symbolism is often cheaper. President George W. Bush has a major job to do. Talking to us to make us feel better isn't one of them. And why host after host, pundit after pundit, and historian after historian thinks that making the right kind of speech on the evening of September 11th would be the event to define a presidency is an absurdity in and of itself. Such folly is the result of having chosen window dressing over leadership.

It is time for deeds, not words! It is not time for glorious speeches about the American resolve and the American spirit. It is time for deeds. It is not time for masking the illusion of leadership in feel good speeches. It is time for deeds. The trouble with having chosen window dressing over leadership is that the mannequins in our TV window were not real. They were an erroneous perception of reality designed to sell an image. Image isn't everything. At what point did we go from the decisiveness of Harry Truman's, "The buck stops here!" to needing flowery speeches about how our neighbors, loved ones, and defenders of our nation died a noble and honorable death at the hands of a maniacal perversion of Islam? At 8:45am Eastern Time on the morning of September 11, 2001, that perversion wrought 280 million casualties. The whole of the United States of America suffered a collective death in the family. And in our attempt to seek solace from our collective grief we fearfully keep coming to the same conclusion - it's not over yet! Not for them, not for us.

It is time for Americans to dispense with the notion that the flowery rhetoric of the past eight years, delivered by a charming rhetorician, is the necessary antidote to allay our pain and grief. It was window dressing. It was not leadership. It was not leadership when Bill Clinton governed the state of Arkansas to the near bottom of every major quality-of-life category in America. And we should have seen it then, not now. When an American GI, on a mission of mercy, was murdered and dragged through the streets of Somalia we should have seen it then - not now. When the bungling incompetence, and his subsequent disavowal, killed over seven dozen people in Waco, Texas we should have seen it then - not now. And when the evidence that the multitude of mounting American deaths during the Clinton/Albright foreign policy administration came at the hands of the same satanic mercenary, the coordinated effort to isolate and destroy that mission should have occurred then, not now!

And lest we forget the American ideal of representative government, in this infamy that will be carved upon the hearts and souls of generations of Americans not yet born, Senators Jesse Helms, Joe Biden, Strom Thurmond, Carl Levin, John Warner and Ted Kennedy do not come away with their hands clean. As the respective leaders of their Senate committees these Senators had a moral and occupational duty to prioritize the destruction of the head and arms of this fanatical, multi-tentacled monster. To combat this fanaticism demands a coherent and decisive plan of action with no room for failure. Such planning, such coherence and such decisiveness requires real leadership. Those we looked to for that leadership failed their families, failed their office and failed their country. We have paid a terrible price for confusing window dressing with leadership. Now that price must be even higher.

And for those who say that this is not the time to be laying blame, but to come together and support our President in the ensuing war against terrorism, I respectfully disagree. I am an American. I can do both!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

COLUMBINE IN BLACK & WHITE

(The following op-ed piece appeared in the July/Aug. 1999 issue of METRO EXCHANGE.)

When a berserk Colin Ferguson boarded an afternoon Long Island Railroad train murdering six people, the cold-blooded murders became embedded in our minds as the LIRR massacre. But when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris embarked on a carefully calculated shooting rampage, unexploded pipe bombs notwithstanding, and assassinated more than twice the number of people as did Ferguson, it is repeatedly billed as the Columbine incident. Their victims are rarely referred to as murdered in a massacre.

As the antics and instability of Littleton's Trench Coat Mafia's predatory nature is revealed, the networks, broadcast and cable, are manic in their ratings grabbing efforts to seek out the exclusive answers and solutions to this increasing epidemic of White on White crime that has exploded throughout all corners of the country leaving a growing number of bullet riddled bodies strewn across the more peaceful looking segments of our purple mountains' majesty. And as the survivors of the victims, the neighbors and friends of Littleton, Colorado; Paducah, Kentucky; Johnson City, Tennessee; Springfield, Oregon; and Jonesboro, Arkansas were shown to be incredulous in their conclusions that "It can't happen here," it keeps happening there.

But when Blacks and Latinos victimize their peers and other innocents in initiation slashings, brutal beatings and drive by shootings, they are generally relegated to minor air time and Page 20 news columns, their cause and effects commonly dismissed as the pathological behavior of these groups, genetically pre-disposed to their violent behavior because of no fathers, poor public education, drug addicted mothers, no positive role models and a perilous lack of midnight basketball.

The gang culture in America is almost as old as the country itself. The search to find answers as to why White children become entrenched in these violent group associations totally ignores the existence of Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker and her boys, La Cosa Nostra, the Irish gangs of Hell's Kitchen, fraternity hazing and the multitudes of Aryan offshoots of the Ku Klux Klan.

Although the various segments of entertainment mediums may be justly taking their hits at producing anything to the cause of profits, and though the occasional youthful murderer claims to have incurred their trade from some particular movie or video game, not enough attention is being paid to the terribly lacking sense of right and wrong. Prior decades had their fair share of violent war movies, violent westerns, and good-guys-always-win gangster movies. However, the youths of those decades seemed to have an innate sense of right and wrong when their parents sent them off to see John Wayne, Errol Flynn or a wonderfully vicious performance by Humphrey Bogart, Richard Widmark or James Cagney.

And while Tipper Gore and Senator Joseph Lieberman toured the country railing about how gangsta rap depicts violence and the sexual degradation of women, Bill Clinton was in the White House Oval Office auditioning interns for 2 Live Crew videos. The leadership message is very muddled when the only difference between the President of the United States and the misogyny of gangsta rap is that Clinton sees women as bimbos and trailer trash and rappers call them bitches and hos - but it's the same flavor.

As our politicians battle the movie industry, the music industry, the NRA, the Internet, video game manufacturers, television and each other, and the Chicago City Council moronically attacks Jerry Springer about whether his guests should be arrested if the fights are real, without applying the same standard to fights on the field, ice and court of the Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls, the mass murders in Littleton, Colorado et.al. clearly displays the stark contrast of how Black lives are held in less esteem than White lives by the government and the major news media.

When Black folks are violently victimized by remorseless, predatory Black folks we are told that it is endemic, pathological behavior for which the government solutions are excessive force, poorly trained Street Crime Units, racial profiling and all other manner of individual assaults on Constitutional rights and liberties. But when White folks are violently victimized by remorseless and predatory White folks, they are totally prepared to assault the Constitution itself.

BELATED FOOTNOTE: When black New Yorker, John Taylor and an accomplice herded a group of employees into the basement of a Wendy's Restaurant in Queens, New York and proceeded to shoot them in the head, the word incident never crossed a reporter's lips.

Friday, November 30, 2007

SOME ELEMENTARY THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION

(The following op-ed piece appeared in the Sept. 1999 issue of METRO EXCHANGE)


On any given Saturday morning during the regular school year, a casual walk along East Broadway in New York's Chinatown will find a plethora of Asian parents and grandparents who are barely able to comprehend any semblance of the English language, accompanying pre-teen school age children, standing outside the Chatham Square Public Library approximately twenty minutes before opening time. In stark contrast, talk to teachers from many other urban schools about open house, (parent-teacher night), where they are required to stay until 7 or 8pm to accommodate working parents and their pupils, and you will often hear of visits by 4 to 6 parents of a 28 to 32 student class.

As America closes in on year 2000 education, there is no feasible excuse for American school bathrooms to be devoid of toilet paper, soap or running water, but some are. School auditoriums were built for the experience of youthful collective entertainment and learning experiences, not a venue of separated makeshift classrooms, but some are. And schools are supposed to be peaceful environs welcoming the preparation for responsible citizenship, not patrolled fortresses with armed protectors, but some are. And as relevant issues like class size, crumbling structures and teacher salaries are singled out as causes of deficient education, they have precious little to do with the mindset of a child leaving home in the morning to spend several hours in what should be a wholesome, educational, life affirming environment.

When we witness a child incapable of saying 'please' or 'thank you,' spouting a vocabulary replete with four letter expletives, an inherent penchant for littering and a disrespect for all things older and wiser, the conditions of their learning institutions is not the first thought to enter our mind. Why then do we expect children without the capacity of basic manners and simple respect will succumb to the educational authorities we hold responsible for their tutorial development?

The post Civil War and Jim Crow south saw poorly paid teachers use rundown quarters with latrine facilities in an outhouse, educate future teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists, ministers and entrepreneurs. Often, without the availability of school buses, standard books, taxpayer paid breakfasts and lunches, and in many cases without parents who could read or write, black children received the kind of quality education that 90's technology and basic creature comforts is failing to deliver. With child protection laws unavailable to them, many of these children worked to help the family and performed other chores that occupied much of their time, yet still received a good education. With the advent of integration, parents risked life, limb and livlihood to have their children educated. And with precious few role models and constant encouragement from the extended family, black children made their way.

Today, far too many young black boys feel like their best way out is to "be like Mike," totally oblivious to the fact that Mike spent four years at the University of North Carolina and is capable of conversing with cognizable coherency.

The present arguments over public vs. private schools, discriminate funding, school conditions, class sizes and teacher salaries can be revealing exercises in futility. Many parochial school teachers earn less, operate on smaller budgets, with smaller support systems and less technology but often receive better results than their public school counterparts. However, public schools in largely Asian communities are generally among the best performing schools in their districts. Talk show host and author Tony Brown, in pointing out the fallacy of forced busing to achieve quality education through integration exclaims that if they really think that to be the answer, "Bus me to Chinatown!"

The public schools in predominately Asian communities are not equipped with higher paid teachers, better bathrooms and smaller classes. What they are equipped with is quality parental involvement. And not just there! Ride a New York City bus during the afternoon of a school year and you will find adolescent children of all races and ethnic backgrounds reading aloud to an accompanying parent, guardian or babysitter with remarkable fluidity.

Denied access to formal education for most of our history here, eternal parental vigilance toward our children was the characteristic that drove the desire for education of black children in America. It was the only thing that we could control. Now, in our efforts to control the system, we have lost control of the children.

In addition to teaching our children at an early age to say 'please' and 'thank you' - to use the proper receptacles for trash, to respect their elders and the property of others, we might remember to ask them what they would like to be when they grow up, to read them children's books to expand and excite their young minds and imagination - or simply take them to the library on a Saturday.

LEGITIMIZING LUNACY

Who knew that giving women the vote and the freedom to raise their hemlines above their ankles would lead to a modern day American holocaust 80 years later! Who knew that accepting, however grudgingly, the same sex partnerships of consenting adults would lead to the surreal destruction of life, limb and skyline! And who knew that a normal desire to heat our homes, drive our cars back and forth to work, church, family outings and the occasional vacation would result in the cataclysmic inhumanity to mankind perpetrated in the name of biblical prophecy.

Yet on September 12, 2001 such were the inane ranting that echoed from pulpits and soapboxes from American coast to American coast. "Abortion," cried one evangelist. Our refusal to condemn homosexuality cried another. "We use too much gas!" So it's our own fault? "We should be trying to figure out why they hate us."

Balderdash! What credence should one give to a lunatic who turned his back to his sister-in-law because she greeted him at her door without head covering and veil? What credence does one give to an advocate of "death by stoning" to women who exit their homes without a male family member? And why give credence to a fanaticism that demands the torture and/or murder of women who work, and girls who go to school?

Since the compelled departure of Richard Nixon, the Fourth Estate has spawned a destructive culture of celebrity journalism. These very same journalists that bring us the news as a constitutional obligation have become more obsessed with seeing their name in the paper and hearing their name cross the lips of their colleagues than challenging the party lines, talking points and political agendas of the subjects they interview. Journalists who inform us that agents representing actors and athletes are a major reason that outings to the arena, theater and stadium are prohibitively expensive are themselves represented by agents. Loyalty is no longer a standard practice. Their primary interest is to follow the money and the profile rather than the story. And it is they who give voice to much of the irrelevant ranting of those who would attempt to legitimize the actions of the mind oppressed minions on their maniacal jihad. We deserve better.

The latest Osama bin Laden tape tends to garner a well covered 48-72 hour news cycle of critique and analysis by experts of every governmental and political persuasion. Yet in all of the ensuing Al Qaeda bombings between the 1993 World Trade Center bombing up to the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000, Osama bin Laden and his many victims seemed a mere afterthought. Bill Clinton was the story.

These highly paid, self aggrandizing defenders of American freedom sat around news tables amongst themselves and the requisite Washington politicians praising the magnificence of Bill Clinton's latest speech as he greeted the arrival of body bags and flag-draped coffins at Andrews Air Force Base. And though each speech was peppered with a serious looking, "We will hunt them down and make them pay," you would be hard pressed to find any interviews with those requisite politicians, Clinton included, about any plans, meetings or strategy sessions engaged to bring about the capture and destruction of Osama bin Laden. With the aftermath of each bombing, the press was more content with publicly stroking the ego of Bill Clinton. The extermination of the master terrorist and his far reaching global network was never discussed with the verve given the press' adulation of Clinton.

Having "serious" journalists capitulate to the outrageous attacks on the modernity and culture that defines America by our misguided fellow citizens only serves to bolster those fringes of fanaticism who murder recklessly and wantonly and legitimizes the lunacy that "We asked for it!" Ironically, the religious fanaticism of the likes of David Koresh, Jim Jones and their followers solicited no denouncement of America's culture or way of life. However, non-American terrorists who indiscriminately murder any and everyone from innocent school children to churchgoers draw endless hours of introspection as to what we did wrong.

In fact, if Osama bin Laden and his murderous ilk were American citizens we would never think to entertain any of these reasons, (excuses), given as to why he authorized the September 11th massacre. We would demand that they be locked away in a rubber room and fed a daily dose of psychotropic drugs for the remainder of their miserable existence. And we would never subject them to the death penalty because no American jury would consider them sane enough to believe that the voice of God compelled their obscene journey to martyrdom.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Can WE Talk?

(Written August 9, 2007)

"I wish more people were passionate about their country," was Joe Scarborough's insulting comment on his new MSNBC morning show which replaced the more formidable Imus in the Morning program. It was a reference to having met a "charming" Janeane Garafolo until the name George W. Bush was mentioned wherein she went on an anti-Bush diatribe. More people are passionate about their country, Joe. The problem in their country is that Morning Joe (the name of his new program) rarely talks to Average Joe.

With much of the highbrow media's alleged disdain for all of the news hoopla surrounding Paris Hilton is how oblivious they are to the fact that the news media, in and of itself, has become a culture of celebrity. Katie Couric leaving NBC's TODAY show to anchor the CBS Evening News was just as big and just as long a story as Paris Hilton going to jail. And this culture of "celebrity journalism" inundates the public airwaves with highly paid "artists" who talk with one another, hobnob with the politicians and well-heeled subjects they cover, and reference one another's comments, columns and interviews in between the latest public statement made by some politician, actor, comedian, musician or other six to seven figure earning person of high public profile. These celebrity news hosts, anchors and journalists confine their knowledge of the public to how a certain cross section answered a handful of inane, generic poll questions. They have no idea what these people actually think. Not really! They never bother to give these average Americans the 10 to 12 minute segments that they give to the millionaire Susan Sarandons, Arianna Huffingtons and Alec Baldwins.

As a proponent of free market capitalism, I do not begrudge Mr. Scarborough et.al. as great a living as they can muster from what they do. However, it is offensive for them to assume to know what John and Jane Q. Public is thinking because they read the latest poll. They are not privy to the roundtable discussions of American voters in the multitudes of neighborhoods expounding on the issues of the day and they are totally unaware of their own foibles and inadequacies as they wax pontifically amongst themselves about the thoughts and beliefs of people they never bother to converse with or interview. And much like politicians, they do not allow themselves to be questioned, in depth, by members of the public.

On MSNBC's Morning Joe on the morning after the Democratic You Tube debate, NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell told Mr. Scarborough that she was surprised at how smart and intelligent the questions were. Could she have been any more insulting and condescending! It is no wonder that the public finds some solace within the confines of the blogosphere and talk radio. Yet Washington Democrats are quietly gearing up to stifle those few minutes of free speech that concerned callers to these programs rely upon to question, opine and be heard. Primary members of the major media often denigrate these citizen friendly outlets as being amateurish, unreliable and unprofessional purveyors of information. After Janet Cooke, Jason Blair, Stephen Glass, rigged NBC truck explosions, faked documents as news, courtesy of CBS, CNN's hyped but false blockbuster story concerning Viet Nam, and the merry-go-round of cover girl reporters and anchors, it is clear that ratings, circulation and ad revenue are adequate substitutes for professionalism.

These 'professionals' become boisterous advocates of the First Amendment when one of their colleagues faces subpenas and/or jail. However, they are less vocal about "the free exercise thereof" when the speech comes from "amateurs." That the carefully worded First Amendment deliberately has the non-abridgment of 'speech' coming before 'press,' it is incumbent upon them to argue for the rights of the talk radio host and caller as intensely as they argue the plight of a jailed journalist who refuses to reveal a source. And they would know that if they simply took the time to talk with us.

Monday, November 26, 2007

IT'S FEAR ITSELF

The Democratic presidential candidates have made a collective, collusive agreement not to debate on Fox News Channel (FNC). That FNC has a higher viewership than MSNBC and CNN indicates a healthy disrespect that the Democrats have for a significant portion of the electorate that may have an opposing or independent view.

While they debate the merits and fallacies of meeting with certain foreign leaders, with or without preconditions, and what American aims should or should not be, the voting viewers of FNC are supposed to believe that these candidates have the guts to stare down sympathizers and supporters of major terrorists and WMD seeking dictators when they are too afraid to take a question from Brit Hume!

Cowardice is not a trait best displayed by those who would lead a free nation at one of its more perilous times in history. Yet cowardice is exactly what compels their action(s). The Republicans have debated before all comers and in forums where questioners, like Chris Matthews of NBC News, have repeatedly shown an unobjective Democratic bias. What questions, that have not been asked, are the Democrats afraid of that the next President could easily be asked at a press conference? Their refusal to debate on FNC is nothing more than fear and cowardice masquerading as a principled stand. It disrespects the process, it disrespects their party members and, above all, it disrespects the voters who want more than pre-prepared and scripted non-answers to "Softball" questions from politically sycophantic journalists pretending to be tough and objective.

The cowardice of the last Democratic president should have been enough as he stood in the background behind a podium full of women who stepped to the microphone in his defense stating, "We believe the President," before he was shamed into his finger wagging, mendacious assertion that he, "... did not have sexual relations with that woman..." That Saddam Hussein harbored a major 1993 World Trade Center bomber and, for all 8 years of the Clinton presidency, Iraq repeatedly fired on US and allied aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone, all without retaliation, was indicative of a weak and incompetent presidency. And that none of this has been broached during these so-called Democratic debates posits tragedies we are doomed to repeat.

Why should voters believe that Mrs. Clinton will be any better at fighting terrorism than her husband was? With all of their talk about the war in Iraq and the "failed Bush policies," exactly what is their blueprint for combatting the ever changing face of terrorism here and abroad? Shouldn't the public have a chance to scrutinize these plans before they go to the polls? These are just a few questions that have yet to be asked and answered. And if these are questions the Democratic candidates fear FNC might ask, then the next obvious question should be, "What are they afraid of?"

Saturday, November 24, 2007

IMUS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

(Initially written April 13, 2007)

America, unlock your daughters - Imus has left the building. Ladies, your dignity has been restored to the airwaves - Imus has left the building. Black women, your strength and beauty and character have been restored - Don Imus has left the building. And if you believe that, you believe Al Sharpton was really concerned about the use of the public airwaves and not looking to etch a high profile notch in his belt.

Outside of his dastardly "rap," Imus made at least two highly critical errors. By talking on the air to Al Sharpton and Matt Lauer he allowed Sharpton to control the overall situation and dialog. His second, and more serious error in judgment was his apologetic public spectacle before speaking with Coach Stringer and her team. They were the injured party, not him, not yet. He should have allowed the Rev. Soaries to set up the meet and then shut up until he spoke to them. He owed them that. His misguided attempt to be noble only served to fuel the media frenzy and encourage speculation. The Rutgers women went from a calm and dignified "let's wait and see what he has to say," to having to comment on what he said recently.

Wherever you are and wherever you live in America, Imus' dirty comments did not emerge from a vacuum. And the fact that they occur repeatedly over the "public" airwaves, that Al Sharpton looks to protect, and their aftereffects are already in a neighborhood near you. The next time you go to a PTA meeting, your school board, town hall, bridge club or book club, talk to your neighbors. You are going to find that a growing number of your daughters, granddaughters, nieces and their friends and classmates have been "bitch slapped" by their boyfriends, male athletes and other seemingly fine upstanding young men in your community. Fueled by underage drinking and drug use at parties and other unsupervised gatherings, physical aggression and sexual assaults against young women are on the rise in America's neighborhoods as the beats and lyrics of "gangsta rap" plays in the background.

Threatened boycotts and protests by Al Sharpton finally convinced NBC and CBS Radio that Don Imus was more trouble than he was worth. Don Imus now knows how the women at Rutgers University feel. It is doubtful that Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson knows, or even cares, how Dr. Condoleezza Rice felt.

Growing up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama as a little girl, her friend was blown to bits in one of the most infamous acts of terrorism in American history. From that she worked to prove those cowardly bombers, and all who thought like them, that they were wrong about black people. She became highly educated, fluent in Russian and an expert on their history. She became Provost at one of the top universities in the world, an accomplished pianist, developed a passion for football and served her country under two presidents framing US international policy. These phenomenal accomplishments led Harry Belafonte to reduce Dr. Rice to being a "house slave." Her dignity would not allow her to respond in kind. And it is that dignity which is undeserving of the disrespect leveled toward these black women by the men they raised.

Young women in every corner of the country are being verbally and physically abused by young men who are using the "language of the streets." Maybe by one of the two young white teens who walked on a Long Island street several feet behind me spouting, "That nigger slapped the shit outta that bitch!" Or by one of the many young Latinos for whom the "N" word has become the preferred noun of choice in New York. And by the young black, gun-toting video music thugs humping half-dressed women on your children's television sets. They are the same musical guests you see on Letterman, Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Saturday Night Live.

The dawn of the 21st century has seen Democratic political candidates such as Al Gore, John Edwards, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton gladly take political contributions and pose for photographs with the millionaire producers and "artists" of this visual and lyrical objectification and degradation of women and glorification of wanton violence.

Mr. Imus got himself fired for an ugliness that has become far too mainstream in our society. The pain suffered by the Rutgers Womens Basketball Team is just a small symptom of the disease. And it is only going to get worse unless parents and community leaders everywhere start to threaten boycotts of their own. The culture of using young women as punching bags and sexual playthings has become one of the most profitable businesses in America. I'm sure the exploited young ladies picketing outside New York offices, in protest of Mr. Imus, felt empowered carrying placards and chanting, "I am not a ho!" No, you're not - but guys like Snoop and Fitty say you are - and they have not left the building. And neither Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson nor the National Association of Black Journalists are picketing or boycotting to have them evicted.

BELATED FOOTNOTE: Un-coincidentally, at no time did I hear Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper or any of the CNN hosts offer a disclaimer during the length of this news episode. At no time did they offer to their viewers that they are a subsidiary of TIME WARNER and that TIME WARNER is a major distributor of the offensive language that they were discussing over the weeks long discussion.

Don Imus is scheduled to return to the airwaves on December 3rd.

Friday, November 23, 2007

OUT, DAMNED SPOT

(Reprinted from the Times Mason-Dixon Gazette - January 5, 1863)

By Laureen Lowd & Hank Itch

Impeach him! The President has lost his mind. Undertaking a war between the states was already a bad idea, but signing this Emancipation Proclamation is clearly evidence that Mr. Lincoln has gone off the deep end.

Two years ago the president asserted that the union could not survive half-free and half-slave. On what basis did he draw such an absurd conclusion? The existing free states abolished slavery of their own volition and on their own timetable. Did not the existing slave states deserve the same opportunity? And now with over 250,000 already dead and no end to this war in sight, he further antagonizes the southern resisance with his executive edict to free the slaves. How many more deaths is it going to take before Mr. Lincoln realizes that the southern states are never going to give up slavery? Apparently Mr. Lincoln will not be happy until he sees another quarter of a million Americans killed and Atlanta burned to the ground.

Will the American public continue to put up with brother killing brother in an endless battle for so dubious a purpose? Is Mr. Lincoln really interested in ending slavery or is he sending these poor souls to their death for the benefit of his friends in the textile industry? The end of slavery will mean the end of cheap cotton products. Will Mr. and Mrs. John Doe America be happy if the end result of hundreds of thousands of dead Americans was a higher cost for clothing?

Two years ago the country was at peace, cotton was inexpensive and the southern slaves were well fed, received free health care and free housing. Are we to believe the great lie that the nation cannot survive half-free and half-slave when it survived just fine prior to Mr. Lincoln's presidency? And should Mr. Lincoln's self-serving vanity war be successful, what will become of the slaves who cannot get hired by the farmers and plantation owners? How will they eat? Where will they live? How will they provide for their unsold children who are presently being fed and cared for? Will the newly freed slaves over 21 years of age be allowed to vote when white women are still denied that right? If Mr. Lincoln was seeking a cause for which to base his presidency, giving women the vote would have been more cogent and less bloody than the endless slaughter of this senseless civil war between the states.

Mr. Lincoln's action eschews our constitutional separation of powers. He has chosen, by fiat, to bypass the legislative process of both the states and federal government. He has abused his position as commander-in-chief of the armed services to thumb his nose at the US Supreme Court in the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford. This is tyranny, not governance! And the alleged nobility of his lone decision cannot bring peace to the loved ones of the hundreds of thousands killed and the tens of thousands yet to be killed on the field of battle in defiance of any of our sacred constitutional processes.

When told that his General Grant was a drunk, Mr. Lincoln was rumored to have remarked that he would like to know what Grant drank so that he could send all of his generals a case of it. The thousands of daily deaths are dishonored by such presidential flippancy. It should not bolster confidence in the American public when the report of the latest death toll is seen as an opportunity for the president to sharpen his wit.

The dishonesty of this war and the president's misleading reasons for it become all too clear when Mr. Lincoln's public acknowledgments are well versed political lambastes of southern slavery while his private moments are spent strolling through the White House whistling "Dixie!"

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

"THE VIEW" From Here: Getting the "Star" Treatment

(Initially written Sept. 25, 2006)

As she planned her elaborate wedding, tacky and inappropriate were just two of the words often used to describe the pre-departure behavior of THE VIEW co-host, Star Jones. It was later revealed that at that point her likability factor had begun to dwindle in relation to the other hosts. It seems that plugging a vendor on THE VIEW for providing wedding accoutrements at no charge was, allegedly, turning off viewers, discomfiting Jones' co-hosts and ticking off the brass at ABC-TV. So, for doing what many celebrities take advantage of, it was determined that Star Jones' services were no longer needed.

Turn on almost any talk, news, variety or entertainment program and the closing credits are riddled with "tacky" and "inappropriate" messages such as "John Smith's Clothing provided by," or Jane Doe's Jewelry provided by." Countless television personalities are bedecked and bejeweled by a plethora of clothing, jeweler and hair styling vendors, at no cost, just for the opportunity to be mentioned to the vast viewing audience. Top flight clothing designers loan and gift multi-thousand dollar outfits to celebrities just to have their name and company mentioned on the red carpet at the numerous award shows they attend. Now we have product placement where vendors are paying to have their products and services strategically placed in the movies we pay to see. Vendors were probably beside themselves to get a piece of Tiny Tim's wedding on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Johnny Carson.

The irrepressible Don Imus laughingly tells a story of having his car, provided by Dick Gidron Cadillac, picked up the very day he was fired by NBC. And, insult to injury, Jones' very own VIEW co-hosts had no problem making mention of the expensive, and free, gifts they all received upon attending the annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

So why was Jones negatively singled out for doing business in a manner that has been used by celebrities for decades? A mere threatening word from Barbara Walters and/or ABC brass should have been sufficient. Star Jones' dismissal from THE VIEW was much deeper than her wedding plans. And with Walters' very high profile, publicly offered carrot to Rosie O'Donnell to join the show, it seems clear that the Jones/O'Donnell dust-up on a previous program was the catalyst. It was rumored that O'Donnell threw down the gauntlet and refused to appear on any future shows if Star Jones was present.

It was Rosie O'Donnell's misguided ignorance that led to the infamous confrontation. O'Donnell believed that women in America should have collectively vented their outrage in an effort to keep Martha Stewart out of jail - the way black people did for OJ Simpson and former NBA All Star Jayson Williams. Such a statement was absurd at its core and Star, rightfully, called her on it. Jones correctly pointed out that it was independent juries who rendered the verdicts in all of those cases and that black people had no vote over whether Simpson got convicted and went to jail. Then, in an effort to appear supportive and sensitive to Jones, O'Donnell unknowingly became patronizing, condescending and insulting to black people in general , and dishonest with the public in particular. In contending that black people have so few role models she repeated the imbecilic notion that black people said that you can't take OJ Simpson and you can't take Jayson Williams. And, insult to injury again, she claimed to agree with them. However, after the discovery of the mutilated bodies of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, O'Donnell was one of the more vocal celebrities to insist that Simpson was guilty, once while hosting SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, even before a jury was impaneled, before a witness was called, or a single piece of evidence introduced.

Her hypocrisy knows no limits. She reportedly mocked Jones for being less than candid with her audience about her dramatic weight loss. This from a woman who waited until she wrote her book and quit her talk show before coming out of her lesbian closet.

After the controversial departure of Star Jones from THE VIEW, resident jokester Joy Behar took a dig at her former co-host by making a snide comment to a guest host to "Tell us you're a lawyer" - obviously referring to Jones who properly brought her past legal profession to the many discussions concerning the myriad trials and/or lawsuits in the news during the show's Hot Topics segments. Her legal experience is what helped make the discussed topics work. And it was no different than Behar often mentioning being a "stand up comedian" or the venues she played and people she met "doing stand up" - or Meredith Viera adding her news experience at CBS or ABC to the conversations, or, Ms. Walters pontificating about when she interviewed a particular politician, celebrity or head-of-state. It was the differing life experiences that made the segments interesting and informative. Behar's misplaced sarcasm only serves to display her lack of understanding as to what made the show work.

As for Rosie O'Donnell, who believes that fundamentalist Christians in America are just as dangerous as the murdering fundamentalist Muslims, she's now Barbara Walters' cross to bear.

Monday, November 19, 2007

QUESTIONING COMPETENCE

(Initially written Dec. 12, 2006)

When you have the enemy surrounded, completely outnumbered and severely outgunned, sounding retreat is not the viable or sensible road to victory. In war there is only victory or defeat - and it is why Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should have been fired the very first time the Marines were not allowed to take Fallujah. It emboldened Shiite thug Muqtada al-Sadr and aided Al Qaeda backed insurgents. For them it reinforced Osama bin Laden's claim that America was/is a paper tiger.

The enemy used their religious shrines and mosques for battlefield preparations and fortressees. It was their decision to blaspheme and denigrate their own mosques and we should not have shown more reverance to their shrines than they did. It allowed the enemy to regroup, rearm and steadfastly grow.

The course of this poorly managed war by Secretary Rumsfeld has received criticism from all corners of the American political and journalistic spectrum. However, it is the abdication of responsibility of those very institutions that has led us to where we are today. Each time Richard Luger and Joe Biden, senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, throw around the term incompetence as it regards the Bush administration it is, quite simply, the pot calling the kettle black. Exactly what did they do, as members of their committee, when the master terrorist blew up buildings and murdered innocent people abroad? Did they meet with the Clinton administration, or the CIA or National Security to discuss a plan to take out Osama bin Laden and his murderous networks? Senators John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd, all boisterous critics of the administration's War on Terror, were members of the International Operations and Terrorism Subcommittee prior to Sep. 11th. And unless these committee assignments are nothing more than to provide patronage for the spouses and children of their colleagues and campaign donors, what were they doing between the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and Sept. 10, 2001? And why hasn't anyone in the Fourth Estate bothered to ask?

Every major network and cable news entity in America has a reporter covering Capitol Hill. Exactly how many bombings and body bags were going to be required before the question got asked! And why was it not asked of Senators Ted Kennedy and John Warner of the Armed Services Committee when some of those body bags contained American soldiers and sailors: or Senators Pat Roberts and Carl Levin of the Intelligence Committee when it was clearly Osama bin Laden, declarer of war against America, wreaking havoc at an ever more dangerous pace. What were they doing about it? It's a very simple question - why wasn't it asked?

The press, its pundits and our politicians wrapped their rhetoric around the "leadership" of President Clinton, the commitment of the victims and the grief of our nation, but not the need for the safety and security of the American citizenry.

Tasked with a specific purpose, even the Sept. 11th Commission failed to ask. What should have been a careful, methodical and focused investigation of lax security and governmental incompetence, at all levels, became a poorly chosen, agenda driven, self-aggrandizing exercise in insult to the American public. No one who worked for Bill Clinton or George W. Bush should have been on the panel. Commission member and New School President, former Senator Bob Kerrey, after stating that he did not want to spend too much of his time talking about Iraq, continually questioned Dr. Condoleezza Rice about Iraq - all the while calling her Dr. Clark. His regard for her was so dismissive that he failed the simple courtesy of writing down her name when she was sworn in to avoid the obvious embarrassment. In fact, no member of the panel, including the bi-partisan chairmen, even bothered to correct the continuing insult. To her credit, Dr. Rice remained courteous and professional in the face of this discourteous unprofessionalism.

"There was no collaborative effort between Iraq and Al Qaeda," was how co-charirmen Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton opened their many discussions at the conclusion of their commission hearings. An apparent dig at the Bush administration, this finding went largely unchallenged by the news media.

One reasonable question - why do the chairmen think that so many non-Iraqi members of Al Qaeda who were captured or killed in possession of Iraqi passports? If there was no collaborative effort, why do they believe that one of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers fled to Baghdad rather than any of the known Al Qaeda camps? Harboring the fugitive bomber and providing passports to non-Iraqi Al Qaeda members is extremely strong circumstantial evidence that Saddam Hussein was in a very comfortable bed with Osama bin Laden. And believing that the secularist Hussein and the radical fundamentalist bin Laden's hatred toward one another would never have allowed them to partner in terror is dangerously naive. The fictional Don Vito Corleone's adage, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," is simply a more modern day slogan from a much older caveat - the enemy of my enemy is my friend. It is unlikely that FDR and Churchill planned on meeting Stalin over bangers and mash, hot dogs and apple pie, and borscht and vodka on each D-Day anniversary. Nor were Hitler and Yamamoto likely to have celebrations of sake and sauerbraten had World War II gone the other way. And it was the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, 444 days of Americans held hostage, and the ascension of the Ayatollah Khomeini to the leadership of Iran that led to America's flea-bitten relationship with Saddam Hussein. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

In 1998 the US Senate voted a regime change resolution in regard to Iraq. And in 1998, after he called for air strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan, Bill Clinton stated that, "... countries that persistently host terrorists have no right to be safe havens." Of our battle against terrorism he said, "It will require strength, courage and endurance. We will not yield to this threat... This will be a long ongoing struggle between freedom and fanaticism... We must be prepared to do all that we can for as long as we must."

President George W. Bush's decision to go into Iraq as an extension of the War on Terror was tough, noble and necessary. And that Rumsfeld screwed it up and Bush failed to fire him a lot sooner does not change that fact.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

THE FEMINIST MYTH-TIQUE

(Initially written Nov. 5, 2005)

In the interest of full disclosure, I don't like the Clintons. I think they are merely con artists posing as politicians. During the eight years of the Clinton administration and the campaigns leading up to them, we rarely saw Bill or Hillary Clinton stand with sturdy ideological backbone in support of any issue unless a phalanx of Democrats braced them upright and pushed them forward.

In the face of vehement opposition by his most loyal constituents, feminists and black Democrats, Bill Clinton signed into law the third Congressional attempt at a Welfare Reform bill. Number three was virtually indistinguishable from the two reform bills he had previously vetoed. The cries from the feminist orthodoxy and the pseudo black leadership about the degenerative bill #3 was as long and as loud as it was for the failed Welfare Reforms numbers 1 and 2. But, at the urging of his pollster/Svengali, Dick Morris, he felt compelled to sign a bill whose third veto might cost him his 1996 re-election bid.

And now as Hillary Clinton girds for her 2006 Senatorial re-election in the state of New York, many believe that it is simply an imprimatur for a 2008 run at the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States. Her campaign rhetoric clearly seems to bear this out. As we move toward Election Day 2006, George W. Bush is only in the first year of his lame duck second term and Mrs. Clinton appears to be positioning herself to be the Senator from New York who would be the 2008 Democratic Presidential nominee. As you listen to her closely, she is sounding more and more like Bill Clinton. In fact, put a 2005 emphasis on Bill Clinton's 1992 speeches and you have Mrs. Clinton's 2006/2008 campaign strategy. Will it work a second time? You can fool some of the people some of the time and you can fool 43% of the people all of the time - provided you have a third party candidate with a grudge against your opponent. Less than half of all eligible voters went to the polls in 1992 and 57% of them did not want the "two for the price of one" Clintons anywhere near the vicinity of the White House. Apparently the public did not view the media mavens' opinion that Bill Clinton was the "greatest," "savviest," "most astute" political mind they had seen in their lifetime.

Can they really be that naive? How savvy or astute is it for a career politician to fall the helpless prey of the pizza delivery girl at the first sign of her thong! From thousands of miles away, having never met Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky told friends that her burgeoning internship at the White House would earn her a set of "presidential kneepads." Why was her ability to see through Bill Clinton so much better than those "celebrity status" journalists who cover him? Were they that gullible at the feet of Bill Clinton or are they just that bad at their job!

And after decades of advanced "feminism" preaching the horrors of stunted self-esteem among girls whose mothers stay in marriages with openly serial philanderers, 'feminist' icon Hillary Rodham Clinton subjected her daughter to just that. Or does the National Organization for Women now find that subjecting young daughters to the problems of low self-esteem, dysfunctional familial and personal relationships and the hours of therapy that these feminists generally foresee in whorish marriages is now acceptable if it gets your daughter from Arkansas public schools to Oxford in the process? Tabloid fodder aside, the effects of growing up Clinton is yet to be determined for young Miss Chelsea.

One of feminisms glaring dichotomies reared its psychotic head during "L'Affaire Lewinsky." Appearing on 60 MINUTES, Kathleen Willey alleged that, after the suicide of her husband, she went to the White House and met with Bill Clinton in an effort to secure a job whereupon Clinton proceeded to forcibly French kiss her and fondle her inappropriately. Subsequently, also on national TV, Patricia Ireland termed such behavior, if true, was a "sexual assault." However, on the op-ed page of a national newspaper, Mrs. Gloria Steinem basically opined that because Clinton stopped when the widow Willey rejected his advance, no harm no foul. Yet these same women were virtually apoplectic over an uncorroborated allegation that a potential jurist used the name of a male porn star in the presence of an adult female with a law degree.

"Men just don't get it!" was/is the never ending feminist rallying cry. Yet these same feminists indict perpetrators of sexual harassment based on political ideology and party affiliation, not on "inappropriate" or illegal behavior.

Former Republican Senator Bob Packwood was run out of office when a series of women were allowed to testify that the Senator forcibly kissed and/or fondled them in his office some 15 years prior. Yet when years old allegations of forcible fondling and rape were leveled against Democrat Bill Clinton, it was deemed unnecessary to hear those witnesses testify before the Senate during the impeachment trial of then President Clinton. California Senator Barbara Boxer stated that she did not want Monica Lewinsky coming to Washington and "soiling the Senate floor." The past public behavior of Senators Teddy Kennedy and Christopher Dodd alone would necessitate Miss Lewinsky needing a pair of sturdy hip boots to avoid the grime and stench of an already well-soiled Senate floor.

National rallies for women's "whatever" and/or "the children" become center stage platforms for female and child rights advocates from Washington, DC to Hollywood, California. They uniformly bash men, perverts, wife abusers, child molesters and Republicans in defense of women's rights and "protecting our children." The most recent victims of nationwide notoriety are always referred to - their grieving families in attendance. However, the outrage displayed by the feminists at these gatherings must have been drowned out by the deafening applause that some of these very speakers and their significant others gave to fugitive child rapist Roman Polanski after being awarded the Oscar for Best Director for the film THE PIANIST.

Feminism: 'tis a psychopathy devoutly to be dissed.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's public history has been shown to be the antithesis of everything that feminists purport to believe in and stand for. And now that the possibility looms large that Mrs. Clinton will take a run at the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and ultimately the White House, will her husband's 43% successful strategy of being all things to all people work for her? And, once again, will the press buy into it? Will the public?

Just a few short years ago the Democrats floated the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to temporarily relieve Bill Clinton of his presidential duties so that the Clintons could seek professional help to repair their marital relationship in light of Bubba's seemingly serious serial infidelity. Apparently not getting fired and a subsequent seat in the US Senate is now the perfect substitute for couples said to be in need of professional help. Will the American public trust the future of their children and their country to someone whose own supporters told us was in need of therapy and counseling? Or has their shuttle distance relationship been a substitute for their needed theraputic cure.

Perhaps Tony Soprano's panic attacks have nothing to do with the responsibilities of his life as a crime boss. Just maybe the need to medicate his angst fueled attacks is the product of trying to understand the women in his life, what the hell they mean, and what the hell they want.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

9 PERCENTERS ANONYMOUS

After the 2000 Presidential election the Democrats, along with their covert and overt minions in the press, were absolutely gleeful in their zeal to point out that George W. Bush received just 9% of the black vote. "That's less than Bob Dole got in 1996!"

That statistic was used, once again, to vilify the Republicans as pseudo-racists. Unfortunately, the Republicans apologized for the poor national showing. The press was quick to point this out rather than the increasing numbers of black voters who are helping install more and more Republicans in state, local and Congressional seats. Also unfortunate is the silence of those 9% who fear castigation by Democrats, both black and white, for their uninformed and traitorous choice.

For them I offer my support group.

9 PERCENTERS ANONYMOUS

Hi, my name is Calvin. I'm black and I voted for George W. Bush... (Hi, Calvin). I have been clean and Democrat free for several years now. Having been born and raised a Democrat it has been a difficult struggle, but I'm managing to survive one election at a time. And thanks to a quality public school education on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I have the ability to read, write, decipher and define what I think and feel with a distinct clarity, strength and confidence.

For starters, George W. Bush struck me as a strong, confident and capable leader in ways that Al Gore and Bill Clinton never did. As a black man in America I was expected to forego such thoughts and feelings. As a free man, I could not. As a black man I was expected to go along with the 91% of American blacks who cast their ballots for Al Gore. As a free man, I could not. And as a black man in America I am expected to believe that Republicans are nothing more than Klansmen in Brooks Brothers suits. As a free man, I will not.

I will not believe that Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Gen. Colin Powell are house slaves just because Harry Belafonte says so. I will not believe that cutting taxes is the Republican's way of saying "spic" and "nigger" just because Charles Rangel says so. And I do not believe that President Bush wants to take America back to the days of Jim Crow just because Kweisi Mfume says so. Becoming a recovering Democrat is not easy. And for all of you 9 percenters willing to come out of the closet, I have to tell you, the interventions can be a bitch. The constant pointing out of where you went wrong; always changing the subject; their irrelevant arguments; their never ending whining about Florida, the disenfranchised voters, Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush and the US Supreme Court are enough to cause you to relapse just to shut them up. You'll need a good sponsor. Even when you tell them that those 36 days in the fall of 2000 would have been a President Gore honeymoon had they simply fired Bill Clinton, they won't shut up about Florida. However, ousting one of their white guys for running afoul of ethics and law is something that Democrats just never want to do. Not to Ted Kennedy after Chappaquddick, not Bob Torricelli after illegally taking gifts, not Barney Frank after his lover was caught running a whorehouse out of the Congressman's home, not Tom Daschle after 60 MINUTES exposed his connection to a shady aircraft scandal, not Robert Byrd, allegedly a former Klansman, after uttering the dreaded "N" word on national television in a brazen, deliberate and racially offensive context, not Kennedy and Chris Dodd after allegations of sexual assault at La Brasserie restaurant, and not to Bill Clinton after lying under oath before a federal judge.

We 9 percenters should not have to accept public officials who engage in criminal and unethical behavior. That seemed to be the Democrat's policy when they ousted Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Mike Espy, Marion Barry, Mel Reynolds and Henry Cisneros. Their racially discriminatory practice sounds a lot like the Jim Crow practice that Mr. Mfume is accusing President Bush of returning to.

But, you say, Toni Morrison wrote that Bill Clinton was really our first black president. To which I say, Toni Morrison is an award winning writer of fiction. Had Bill Clinton really been black he probably would have been sporting orange jumpsuits and pressing Arkansas license plates long ago.

As a black man in America I am supposed to be angry that George W. Bush is President of the United States because he should never have been a serious contender for my vote. I was expected to vote for John Kerry based mostly on a 4 month period of his life in Vietnam when he was in his twenties. I should not have been concerned about his questionable judgment over the subsequent 35 years. I should not be concerned that, in defending Bill Clinton 12 years prior, Senator Kerry said that who did or did not serve in Vietnam was unimportant. And I should not have been concerned that Senator Kerry's 1998 position on removing Saddam Hussein from power was the same position for which he now claims President Bush misled America.

For a black man in America it is considered tantamount to treason to opt for the Republican over the Democrat. However, as a free man, I cannot respect a party that repeatedly uses a Jim Crow standard to determine which criminally and ethically challenged officials are fit to serve. I cannot take seriously, a party that does not have the guts to tell one of its presidential candidates that he harms the youth he purports to represent when he repeatedly mispronounces the simple three letter word for "make a request." Don't ask!!! And I will not take seriously a party that believes 4 months in Vietnam makes John Kerry presidential but two tours in Vietnam makes Colin Powell a house slave.

And for all of my fellow members in 9 PERCENTERS ANONYMOUS, the first step toward recovery is to admit that you are not the one with the problem.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot - God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

(Initially written August 9, 2004)

Friday, November 16, 2007

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Since the first day after the 2004 presidential inauguration, the major television news mavens and mavenettes have been determined to foist Hillary Rodham Clinton down the throats of the American voting public as the de facto Democratic nominee for the presidency in 2008. Even the likely Democratic candidates vying for the nomination had publicly conceded that the unannounced Mrs. Rodham Clinton is the party front runner for the nomination. Based on what - a disastrous 12 year old health policy and an incomplete carpet-bagged rookie season in the Senate? Apparently it is name recognition, and not the experience of running anything worthwhile, unless you want to count helping run the Rose Law Firm into the ground, that is the pollsters and potential candidates' reason for her ascension. Heck, my name is synonymous with a great professional running back but it does not make me fit to run the NFL.

Some of the opinions and reviews that appear here were previously published in METRO EXCHANGE, a small, low circulation newspaper that served black communities in New York City. With the aid of the conscientious editor, I was able to attract a small but loyal following of my byline. Much of what you read will be well written, thought provoking and often humorous insights that were rejected by the major players in the print media with their usual, "no space," "it was covered by our other columnists," " no longer on that topic," etc. But don't despair. Now is your chance to read the thoughts and ranting of an obscure free-lance writer and occasionally pissed off American that you should have read years ago. Because much of what you will read was rejected, some great lines may reoccur. It was because certain lines that I wrote were so good that it was necessary to try to get it in somehow, somewhere. 9 Percenters will cause you to laugh, ponder, reread and rethink - but never bore you.

Also, some of what you read was my cure for bouts of insomnia. When I am seriously bugged about something, usually political and/or news topical, sleep becomes an elusive commodity. When I finally break the bonds of procrastination, I get it off my chest and on to paper. At which point sleep becomes my reward for a job well done.

This blog will be a culmination of the encouragement of friends and colleagues, some who agree with me and some who don't. They believe that my competence as a writer is as good or better than some of the columnists that they read on the pages of those publications that rejected me. In my own humble opinion, which I value quite highly, I agree. So read and enjoy 9Percenters - The Op-Ed Alternative.