Race Matters but Not in this Blagojevich Mess

Yesterday Gov. Blagojevich announced his selection of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the Senate. Rep. Bobby Rush immediately injected race into the equation. Rush told the press to not “lynch” Burris. The word lynch is particularly toxic. It evokes memories of mangled and maimed bodies of black men in the south. It was a bad time in American history, and it is a term that should not be tossed around casually or for political one upmanship. Justice Clarence Thomas pulled it out of his pocket when he was in danger of not being confirmed by the Senate for a position on the Supreme Court. He said he was a victim of a high-tech lynching. Neither of these situations comes close to the heinous act of lynching. Both situations know the word is like the third rail on a train—you simply don’t touch it. It is being used by Rush to shut off the discussion, but the discussion will continue. This governor should not have made the appointment and Roland Burris should not have accepted it, but his ego would not allow him to do so. Rep. Danny Davis simply said no. this appointment warrants criticism and discussion and the dialogue can not be dismissed for fear of being called racist. If the Senate rejects Burris it is not about him or his blackness it is about Blagojevich and his political hijinx.   

Bobby Rush Should Not have Played the Race Card

Gov. Blagojevich’s press conference to announce his senate appointment was surreal, but the rantings of Rep. Bobby Rush took it to another level. Rush said “Thank God for this appointment by Governor Blagojevich…my prayers have been answered.” Rush went on to say there were not other African-Americans in the Senate and he was happy that the governor was appointing one. Rush admonished the press not to “hang or lynch” Burris. One of the great things about Obama’s election was people voted for him because they believed he was qualified. They did not just vote for him because he was black. In some cases some people voted for him despite the fact that he was black. Martin Luther King’s dream was that people be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. So to say his prayer was simply race-based is somewhat disconcerting. We can’t fight racism on one side and promote it on the other.

 

Why Roland Burris Should have Just Said No?

There are only 100 Senators. To be elected or appointed to this position is an honor, but the Roland Burris appointment will always be the exception to the rule. I am sure Roland Burris is an honorable man, but Gov. Blagojevich is a man under a cloud. He has been accused of trying to sell the senate vacancy so the appointment today is slightly tainted. Rep. Bobby Rush said today don’t criticize the “appointee because of the appointer.” That will be hard if not impossible to do. Majority Senator Reid has said he might not allow a Blagojevich appointment to be seated in the Senate. So the appointee will share the stench of the appointer. To be a Senator is an honor that few will ever experience, but is this the way one wants to gain the seat?    I guess it was impossible for Burris to decline, but he will be remembered by the person who appointed him and that legacy is tainted beyond recognition.

Surprise! Mike Huckabee Defends Chip Saltsman

Huckabee has come to his former aide’s defense. He has advised him to select his Christmas gifts more carefully in the future, but gift selection is not the real issue.  Huckabee said “Chip should have been more careful in his selection of Christmas gifts, but no one who knows him would ever suggest that he in any way would purposely disparage other people. Chip knows how sensitive such issues are. It shouldn’t be the main factor in the RNC race.”  This is not a case of you gave chocolate-covered peanuts to someone with a peanut allergy or you gave Hill Farm sausage and cheese basket to a vegetarian.  This is a case of giving a racially disparaging CD to fellow Republicans. Barack Obama is no longer the Democratic candidate for president-elect, he is now the president-elect. On January 20^th he will be the President of the United States. I think it would be reckless to label Saltsman a racist, but what he did was racially insensitive and no one including Huckabee can put a pretty face on this incident. His former employer Huckabee is simply trying to calm the waters, but his statement says more about him than about Saltsman.

 

Does the GOP Really Want to Change?

In my voting lifetime I have voted for Democrats and Republicans for state and local offices, but when it comes to president I have always gone with the Democrat. In looking at the Republican Party at the national level it seems they could care less about widening their reach. The last convention showed what the party looks like and if you are not white it seems you are really not welcome. There are no signs that say this but one needs to only look at their actions. The recent distribution of Barack the Magic Negro CD by a person running to chair the party speaks volumes. It not only speaks to his mindset, but it speaks to the people he sent it to. He had to think they too shared his same mindset. Obama will be subject to jokes and parodies like his predecessors and that is fine as long as the jokes are not race-based. Racially tinged humor is never funny and until the GOP realizes that they will never change.

 

Ken Blackwell Would Defend Uncle Tom if He Was Given a Chance

Ken Blackwell was instrumental in delivering Ohio for George Bush in 2004. He is the ultimate Republican. He would defend a fellow Republican under any circumstances, but one would think even he had a limit, but maybe not. Chip Saltsman as well as Blackwell are vying for chairmanship of the RNC.  Saltsman has recently come under fire for distributing, Barack the Magic Negro CDs to fellow Republicans, but Blackwell like a good soldier has come to his defense, “Unfortunately, there is hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race. This is in large measure due to President-Elect Obama being the first African-American elected president. I don’t think any of the concerns that have been expressed in the media about any of the other candidates for RNC chairman should disqualify them. When looked at in the proper context, these concerns are minimal. All of my competitors for this leadership post are fine people.” Good ole Ken, someone ought to give that man a handkerchief.

 

Let Will Smith Play Barack Obama So He Can Stop Being Sad Willie

 

Will Smith’s last few movies have been in a word—Downers. Pursuit of Happyness, I am Legend, Hancock and now Seven Pounds. Every one has Smith as some kind of depressed loner. In Pursuit of Happyness I kept wondering doesn’t this man have a sister, a cousin or a Big Mama he could leave the kid with?  I am Legend he is the last man standing and talking to mutants, Hancock features him as the saddest super hero on earth and now Seven Pounds I won’t spoil the secret but he continues his march into the depths of depression. I know most actors want to be viewed as serious thespians and melodramas solidify their reputations, but I miss the old Will and I long to see him in something hopeful. So when they start casting the Barack Obama story I hope Smith gets the role because I know I will finally leave the movie hopeful not depressed.   

RNC Chairman Candidate Sends “Barack the Magic Negro” CDs as Christmas Gift

Chip Saltsman a candidate for Republican National Committee chairmanship sent a CD to committee members for Christmas which included “Barack the Magic Negro”. The song is set to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon. Saltsman defended the song by saying most people would recognize it as political satire. That might be feasible if the Republican Party was the “big tent party”, but it is not. One of the other candidates for the chairmanship is Michael Steele, former lieutenant governor of MD. Steele who is black has said in order for the party to grow it has got to become more inclusive. Obviously, Saltsman does not share this idea of inclusiveness because if he did he would know that people of color would not find humor in depicting Barack as the Magic Negro. When I watched the Republican convention this past summer I saw a convention that was virtually devoid of color, and if Saltsman is elected chairman it will probably look the same in 2012, and that like Barack the Magic Negro is not funny.

 

Eartha Kitt Spoke Out When Others Were Afraid to Speak

Today Eartha Kitt died. She was over 80, but she lived a life that mattered. Sure she was a movie star who also appeared on Broadway, but what she did over 40 years ago at the White House made her a freedom fighter. She was invited to a “ladies luncheon” hosted by Lady Bird Johnson and Kitt spoke out against the Vietnam War. She said “you send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They don’t want to go to school because they’re going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam.” After the luncheon Kitt was blacklisted in the United States. For the next four years she only performed overseas. The FBI and CIA investigated her and found her to be “foul-mouthed and promiscuous.”  The ironic thing is she was only labeled this way after she spoke out against the war. Why would the first lady invite a foul-mouthed woman to a “ladies luncheon”?  Years later Kitt said “The thing that hurts, that became anger, was when I realized that if you tell the truth _ in a country that says you’re entitled to tell the truth _ you get your face slapped and you get put out of work.”  Kitt had courage and that is the courage that was needed when this country got pulled into the ill-advised Iraq war. If only more people who had a stage had had the courage to speak out despite the fear of repercussion. Kitt should not just be remembered as sultry and sexy, but she must also be remembered for being gutsy, courageous patriot.

 

Obama’s Politics of Inclusion leads to the Politics of Exclusion

The election of Barack Obama was a bright light in American history. His message of change appealed to so many disenfranchised groups. People that have never been truly engaged in the process saw hope in this man from the land of Lincoln, but over the last few weeks we have only seen brief glimpses of the man we elected. When he had locked up the nomination we saw a notable shift to the center, but we tolerated it because we believed he was doing what was necessary to win. We watched as he nominated Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State designate. We remembered the campaign she had run and how her negative attacks against him served as the blueprint for the Republican attack machine. We tolerated this and accepted the premise “keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer. This week we watched as the announcement came that Rick Warren would deliver the invocation at the inauguration. We are now told this is the politics of inclusion, but we are left wondering is this becoming like George Orwell’s book Animal Farm. We are all equal, but some of us are more equal.  We can not be blinded to the facts. We have to hold Obama’s feet to the fire and hold him accountable. We too believe that there is one America and we have to come together, but it is impossible to come together when you elevate a person who seeks to divide us.  There are so many viable options available to Obama and out of respect for his supporters he needs to choose one of them.