Vice President Biden Says Stay off Planes and Trains, but That is Impossible for Most Americans

Vice President Biden said on the Today Show this morning that he would advise people to stay off of plains and trains during this swine flu epidemic. That might be possible if we all had a driver to take us from here to there, but what do the millions of people do who depend on public transportation? The subways and buses are full because the working people depend on them to get them to work. So do you stay home until the flu becomes dormant? People don’t use public transportation because they want to the use it because they have to work, kids have to go to school and people have to travel on planes for business. So before a political figure appears before the camera he needs to make sure his talking points reflect how the real world lives.

Jet and Ebony Were the Go to Media for its Time, but that Time has Passed

 

A friend of mine sent me an email about the status of Ebony and Jet magazine. After reading it I did some research and saw that like a lot of magazines Ebony and Jet are in trouble. Some are asking is it our duty as black people to help Ebony and Jet? I say no. When I was growing up like most black families Ebony Magazine was on the coffee table in everybody’s living room. My mother displayed her Ebony with Martin Luther King’s face on it in 1968 for years. It chronicled the struggle of the civil rights movement it gave us mini-history lessons in almost every issue. Jet magazine showed us the horrific Emmett Till pictures which were pivotal to catapulting the civil rights struggle to front page news.  Everybody got Ebony on a monthly basis and Jet on a weekly basis. Mr. Johnson’s publications were the only publication that talked to us about us. Throughout President Obama’s run for the presidency we saw stories more relevant to the issues facing us, but sadly Ebony has become a “black” People magazine. It is no longer the social conscience of a people. It is plain and simple another magazine. If it fails it will be sad because of its history, but nothing can survive on what it once was.  

The Republican Party Reduced to Newt and a Rejected Beauty Queen

 

Over the past couple of weeks two people have emerged as the go to people for the Republicans. One is a has been and the other is a never was. We have seen Newt Gingrich interviewed on every network and each time he is responding to something that President Obama has done or said. So why is Newt the new go to guy? It’s because he is at least identifiable. At this point who else do they have to articulate their points? Michael Steele has proven to be inept on the big stage. It’s not from lack of trying but Steele just kept choking on his own foot. So they go back to the architect of the Contract with America. He can bring the politics of the 1990s back to solve our 21^st century problems? Or do they go with their new rising star Miss California Carrie Prejean. Her claim to fame is her answer to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton’s question on gay marriage.  At the time I believed that Prejean was being persecuted for giving her opinion on a very divisive and controversial subject, and that her answer to the question should not have been used against her in the judging, but now she has stepped out on center stage and decided that this will be her issue. She has a right to her beliefs, but when she entered the Miss California pageant she also agreed to their rules and stepping out as the new voice of the right was not one of them, but again who does the Republican Party have to step to the microphone? Nobody. So I guess for now it will have to be the has been and the never was.

Mr. President You Do Have to Answer to the Black Community

Tonight at the president’s press conference a reporter asked him what was he going to do to help the black community? This question is in light of the fact that the unemployment rate in the black community is 13.3%.  The president’s response seemed a little inadequate. President Obama said that the things that are being done for everyone will ultimately benefit the community. That includes the passage of the stimulus bill, but when you look at the black community you simply don’t see that wealth trickling down to the people that need it the most. The black community is in crisis. Look at Detroit. The auto industry is disappearing before our very eyes and blacks that were once regarded as middle class are now part of the 13.3%. The black community came out very strong for the president, and now they need him to come out strong for them.

The 100 Day Transformation of Michelle Obama?

 

Over the past 100 days America has had the opportunity to get to know the first family. Throughout the campaign the media we only got glimpses of who Mrs. Obama was. If you listened to Fox News and other right wing entities she was the radical and bitter other half of Barack Obama. During the election there were polls taken to determine if she was a liability to the candidate, but what a difference 100 days makes. There was the rumor that she had used the term “whitey” in a church service. No such tape ever surfaced so we know if it had existed we would have seen it. Now her poll numbers rival her husband’s and in some cases surpass him. What changed? Did she disavow her radical leanings? Did she simply shelve her bitterness for political expediency? The answer is no. What happened was America is getting to know her and she is defining who she is and what her role will be. She is a mother who is concerned about children. She is a mother who is concerned about the environment. She is a lawyer who has reached out to all for the federal agencies to let them know the president is concerned about them. Is this a transformation? No it is simply an accomplished woman who is now the First Lady of this country who can no longer be reduced to a caricature. Has she done everything right over the past 100 days? No, but she is striking the right notes and so far what America sees it likes.

What Frightens You More Swine Flu or Unemployment?

Today one of my friends went to work. He was expecting this day to be a typical work day. Instead he became another number in the unemployment statistics. No real warning just a box, a check and a see you later. This morning when I left for work the big news of the day was the Swine Flu. This is a real threat, but judging from the coverage it has received over the past few days one would think it is simply a matter of time before we all get it, and that simply is not the case. In fact the bigger threat is unemployment. Unemployment could even be described as a very, real and present danger. So let’s take the precautions recommended by the CDC, but the reality is swine flu does not keep me up at night. If caught in its early stages Tamaflu can cure it, but if you are laid off the only cure for a lost job is a new one, and sadly there are not a lot of them out there.

Fox News Sees the First 100 Days in Shades of Gray

 

The media has anointed the 100 day mark to be the first benchmark for the new president. They will be and have been assessing his performance. The truth is it is more media driven hype, but there are some interesting aspects to their different perspectives. Most major networks have some kind of graphic that they have either used as a countdown or as a graphic. NBC, MSNBC and CNN have used the colors red, white and blue for their logo. Fox News has chosen a more ominous blend of blacks and grays. The two viewpoints come through very clearly. The former look at the new administration with a hopeful, patriotic eye, whereas the latter takes a more pessimistic view and that is why their logo is in shades of gray. Fortunately the rest of the country still believes this is still the land of hope and that is why red, white and blue is still proudly on display.

Is Michael Vick Public Enemy Number 1?

By now most people have heard the Michael Vick story. Vick was the talented quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, but he also had an illegal dog fighting operation. That operation pitted dogs in fights to the death. Injured dogs were often electrocuted in a pool on the grounds. Vick was sentenced to prison and he will soon be a resident of a Half way house prior to his release. This man has gone from being cheered to being treated as a piranha, but when should his punishment end? On the ABC News tonight they did a story profiling how some of the as they said “Vick dogs” have been rehabilitated. As part of Vick’s punishment he was ordered to pay $900,000 for the lifetime needs of the dogs. So the people that have taken the dogs into their homes are considered guardians and in that role are probably eligible for a stipend. They showed how the dogs have been rehabilitated and are now able to live in homes that also have small children as residents. All of this is good news, but when the reporter asked one of the trainers what would she say to Vick she responded she had nothing to say to him, and that is fine too, but why this story now? Nothing just happens in the land of network news. When Vick is set free back into society he is going to be looking for an NFL team and all of this is being done now to make sure no one forgets what Vick did.  In our society when you do the crime you need to be prepared to serve the time. Vick has done that. He is by no means a hero. He is a grown man that did something horrific that warranted punishment, but should his sentence last the rest of his life or will he be allowed to move on?  

We Wondered Where Dick Cheney Was for 8 Years, and Now He’s Everywhere

 

For 8 years Vice President Cheney seemed to be at an undisclosed location. Now he is front and center, and one of President Obama’s most vocal critics. The Obama administration has been very critical of some of the tactics employed by the Bush administration especially the torturing of prisoners. Cheney was one of the architects of some of the tactics employed. He has said that by releasing memos regarding these tactics the Obama administration has put the country in a very vulnerable state. What I find intriguing is that Cheney is the new spokesperson for the GOP now. Remember this is a man that the Republican party did not even want to attend their convention last summer, and now he their go to guy? In his effort to preserve his own legacy he is now making an attempt to re-write history. In doing so he must cast Obama as a weak leader whose approach will make the country vulnerable to another terrorist attack.  “Cheney speaking to Politico in February, he warned of a “high probability” of another terrorist attack. On CNN, he suggested that Mr. Obama was using the economic crisis to justify a big expansion of government. On Fox, he agreed when Mr. Hannity asked if Mr. Obama was “telegraphing weakness.” Whereas, former President Bush has said regarding President Obama, he “deserves my silence”, and perhaps Cheney needs to give the new president that same courtesy.  

Craigslist Killer Does Not Fit the Profile, But He has Probably Never Been Profiled

Over the past few days we have seen the young man, Philip Markoff,  that has been dubbed the “Craigslist Killer.” On paper he seemed to be an upstanding citizen. He was a medical student set to be married this summer. He seemingly had a bright future ahead of him. As the press has described him he was “All-American”. That phrase is so interesting to me. Years ago 60 Minutes did a story on the employment practices of some agencies and how they select the applicants to go to different companies. One of the things that some companies would say is they were looking for an “All-American”. Which in this case meant someone who was Caucasian, and if someone was sent to them that did not fit the profile the company would call the agency and let them have it. Well, now when I see this phrase I think of that 60 minutes segment. If these allegations are proven to be true this guy is a cold calculating killer, but what makes him fascinating is he is not scary looking. He looks like an “All-American” and in this case that is terrifying.