Domestic Partnership Day: "Freedom is Indivisible"

Communities throughout New Jersey began registering domestic partners today at their town halls today. Hundreds of same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples over 62 are expected to sign up. The new law affords the couples limited legal protections and benefits, but falls considerably short of the benefits of marriage. In South Orange, administrators opened the village hall at midnight so that people could register as soon as the new law took effect.

Gov. James Mc Greevey signed the Domestic Partnerships Law earlier this year after the bill made a surprisingly easy journey through the state legislature. Yesterday, the Governor held a reception at his official residence to celebrate the enactment of the law. New Jersey is the fifth state to legalize domestic partnerships.

Jersey Pride, Inc. and other allied organizations will sponsor a festival and celebration at a park across the street from the Maplewood town hall. The town's mayor and other legislators who supported the new law are expected to speak at a welcoming ceremony.

The Star-Ledger story quotes my friends Rachelle and Vanessa:

Rachelle Clark, 47, and Vanessa Vann, 43, of North Plainfield arrived at South Orange Village Hall before 10 p.m. and were seated on a brick stoop waiting for officials to begin registering couples.

"It was never a thought not to come tonight," Clark said.

The couple married in a religious ceremony performed by a pastor inside their home in Elizabeth in August 2000.

While the ceremony was meaningful, Vann said, "You just know in your heart it's not legal." Registering under the new law, Clark added, "completes the wedding that we had."

Somewhere, June Jordan is smiling

Thinking of Rachelle and Vanessa, and of other good friends who will be participating in ceremonies today, I amd remind of June Jordan's essay "A New Politics of Sexuality." Declaring, "We must move out from the shadows of our collective subjugation -- as people of color/women/as gay/as lesbian/as bisexual human beings," she added:

I am Black and I am female and I am a mother and I am bisexual and I am a nationalist and I am an antinationalist. And I mean to be fully and freely all that I am!

...Recently, I have come upon gratuitous and appalling pseudoliberal pronouncements on sexuality. Too often, these utterances fall out of the mouths of people who first disdain any sentiment remotely related to homophobia, but who then proceed to issue outrageous opinions like the following:

• That it is blasphemous to compare the oppression of gay, lesbian or bisexual people to the oppression, say, of black people, or of Palestinians.


• That the bottom line about gay or lesbian or bisexual identity is that you can conceal it whenever necessary and therefore, why don't you just do that? Why don't you keep your deviant sexuality in the closet and let the rest of us -- we who suffer oppression for reasons of our ineradicable and always visible components of our personhood such as race or gender -- get on with our necessary, our more beleaguered struggle to survive?

...Freedom is indivisible or it is nothing at all besides sloganeering and and temporary, short-sighted and short-lived advancement for the few.

...If you can finally go to the bathroom wherever you find one, if you can finally order a cup of coffee and drink it wherever coffee is available, but you cannot follow your heart -- you cannot respect the response of your own honest body in the world -- then how much freedom does any one of us possess?

What to Read: Africana.com

Jelani Cobb offers an urgent reconsideration of Frederick Douglass' timeless oration: "What to the slave is the 4th of July?" by asking "What is [this] Nov. 2 to Black America?"

Douglass could not have known that, a century and a half after he gave his incendiary address in Rochester, New York — in the wake of a Civil War and Reconstruction, Great Migrations and a radical civil rights movement that forced the United States to grapple with black humanity — the recalcitrant concerns he spoke of would remain. The issue today is no longer slave or free status, but it is, nonetheless, the question of black people's relationship to the purported democracy of the United States.

On the cusp of its 228th birthday, this country is mired in a seemingly endless occupation of Iraq — despite the return of "sovereignty" to the Iraqi "government." The current Presidential administration has misled the public, squandered international goodwill, authored the most disastrous foreign policy in recent memory, undercut the authority of the United Nations, undermined due process by creating secret military tribunals for civilian offenses, curtailed freedom of speech and spent billions waging war in the name of eliminating a false threat to national security. Add into the equation its contempt for international treaties, hostile ecological politics, its implication in the war profiteering of Halliburton and the damning accusation that the Bush administration deliberately blew the cover of CIA agent Valerie Plame as retribution for her husband's criticism of their Iraq policy, and you have a broad pattern of dishonesty and political incompetence. (If Douglass was around today, he would, almost certainly be asking "What to the Iraqi citizen is the 4th of July?")

And the bitter reality is that the disfranchisement of black voters paved the way to all of the above accomplishments.

Meanwhile, Lester Kenyatta Spence explains -- patiently, I might add -- why both the Democrats and Republicans need black folk in leadership amd operational positions in both parties and campaigns.

Marketing savvy behind the success of the United States' most powerful preacher

At the moment, the man who is best positioned to address many of the problems in the black community that Bill Cosby has been so vociferously decrying is Bishop T.D. Jakes. This story from the Chicago Tribune, (via Yahoo!) does a good job of explaining his popularity. An excerpt:

"Our people need encouragement and a structure so they can develop life skills and economic empowerment," said Jakes. "We have to tell men how important it is to be a father to your children because we are in the unfortunate situation where when a man divorces a wife, he sometimes divorces the children. Those issues are relevant to all people, but they are especially important in our community."

Much of his success, according to religious experts, is due to Jakes' ability to mix the secular with the spiritual, appealing to religious conservatives as well as hip-hoppers. He also has mastered a preaching style that is tailored to his audience, whether it be women or men. His "Woman, Thou Art Loosed" conference in 1999 drew 87,500 people, mostly women, to the Georgia Dome, breaking the attendance record previously held by the Rev. Billy Graham...

"He is drawing on people who have a lot more disposable income, and the fact that there are not a lot of vacation spots that market themselves to middle-class African-American families. He pulled everything together to make a family vacation event that combined the imagery of a religious revival and the notion of a family reunion," said Nancy Eiesland, professor of sociology of religion at Emory University."

'The less publicity [Civil Rights] got, the quicker it would go away"

The Lexington Herald-Leader offered a valuable history lesson this past weekend by examining its failure to cover the Civil Rights Movement 40 years ago. The story package includes the first interviews with some of the local civil rights activists who helped to desegregate the city as well as with people close to the editorial decision-making at the newspaper who decided to ignore or downplay press coverage. Among the interviewees is Don Mills, described as "an editorial page writer in 1968, who later became editor of the Herald." Mills explained:

"It was a standing order that an effort at a dining room or restaurant or march would not get Page One coverage, that it would go inside. The management's view was that the less publicity it got, the quicker the problem would go away."

There is also a profile of Calvert Mc Cann, 62, who joined the Civil Rights Movement because he was frustrated at the discrimination he faced at his job in a local photo shop. In the course of his activism, he took photos that have only recently been developed, and that are now the only contemporary images of the city's struggle for racial equality.

Kerry to Announce Edwards at AME Convention

The buzz is that John Kerry will introduce Sen. John Edwards as his choice for running mate at today's speech before 30,000 members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church who are meeting in Indianapolis for their quadrennial General Conference. The announcement is significant not only in its own right, but because Democrats have not won Indiana since 1964, and because the AME Church is the oldest African American congregation in the US, with churches throughout this country and Africa. From its founding in 1787 as an outgrowth of the Free African Society, down to the present, the AME Church has been a major force in black economic, political and educational development. The support of AME members could prove crucial to efforts to get out the black vote in November.

Estonia's Pop Star: Dave Benton

Aruba-born Dave Benton has found both commercial and critical success in the Baltic state of Estonia. Benton's style a strong Latin/Caribbean flavor, and his vocal style is easy on the ear. It's not surprising to learn that he paid his dues in the Caribean, Las Vegas, as well as doing backup vocals for such stars as Tom Jones and Billy Ocean. An interesting artist with an even more interesting personal journey and outlook on life. Check him out.

(Photo from Dave Benton.com.)

"We need to reframe the struggle"

Tiffany and Black Feminism.org says that while most black folk agree with Bill Cosby's most recent comments, but don't know how to address the problems he raises.

[T]he solution is not to lob classist missives at poor blacks. The solution is not to blast poor blacks for “betraying the Civil Rights Movement” — a movement that was very much rooted in, and beneficial for black bourgeois interests.

Instead, we need to actively reframe the Civil Rights struggle to include economic issues. We need to actively work with and on behalf of poor blacks to bring change.

Tiffany's argument is consistent with the entire history and philosophy of the black feminist movement, which stretches back the the mid-19th century efforts of Maria Stewart and Sojourner Truth, spawned the black women's club movement, and continues today through such organizations as the National Council of Negro Women, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Delta Sigma Theta. There are people in these and other similar organizations who have been trying to do exactly what Tiffany is advocating over the last century and a half or more.

In the 60s and 70s, a lot of us thought that we had to build new, alternative institutions to accomplish many of these tasks, but outside of the growth in the numbers of African American elected officials and the establishment of African American studies as a discipline, most of what we tried to do either didn't last or had to be absorbed in more established institutions. In the '80s and '90s, more of us returned to our traditional organizations, or tried to use our new access to the mainstream to help lift others as we climbed, with mixed results.

Today, we have black CEOs leading Fortune 100 companies, or creating their own firms,black women who lead major philanthropic efforts such as Stephanie Bell-Rose, Esther Silver-Parker and Gabriella Morris.

I know enough about each of the people referred to in the last paragraph to know that has dedicated much of his or her life and resources to the kind of racial uplift that Tiffany is talking about. I know too, that they can't do what they do and social work tha hood at the same time. (Nor, for that matter, can they always be available to their younger sister and brethren on the corporate and academic plantations.)

I also know that they need folks to be prepared to walk through the doors they are trying to wedge open, and Cosby's valid frustration is not only that too few of us are ready -- too many of us have been so seduced by materialistic, fools-gold fantasy of American pop culture that we disregard and disrepect the people who are trying to stand in the gap. Tiffany is right -- we need to redouble our efforts to promote financial literacy and independence. But we also have to engage the some of the selfish and self-defeating attitudes that, as sociologist Julia Hare so succinctly put it on one of Tavis Smiley's summits earlier this year, leaves us with "too many black men looking for justice and too many black women looking for Jesus."

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS GEORGIA TO COMPLY WITH NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT

[This is an unedited press release from the law office of Bradley E. Heard.]

State Must Begin Accepting Mail-In Registration Applications From Private Voter Registration Drive Organizers

Atlanta, GA - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - Senior U.S. District Judge William C. O'Kelley issued a preliminary injunction last week requiring Georgia to immediately begin accepting mail-in voter registration applications from private voter registration organizers, as required under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ("NVRA"). This ruling likely spells the end for a nearly 10-year-old policy of Georgia's Secretary of State which requires private voter registration drive organizers to obtain approval from local county elections officials before setting up a registration drive and collecting applications.

(To view a copy of the court documents, here.)

The lawsuit was filed by the Charles H. Wesley Education Foundation, Inc., the charitable affiliate of the Nu Mu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., located in DeKalb County, Georgia. The Foundation alleges that Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox and Elections Division Director Linda Beazley failed to comply with the NVRA (more commonly referred to as the federal "motor voter" law) when they rejected 64 voter registration applications that the group had collected during its registration drive on June 12. Several members of the fraternity and one of the 64 voter registration applicants also are named as plaintiffs.

In addition to requiring voter registration at driver's license bureaus, public libraries, and other government venues, the NVRA also established procedures for nationwide voter registration using a federally mandated mail-in registration form. Federal law requires states to accept NVRA registration forms and to register qualified citizens who submit such applications by the close of the registration deadlines established by state law. Only three states (New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Wyoming) are not required to accept the NVRA application, and each of those states has either same-day voter registration or no voter registration at all.

Secretary Cox contended that the applications sent in by the Foundation were invalid and would not be processed because the Foundation did not follow correct procedures under the Georgia Election Code for setting up a voter registration drive and for
collecting applications. The Wesley Foundation insisted that it had complied fully with the federal NVRA and that, as a result, its drive did not have to comply with Georgia's Election Code.

The Court's injunction order seemed to support the Foundation's position: "Here, it is undisputed that each of the applications submitted by the Wesley Foundation arrived at the Secretary of State's Office in an envelope postmarked by the appropriate date. . . . Because the applications were received in accordance with the mandates of the NVRA, the State of Georgia was not free to reject them," wrote Judge O'Kelley.

"We are extremely gratified that the Court has issued this injunction," said Atlanta attorney Bradley E. Heard, who is representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "By rejecting those applications, Secretary Cox's office had violated clearly established federal law and had thereby denied vital and constitutionally protected voting rights to scores of Georgia citizens, as well as to organizations such as the Wesley Foundation, which are interested in maximizing voter registration and participation."

Jaru Ruley, one of the named plaintiffs, stated in a declaration filed in the case that the Wesley Foundation chose to use NVRA procedures, instead of Georgia's procedures, so that the group would be free to conduct cross-county and multi-state
registration drives and because the federal procedures "provide the most convenient and least restrictive means for registering the greatest number of eligible voters, wherever they may live. . . ." (Georgia law allows only for county-by-county
voter registration and does not provide for registration by out-of-state residents.)

The Foundation actively participates in several national voter registration and education programs sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and the National Pan-Hellenic Council. While all of the Foundation's
voter registration services are provided on an equal opportunity, nonpartisan basis, the primary goal of the Foundation's efforts is to increase voter registration, civic participation, and civic awareness in African-American communities. Indeed, part of the reason that the Foundation was so troubled by Secretary Cox's rejection of its 64
applications was that many of the people whose applications were adversely affected were African-American citizens who were registering to vote for the first time.

The Wesley Foundation has asked the federal court to issue a permanent injunction requiring Secretary Cox to follow the NVRA, not to interfere with private entities' rights to conduct organized voter registration drives, and to process all mail-in
voter registration applications, regardless of the manner in which they are delivered to her office.

The Court's preliminary injunction order grants that relief on an interim basis, until the case can be finally resolved. The Foundation also seeks compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys' fees against Secretary Cox and Director Beazley.

About the Charles H. Wesley Education Foundation:

The Charles H. Wesley Education Foundation, Inc., is the non-profit 501(c)(3)charitable and education foundation of the Nu Mu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. The Foundation supports virtually all of Nu Mu Lambda's charitable and
community service efforts. Nu Mu Lambda, founded in 1980, is the second-oldest alumni chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in the metropolitan Atlanta area. From 2001 through 2003, Nu Mu Lambda held the
coveted title of Alpha Phi Alpha's national alumni chapter of the year. Alpha Phi Alpha was founded December 4, 1906, at Cornell University. It was the first intercollegiate Greek-letter organization founded by African-Americans and is one of the oldest non-religious African-American organizations in the United States.

About Bradley E. Heard:

Bradley E. Heard is the founder and managing attorney of The Heard Law Offices, LLC, and an executive board member of the Nu Mu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. A magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Mr. Heard received his Juris Doctor degree from the Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut. He is currently licensed to practice law in Georgia and the District of Columbia. Mr. Heard practices primarily in the areas of general business litigation, employment, education, and juvenile law.

For More Information on the National Voter Registration Act, see the following web links from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission:

EAC Home Page

EAC Voter Registration Page

Frequently Asked Questions About Voter Registration


For More Information on the Georgia Secretary of State's Elections Division:
See the following web link.

Where's the Accounting of Fundng for Faith-Based Initiatives?

Earlier this week, I finally took the time to watch "The Jesus Factor" the PBS Frontline documentary on the role of Pres. Bush's religious beliefs on his policy-maiking and politicking. I was surprised by an incidental statement that was made. According to the documentary, only one of seven White House Offices of Faith Based Initiatives has issued reports on its disbursements, and that agency has only given funds to Christian applicants. I'm wondering whether this is true.

So far, I've done a quick search of the White House and GAO websites and I haven't come up with anything. If it is true, why is that?

Since the president has identified faith-bassed approaches as the cornerstone of his domestic policy, shouldn't there be some reporting on how these initiatives have fared?

Also, John Gorenfeld says that under the office of Faith Based Initiatives, the Unification Church is getting hundreds of thousands of dollars for abstinence education programs directed at urban kids that teach ideas that are dubious, at best. Anybody else following this stuff?

Factchecking Fahrenheit 911

I haven't seen Fahrenheit 911 yet (and I do intend to) -- but Spinsanity's seems to have done a good job of parsing fact from innuendo.
Perhaps most damning to Moore's supporters is this assertion:

As Washington Monthly blogger Kevin Drum and others have noted, the irony is that these are the same tactics frequently used by the target of the film, George W. Bush. Moore and his chief antagonist have more in common than viewers might think.

Paul Krugman, however, thinks that Moore is serving the greater public good:

There has been much tut-tutting by pundits who complain that the movie, though it has yet to be caught in any major factual errors, uses association and innuendo to create false impressions. Many of these same pundits consider it bad form to make a big fuss about the Bush administration's use of association and innuendo to link the Iraq war to 9/11. Why hold a self-proclaimed polemicist to a higher standard than you hold the president of the United States?

And for all its flaws, "Fahrenheit 9/11" performs an essential service. It would be a better movie if it didn't promote a few unproven conspiracy theories, but those theories aren't the reason why millions of people who aren't die-hard Bush-haters are flocking to see it. These people see the film to learn true stories they should have heard elsewhere, but didn't. Mr. Moore may not be considered respectable, but his film is a hit because the respectable media haven't been doing their job.

Since Krugman is a highly-paid columnist for the leading member of the self-same respectable media, one wonders how he will press his own employers to operate differently. After all, I do think he is right about this:

Mr. Moore's greatest strength is a real empathy with working-class Americans that most journalists lack. Having stripped away Mr. Bush's common-man mask, he uses his film to make the case, in a way statistics never could, that Mr. Bush's policies favor a narrow elite at the expense of less fortunate Americans — sometimes, indeed, at the cost of their lives.

Death Made Him an Offer He Couldn't Refuse

Acclaimed and enigmatic movie star Marlon Brando died at the age of 80, of undisclosed causes, at an undisclosed hospital, according to a spokesman.

J&J Charged With Racial Discrimination in Hiring

A June 16 complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission accuses Johnson and Johnson of using credit checks to deny jobs to qualified applicants of color. Bill Lann Lee, a prominent civil rights attorney for lead plaintiff Brenda Matthews, 27, said:

“The use of credit checks to screen job applicants is a growing phenomenon among employers. That is unfortunate. Not only are credit scores private information unrelated to job performance, the practice perpetuates prior discrimination in our society against minority families.”

Alhough there is no official comment on the company's website, a J&J spokesperson told reporters last month that it is working with EEOC to resolve the issue. In previous cases of this type the EEOC has ruled that credit checks on job applicants can be discriminatory.

The company already faces a separate class action race discrimination suit brought by black employeess in 2001 who say the company has denied them promotions because of their race. That case is pending in US Federal District Court, New Jersey.

Bill Cosby's Latest Dose of Tough Love

Speaking at the annual Rainbow/Push Convention, Bill Cosby criticized black men who fail to take advantage of opportunities to educate themselves, then lash out at others for their failures:

"You've got to stop beating up your women because you can't find a job, because you didn't want to get an education and now you're (earning) minimum wage," he said in Chicago.

"You should have thought more of yourself when you were in high school, when you had an opportunity," he told the audience of African American activists.

Now that Cosby is bringing much needed attention to the problem of domestic violence, one hopes that he will direct some of his philanthropic resources in that direction. One good place to start: assisting with the completion and distribution of Aisha Shahidah Simmons' documentary "NO!" which explores domestic violence by black men against black women and girls.

Talking to Kids About Life on the Down-Low

From Knight Ridder columnist Annette John-Hall. I've been reading her work for 10 years now, and the sister is always thought-provoking:

"[I]magine my surprise when I noticed my culture-challenged man, a person who just recently found out who Beyonce is (never mind that he calls her "Be-yon-kay"), immersed in [J.L.] King's "On the Down Low: A Journey Into the Lives of `Straight' Black Men Who Sleep With Men."

"Why are you reading that?" I asked him, all kinds of pictures running through my head.

"Rahsaan, Jaida and Nia," he replied matter of factly.

He was speaking of our three children. Two of them are teenagers. The more we can engage them in an informed conversation about the consequences of having unprotected sex, of the importance of taking responsibility, of just knowing what's going on in the world, the better. We may be reluctant to talk about it as a community, my husband argued, but as a family a "down-low" discussion could save our kids' lives.

via Queer Day

More on Usher and Joe Budden

Check out the discussion on Africana.com

The other beneficiaries of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Black American Web explains how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 laid the legal foundation for challenging sex discrimination.

More Moon Sightings

Independent investigation of Rev. Sun Myung Moon is picking up. The latest:

Mblog has a link to a June 29 radio Radio Times interview with Moon ally Archbiship George Stallings and muckraking journalist John Gorenfeld.

In the interview, Stallings was asked whether he believes that Moon is the Messiah. Stalling, who heads the Moon-affiliated American Clergy Leadership Conference did not go as far to say that he is the Messiah, but he came close. Noting that people did not believe who Jesus was either, he added, "It's very clear that the works that [Moon] has done very much parallels what Jesus says that we are to do."

Ron Gunzburger's lead item on Politics1.com reports that ties between Moon and the members of Congress who participated in the March 23 coronation event at which Moon declared himself to be the Messiah.

Gorenfeld points to an item from Americans United for Separation Between Church and State about a press conference held by Moon supporters to correct what they said were media misrepresentations of the March 23 event.

Understanding Polls About Gay Rights

Public Agenda also has a handy section called "Red Flags," designed to help the public understand polling data. The current red flag on their site explains that surveys on gay rights elicit different results, depending on their wording.

Where we are, where we've been

Public Agenda has a nice snapshot of the changes in attitudes toward Civil Rights. Despite the demonstrable gains that have been made in racial attitudes and opportunities for African Americans, Public Agenda's president Ruth Wooten says we still have work to do.

Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Message to Black Churches

From a March 1, 2003 speech

The black Christian church is supporting God's dispensation now. If you continue the Hispanic Christians will soon follow and then finally the white Christians will unite. The key are the clergy that are here. Black families should have in-laws from all other races. It has the significance of making unity between South and North and East and West. The crossing line to receive God's blessing is to cross the line of loving one's enemies. This is the basis by which you should love the Japanese missionaries and why they must sacrifice their families to love America.

Father heard that some black folks complained that Father took a good man like Bishop [George Stallings] and married him outside of the black community. But Father is thinking only according to the law of loving one's enemy. Bishop, your children should marry children from other races. Particularly your children should marry white children. Raise them with that understanding.

Asians descended from Shem, Black people descended from Ham and white people from Japeth. Right now the descendants of Japeth are controlling everything by power. The era has now dawned in which the descendants of Ham must become the Elder Son or central position in all fields. This is the law of indemnity. This is the restoration of a heavenly order. At the time of Jesus, Shem's descendants were in control.

Now the Elder son's role must be restored. If black leaders continue to unite with the coming Lord then they will assume the central role as the Elder son. As the black leaders continue to unite they will become a powerful force for God. This will quickly draw in the unity of the Hispanic Christians and then the white Christians will follow. This is God's plan at this time.

Why America should halt the genocide in the Sudan

From an editorial at USAfricaonline:

"...[T]he continuing, bigoted impudence of Islamic Sudan offer clarity to why the U.S should aggressively halt the genocide and gory events in Africa's largest country. The Sudan has almost 918,000 square miles in size and a war-weary population of 30million. Even as I call for a red line to be drawn against the rag-tag army of Arab-taliban-fascists in Africa and the assorted troops of religio-criminal rapists who have since four decades set upon the southern Christian, indifrican African Sudanese, I agree with Gen. Powell that "America will be a friend to all Africans who seek peace; but we cannot make peace among Africans." He is right. Africans must respect and love each other."

40th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act

...is today.

Sec. 201. (a) All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin...

Greetings...you've been practically drafted

Slate explains who is in the Individual Ready Reserves.

A little distortion with your morning coffee

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) recently told a group of wealthy Democratic donors that if their party wins control of the White House and Congress in November,they would probably roll back some of the Bush administration's tax cuts (summarized in this .pdf document to help get the economy on track. According to an AP account, she said:

"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

Judging by some of the response's to Clinton's remarks, one would think that she had proposed robbing widows and orphans to pay for Congressional pay raises.

Here's Soundfury: "If ever there was a sound bite the Republicans could add to their Kerry "voted before it before I voted against it," "not my SUV, it's the family's," "ribbons, not medals" repertoire, this is it.

Andrew Sullivan says Clinton's statement "galls" him:

Why cannot Hillary end agricultural subsidies, abolish corporate tax shelters, or means-test social security and Medicare? That would be for the common good. But it's easier to raise taxes. Her invocation of her agenda with the "common good" is also part of what galls me.

And Paul at Blogs for Bush argues,"This is just another reason why Democrats cannot win the White house or control of congress. It is repugnant to have leadership who has nothing but contempt for those of us in the middle class."

Clinton's statement, while bluntly phrased, wasn't wild-eyed, and the context makes it clear that she wasn't talking to or about the middle-class. And Democrats' contention that the Bush tax cuts have disproportionately benefitted the wealthy has a basis in fact. According to Citizens for Tax Justice, the federal tax code currently taxes wage earnings at two and one half times the rate that it taxes investment earnings.. The current tax cuts reduce rates by 12 percent for the wealthiest one percent of Americans, while only giving the poorest 20 percent of the population a three percent cut. Clinton is arguing for a more progressive tax policy. While one can make a reasoned case for or against such a policy, there was nothing radical in what Clinton said.

On Slate

Nobody seems to want to defend the Republican's "Coalition of the Wild-Eyed" ad associating Kerry supporters with Hitler.

A proud mommy moment

This is the Sabor Caliente dance troupe. They are a very talented group of young women from Smith College whose routines combine contemporary Caribbean, Latin and African-American dance styles. That's my daughter on the far right -- who just made the Dean's list for the second straight year, if I might add.

Walden Bello on Iraq and the Failure of Empire

When I was an undergraduate at Princeton, Walden Bello was a brilliant and fiercely partisan Filipino graduate student who worked openly against the dictatorship of the US-backed dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos even though Marcos' daughter, Imelda, was a student on our campus and her guards were reputed to prone to beating up dissidents, even on US soil. Now, Bello is eminence grise of the international left who runs the think tank/advocacy group Focus on the South. These remarks are from a June 8 speech at the University of California at Irvine:

Let me conclude by saying that things can o­nly get worse for the US in Iraq. Moreover, the Iraqi resistance has transformed the global equation. The US is weaker today than it was before May 1, 2003. The Atlantic Alliance that won the Cold War no longer functions. The situation in Afghanistan is more unstable now than last year, and US troops are also pinned down there. Islamic revivalism, against which the US has ranged itself, is now more vigorously spreading. In Latin America, we now have governments in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Bolivia that are avowedly against the old neoliberal economic policies imposed by Washington. The World Trade Organization is in serious trouble after the collapse of its ministerial in Cancun last September, and Washington’s vision of the Free Trade of the Americas failed to materialize owing to Latin American opposition during the FTAA Ministerial in Miami last November.

Owing to its hubris, the US is suffering from that fatal disease of all empires—imperial overstretch. And its threat to institute regime change in other countries, such as Iran, Syria, and North Korea is no longer credible.

I think that the crisis of the empire is not o­nly good for the world. It is good for the people of the United States as well, for it opens up the possibility of Americans relating to other peoples as equals and not as masters, really learning from them, and really respecting and appreciating them. Failure of the empire is, moreover, a precondition for the emergence of the truly democratic republic that the United States was intended to be before it was hijacked to be an imperial democracy.

(via Thoughts on the Eve of the Apocalypse)

You Still Have the Right to Remain Silent, But We Don't Have to Tell You

More knowledgable bloggers and journalists are all over yesterday's Supreme Court decisions in Rasul v. Bush, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Rumfeld v. Padilla, so there really isn't a need for me to add my uninformed speculation. The upshot, if I understand the decisions correctly, of the two cases is that the High Court decided that a an American citizen can be held without charges as an enemy combatant, but that anyone, citizen or not, has the right to use the courts to challenge the legal basis for detention.

I do wonder, however, about the implications of yesterday's rulings in light of two other decisions handed down yesterday -- Missouri v. Seibert. and United States v. Patane. Both cases involve the admissability of evidence obtained when defendants have not been properly given their Miranda warnings -- that is, when they have not been told about their right to avoid incriminating themselves. The Court's decisions say that even when police fail to inform defendants of their rights, evidence gathered during an improperly conducted investigation may still be admissable in court. In a dissenting opinion on the Patane case, Justice Souter argued that the majority's argument removes the primary incentive for police to comply with the Miranda warnings.

(By the way, the circumstances of the Seibert case, particularly, are truly awful, but then again, some of the most important precedents in American constitutional law involve people who have done despicable things. In order to escape charges of child neglect Patrice Seibert, two friends and two of her sons, torched a house containing a mentally ill teenager and the body of a third child.)

All of this leaves me wondering what standards the Courts would apply in a constitutional test of the Bush administration's argument that the President has the right to authorize torture in order to combat terrorism. Would the Court agree that under such circumstances, coerced confessions would be admissable in court? Would they further accept that subordinates acting on the President's orders who deny defendants the right of due process can escape prosecution by employing the Nuremburg defense -- that they were only following orders?

Confessions Part II: Rejoinder to the Remix

There’s a controversy brewing about a Jersey boy named Budden
Did a remix with Usher that all of a sudden
in the middle of the song about the wages of sin
tells a man to punch a woman to end the trouble he’s in.

Now I’m not trying to be a nucca because I don’t need that game.
I get my cheddar for my knowledge, not for causing people pain.
And I’m not trying to be judgmental or accept one source’s conclusion
I checked Joe and Usher for myself so I won’t add to the confusion.

It’s a song called “Confessions II” that has people heated
Usher gets a girl pregnant and tells his girlfriend that he cheated
Budden adds what to do if the girl insists on keeping it,
Says one punch to the stomach and the woman will be “leakin’ it”

And in the middle of it all, there’s some marketing moves
By the producers and the protestors – each one trying to prove
That their mentality is the reality that the masses should follow
The sad part of it all is that the argument’s hollow.

First there’s pretty-boy Usher who’s at the top of the charts
He picked Budden for the remix for his rep for having heart
Budden’s shtick is that his stories are straight from the streets
And based on his life with his Jersey City peeps.

The protest comes from Black Americans for Life
An anti-abortion group looking for some light
They’re with “Right-to-Life Committee” “outreach” agenda
A pro-Republican lobby trying to score black votes in November

Neither Usher nor Budden has answered the stories
That the Christian press is running and the rest have ignored.
The articles say that music fans should be outraged
But from the message boards and interviews – it’s barely even on their page.

The fans come off like squirrels and the stars are their nuts
Shaking what their momma gave them and offering their butts
To be whipped or kissed – to them it’s all the same
When you’re craving just a little bit of glory in the game.

I’m sure that Budden’s answer is he’s just being real
Just reporting that this is how some men actually feel
When a woman gets a baby from casual sex
Because neither of them thought about what would happen next

Or in other words, he wasn’t really tryin’ to get wid it
For a minute, he and girly were just relaxing and kickin’ it
Since it didn’t mean nothing he is thinking abortion
And when she says no, then it feels like extortion

And we can all agree that their values are degraded
But nobody is asking how they got so jaded
Because they’re living in a world where they see that greed is good
And they think gangstas run it all from the White House to the hood.

They learn a little history and they begin to peep the mystery
How a man is what he owns and a woman is his property
And the crooks look like stars
And honest folks get punked
And the cops go after guppies
On the orders of the sharks
And you wonder why they’re cynical
It’s really nothing mystical
It’s a logical extension
Of our Victorian invention.

You see “Confessions Part II” is the flipside of Iraq
Patriarchy in the Homeland – a full-frontal attack
On the weak and the unique in the service of hubris
Terror breeds more terror; yet we continue to do this

Now Budden is wrong – don’t get my message twisted
Like Nelly, he’s foolish and he’s misogynistic
But we won’t ever succeed against their tricked up mentality
Until we’re willing to acknowledge the broader social reality

Budden wanted to be a lawyer until he messed up in school
How’d the boy get the drugs that made him into a fool?
So many young black men reduced to mixtape ambitions
Because they can’t see themselves in the straight world’s system.

You wanted to turn it around? Give these boys and girls some time
Stop the robot testing game that leaves so many kids behind
Let’s fund some counseling that works instead of just slinging pills
Let’s deal with family literacy and life-management skills

Let’s get some parents some jobs, and let’s have rehab that’s real
Fund more micro-businesses – that would be the deal.
You want the values to change? Let’s get the real hurters
You know we’re still chasing OJ while many more are being murdered
It’s time to bring about a change but Joe Budden’s just a symptom
Of a larger social malady called blaming the victim.

That Bush Ad and the Hitler Comparisons

So by now, most readers have heard about or seen the new Bush campaign ad that tries to make the Democrats look like doom-and-gloom extremists who distort the President's record by likening him to Adolf Hitler. If you haven't follow the link and look at it, then come back. Of the various discussions afoot, I thought a couple were worth commenting on.

Suburban Guerrilla excerpts a Thom Hartmann piece that argues that like Hitler, Bush has used national security as a pretext for expanding federal power, running roughshod over civil liberties and promoting jingoism. As I said before, my concern in all of this is the fact that the news media's ability to be a public watchdog has been compromised by consolidation and other changes -- aphenenomenon disturbingly similar to what happenened in Germany in the years before Hitler was elected Chancellor.

Meanwhile, Scott Mc Nulty and Dave Winer, among others, are carrying on a conversation about the appropriateness of the Hitler references in the ad. Winer says:

Bush is an awful leader, but so far there's no indication that he's comparable to Hitler. But he's running an ad with pictures of Hitler, between pictures of John Kerry, Al Gore, Richard Gephardt and Howard Dean. How could someone want to win so badly that he would be willing to do that? What are we supposed to think about this? Does he know that Americans have families who were murdered by Hitler? Is this what compassionate conservativism is? What does he stand for? This should be question #1 at the next Bush press conference.

Mc Nulty, among others, notes that the Bush-Hitler link originated from the MoveOn.org PAC, and asks:

Why is it ok for a Democratic organization to use offensive imagery to attack the President, but it is very offensive if the President responds to the attacks and tries to turn them around?

The problem is that the ad on the MoveOn website that linked Bush and Hitler was an amateur entry in the group's Super Bowl ad contest. It did not come from a rival candidate or party organization..(see http://www.bushflash.com) It would be specious to even say that it reflected the views of MoveOn.org, since it was not the ad that emerged from the competition.

What is really telling about all of this is the fact that the Bush campaign thought it would be rhetorically effective to intercut the "Hitler ad" with the clips from the Gore, Dean and Kerry clips. I've shown it to a number of people whose politics range from liberal to moderate, and they said it was proof that Bush is farther out there than they thought.

If the folks who keep Bush's approval ratings afloat found the ad persuasive, that suggests something about the range of polarization in contemporary public discourse.

The Circus in Winter

My TCNJ colleague Cathy Day is a very good writer with a very good new collection of short fiction, The Circus in Winter. Amazon has already identified it as a breakout book. She deserves all the success that's coming to her -- she has worked very hard. Check her out.

By the way...

While looking for information on Sakia Gunn, I came across this memorial that has a nicer picture of her than most I've seen. Usually you see the stern school photo. This picture shows the personality that I've heard described by her family and friends. She seemed like a sweet kid.

More on Moon

On BET.com. Be sure to read the discussion as well as the story.

(via Gorenfeld.net)

Gay and Homeless in New York

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the Lawrence v. Texas Supreme Court decision, which touched off a national debate over gay marriage that has become a factor in this year's elections. Today, there will be a massive gay pride parade in New York City. But while politicians polemicize, families are still turning their gay children out on the streets. Today's New York Times has a good story on the problem. One chilling excerpt:

Most national studies estimate that as many as half of all homeless youth are lesbian or gay, many of them tossed out by parents who scorn homosexuality for a variety of reasons.

As director of the Ali Fourney Center in Manhattan, [Carl] Siciliano can shelter only 12 people at a time and wring his hands as the waiting list grows beyond 100. He seethes with indignation when talking about the teenagers who are forced onto the streets, where they quickly become acquainted with drugs, hustling, violence and the virus that causes AIDS. For many, he says, suicide becomes the only way out.

This is what we are up against

I was looking for word on the trials of the alleged killers of Sakia Gunn and Shani Baraka, and I came upon this story. An 18-year-old boy dead, a 19-year-old murderer, and all over stupidity. We adults have so much work to do:

NEWS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE ESSEX COUNTY PROSECUTOR
PAULA T. DOW, Acting Essex County Prosecutor

For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 24, 2004


Alleged Gang Member From Montclair Found Guilty of Irvington Murder

Acting Prosecutor Paula T. Dow announced that on June 24, 2004, defendant Juan Turner, age 19 of Montclair, was found guilty by a Superior Court jury on counts of first degree murder, second
degree possession of a weapon (handgun) for an unlawful purpose, and third degree unlawful possession of a weapon. The defendant, an alleged member of the Crips street gang, shot and killed 18 year-old Dickens Baptiste while Baptiste was riding a bicycle in Irvington on July 16, 2003. Assistant Prosecutor Howard Zuckerman tried the case before Superior Court Judge Michael Petrolle.


Zuckerman argued at trial that the murder of Baptiste was gang-related in that the defendant was a member of the Crips gang and the victim was wearing a red bandana on the night of his murder, red being the alleged color of the rival "Bloods" gang. Turner's cousin had allegedly been shot and killed by a member of the Bloods a few days earlier. Zuckerman presented the testimony of three associates of the defendant who were riding in a vehicle with him on the night of the shooting. They testified that the defendant spotted Baptiste, exited the vehicle abruptly and then shot him in the abdomen.


Zuckerman cited the detailed work of Irvington Police Detective Harold Wallace and Essex County Prosecutor's Office Investigator Stanley Rosa, who started their investigation without witnesses and specific leads. Through seemingly unrelated incidents, they were able to identify the occupants of the vehicle on the night of the shooting. Also, Prosecutor's Office Investigator Jeffrey Baker provided evidence preparation and other support which continued throughout
the course of the three week trial.


Turner is to be sentenced on September 24, 2004 before Judge Petrolle.

From the New York Times interview with Ronald P. Reagan

How do you account for all the glowing obituaries of [his father, Pres. Reagan]?

I think it was a relief for Americans to look at pictures of something besides men on leashes. If you are going to call yourself a Christian -- and I don't -- then you have to ask yourself a fundamental question, and that is: Whom would Jesus torture? Whom would Jesus drag around on a dog's leash? How can Christians tolerate it?
It is unconscionable. It has put our young men and women who are over there, fighting a war that they should not have been asked to fight -- it has put them in greater danger.

Did you vote for Bush in the last election?

No. I did not.

via Sisyphus Shrugged

Now I know what it means to miss New Orleans

I've recently returned from my first visit to New Orleans. It was a business trip in which the work was "more fun than fun" as my colleague Bernard likes to say, with a tip of the hat to Mark Twain. I helped conduct a workshop for faculty from Spelman College and Dillard University under the auspices of the Learning to Look project of the American Social History Project's New Media Classroom. Those in attendance said they found the workshop useful, and they were wonderful to work with. (I had the privilege of working with some of the Spelman folks last year in a workshop on Sapelo Island, Georgia. That was a singular and amazing experience.

But New Orleans, of course is something else again. Here's just a sample of special places and moments. Begin with the standard tourist fare:

a carriage ride through the French Quarter

cafe au lait and beignets at the Cafe du Monde and pralines of course, from one of the little shops in the Quarter

Dinners at restaurants that were each fabulous in their own way: oysters and bread pudding at elegant Pampy's, a foot-high seafood platter, family-style, at Deanie's, and the relaxed Praline Connection, where the fried okra was on the money.

But for a culinary and cultural experience, there was nothing like the privilege of being at Dooky Chase's a restaurant immortalized in song by Ray Charles and
frequented by everyone from JFK (the late president) to the Jackson Five. Leah Chase has been the chef there for 58 years and she was kind enough to talk to us. She was charming, gracious and vibrant, even though she had been cooking for 14 hours when she spoke to us, and she planned to start cooking again early the next morning -- her special Father's Day menu.

Speaking of Father's Day, we attended a special Father's Day mass atSt. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church. Both the gospel liturgy and the Father Jacques' homily were very affecting. At one point he called all of the fathers into the aisle, had each man put his hand on the shoulder of the man in front of him, led a prayer for them, then gave each man a gift. There were hundreds of men in attendance, even though it was at 9 am. (This was actually the second Mass of the day.) Certainly part of the church's draw is its active involvement in the community; this article is a good example.

Visiting the Amistad Research Center was both a professional and personal highlight. The archive on the campus of Tulane University boast more than 10 million documents and artifacts, including many of the key primary documents from the Amistad incident and its aftermath. We were allowed to handle some of Countee Cullen's letters and personal effects. Fletcher Henderson's first piano, a nicely detailed upright, sits on a side wall, as if waiting for the originator of swing music to return to it to hit a few hot licks. I definitely felt myself to be on sacred ground.

At Amistad, I was doubly fortunate to run into an old friend who took me to a meeting of Kalama Ya Salaam's Nommo Writer's Workshop in the historic Storyville, where Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and many other legends began their careers. Salaam, a veteran of the Black Arts Movement, is a knowledgeable and generous as a workshop leader, and since I also lead workshops, I appreciated watching him, just as I've appreciated reading him at various times over the last three decades.

A Moon for Misbegotten Politicos

As members of Congress hasten to distance themselves from the bizarre March 23 ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building at which the Rev. Sun Myung Moon declared himself to be the Messiah, a few questions come to mind, even with John Gorenfeld's excellent reporting:

News reports conflict about whether the Congresspeople in attendance knew that Moon would be honored. Some reports quote the event's organizer, Archbishop George Stallings of the Imani Temple of Washington, D.C. saying that the invitation faxed to the dozen members of Congress said explicitly that the event would be sponsored by the, "Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, founded by Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, who will also be recognized that evening for their lifelong work to promote interfaith cooperation and reconciliation." But a Duluth News-Tribune story says Stallings told them that the two Minnesota Senators who attended the event only knew that one of their recipients was recieving an award. What's the truth?

Second, how can anyone claim to be surprised that Moon announced that he was the Messiah? He's been saying it for a while now, and given his position as the owner of the Washington Times, one would think that members of Congress would have known who they were dealing with, especially since many members of Congress have involved themselves with Moon-related activities.

Why was Rep. Danny Davis (D-ILL) carrying a crown for Moon if he didn't support the ceremony? He's given conflicting explanations. This isn't the first time that Davis has involved himself in a Moon-related political event: the Final Call reported in 2001 that he was one of the co-hosts of a Washington Times prayer breakfast for George W. Bush on the morning of his inauguration as President.

Speaking of the Nation of Islam, I've always wondered why politicians who involve themselves with the Washington Times or its foundation have never been taken to task for supporting an organization that has, in the past, bankrolled controversial Min. Louis Farrakhan.

And speaking of the Washington Times foundation, in 2001, Davis and dozens of other members of Congress on both sides of the aisle attended another award ceremony that honored Moon and his wife among others.

I've been asking people about the Moon's political influence for years, and have generally had my questions dismissed. Maybe now that Moon is courting black Democrats and not just conservatives, somebody will start paying more serious attention.

A few quick hits

The Project for Excellence in Journalism is presenting the results of a new study that finds journalists' more frustrated with the corporatization of their industry than they were five years ago.

On American Street, South Knox Bubba ticks off his list of G.W. Bush's "accomplishments".

Cobalt at Resource.full takes a closer look at the latest unemployment figures -- and who's being done out of a job.

In recognition of gay pride month, Africana.com is presenting new and recently-published articles on black gays and lesbians, including my interview with Keith Boykin and this wicked Feb. 2004 piece by Banji Realness on gay marriage.

Meanwhile, Aaron Mc Gruder can't leave Condolezza Rice alone....

Key US Military Personnel Discharged Because of Sexual Orientation

Trey at Daddy, Poppa and Me takes a close look at the latest data on the 3,000 US military personnel who have been discharged since 9/11 for being gay or lesbian. He finds that many of them occupied jobs that are integral to the accomplishment of the US mission.

Death, Deception and Drama at a Small Black College

Get the details at Richard Prince's "Journal-isms"

The chairman of the Communications Department at Edward Waters College, a small historically black school in Jacksonville, Fla., has been fired along with four other administrators in developments that involve a popular journalism student said to have altered her transcript and another journalism student who was shot and killed on the campus.

Elvin Jones

When he died on May 18, those who took notice were quick to declare Elvin Jones the world's greatest jazz drummer. That was no small praise considering that his peers include Max Roach and the Modern Jazz Quartet's Connie Kay.

Rather than try to explain why the praise is not merely elegiac hype, click on this

image and watch the man in action for yourself. It's from a Drummer's World tribute page that has a gallery, biography information on his drums, and more. If you don't have time to do that, read this list of the people with whom he played, preferably accompanied by a suitable libation and a recording of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme."
performed with:

John Coltrane Quartet
Wayne Shorter
McCoy Tyner
Dewey Redman
Cecil Taylor
Sonny Rollins
Barry Harris
Joe Benjamin
Steve Davis
Wilbur Ware
Pete LaRoca
Donald Bailey
Yuseef Lateef
Freddie Hubbard
Reggie Workman
Art Davis
Curtis Fuller
Gil Evans Orchestra
Budd Johnson
Ron Carter
Johnny Simmons
Charlie Mariano
Roland Hanna
Hank Jones
Pharao Sanders
Larry Young
Jazz Machine
Art Pepper
Ray Brown
Javon Jackson
Joshua Redman
Nicholas Payton
Kent Jordan
Cecil McBee
Joe Lovano
Dave Holland
Steve Kirby
Eric Lewis
Darren Barrett
Antoine Roney.

Santana Accuses Media of Racism

From an article on the EURWEB site

(Jun. 21, 2004) *After seeing Carlos Santana at numerous press conferences, and watching him field even the stupidest questions with poise and grace, we've come to expect the musician to be laid back on most subjects. But not when it comes to the legacy of jazz drummer Elvin Jones.
Jones died on May 18 of heart complications, yet none of the major news outlets covered his death in any form. That got Santana, pardon our French, really, really pissed! He expressed his frustration during a recent interview from his San Rafael, California office.

"I'm really embarrassed for this nation, and for MTV and VH1 and Rolling Stone, because it was a very racist thing not to acknowledge this most important musician when he passed," Santana said to the San Diego Union.

"For them to (play up) Ozzy Osbourne and other corny-ass white people, but not Elvin, is demeaning and I'm really embarrassed to live in this country..."

On Roy Veal: "Divergent views abound in newspapers, on Web"

Now that this story has been published in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, I can be more forthcoming than I was in my last post about Roy Veal's death. James Varney, the Times-Picayune reporter, is the person I was talking to. Here's the lead of his story and his quotation from me:

JACKSON, MISS. -- When Roy Veal was found hanging from a tree in Woodville, Miss., in April, for many black Mississippians, it became a tale of two headlines.

"Wilkinson County, Mississippi Lynching Called Another 'Suicide' by state and county authorities," said the headline in the Jackson Advocate.

The Mississippi Link offered the official view: "Source: Wilkinson County hanging was a suicide."

The Advocate, the state's oldest African-American newspaper, bills itself as "the voice of black Mississippians since 1938." The Link, a relative newcomer to the field, proclaims itself, "keeper of the knowledge for people who speak the truth since 1993."

The divergent views expressed in the headlines are mirrored on the Internet where myriad Web sites, particularly those catering to a black audience, have posted stories about the Veal case.

While mainstream African-American columnists at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Chicago Sun-Times urged a cautious response, most of Mississippi's black press seems predisposed to think the Woodville hanging -- and three others similar to it -- marks a revival of the state's sad tradition of racist lynching....

[snip]
Kim Pearson, a journalism professor at The College of New Jersey, who has tracked newspaper and wire service accounts of the Veal case at her Web site, said it's understandable a black audience would assume he was lynched.

"There is a belief in the black community that the mainstream media isn't going to get the whole story and something here just doesn't sit right," she said. "But some of this is a matter of Internet literacy, too. Not everyone is at the point where they understand everything you get in your inbox isn't true."

Skepticism persists about Roy Veal case

Earlier this month, I had a conversation with someone who has been following the Roy Veal story. He had trouble understanding why there continue to be internet posts and articles popping up saying that Veal was lynched, weeks after it was ruled a suicide. I tried to explain to him that the press' credibility gap is a chasm when it comes to reporting on sensational violence of this type. The mainstream press has a long history of misreporting this kind of story, governments have a history of not telling the truth and many folks are not willing to trust that things have changed. This article illustrates my point. More later.

Light blogging

I'm on a business trip right now, so blogging will be light for a couple of days. I will be posting, though, so please check in periodically. Also, be sure to check out the syndicated feeds at the right.

9/11 Commission Staff Reports Now Online

The reports are being presented today at their final public hearing. You can also access the .pdf files through the Commission homepage. The hearing started and 9 am EST and runs through tomorrow.

Big Bird Flies Right

The growing conservative tilt at PBS has been evident for a few years now, but the changes have reached sufficient critical mass to attract press attention. Ken Auletta says that's the real reason Bill Moyers is on his way out, and Tucker Carlson is on his way in.

Mugabe Says HIV/AIDS Has Touched His Family

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe the audience at his country's first national conference on AIDS that members of his own family have contracted HIV/AIDS, and urged more of his countrymen to get tested, according to news reports. He also called upon corporations and international agencies to make anti-retroviral medications more widely available by reducing prices.

Fatherhood, Racism, Sexism and Marriage Initiatives

There is a great discussion on all of the above going on Trish Wilson's blog. For what it's worth, I think her argument quie strong.

Rock 'n Register 2004

Rock n’ Register 2004
A Free Concert to Promote Youth Involvement and Local Music
Co-sponsored by the Camden County Board of Freeholders


Saturday, June 19th, 2004 Cooper River Park, NJ

11:30 AM – 8:00 PM



The tri-state region is home to a vibrant independent music scene that has an attentive young audience. This summer, local musicians and the Camden County Board of Freeholders are coming together to present Rock N' Register 2004, an all-day concert with an important cause: getting young people involved in the democratic process, and allowing them to have their voices heard.



Held on Saturday, June 19th, at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, NJ, Rock N’ Register 2004 is a FREE, ALL-AGES showcase for great original music, with a focus on the upcoming national election. The show starts at 11:30 AM, and 18 bands will appear on two stages until 8:00 PM.



Volunteers from the Camden County Board of Freeholders and Rock the Vote will be on hand to help register voters at the show. Representatives from New Jersey’s registered political parties have also been invited to attend and present their platforms.



“A lot of young people who enjoy original music are also very active in their communities,” says Rock N’ Register co-coordinator Matt Skoufalos. “It’s wrong to assume that kids are either ignorant or apathetic about their government. They just need an opportunity to participate in the process.”



The lineup of bands slated to perform at the show is sure to please a diversity of musical tastes. Their musical styles range from hip-hop, rock, and funk to ska, reggae, and pop-punk; in short, a mix of everything. Geographically, acts are drawn from as far away as California, and as nearby as Collingswood, NJ. The show’s headliners, Townhall, are one of Philadelphia’s most promising original acts, and have recently drawn national praise for t heir album, “The New Song,” in May 2004’s Performing Songwriter.



“You may not hear it on the radio, but local, original music is alive and well in this area,” says Rock N’ Register co-coordinator Dave Rossi. “There are many hard-working bands whose ‘do-it-yourself’ (DIY) attitude is keeping the scene alive, even if it’s underground. We want people to have a chance to find out about these bands for themselves.”



The complete bill features the following bands:



Break Away of Glassboro, NJ
Bum Ruckus of FL
Days Like These of Vineland, NJ
Dirty Larry of Haddon Heights, NJ
Here Tomorrow of Hamilton, NJ
High School Football Heroes of Long Island, NY
Hilliard of Philadelphia, PA
Kamelaah Waheed and The G.C., of Camden, NJ
Knuckle Sandwich of Flemington, NJ
The Miasmics of Verona, NJ
No Regrets of Collingswood, NJ
Quick Step John of Voorhees, NJ
SGR of Philadelphia, PA
The Suburban Legends of CA
The Superspecs of Northern New Jersey
Townhall of Philadelphia, PA
Useless of Pine Hill, NJ

Rock n’ Register 2004 is presented with guidance and generosity from the Camden County Board of Freeholders and the Camden County Parks Department, who have donated the venue, staging, and sound equipment for the show. Local sponsors include Connie Mac’s Irish Pub, Mars Red Music, Cabana Water Ice, Wild Fruitz, Starbucks Coffee Company, Tunes CDs, Full Circle Records, Grooveground, American Water, and Just Drums.

For more information, follow the link above or e-mail Matt Skoufalos at mattskoufalos_at_yahoo.com

Republicans in Black Face: Powell, Rice, and the conclusion of the inclusion illusion

by Charlton McIlwain, Contributor, the gadflyer
5.24.04

There can be no doubt that the Bush administration has elevated minorities to unprecedented heights of visibility. Yet the sidelining of Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the unfortunate identification of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice with the administration's failures in Iraq, demonstrate that the Republicans' strategy to open the doors of the party in welcome to minorities has been nothing more than a masquerade in blackface. The strategy – ten years in the making – has now ended in dismal failure, solidifying instead blacks' reluctance to view the GOP as a place of political possibility. This failure is revealed, in large part, by the rise and fall of the Republican black power trifecta – former Congressman J.C. Watts, Powell and Rice – all of whom have met or will meet their ultimate decline of influence during George W. Bush's tenure as leader of the Republican Party.

Haiti Update XIII: What Would Jesus Do?

The disastrous flooding Haiti has suffered recently is less a natural disaster than a mad-made catastrophe. Which is why it's the moral obligation of the US to help.

82 Million Americans Lack Health Insurance

... so says a new study.

Bush speaks to Southern Baptists, reiterates stances on life issues, same-sex 'marriage'

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--President Bush spoke directly to Southern Baptists June 15, upholding a "culture of life" and the sanctity of marriage.

Bush, speaking live from the White House via satellite, also addressed issues relating to faith-based organizations, the judicial system and the war on terror.

The president told messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis he and his wife are thankful for their prayers, which he has felt "at crucial hours."

(via BP.news)

JFK on Church-State Separation

... Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end--where all men and all churches are treated as equal--where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice--where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind--and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.

That is the kind of America in which I believe. And it represents the kind of Presidency in which I believe--a great office that must neither be humbled by making it the instrument of any one religious group nor tarnished by arbitrarily withholding its occupancy from the members of any one religious group. I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.

via The Revealer

Kerry on Gay Rights

From "Standing Up With Pride" on the John Kerry campaign website:

"As we enter the season of celebrating Pride in the LGBT community, Americans should embrace the diversity that makes our nation strong and recommit ourselves to ensuring that all Americans receive equal rights.

I am proud to have fought for equal rights for gay Americans, but unfortunately so much still remains to be done. I am committed to using the power of the White House to advance equal rights for all Americans, including gay Americans. Together we can help America keep her promise of liberty and justice for all.
The Bush Administration repeatedly uses gay rights as a political tool to divide the nation. That’s just wrong. We don’t need a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. We need civil unions with full and equal rights. We don’t need opposition to hate crime legislation. We need to reject hate and embrace tolerance. And we don’t need a President who plays politics with gay adoption. We need a President who works everyday to protect and support all children and families.

Keyes: "Moral Issues Are Key" in 2004 Election

From a June 13, 2004 interview on Keyes' RenewAmerica website:

[Interviewer Rita] COSBY: What about what's happening in Iraq now, too? How much do you think that's going to affect this race? We're looking at some of the--the last poll shows a lot of people have more faith in Bush when it comes to national security, but of course all eyes are on what's happening in Iraq and elsewhere.

[Fmr. Abassador and Pres. candidate Alan]KEYES: Well, I think a lot depends on it. I think Bush has to rely heavily on his war leadership, because it is the top priority challenge that we're faced with as nation, the War on Terror. I think how he has managed it has been a big boost for him, in terms of the perception of his leadership. I think Iraq can damage that, I think the Abu Ghraib business undermined confidence in some ways, but I also think that a proper transition to Iraqi control--which is obviously going to be under tremendous pressure in terms of what the terrorist might do, what Iran might do to try to embarrass us, but I think that that is going to have an impact. Provided they handle it competently, I think it could be a positive one.

COSBY: What role do you think religion should also have in the race? And of course now we're hearing that Bush's visit to the Vatican may be to sort of "get the Catholic vote going."

KEYES: Well, see, I really don't think it's a matter of religion, though, Rita. I think it's really a question of the right stands on the issues that have to do with the moral conscience and moral foundation of America's family, of America's political life. I think that we are obliged first as citizens to respect our moral creed, the principles of which were clearly articulated in the American Declaration that respected the right to life, and that articulated clearly our commitment to self-government, which is to say, government based upon the kind of discipline that requires decent moral character in our people.

And so, I think that those moral issues are key, I've always said so, and I think it's right to give them a top priority as we approach this election. I think that's true of political leaders, it's especially true of religious leaders--not for political reasons. I think religious leaders--Catholic, Protestant, whoever they might be--are under obligation to represent the conscience of this people before God, and that in order to do that, they should speak out boldly on those issues where we are clearly making judgments that affect right and wrong, that affect the moral decency and character of our people....

US and South Korea: The Search for Equitable Hegemony

There's an interesting post and discussion about rising tensions between the United States and South Korea, where the World Economic Forum met earlier this week.

US Soldiers in Afghanistan Launch "Operation Shoe Fly"

From Sgt. Hook's blog:

Just about every flight engineer and crew chief has noticed over the course of flying across this place called Afghanistan these past months that a large percentage of the children have no shoes to wear and of course, almost all of the girls are shoeless.

So my esteemed friends of the blogosphere, in the spirit of Chief Wiggles and minding the words of the infamous Steve Miller Band, I announce the beginning of Operation Shoe Fly in an effort to shoe the children, with no shoes on their feet. If you can collect the shoes, used or new, boys' and girls' (age 14 and under), and send them to me, my crewdogs and I will fly them out to the Afghani kids who so desperately need them.

Please send your shoes to:

Operation Shoe Fly
B Co, 214th Aviation Regiment
Bagram, Afghanistan
APO AE 09354-9998

The Harlem Club Tries to Show Its More Than Just A Booty Call

I get unsolicited e-mail from The Harlem Club on a regular basis, which I usually just delete. Today, however, I thought I'd share. The private social club, as you may recall, made the news because it offers free membership to unmarried women whom they judge to be sufficiently accomplished, young, and attractive. By way of apparent explanation, their website instructs:

NOTE: According to 2002 U.S. Census, 12% of African-Americans have a college degree of which 65% are women. Furthermore, the U.S. Census reports that there are 12.6 million black women 21 or older versus 9.9 million black men 21 or older. Moreover, U.S Census data also reports that 50.1% of all men marry women 5 years younger.

The website also says they now accept membership applications from married people who want to use the club for networking, and that "The Harlem Club is NOT a dating club. DO NOT believe the press reports stating otherwise." Now there's a comfort. I was worried that the whole might be an exploitive and vacuous.



Great News, We Signed Our Lease.

Grand Opening:

The Harlem Club
143-145 Madison Avenue
New York, New York, 10016

Friday, October 1, 2004


We Are Now Accepting Membership Payments



From:

Thomas Lopez-Pierre
Managing Member
The Harlem Club, LLC.
212-961-9473
www.HarlemClub.com

Thomas Lopez-Pierre To Establish A Harlem Real Estate Investment Fund

At the request of the general members of The Harlem Club, Thomas Lopez-Pierre will announce in the next few months, detail plans to recruit investors for a real estate investment fund targeting properties in Upper Manhattan. The management team will be comprised of general members of The Harlem Club who are experienced real estate developers, mortgage bankers and property managers. For more information, join our email list: harlemclubnyc@aol.com for future development updates.

The Harlem Club Political Action Committee (THCPAC)

At the request of the general members of The Harlem Club, Thomas Lopez-Pierre will announce in the next few months, detail plans to establish The Harlem Club Political Action Committee. THCPAC will seek to raise $50,000 to support general members of The Harlem Club (both men and women, democrats and republicans) seeking political office. For more information, join our email list: harlemclubnyc@aol.com for future development updates.

The Harlem Public Housing Scholarship Fund, Inc.

At the request of the general members of The Harlem Club and Anne R. Bradsaw, President, Tenant Association of Senator Robert A. Taft Houses, New York City Public Housing Authority, Thomas Lopez-Pierre, Managing Member of The Harlem Club established The Harlem Public Housing Scholarship Fund, Inc.

HPHSF is a not-profit organization (federal tax exempt status to be filed) committed to helping college students living in public housing in the State of New York finance their education. HPHSF is committed to raising $50,000 from July 2004 to June 2005. For more information, please contact Regine Lopez-Pierre, HPHSF Executive Director at 212-961-9473 or HPHSFNewYork@aol.com.

www.HarlemClub.com

June 15, 2004

Dear Friends:



Great News, We Signed Our Lease.

Grand Opening:

The Harlem Club
143-145 Madison Avenue
New York, New York, 10016

Friday, October 1, 2004


We Are Now Accepting Membership Payments



We signed our lease!!! The Harlem Club is officially located at 143-145 Madison Avenue in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan (between 31st and 32nd Street). The Harlem Club, LLC is a multicultural private social club for professional men and women.

The 10 year lease is for 2,500 square feet on the 5th floor (facing Madison Avenue). The building has a passenger elevator. The space includes an outdoor sun deck which can hold 25 people (ideal for those who smoke cigars).

We expect to retain two highly repected minority professionals: Garry Anthony Johnson, President/CEO of Johnson Design Consulting Inc. [www.jdc-inc.com] will assist us in securing our certificate of occupancy from the City of New York. JDC is a leading provider of Building Code Consulting, Zoning Analysis and Expediting services in the metropolitan New York City area. Mr. Johnson clients have included: The Marriott Hotel in Harlem, Museum of African Art and the Abyssinian Development Corp.

Peter Flores, President/CEO of Wonder Works, Inc. will assist us in securing our liquor license from the State of New York. Mr. Flores clients have included: Suede Lounge, Birdland Jazz Club and Latin Quarters Night Club.

We expect to be open on an ongoing basis, no later then November 2004. The Harlem Club will be a stylish lounge that will evoke the interior of an elegant pre-war Harlem brownstone with large sofas and chairs. Our fully stocked bar will have an extensive wine and champagne list. One will be able to listen to jazz, relax and soak up the ambiance of photos depicting The New Harlem Renaissance. Activities will also include: wine tastings, art auctions, book signings, golf outings and other special events.



We Are Now Accepting Membership Payments



Please find attached the "Membership Documents" for joining The Harlem Club.

We encourage women to join as General Members, however, the option for women to join as Associate Members for FREE is available.



New Deadline for Founding General Membership:

September 31, 2004. No Extensions.



Before September 31, 2004, we plan to increase from 40 to up to 80 (the idea is to raise $200,000 to finance development of the club), the number of our founding general members (men and women). After, September 31, 2004, we will no longer accept payments for founding general members.

Founding General Members will pay a $2,500 advance membership fee and will be offered two years of free membership for a total of three years ($2.28 per day for 3 years). Any man or woman accepted as a General Member after September 31, 2004, will be required to pay $2,500 per year.

www.HarlemClub.com

Advisory Board Members will pay $5,000 and will be offered two years of free membership for a total of three years. Any man or woman accepted as an Advisory Board Member after September 31, 2004, will pay $5,000 per year.

Advisory Board Members (1) serve as the admission committee for the Associate Members of The Harlem Club; (2) serve as senior advisors to the Managing Member; (3) serve as the appointed representatives of the General Members and (4) approve the selection by the Managing Member of non-profit organizations to share in $100,000 in annual giving raised by The Harlem Club.

www.HarlemClub.com

Please sign two copies and mail them back with a check (and your resume) for either $5,000 (Advisory Board) or $2,500 (Founding General Membership) to:

Coleman Law Firm, P.C.
881 Allwood Road, Clifton, NJ 07023

Please make check payable to:

Coleman Law Firm, P.C. Atty. Trust Account F/B/O The Harlem Club.

A signed copy of the Subscription Letter will be mailed to you.

Needs No Comment: Ex- Officials Urge Bush Defeat

From BBC News:

A group of retired US ambassadors and senior military figures is set to urge voters to remove President George Bush from office in this year's election.
They are scheduled to release a statement on Wednesday attacking the president's foreign policy.

The 26 former officials - Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change - aired their views in interviews this week.

They say Mr Bush's policies have made the US more isolated and less safe, and damaged its standing in the world.

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says the group of many respected figures, includes some who worked for President Bush's father when he was in the White House. ..

Afrocentrism: Pros and Cons

I enjoy reading La Shawn Barber's Corner. She has a clear and vibrant style, and a wide-ranging intellectual curiousity. It's no wonder she's widely read. However, she is sometimes ill-informed in ways that are all too common in contemporary public discourse.

The post that drew my attention most recently is this critiqueof Afrocentrism. Afrocentrists are a group of academics in a range of social science and humanities disciplines whose goal, as Barber accurately states, is to produce scholarship in which people of African descent are the subjects, not the objects of scholarly discourse. What that means, in simple terms, is that when an Afrocentrist (or as some prefer, Africentrists) looks at, say, Thomas Jefferson, they might look at him through the prism of the lives and thought of Jefferson's slaves. Beyond that, afrocentrists are a heterogeneous group whose scholarship ranges, in my estimaton, from the dubious to the highly-respected.

And it is in not recognizing this complexity that Barber errs in her critique of Afrocentrism. Here's what she says:

Afrocentrism in a nutshell: The ancient Egyptians were black, Cleopatra was black, the ancient Greeks stole Africa's culture (philosophy, medicine) and claimed it as their own, Africans invented writing, had many architectural achievements, developed electricity and "early planes." They believe that Africa is one homogeneous culture, despite the fact that many cultures exist on the continent, and that all ancient civilizations were either black or stole ideas from blacks.

...This bogus history (which "scholars" say was destroyed by whites to downplay Africa's greatness) is apparently designed to raise the self-esteem of black kids, which some surmise is the reason for their poor performances in school. Again, at first glance, it's obvious that lack of parental involvement and home environments not conducive to learning (no books, too much TV viewing), coupled with unqualified teachers and the indoctrination of politically correct tripe like afrocentrism, are major reasons black children underperform in school. Why black parents allow their precious gifts from God to be experimented on by quacks is beyond me.

Well, yes...and no. I've interviewed Molefi Kete Asante, whom Barber correctly identifies as a leading Afrocentrist, and I've researched supporters and critics of their work. I also teach courses that count for credit in African-American studies (Du Bois and Race, Gender and the News), which is not the same thing, although some critics conflate it that way. (My interview with Asante was published in the Quarterly Black Review of Books in 1994 and reprinted in Tonya Bolden's Strong Men Keep Coming.) I am not a defender of Afrocentrism, but neither can I abide inaccurate criticism.

First of all, what Asante told me in our interview is that Afrocentrism is not about a specific collection of facts, it is about how we look at data. His best book is probably Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge in which he argues that European historiography is itself biased. It's got its merits and flaws, and I think Carter Woodson and W.E.B. Du Bois did a better job of saying what he has to say. Barber links to an article summarizes his views pretty well. In our interview ten years ago, by the way, he specifically said that he did not think Cleopatra was black; he also disavowed melanin theory. I've also read Afrocentrists who pay no attention to ancient Egypt.

Second, some of the sources on which Barber relies for her critique mess up valid arguments by sloppy and ahistorical themselves. For example, she cites a Dinesh D'Souza article that maintains, that "Afrocentrism and other "multicultural" programs repudiate European institutions, including Western scholarly norms, and embrace instead an alternative 'black reality.'" He then goes on to use mainstream black scholars, most of whom are advocates of multicultural education, to refute bogus claims by Afrocentrists that he says are widely disseminated in public schools. Equating Afrocentrism and multiculturalism is sloppy, especially when the people you depend upon to debunk Afrocentrism are multiculturalists themselves.

Third, D'Souza and other critics consistently focus on the weakest work done by Afrocentrists. They often focus on people who have no scholarly credentials at all, despite the fact that there are degree-granting institutions turning out students with doctorates in this area -- most notably, Asante's Temple University. It's also worth noting that while he criticizes Asante for promulgating myth and not history, he does not put Asante's response ("We act mythically. . . . All people have a mythology, " and black Americans need to "reconstruct our mythology.") in the context of his academic discipline, which is not history, but communications and rhetoric. There is nothing unreasonable about a rhetorician examining a culture in terms of its founding myths. If D'Souza had wanted to talk to a historian, he could have interviewed T.C. Keto, author of An Africa-Centered Perspective of History who was alive at the time and working at Temple.

Finally, D'Souza makes demonstrably incorrect claims of fact:

"In Why Black People Tend to Shout, Ralph Wiley credits blacks with inventing the phonograph and the cotton gin, and with pioneering open- heart surgery -- claims that are not historically accurate." Wiley, as I noted yesterday, was not a professional scholar, and I'm not aware that he identified himself as an Afrocentrist. But he is a better historian than D'Souza, at least in this instance. Daniel Hale Williams has long been credited with performing the first open-heart surgery. Eli Whitney's cotton gin expanded on a device created by a slave named Sam. I don't yet know the basis of Wiley's claim about the phonograph.

"[T]here is no evidence for early African writing and literature." See: African Writing Systems Website

This is not the first time that D'Souza's history has been wrong, and the nature of his errors is instructive. In his controversial 1994 book, The End of Racism, he incorrectly argued that African-Americans lacked an entrepreneurial tradition. In some respects, these errors are not his fault, though, because dominant historical discourse has, as the Afrocentrists claim, promulgated errors of omission and commission with regard to the multicultural nature of our history. When I was researching black entrepreneurship as a college student, the tomes I consulted at Princeton University said pretty much the same thing as D'Souza, despite evidence such as this, and of course, resources such as this were not available to either of us.

I have my own criticisms of some Afrocentrists' work (some of which D'Souza and others cite), but I think the criticism ought to be specific and rigorous. I am for example, opposed to essentialism, as I agree with Cornel West that all people are cultural hybrids. My problem is that the kinds of attack that Barber favors creates false dichotomies and leads to even greater inaccuracies, such as Barber's statement here:

While the grown-ups are puffing themselves up about so-called African accomplishments, these poor children are taught distortions and lies in the name of "ethnic pride." The result? White students, who study real accomplishments by Western cultures, including the black American sub-culture, will continue to outperform black students.

The fact is that most black students are not exposed to an Afrocentric curriculum, and most White students are not exposed to an accurate rendering of American or African American history. This has been true for decades, and it was elegantly exposed in such classic works as Carter G. Woodson's Miseducation of the Negro. Read Du Bois' "Propaganda of History," the closing chapter of his 1935 book, Black Reconstruction in America and you will come to understand that much of what is taught about the Civil War as fact is, in fact, myth. James Loewen found in the mid 1990s, that sixty years after Du Bois, this and other important aspects of American history are distorted, shaded or just plain omitted from American history texts. In my classes, I routinely hear from students that the only black history they know is from the book reports they did each February.

I would encourage Barber to spend time with people who do real scholarship in African American Studies. For example, check out the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, an organization affiliated with the Organization of American Historians that publishes peer-reviewed scholarly journals archived in libraries throughout this country. Then, let's talk.

Bush Administration Has Lost 86 High-Level Officials in First Term

Political Strategy has the roster, along with commentary that includes the following:

Amazingly, 86 (Yes, Eighty-Six) high-level resignations and dismissals have taken place since this administration first established its initial set of ‘good people’. That’s almost one every 2 weeks. These include such top level officials as White House Budget Director Mitch Daniels, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, Commander of the U.S. Central Command General Tommy Franks, Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Glenn Hubbard, Head Weapons Inspector David Kay, Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, Pentagon Advisory Board Chairman Richard Perle, SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, CIA Director George Tenet, Army Secretary Thomas White, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, and EPA Chief Christine Todd Whitman. And that's just the beginning.

Why the exodus?

Outrage seems to be the most common answer. Many left to protest the administration’s policies regarding its obsession with Iraq, its disdain for preserving nature, and its habit of playing fast and loose with the facts. Several ex-administration members even wrote (or conspired in) scathing appraisals of the president and his policies....

Rick Perlstein, Sy Hersh and Those Torture Allegations

There has been an intense discussion at Brad de Long's blog about an e-mail that he posted containing notes from a recent talk by Seymour Hersh at the University of Chicago. The notes, attributed to best-selling author Rick Perlstein report explosive allegations, including:

And this was one of the most stunning parts. He had just returned from Europe, and he said high officials, even foreign ministers, who used to only talk to him off the record or give him backchannel messages, were speaking on the record that the next time the U.S. comes to them with intelligence, they'll simply have no reason to believe it.... He lamented of his journalistic colleagues, "I don't know whey they don't just tell it like it is."...

He said the people most horrified by the way the war was planned were the military commanders responsible for protecting their troops.... He talked about the horror of the 1000 civilian deaths in Fallujah (but was careful to note the Marines were doing their job, placing the blame with their superiors)....

He talked about how hard it is to get the truth out in Republican Washington: "If you agree with the neocons you're a genius. If you disagree you're a traitor." Bush, he said, was closing ranks, purging anyone who wasn't 100% with him. Said Tenet has a child in bad health, has heart problems, and seemed to find him generally a decent guy under unimaginable pressure, and that people told him that Tenet feared a heart attack if he had to take one more grilling from Cheney. "When these guys memoirs come out, it will shock all of us."...

He said that after he broke Abu Ghraib people are coming out of the woodwork to tell him this stuff. He said he had seen all the Abu Ghraib pictures. He said, "You haven't begun to see evil..." then trailed off. He said, "horrible things done to children of women prisoners, as the cameras run."

He looked frightened.

I wanted to link to De Long's post, but I had some questions about its authenticity, so I contacted Perlstein myself. Here's our exchange, and I want to thank him for his prompt and open response:

1. Is this really from you?

Yes, but Brad spells my name wrong--it's Rick Perlstein, not "Pearlstein."

2. Is this from Sy Hersh's scheduled speech on June 8, 2004 at the University of Chicago?

Yes, his June 8 speech.

3. Why were your notes circulated this way? Why not write a story?

Hersh gave a public speech, I wrote notes, I circulated them to some journalist friends. Knowing the Internet, I wasn't surprised they were distributed more widely, nor disappointed; I did this as a citizen. Why write a story? These are Hersh's stories, not mine. "Rick Perlstein reports that Seymmour Hersh might someday report..."?

4. Was there press at the speech? Why was there no coverage? Is Hersh saving this for his forthcoming book?

I don't know if there were (other) reporters at the speech. I don't know Hersh's plans for the material. But it is important to note that journalism comes in lots of "stages," in constant and dynamic flux. Some things the journalist can be confident of but can't report in print, either because he doesn't have proper confirmation yet, or to protect sources, or because he's saving it for other articles, or whatever. Hersh was exquisitely careful to say only things he was confident of, as this WAS a public speech; but also very careful to make the kind of distinctions he made above.

Ralph Wiley, 1952-2004

Ralph Wiley, the ESPN sportswriter who coined the phrase "Billy Ball" is dead of a heart attack at 52. He was in the midst of covering the NBA playoffs when he died. In addition to his prominence as a sports columnist,Wiley was a respected author who dispensed racial wisdom with tough love.

An obituary and appreciation are online at Richard Prince's Journal-isms.

This excerpt from Why Black People Tend to Shout is an example of what I liked about Wiley's style: agressive and direct as a streetballer or boxer -- the type that hits you with both power and finesse. He will be missed.

First of all, black people are too happy just being able to shout not to take advantage of the luxury. When you have read that bits were put in some of your ancesstors' mouths, you tend to shout. When a sweet grandmotherly sort has to tell you how black people were once chained in iron masks in the canebreak, to keep them from eating the cane while they harvested it, and that these masks were like little ovens that cooked the skin off their faces -- when you hear that grandmotherly voice and you realize that she was once a girl who might have been your girls, and someone caused this pain on her lips and nobody did anything about but keep on living -- this gives you a tendency to shout, especially when confronted with the opportunity to speak to a smarmy talkshow host or a snarling highway patrolman.

New Treatment May Help Beat Back Glaucoma

What follows are excerpts from a press release from the National Institutes for Health about a promising new treatment for glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness. African Americans contract glaucoma at three times the rate of whites, so this is particularly hopeful news for black folk. Glaucoma is thought to have been the reason for Ray Charles' blindness.

Eye drops that reduce elevated pressure inside the eye can delay or possibly prevent the onset of glaucoma in African Americans at higher risk for developing the disease, researchers have found. This makes it more important to identify African Americans at higher risk for developing glaucoma so they can receive prompt evaluation for possible medical treatment. These results are reported in the June 2004 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

Scientists found that daily pressure-lowering eye drops reduced the development of primary open-angle glaucoma in African Americans by almost 50 percent. Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma and one of the nation's leading causes of vision loss. Of the African American study participants who received the eye drops, 8.4 percent developed glaucoma. By comparison, 16.1 percent of the African American study participants who did not receive the eye drops developed glaucoma. The study was funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), two components of the Federal government's National Institutes of Health.


Primary open-angle glaucoma affects about 2.2 million Americans age 40 and over, half of whom are not aware they have the disease. Vision loss from glaucoma occurs when the optic nerve is damaged. In most cases, elevated eye pressure, also called ocular hypertension, contributes to this damage. This causes gradual loss of peripheral (side) vision. As the disease progresses, the field of vision gradually narrows and blindness can result. Glaucoma has no early symptoms, and by the time people experience problems with their vision, they usually have a significant amount of optic nerve damage. However, if detected early, glaucoma can usually be controlled and serious vision loss prevented. Comprehensive dilated eye examinations are recommended at least once every two years for African Americans over age 40 and all people over age 60.

"This is the first study to recruit large numbers of African Americans to examine the benefit of pressure-lowering eye drops to prevent or delay the onset of glaucoma," said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the NEI. "The results underscore that African Americans over age 40 should receive a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once every two years to see if they are at higher risk for glaucoma."

These results do not imply that every African American with high eye pressure requires treatment, according to Eve Higginbotham, M.D., chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and first author of the journal article... "While African Americans participating in the study were more likely than others to have these specific physical characteristics, the study results underscore the importance of measuring these ocular risk factors rather than relying solely on the race or ethnicity of the individual."

Dr. Higginbotham suggested that before determining treatment, the doctor and patient should also discuss the patient's health status and life expectancy, and the burden of daily treatment, including cost, inconvenience, and possible side effects.

The OHTS studied more than 1600 people, including 408 African Americans, 40-80 years of age who had elevated eye pressure but no signs of glaucoma. Half were assigned daily pressure-lowering eye drops, and the other half were assigned to observation (no medication). In the medication group, the number of African Americans participants developing glaucoma was significantly lower (8.4 percent) compared to the observation group (16.1 percent).
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in African Americans, said John Ruffin Ph.D., director of the NCMHD. "Glaucoma is almost three times as common in African Americans than Whites," Dr. Ruffin said. "However, if glaucoma is detected and treated early in its progression, it can usually be slowed and serious vision loss can be delayed."

Dr. Ruffin said Medicare covers an annual dilated eye examination for people at higher risk for glaucoma. This important preventive benefit defines higher risk as people with diabetes; those with a family history of glaucoma; and African Americans aged 50 and older.

Cleric Says African Christians Focused on Wealth, Not Gospel

From "Stop Praising Riches" on the allAfrica.com:

In a hard-hitting sermon, Dr Rt Rev Mvune Ndadala, the secretary-general of the All Africa Conference of Churches, regretted that Christianity in Africa had betrayed the ideals of its founder, Jesus Christ.

He told churches going to Sudan to show humility, and not go there "in the spirit of know-it-alls".

"It's wrong for the church to behave as if it is bringing a package from outside that promises quick riches. We want a gospel that heals and reconciles, not one that stresses on 'what's in it for me,'" he said during special prayers for peace in Sudan at the city's Anglican All Saints Cathedral.

The prayers were held ahead of the three-day general assembly of the Sudan Ecumenical Forum that starts in Limuru today.

From My Inbox: Internet Humor

Out of Sight, Out of Luck: Non-White Reporters Left Out of Campaign Coverage

While television reporting of the 2004 election is becoming more integrated, newspapers are fielding all-white rosters on the campaign busses according to a Harry Jaffe article in The Washingtonian. The article quotes former National Association of Black Journalists Vanessa Williams' view of the discrepancy thusly:

“Television is more sensitive to diversity,” says Williams, an assistant city editor and writer at the Post. “What people see drives what people watch. You don’t know who’s behind the byline.”

Dana Reeve:"I'm sick and tired of what George Bush has done under the radar."

I went to a fundraiser for John Kerry yesterday, sponsored by Pam and Gary Mount, owners of Terhune Orchards in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Terhune Orchards is a popular local place to take the kids to feed the animals, pick your own produce and munch on cider donuts. (They have really good cider donuts.)

According to event organizer Blanche Brann, about 500 local party activists and just plain folks came out for folk music, pony rides, hot dogs ...and did I mention the cider donuts? They also came out to hear speeches by actor, director and activist Dana Reeve, wife of Christopher Reeve and executive director of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center; and a roster of local elected officials that included Rep. Rush Holt, State Senator Shirley K. Turner, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes and Lawrence Township Mayor Mark Holmes. (It should be noted that Pam Mount is also the deputy mayor of the township.) The event was sponsored by the Mercer County chapter of the New Jersey Federation of Democratic Women.

Bonnie Watson Coleman, representing Gov. Mc Greevey, introduced Dana Reeve by applauding her work on education, environmental issues and the state's stem-cell research law. Some highlights from Reeves' speech, which was enthusiastically received, are below.

"It is time for us to take back America."
"As a woman I support John Kerry I'm sick and tired of what George Bush has done under the radar. They have retired Title IX. If you are a young girl in school and you have been sexually harassed,you will be hard pressed to find any accountability...."

[Reeves urged the audience to read this article from the National Women's Law Center that accuses the Bush administration of covert rollbacks in a variety of areas important to women, including the equal pay initiative and funds for emergency shelters for battered women.]

"As a mother I support John Kerry... Children are not getting the education that I got in public school years ago... I don't want to live in a country where only the privileged are able to get the education that we all should have....

"As a citizen, I'm voting for John Kerry. We need a leader who will not squander our resources for short-term gain...The natural resources of this country have to be protected and we are the only ones who can do it. ...Global warming is real...I drove here in an SUV; I'm guilty. But I'm researching a hybrid car...I'm lucky that I can afford to do that. The problem is we need to be actively researching alternate fuel sources...We should all be filling our tanks with ethanol...There is no excuse for our dependence on foreign oil..the Administration is not leading the way.... We need a leader. John Kerry is that leader.

"Most people expected me to talk entirely about stem-cell research, biomedical research. This is an area where both my husband and I are absolutely adamant...The restrictions that are going on this country are... horrifying. Our best scientists are leaving the country [to go to countries with fewer restrictions]...Other countries are ahead of us [on stem-cell research],...Israel is ahead of us, England...Sweden...Peru... They are no less moral and ethical than we are. They are moving ahead because they see the promise -- not just for paralysis, but for diabetes, Alzheimers, stroke."

"One of the things that we are focusing on today is not just to preach to the converted...[but] you don't just get to keep all your stuff. You have to have fiscal responsibility."

Other highlights:

Mark Holmes:

We all have to do our part to make sure that George Bush does not return to the Presidency. There are families across this state that are struggling because of George Bush.

Brian Hughes made a veiled reference to Pres. Reagan:

This has been an interesting week in America. It has given us an opportunity -- an unexpected opportunity -- to reflect upon where we are and where we want to go as a county and as a people. It's given us the opportunity to think about: Do we widen the difference between the richest and poorest Americans? Do we want to health care for only for those who can afford it, or do we have -- do we want to have a serious conversation in the corridors of power in Washington, DC about how we can give health care to each and every American. What kind of America do we want?

Shirley Turner urged everyone to get out the vote:

I bring you good news and bad news. The good news is that John Kerry is up seven points in the latest polls.... The bad news is that the election isn't today. We have to get the word out to everyone.

Rush Holt said John Kerry would be more responsible in foreign-policy decision-making, and added:

I run into people all the time who voted [for George Bush in 2000] and they say, "Never again." We have to make sure people know what's at stake!

After the speeches there was a performance of a very funny, very pointed performance of a song about George W. Bush called "The Squanderer" set to the tune of the old Dion hit, "The Wanderer." I can't reproduce it all here, but one of the great lines was, "When the bill comes due/There'll be no child left behind..."

Now that's what I'm talking about

Here's some advice for keeping your kids off drugs, because sometimes, as a parent, you just have to go there.

Strange, but true -- and troubling

Prometheus 6 has a couple of posts that highlight real threats to civil rights and liberties in this country:

the story of a legal resident alien who, for no apparent reason, was pressured with detention if he did not give up his green card,

and

the story of a race-discrimination lawsuit in Michigan in which a white plaintiff appears to have actually been given a lower burden of proof than a person of color would face.