In a private conversation reported in a new book, Reid described Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign as a "light-skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
I have to be honest that I am always a bit skeptical when white folks feel compelled to step up and defend black folks from other white folks. I am even more cynical when it is white Republicans doing the defending. This would be the same Republican party who has since the 60's run on the southern strategy, whose conventions look more like all-white country clubs, and who have from his election sought to de-legitimize this President. Now we are to believe that they are so concerned with the delicate psyche of African-Americans that Senator Reid's remarks rises to the level of Trent Lott?
For those who don't remember Trent Lott was the Republican majority leader who stated that the country would have been better off if unrepentant segregationist Strom Thurmond had won the presidency in 1948.
From the newsletter of March Forward! We join the military for many different reasons. Some of us want to have access to a college education. Some of us want job training and a steady paycheck. Some of us join to get U.S. citizenship. Some of us need to get out of debt or need to get off a destructive path. Some of us join out of pride, patriotism and a genuine desire to be a part of some greater, collective good. Many of us made the decision early-while still in high school, enticed by recruiters' promises of cash bonuses, adventure and opportunity-while some of us joined after years as a worker, drawn by the military's full health care and housing benefits.
Whatever the reason, we all found ourselves wearing the uniform of the U.S. military. What did we actually join? What is the role of the U.S. military in the world? What does it mean to be a soldier following the dictates of U.S. foreign policy? When we sign ourselves away to the military, what are we being used to do?
In recent years, many of us ended up in Iraq or Afghanistan. We are told that as a soldier in the U.S. military we are defending the interests of the United States. This does have an ounce of truth-but only an ounce. We are defending the interests of a particular class in the United States. It is only a wealthy minority whose interests are being defended in Iraq, Afghanistan and the more than 130 countries where U.S. troops are stationed.
It is difficult, even impossible, to accept President Obama's "New strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan" as described by him in a formal speech on March 27. It fails by imperial and non-imperial standards.
First the imperial: Chalmers Johnson, a former CIA agent, reports in his book Nemesis: "The Carter administration deliberately provoked the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In his 1996 memoir, former CIA Director Robert Gates acknowledges that the American intelligence services began to aid the anti-Soviet mujahideen guerillas not after the Russian invasion but six months before it. President Carter's purpose was to provoke a full-scale Soviet military intervention to tie down the USSR." Will an expanded military effort in Afghanistan tie down the U.S. as it did the USSR?
The average American looks up, they distrust politicians in general and they don't think they've been told the truth, and I think they got good reason. They've watched a Bush/Obama spending cycle that began with a stimulus package last year which failed at $180 billion, a housing package in August which fail--or July which failed at $345 billion, a Wall Street bailout at $700 billion, a Federal Reserve guarantee of $4 trillion; a stimulus package of $787 billion, which we're now being told weeks later isn't big enough, but which had to be passed so quickly no one could read it, because we had to get it out there immediately. ~ Newt Gingrich
I saw the new, old face of the Republican Party this weekend on a Sunday talk show and I was shocked at the new tact of the Republicans. According to Newt Gingrich the last eight years has been the Bush/Obama administration. Who knew? In an effort to once again fasten President Obama to the current economic meltdown the new strategy appears to be to unite him to the failed policies of the Bush administration. The once revered George W. has now been turned into a tax and spend liberal by the very same people who heralded his accent to power. These people have no shame. They are willing to throw Bush under the bus for the sake of some political advantage that doesn't exist. Do they think that the public is so incompetent that they don't know the difference between Bush and Obama for the last eight years? Here's a hint Obama is the tall, dark one.
For years, many blacks have just come to accept that integration was the path to success in America. Blacks who have been able to have deftly navigated the integration maze either through employment, education, or athletic achievement. And once reaching the pinnacle of their success they have chosen to leave their neighborhoods, friends, and communities to relocate into white America where they take on mythical status as being more than black. To whites they become not like those other blacks and therefore become more acceptable to their white sensibilities. And in some cases blacks believe they have some mythical characteristics that separate them from other blacks. In their wake they leave behind a community that is devoid of role models and success stories. They leave behind a community that is becoming more financially and morally bankrupt.
President Obama indicated through his press secretary that his administration would review its policy toward Afghanistan before making a decision about sending additional troops to fight in that country. Richard Holbrooke, his envoy, was in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region talking with leaders about how best to address the military and political situation. Obama also met with advisers at the Pentagon and the State Department.
As recently as February 15, it was reported that Obama "is refusing to be rushed into his first decision to send troops into combat . . . questioning the time table, the mission and even the composition of the new forces." However, Obama changed his mind on February 17, authorizing 17,000 additional soldiers and Marines for Afghanistan in what he described as an urgent bid to stabilize a deteriorating and neglected country, joining the 30,000 U.S. troops already there.
Obama will be sending more troops to Afghanistan before he has begun to fulfill a promised rapid withdrawal of troops from Iraq. His order leaves crucial questions of strategy and tactics in Afghanistan unanswered until the strategy review is completed in April. Antiwar groups criticized Obama's decision. Tom Andrews, director of Win Without War said, "The president is committing these troops before he's determined what the mission is..... We need to avoid the slippery slope of military escalation."
After watching the Republican responses to the passing and signing of the Presidents stimulus package it is becoming abundantly clear what their strategy will be for the next few years. They will stage these phony displays of public outrage and then at the same time take credit for any benefits from the stimulus package. First let's be clear about whether this bill was bi-partisan. In order to do this you have to separate the Republican Party from the Washington Republicans many of whom represent solid Republican base districts that were gerrymandered by Tom Delay and his cohorts from the Republicans who represent statewide constituencies like governors.
Most Republican governors who are not seeking future national office are in strong favor of the stimulus bill. So far the ones who have spoken out against it are Texas Governor Rick Perry, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. It will be interesting to see how many of these governors will be lining up for a 2012 presidential bid.
On November 8, 2004, Artist and Political Essayist Andrew Wahl, penned his thoughts on "Might." Then, the current war in Iraq may have been on his mind. Fiscal policies that ruled in favor of the wealthy could have evoked his visual essay. Way back then, religious factions, each of which was ready to deem the others wrong, were engaged in combat. That thought, coupled with the rest, may have brought this toon to be. Today, all these realities remain true.
Much may be made of what seems like permanent material when a stonecutter takes his tools and begins to work. The stonecutter aiming to break off a piece of a larger stone block hits the stone time and time again with his mallet and chisel. A final blow is struck and the stone breaks. The stonecutter knows the final blow was not the one that broke the stone. It was instead the accumulation of patient effort and many blows that led to the final changing of the stone. So it is with a nation trying to restore itself in the name of liberty and justice for all.
Many steps must be taken to insure the proper outcome. Some are already in progress with the administration's order to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Detainees are humans who deserve the same rights and privileges as any other human being. Under our system of laws a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If we are to restore our lost standing in the eyes of the world we must begin to give the detainees the same access to trial we ask for ourselves. Those declared innocent must have their freedom restored. Those found guilty of crimes may serve their appropriate punishment under our laws.
If we are to become again a nation of laws rather than a nation of rules put forth by people ignoring the law we have much work to do. President Obama has already reversed many of the executive orders left in place by the last administration. Rules promulgated without adequate public notice are being reviewed and changed as the days continue to pass by. Like the stonecutter working at his task, the administration continues to strike one blow at a time in the name of justice and liberty.
We, the people, are the ones who will in the end be served best of all by a return to our founding principles. We must continue to be patient, but we need not allow these days to be the best we will enjoy. There is always a better nation right around the corner so long as we keep pushing for change and for real improvement.
Peace.
Quote of the week:
Violence is an admission that one's ideals and goals cannot prevail on their own merits. ~ Edward M. Kennedy
I recently heard that there are an estimated 250 million guns in the United States. There are an estimated 111 million households in America. Using these numbers that would mean there are 2.2 guns for every household in America. That seems like a lot of guns to me. As I began to ponder these numbers I wondered with all of these guns are we a safer nation? Have all of these guns provided us with the security many of us are seeking?
??I began researching the facts concerning gun violence in America in relation to the rest of the industrialized world. What I found was shocking not in what it said about guns but what it said about our culture. With or without guns we live in a violent culture. Confrontation and violence seems to be ingrained in our national psyche. In America, violence appears to be the first remedy to situations both by the government and its people. Do I believe there are too many guns in America? Yes I do, but I don't believe that the problem for all the violence in America is guns.
Only end of occupation can restore self-determination! The author is an Iraq war veteran.
On the heels of the Status of Forces Agreement, the Iraqi flag was raised for the first time since the 2003 invasion in a symbolic handover of the Green Zone to the Iraqi government.
The Green Zone is a 5.6-square-mile community along the west side of the Tigris River in central Baghdad. It is home to roughly 30,000 residents, including 14,000 U.S. and coalition forces. For nearly six years, the Green Zone has been used to paint a picture of stability and U.S. success in Iraq. When U.S. and foreign politicians visit occupied Iraq, they stroll around the Green Zone, being shown beautiful gardens and lavish palaces that paint a picture of a safe and successful occupation.
But the Green Zone itself is nothing more than a public relations prop and a headquarters for the military brass, private military contractors, and Western corporations to conduct their affairs in luxury. It is off limits to most Iraqi citizens.
Yesterday I was among the many who went to the Wilmington train station to greet President-elect Obama and Vice-President elect Joe Biden as the train headed toward Washington, DC. Four of us (two Pennsylvania friends accompanied the teen and me) went down. We drove straight into town, parked, and headed down the street without any event.
As we approached the venue, we saw many vendors selling all the usual paraphernalia (buttons, T-shirts, sweat shirts, and various other souvenirs). We went thinking we'd be lucky to get within a block or two, but security was open and in we went. Harriet Tubman Park was the location and we were in the fenced area before we really knew what was happening. We were dressed for the cold and wind, but the weather was not so bad and the crowd blocked any wind there may have been.
(Please ponder the pictures. Walk the streets of Wilmington. Wait at the train station. Reflect on a reality that Jerry, Joe, Barack, and many more experienced on a day that will live large in history. Travel through this link. May you enjoy the reveries.)
As the world watches the combat in Israel and Gaza, in every corner of the Earth, people await peace, or at least the prospect of a cessation. However, it seems harmony is not likely. Be it in the Mediterranean or here in the States, persons are quick to pounce. Caustic conversations fill the airwaves. In the ethereal sphere, the Internet, one might hear, 'Palestinians must be our priority.' Others say, "No. Israel is right. It is possible to respect the Arabs who reside in Gaza and still bomb Hamas into oblivion."
Each stance denies a truth Joe Goedereis expresses in what I believe is a brilliant essay. We are all people. For Mister Goedereis, peace is not possible if we, individuals on either side of the issue, exclaim "Enough is enough!" Joe Goedereis invites us to ponder the conflict from another perspective, a humanitarian truth.
Sorry, but I'll take the words of Naomi Klein and Graham Greenwald any day over the sentiments of one who endorses the actions that brought about an unnecessary war. I firmly believe that the Western media is not reporting this whole conflict fairly and is biased in favor of Israel. It has been biased in favor of Israel for years because of our close friendship and international relationship with this country and finally the world community is calling Israel out for its actions - something it should have done long ago for the treatment of the Palestinian PEOPLE. Notice I said PEOPLE, not Hamas. There seems to be this sentiment that Hamas are the only people in the Palestinian territories and that is not the case at all.
Sandy Weill's story tells how racially-biased predatory lending lies at the center of the economic crisis. A third-generation American, Weill grew up on the streets of Brooklyn where for some the road to success was a place whose name came from a structure built to protect the city from Indians, pirates and other invaders and whose die was cast when a small group of men met in secret under a buttonwood tree: Wall Street.
Like the hero of a Horatio Alger tale, Weill began his climb to success not in the proverbial mail room but as a $35 a week clerk, eventually clawing his way to become second-in-command at American Express. But Weill had an itch for more so he cashed in his chips and set about looking for his own business. In 1986 he settled on a Baltimore loan company named Commercial Credit that specialized in predatory lending.
I am honored to present the work of Ralph Brauer. For some time I have marveled as I read his research and reflected upon his work. Today, this author of note shares with readers at BeThink. I welcome Ralph Brauer. May I invite you to peruse his prose. Please ponder; then share your thoughts.
There is an elephant in the room no one wants to mention when you bring up the housing crisis. It is the same elephant that has occupied the room since the very beginning of this nation. Yes, it was there that hot Philadelphia summer when they drafted the Constitution. Maybe that is what Ben Franklin is gazing at as he sits in the center of the famous painting of the signing of the Constitution by Howard Chandler Christy that hangs today in the House of Representatives east stairway. Certainly the elephant had haunted Franklin much of his life causing him to call it "a constant butchery of the human species" in an anonymous letter written in 1772. That elephant that haunted Franklin and continues to haunt us today is racism.
"Free speech, exercised both individually and through a free press,?
is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free." ~ Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
I'm afraid I've got some bad news this week: This will be the last Weekly Editorial Cartoon E-mail, at least for a while. After much soul-searching, I've decided it's time to take an extended sabbatical from editorial cartooning. Several factors went into this decision, from financial (it was never really about money, but, in these tough economic times, my toons aren't even supporting my comic-book habit anymore) to practical (the progressive media outlets that have supported my work are going to be less hungry for toons critical of the Obama administration) to inspirational (I'm sure Obama will make his share of mistakes, but I doubt he'll ever fuel my fire like W.) All considered, it seemed like the right time to make a clean break.
I'm not sure exactly what's next. I'm hoping to publish a collection of my Bush-era toons. There's also a graphic novel or two on the backburner, as well as a couple of kids' books. And I would never rule out a return to editorial cartooning, if the right opportunity arises. I'm going to spend the rest of the year finishing up my current semester of grad school and enjoying the holidays. Then I'll turn my attention to the hard question of "What's next?"
Before signing off, I pass along a hearty "thank you" to all of you: the readers of this e-mail and the editors who have supported my work. It has been a pleasure!
With overwhelming voice, Americans have voted to move beyond the dark times of the past eight years. "Yes We Did" (Archive No. 0838). Now, if the nation can just survive the next two months, 17 days, 19 hours, 59 minutes and 42 seconds.
Quick note: I'll be out of town so no new cartoon next week. Back November 19.
With less than a week until Election Day, it's starting to look more and more likely that the GOP will be cast "Back to the Wilderness" (Archive No. 0837) by voters. But beware: The last time Republicans were banished, they came back strong, first with their "Contract With America," then with a scary brand of neoconservatism implanted on the born-again blank slate of George W. Bush. Lord only knows what they might come up with this time.
Back in seven with my post-Election Day toon.
Andrew toon@offthewahl.com
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