Hillary has her Bill and Obama has his Michelle
Although I thought SOME of the commotion surrounding Michelle Obama’s remark about feeling proud as an American for the first time was warranted, I purposely did not mention anything here because to me, this was no more earth-shaking than what others have said. Now if this latest comment is accurate and within context, she may need to take a seat and cool off for a minute.
Michelle’s Struggle
Mrs. Obama empathizes in hard-hit Ohio.By Byron York
[excerpted]
“As she has many times in the past, Mrs. Obama complains about the lasting burden of student loans dating from her days at Princeton and Harvard Law School. She talks about people who end up taking years and years, until middle age, to pay off their debts. “The salaries don’t keep up with the cost of paying off the debt, so you’re in your 40s, still paying off your debt at a time when you have to save for your kids,” she says.
“Barack and I were in that position,” she continues. “The only reason we’re not in that position is that Barack wrote two best-selling books… It was like Jack and his magic beans. But up until a few years ago, we were struggling to figure out how we would save for our kids.” A former attorney with the white-shoe Chicago firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama explains that she and her husband made the choice to give up lucrative jobs in favor of community service. “We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we’re asking young people to do,” she tells the women. “Don’t go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we’re encouraging our young people to do that. But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry into the helping industry, then your salaries respond.” Faced with that reality, she adds, “many of our bright stars are going into corporate law or hedge-fund management.”
Just as I was ready to launch a couple of responses, Byron York beat me to the punch as he continues in his article:
What she doesn’t mention is that the helping industry has treated her pretty well. In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office. And that does not count the money Mrs. Obama receives from serving on corporate boards. She would have been O.K. even without Jack’s magic beans. (more…)
I hear echos of Bill Clinton’s call back in the day for folks to join the peace corps. ‘Memba that?
As someone who did leave corporate America for social work for a spell, I find her attempt to relate her move to a 6-figure corporate board job insulting. No doubt, when she says “…become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse.” there will be some initiative launched by her husband if elected to make these services into the next peace corps–with pay.
And the teacher’s and nurse unions said: “AMEN!”
Here’s another one:
But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry into the helping industry, then your salaries respond.” Faced with that reality, she adds, “many of our bright stars are going into corporate law or hedge-fund management.”
Awwww! Those mean hedge fund management folks are taking all of our ‘bright stars’ away from community service. Perhaps she did not get the memo about how some of those hedge-fund managers are HELPING her husband’s campaign.
Hedge funds embrace Obama, donate less to Clinton
By Svea Herbst-BaylissBOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge funds shifted bets in the hotly contested U.S. presidential race in January when they wrote bigger checks to Democratic contender Barack Obama after favoring his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in 2007.
The $1.8 trillion hedge fund industry donated $50,450 to Obama last month when the Illinois senator won wide support among voters in early caucuses and primaries, new data show. (more…)
Perhaps these hedge fund managers should have opted to go into the nursing industry instead of writing those checks.
Let the spinning commence! In the meantime, enjoy the weekend.
Drum and Bugle Corps
If I could turn back the hands of time, one thing I would have done differently would have been to pester my parents more than I did to join our local drum and bugle corps. Instead, I settled playing both trumpet and drums for my high school (which was still cool I guess). For the Willingboro, NJ area, our corps was Black Watch.
I remember hearing them rehearse certain nights during the summer from my bedroom window. The drums were always tight and so were the horns. The best thing about it was that it broadened a person’s exposure to the world of music.
Sorry about the trip down memory lane. This article just brought back some good memories.
Waving the Flag for the Drum and Bugle Corps
By Edward A. Dalton
Special to The Washington PostWashington was once synonymous with “Washington drum and bugle corps.”
The various corps were defined by interested young inner-city musicians, band members or aspiring drummers, buglers and flag bearers. What distinguished us from other cities was the diverse areas of the city that drum corps members came from. They eventually congregated into the 11 drum and bugle corps that were in the Washington area between 1960 and 1975. We came together with our varying talents and desires for the same purpose: to don our favorite drum corps uniforms and show off our ability to sound good, look good and perform before crowds of our fans.
I was one of those aspiring young musicians who trained (learned to read music) in the D.C. public school system. I went to Terrell Junior High School in Northwest and Anacostia High School in Southeast. I can remember how the city was bustling with school band competitions during the school year and drum corps competitions during the summer, with months and months of evening rehearsals and practices in preparation for the summer competitions. These activities didn’t leave much time for trouble. (more…)
Get it in your mind–YOU are a Black leader
A writer for the Los Angeles Wave is talking about the so-called conniption Black folks are having about the future of Black leadership. Some of this is media-generated, but also some of it is generated by everyday folks not associated with the media.
Look, in my home my wife and I are Black leaders. We take the lead on how finances should be spent/invested, foods we should eat or decline, raising our kids to Love God, themselves and others, etc. We train our kids to be responsible when we are away from them. I also teach my son to keep watch over his younger sister. So far, it has been working (thank God!). I taught my wife some basic self-defense moves in case I am not around. We don’t have to stage a protest to certain businesses like television networks or grocery stores. If something they do offends us, we just simply look for an alternative-PERIOD. At times our ‘leadership’ has helped others outside of our home– only if it was requested. Now I have taken lead on issues outside of our home (current example: I am about to contact the county to let them know that I am willing to take ‘lead’ in graffiti removal in a community nearby). Whether or not that qualifies me as a leader or ‘Black‘ leader, I’ll let folks decide that one.
Leader? You’re it!
In L.A. and across the U.S., black leadership in a state of evolution
Support him, or else…
The New York Times article this morning (‘Black Ohioans Backing Clinton Feel the Pressure to Switch’) is certainly worth the read. My comments are going to be short and to the point due to me having to beat traffic this morning.
Check out what Ohio state legislator Eugene R. Miller has endured because of his support of Clinton.
With less than a week before Ohioans go to the polls in the Democratic primary, Mr. Miller and a small group of other black elected officials who are stumping for Mrs. Clinton are nothing if not courageous. Spending eight-hour days talking up his candidate, Mr. Miller finds himself besieged by disbelief, disapproval and at times ridicule from blacks who maintain that he is betraying his race.
“Some people call me an Uncle Tom,” said Mr. Miller, who, up for re-election, faces an opponent next week whose literature includes a picture of Mr. Obama. “There’s a lot of pressure to switch sides. There’s a lot of emotion. All I can say is thank God it’s winter and no one is outside, because there would be more than angry words on the street.”
…
“To me, it’s not about race,” said Ms. Johnson, her jacket festooned with “Hillary” buttons. “It’s about having a president who knows what she’s doing. Besides, I think it’s time for a woman to be president.”
Sooooo, its not about race, but gender. Nice!
…
For some Clinton supporters, the heat has been too much to bear. In recent weeks, two black city councilmen, Robert J. White III and Kevin Conwell, have jumped ship to the Obama campaign, saying they could not take the heckling and the scolding stares. At his weekly community meeting at a local library, Mr. Conwell said, a few people wept when he tried to persuade those present to back Mrs. Clinton.
“They said I was on the wrong side of history,” he recalled. “They said I was getting in the way of an African-American becoming president.”
He was harangued at the barbershop and at the dry cleaner, and calls from the discontented poured into his office.
“I felt like the stepchild of the community,” he said.
Two weeks ago Mr. Conwell gave way.
“Now everyone is patting me on the back,” he said. “It feels good to be loved again.”
Okay, I get the whole thing that elected officials should represent the opinions of their constituencies. But I do have problems with pressuring elected officials to support Obama only because he is Black. Regardless, a democracy is “…government by the people“. This is clearly an example of ‘the people’ using that power.
#The other thing I found interesting was Black Democrats calling other Black Democrats “Uncle Toms”. No THAT’S funny!
I’ll be back later this morning (or early afternoon if you are on the east coast).
Title IX and HBCUs
Many historically black schools may face Title IX issueBy Erik Brady, USA TODAY
The College Sports Council will release a study Wednesday that says 72 of 74 historically black colleges and universities do not meet the proportionality standard of Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds.The council, an advocacy group for men’s sports, counted only co-ed historically black colleges with athletic departments. Allen University and Morris College, both in South Carolina, are proportional, the study says.
“We’re not asking for punishment; we’re pointing out how hard it is for HBCUs to comply with proportionality,” council Chairman Eric Pearson says. He argues HBCUs are faced with the prospect of cutting men’s teams at a time when they are trying to attract and retain male students.
The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, which represents HBCUs, declined comment until it sees the full report. (more…)
Why boycotting the 2008 olympics in Beijing would be a complete waste of time
While I may fully support all the criticism against China for its human rights record, opting to make a symbolic statement at the expense of our athletes would be a complete waste.
Slow your roll and play the whole thing out.
While we are patting ourselves on the back for showing the world in a symbolic manner that we are ’serious’ about fighting against human rights abuses, most of the products that we buy in our local stores come from…you guessed it…China.
That’s like boycotting tobacco but not cigarettes.
Imagine if we did this years ago
Liberia: Corruption Denies Country of Bush’s Gesture, Cyrus Badio Discloses
Jimmey C. Fahngon
The NEWS (Monrovia)Barely four days after the visit of the United States President George W. Bush to Liberia, Presidential Press Secretary Cyrus Badio says corruption, bad governance, lack of accountability, among others, were major reasons why the American President did not make any financial commitment to Liberia.
Speaking to journalists Monday at his weekly press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Badio said Liberia was lagging behind in meeting benckmarks set by the United States to get such financial assistance.
He named the benckmarks as accountability, good governance, transparency, among other democratic practices.
Badio said unless Liberia can meet these benckmarks, it would be behind in assessing fundings from the United States.
He stressed, “if we do not meet these benchmarks, it will be difficult to convince American taxpayers to send their money here.”
According to him, Ghana, Tanzania and other countries where President Bush made financial commitment to, have met the required benchmark of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) thus qualifying them to get such financial support. (more…)
Damned if you do…
Studies Warn Of Mercury Risk In Energy-Saving Bulbs
thebostonchannel.comBOSTON — Energy-saving, spiral fluorescent bulbs that may help in the battle against global warming could pose a health risk to babies, small children and pregnant women, according to two new studies.
The Vermont-based Mercury Policy Project study showed the bulbs pose a threat of mercury poisoning if they break, prompting the federal Environmental Protection Agency and both Massachusetts and Vermont to revise recommendations for where homeowners should use the bulbs. (more…)
Don’t tell this to the folks in my state government as they have actively pursued a ban on all incandescent light bulbs.
Like I have been telling you, ‘global warming’ is not going anywhere anytime soon because there is too much money vested in the idea.
U.K. considers paying the private sector to find work for the unemployed
Millions forced to work in benefits shake-up
By Andrew Porter, Political EditorMillions of benefit claimants will be forced back to work in the biggest shake-up of the welfare state for 60 years, ministers will announce.
Large parts of the benefits system are to be privatised, with companies hired to find jobs for the unemployed, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Private firms will be given incentives of up to £50,000 each to get people back to work and reduce the country’s £12 billion annual incapacity benefit bill.
Only last month, David Freud, the government adviser on whose recommendations the reforms are based, said he believed that up to 1.9 million of those claiming they are too sick to work could be found jobs.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of lone parents will face stiff requirements to find jobs or face losing their benefits, a move certain to infuriate Labour backbenchers.
People who refuse to co-operate and reject work interviews will have their benefits “sliced”.
The proposals, to be announced by James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, represent the largest shake-up in the welfare state since it was established after the Second World War following the Beveridge Report of 1942. (more…)
Reading stuff like this is further proof that the U.K. is America’s bellwether on government response on social issues like poverty and health care. If we do not begin to seriously draw the line with those who insist on staying on welfare, America will find itself doing the same thing down the road.
Open thread on Farrakhan’s endorsement of Obama
The question that goes through my mind is “How can one man bring together some conservatives, moderates, liberals and Farrakhan” all under one tent?”
Democrats getting tough on illegal immigration?
EDITORIAL: Pelosi’s amnesty scheme
THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIALFor months, leading Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chief Rahm Emanuel have tried to talk tough on illegal immigration. Mr. Emanuel told The Washington Post last year that immigration is “the third rail of American politics,” adding that “anyone who doesn’t realize that isn’t with the American people,” earning himself angry denunciations from the far-left fringe. Last month, Mrs. Pelosi joined House Minority Leader John Boehner in announcing that the House-passed economic stimulus bill would “not allow any taxpayer funds to be distributed to illegals.” The Democratic leadership’s efforts to sound tough on illegal immigration have created serious friction with some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which believes the Democratic leadership is too timid about pushing for amnesty legislation.
If senior Democrats were really serious about a get-tough approach toward illegal immigration, we would be urging the Republican minority to reach across the aisle and work with the Democratic leadership to come up with a genuine bipartisan solution. But unfortunately, the Democrats are putting together an elaborate con job: using tough-sounding rhetoric while working behind the scenes with open-borders advocates in the business community to win support from from firms that have become very dependent on cheap foreign labor. The goal of these Democrats — and possibly the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well — is to defeat a bipartisan bill that takes a no-amnesty, enforcement-oriented approach to illegal immigration. Specifically, they are very worried about the fact that a growing number of moderate and conservative Republicans and Democrats (and even a few liberals) are cosponsoring the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act, H.R. 4088, introduced by Rep. Heath Shuler, North Carolina Democrat. (more…)
This is another one of those issues I believe that voters ultimately will lose. Why? Because there is too much money behind it.
What is sad is that stuff like this would have actually ‘helped’ his career in America
Sex picture scandal ends career of hip-hop star
By Clifford Coonan in Shanghai
ndependent.co.ukThe curtain fell on the startling career of the Hong Kong hip-hop bad boy Edison Chen yesterday, after he retired from showbiz in the wake of a nude celebrity photo scandal. The explicit photos have rocked the territory and will make Cantopop stars and film starlets think twice about meeting a loved one’s wishes to get down and dirty in the boudoir for an amateur photo shoot.
While the mainland has been gripped by tales of blizzards and trapped migrant workers, Hong Kong has been more concerned with what was on Chen’s hard drive. And they have been asking themselves what the 27-year-old Canadian-born heart-throb thought he was doing taking 1,300 photos of himself having sex with a dozen different starlets.
“I have failed as a role model,” said the clearly shocked actor as cameras flashed from the hundreds of reporters gathered. “However I wish that this matter will teach everyone a lesson.” (more…)
Admin stuff
I will be doing some admin stuff on the back end of this site today in order to resolve some technical issues. So you may notice some changes from time to time as well as some delays in creating new posts. In the meantime, I can be contacted by the following addresses:
duaneATblackinformantDOTcom or
contactATblackinformantDOTCOM
“Shut up and fall in line! We know what’s best.”
That would have been an easier way to say what Geraldine Ferraro has just published in the NY Times today.
Got a Problem? Ask the Super
nytimes.comAS the race for the Democratic presidential nomination nears its end and attention turns to the role of so-called superdelegates in choosing the nominee, it is instructive to look at why my party created this class of delegates.
After the 1980 presidential election, the Democratic Party was in disarray. That year, Senator Ted Kennedy had challenged President Jimmy Carter for the presidential nomination, and Mr. Kennedy took the fight to the convention floor by proposing 23 amendments to the party platform. When it was all over, members of Congress who were concerned about their re-election walked away from the president and from the party. The rest of the campaign was plagued by infighting.
In 1982, we tried to remedy some of the party’s internal problems by creating the Hunt Commission, which reformed the way the party selects its presidential nominees. Because I was then the vice chairwoman of the House Democratic Caucus, Tip O’Neill, the speaker of the House, appointed me as his representative to the commission. The commission considered several reforms, but one of the most significant was the creation of superdelegates, the reform in which I was most involved.
Democrats had to figure out a way to unify our party. What better way, we reasoned, than to get elected officials involved in writing the platform, sitting on the credentials committee and helping to write the rules that the party would play by?
Most officeholders, however, were reluctant to run as delegates in a primary election — running against a constituent who really wants to be a delegate to the party’s national convention is not exactly good politics.
So we created superdelegates and gave that designation to every Democratic member of Congress. Today the 796 superdelegates also include Democratic governors, former presidents and vice presidents, and members of the Democratic National Committee and former heads of the national committee.
[snip]
Today, with the possibility that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will end up with about the same number of delegates after all 50 states have held their primaries and caucuses, the pundits and many others are saying that superdelegates should not decide who the nominee will be. That decision, they say, should rest with the rank-and-file Democrats who went to the polls and voted.
But the superdelegates were created to lead, not to follow. They were, and are, expected to determine what is best for our party and best for the country. I would hope that is why many superdelegates have already chosen a candidate to support. (more…)
Couple of quick points:
#If you are a Democrat that supports Obama, you got to see the irony with the title “Got a Problem? Ask the Super” as it relates to this situation(anybody familiar with living in a high-rise apartment will know what I am talking about here). Think ‘Bookman’ and run with the imagery.
#Is this supposed to be a voice of reason or the voice of a supporter of Clinton? I choose the latter.
More stupidity on parade
Atlanta priorities — $300,000 toilets for homeless
By Bob Barr
The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionAtlanta’s infrastructure is crumbling. Its flagship public hospital is on life support. Its roads are among the most congested in the nation. It faces a continuing water-supply crisis. But don’t worry, the City has its priorities in order. Atlanta is about ready to unveil the latest example of how it spends its taxpayers’ dollars. The City has taken $1.5 million from its Development Authority “Homeless Opportunity Fund” and built five $300,000, state-of-the-art, technologically advanced public toilets for homeless persons to use.
5 toilets, y’all, 5
Atlanta residents might legitimately ask the City exactly what “homeless opportunity” is advanced by such an expenditure, other than offering a few people the ability to relieve themselves in a public toilet with running warm water, automatic toilet paper dispensers, and piped-in music playing — get this — “What the World Needs Now is Love” (I kid you not). (more…)
Here is my response to the silliness
At times there are major stories that have come out of this election cycle that I just simply refuse to address simply because they are just too silly and a complete waste of time. The latest story comes to us in the form of a picture that shows Obama dressed in clothing you would typically find on a Muslim.
Speaking of pictures, Michelle Malkin gives a COMPLETE response to this silly attempt to cast doubt on Obama.
[link]
-
African-American News
-
-
Blackinformant.com EXPANDED
This link will take you to the Blackinformant.com News & Politics Aggregator. This is still a work in progress, so continue to check this link and forward your suggestions to me on how this can better serve your news media needs.
This link will take you to the Blackinformant.com Black Mayor News Aggregator. Click the link below to keep up with news surrounding Black mayors around the country.