In the aftermath of President Obama’s second inauguration Cornel West just had to have something negative to say. If nothing else and I mean nothing else, Dr. West is consistent. Meanwhile, it appears that the NAACP is supporting the soda industry battle against banning/limiting the sale of sugary drinks – seems like the NAACP leadership is trying to end up with fewer members. Meanwhile, the war on women continues unabated – bans against abortion even in the instance of rape are getting serious legislative consideration in
various state legislatures. What is with these people?

Ya doesn’t have to go Home….

The cheering for President Obama’s inaugural speech when presumably Cornel West realized that the crowd was not cheering for him. Perhaps that explains his petulant and spectacularly juvenile criticism of Barack Obama using a Bible that belonged to Martin Luther King when he took his oath of office.

I am guessing that at some point Cornel West fell on his head and when he awakened he thought that he was appointed the Judge of All Things Black. By all accounts the King family thought that using Dr. King’s Bible was an honorable gesture and the historic and spiritual symbolism of President Obama using that Bible for his oath was undeniable – except on the Planet Cornel.

When I was in Dublin years ago I once heard a bartender say at closing time, “Ya doesn’t have to go home, ya just got to go.” Certainly it is time for Cornel West to heed that advice.

Do You Want Fries With That?

It has been reported that the NAACP is joining soda manufacturers in opposing the ban/limitation on the sale of sugary drinks claiming that any such legislation would hurt minority small business owners. Is it remotely possible that corporate contributions from sugary drink manufacturers played some role in this counterintuitive action on the part of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization?

After all, obesity, diabetes and other maladies that are directly attributable to the constant ingestion of sugary drinks run rampant in the national black community. Black people are literally killing themselves with poor diet and poor health habits. Drinking sodas and sugary drinks by the barrel is just one more way to die for too many black men, women and children.

For the NAACP to claim that they are acting on behalf of minority small business owners is disingenuous and transparently untrue. While many minority small business owners are part of an embattled sector of the American economy, it makes no sense to suggest that these business owners will prosper by participating in the degradation of the health of their customer base.

It would be a lot more honest for the NAACP to simply claim that they are acting at the behest of their corporate sponsors because the price was right.

The War on Women

Lost in the announcement that the Pentagon will begin a process whereby women will be allowed in frontline combat is the fact that the war on women continues unabated. There are currently state legislative proposals calling for prosecuting rape victims who have an abortion for “destroying evidence”. There are numerous state legislatures who are committed to preventing women from having access to any kind of an abortion for any kind of reason and humiliating and shaming those who do.

What makes this war on women all the more treacherous is that nowhere has there been seen legislative action to assist mothers and their children with respect to housing, education or general quality of life. In this war, pregnancy and childbirth are weapons to be used against the enemy.

And the enemy is women.

Have a great weekend!