Tag Archives: Haley Barbour

Point of View Columns

Weekend Edition – May 27, 2011

This week we watched what’s left of the reputation of Arnold Schwarzenegger go up in flames while the alleged sexual predator Dominique Strauss-Kahn made bail and is holed up in Tribeca. Meanwhile, the Republican presidential derby is in such disarray that Sarah Palin is feeling the fire in her well-fed belly. As the killing of Osama bin Laden fades with each succeeding news cycle hope grows that expecting change in America’s Afghanistan war strategy makes more sense than waiting for The Rapture. And finally, we should take a minute to consider what caused the presidential candidacy of Mitch Daniels to be strangled at birth.

She’s Baaack!

Reams have been written about the lack of quality candidates in the G.O.Tea Party corral. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, Doubting Donald Trump, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour or former Arkansas governor (and Fox News star) Mike Huckabee were certainly correct in assessing their chances of beating Barack Obama as being between slim and you’ve got to be kidding.

Still, it is amazing that the renegades and rogues are taking over the G.O.Tea Party asylum. Congressman Ron Paul who proposed abolishing the Federal Reserve Bank and just about everything else is a leading candidate. Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, who doesn’t have the good sense to be quiet so people only think that she is ignorant, is also a leading candidate. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is tied up in knots trying to explain his tawdry and hypocritical marital history while trying to be a “common man” with a $500,000 line of credit at Tiffany’s. And he is a leading candidate.

And now, the grisly grizzly mom herself, Sarah Palin, has announced that she has that “fire in her belly” and is seriously considering running for president. Perhaps she is hoping that the American people will not recall her spectacularly self-centered flame out after the Tucson Massacre. Or she may think that the current crop of candidates has set the bar so low that she can sashay into the field and carry the G.O.Tea Party banner in an electoral contest with President Obama.

President Obama should be so lucky.

Are We There Yet?

The death of Osama bin Laden gave rise to much discussion regarding the meaning and import of his departure from the global stage. A key item that has been raised relates to the expectation in some circles that bin Laden’s death gives the Obama Administration the perfect opportunity to reconfigure its Afghanistan strategy, flipping the script, so to speak.

After all, a cogent argument can be made that al Qaeda has been definitely, and probably fatally, decapitated. The causus belli for the American presence in Afghanistan was to wipe out the al Qaeda base of operations that plotted the 9/11 attack on the United States. That mission has been accomplished.

Billions of dollars are being spent in Afghanistan every week while police, teachers and hospital workers are furloughed in the United States. Over $100 billion dollars will be spent in Afghanistan this year while programs ranging from Planned Parenthood to Head Start are being cut or put “on the table” of Republican budget chopping frenzy.

The loss of treasure and loss of life is insupportable. Osama bin Laden is dead. Al Qaeda is crippled. No American is safer in the United States because of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. It is time.

Are we there yet?

The Tragedy of Mitch Daniels

Last week Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced that he would not be a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. It will come as no surprise that I am not a great fan of Governor Daniels, yet I find the cause for his departure to be troubling and tragic.

News reports indicate that the reason for his presumptive departure from the race is that his marital history includes a story about him and his current wife divorcing and then remarrying 4 years later. In the interim Mrs. Daniels married another man and then divorced him to remarry Governor Daniels.

The fact that this entirely private and personal matter would have any impact on the presidential aspirations of anyone can be traced directly to the ravenous maw of the American press machine. Governor and Mrs. Daniels were quite correct in thinking that the media would focus on the marriage-divorce-remarriage story to the exclusion of anything else that Candidate Daniels might have to say.

Reporters and commentators would be frothing at the mouth while recounting every detail of this couple’s life together and apart. Not only is this wrong, the Daniels story is a teaching moment for anyone else who might seek public office.

Everyone has aspects of their private life that they would rather not be part of a CNN “Breaking News” story. And everyone has a right to that privacy, even candidates for public office.

There is not even a hint of illegal or even improper conduct associated with the Daniels’ story. It is just the story of a couple who are living their lives. And it is not the business of the press or the public to make these kinds of inquiries.

The departure of Mitch Daniels from the presidential race is a shameful commentary on the American press and the American public.

Finally, for the sake of all of us, Point of View has now been declared a Cornel-Free Zone.

Have a great weekend!

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Point of View Columns

The Confederacy – The American Reich

In a singularly perverted observation of Black History Month, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour stated last week that he had no problems with a new state license plate that honors Nathan Bedford Forrest. That would be the same Nathan Bedford Forrest who was a Confederate general and one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan.

The ensuing controversy was nothing short of bizarre, even for these bizarre times. Some Forrest apologists argued that he was only “one” of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan and he shouldn’t be burdened with the entire guilt of paternity involving this consortium of terrorist racists. Others claimed that regardless of his “imperfections” he was an outstanding general, perhaps a military genius, and he deserved honor for his martial accomplishments.

Rather than jump down the rabbit hole with Haley Barbour and the pitiful adherents to this concept of Southern “heritage” and “tradition” I am choosing to stand on the solid ground of history and fact. For too long the flying of Confederate flags, the celebration of the secession of southern states and the glorification of the “Southern way of life” has been the subject of debate. It is time for that debate to end.

The entire way of life in the southern states that seceded from the United States was based on slavery. Unlike the Germans at the end of World War II who claimed that they were unaware of the horror of the concentration camps, every conscious white man, woman and child in the South was absolutely aware of the forced bondage of millions of black men, women and children.

Like their moral bretheren the Nazis, the slave owners, slave masters and slave traders along with their wives, children and political supporters established an awful but efficient system because it was to their advantage. The Nazis chose the Jews, the slave owners chose black people.

Their approaches were similar. The religious and philosophical gymnastics used to justify the enslavement of black people would have sounded familiar to the Nazis as they justified the persecution and murder of Jews.

There was nothing endearing, uplifting or worthy of praise in a system that bought, sold, tortured and oppressed human beings on a daily basis. There is no honor in a “heritage” that accepted the brutalizing of the spirit of the slaves – and the slave masters. The “Southern way of life” embraced and endorsed rape, murder, torture and degradation. There is simply no escaping these facts.

I do not believe that the men and women whose family trees have their roots in the South should engage in eternal penance. I also do not believe that these men and women should blithely engage in the creation of a mythical history that absolves the sins of their mothers and fathers.

This is not only disrespectful of the memory of the men and women who suffered their entire lives as the property of a society as cruel and despicable as any in modern history. It is also dangerous, because by ignoring the facts of history we run the risk of not perceiving its recurrence.

The Confederacy was the American Reich. It was a relatively successful social and economic system that was built on the belief that the supposed inferiority of some people could be used for the benefit of the majority. There were psychic as well as economic values to this system – feeling superior to someone, anyone, anesthetizes the pain of personal insecurity and failure.

Like the Third Reich, the American Reich was worth fighting for, long after defeat was guaranteed. The “way of life” – legal and legitimized bias, prejudice and cruelty was worth dying for, and hundreds of thousands did just that.

Like the Third Reich, adherents of the American Reich continued to guard the flame of their wretched dream. The Nazis took to hiding in Argentina and Paraguay awaiting their return to glory. The Confederates went lurking in the dark woods of the South, wearing sheets, engaging in silly rituals and murdering black people in the middle of the night.

The dreams of the Third Reich have dimmed. There is no United States governor who would give cover to the Nazis. There are no statewide celebrations of the Third Reich (in the United States or Germany) replete with goose steps and brown shirts.

However, the dreams of the American Reich seem to be alive and well in too many places.

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Point of View Columns

Weekend Edition – February 11, 2011

Hosni Mubarak resigned as president of Egypt a few moments before this column was written and the beat goes on. Ruling elites in the Middle East, the Caribbean and Africa are watching with great interest. Meanwhile, here in the United States:

The Luck of the Kenyans?

“The Luck of the Irish” is a well-known phrase, but who knew about “the luck of the Kenyans”? It is rare that the word “luck” and “Barack Obama” have been linked in considering the first two years of his presidency.

The near collapse of the American economic system approached a cataclysmic meltdown in this country. More than 8 million people lost their jobs during these first two years of the Obama Administration and unemployment rates continue to hover above 9%.

President Obama has had to manage near biblical disasters like the BP oil spill and he has the daily challenge of avoiding the Vietnam-like replay that haunts this country’s every moment in Afghanistan. And all the while the economy is making a seemingly grudging recovery that is virtually imperceptible to too many Americans.

And yet, when one considers the leading potential Republican candidates it is hard to believe President Obama’s apparent good fortune. Consider the field:

-Mike Huckabee – The former governor of Arkansas and a failed candidate in the 2008 primaries, Mr. Huckabee fervently believes that two people named Adam and Eve walked with the dinosaurs and wants this belief to be taught to American schoolchildren as scientific fact.

-Mitt Romney – The former governor of Massachusetts and a failed candidate in the 2008 primaries has tried mightily to convince the public that the universal healthcare plan that he instituted in Massachusetts is not the healthcare plan supported by President Obama – except that it is. The fact that he is a Mormon guarantees that the notorious religious intolerance of the right wing of the right wing of the Party of No will rain down on his head if he gets anywhere near the nomination.

-Michelle Bachmann – The doyenne of the Tea Party movement, Ms. Bachmann comes across as a zanily miscast cheerleader with a script that is devoid of facts or logic. Her singular contribution to recent political discourse was to characterize President Obama as a “socialist”. She has also been known to make stupid people look smart.

-Haley Barbour – The current governor of Mississippi as a presidential candidate would have to explain how his state manages to rank last or near last in almost every indicia of quality of life for its citizens including literacy and health care. His rose-colored recollections of the bloody days and murderous nights in Mississippi are bound to offend African Americans and anyone with a decent knowledge of history.

-Newt Gingrich – The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Gingrich is noted for having been complicit in the closing of the federal government not once, but twice. He also distinguished himself as a great humanitarian by serving divorce papers upon his wife as she awakened from breast cancer surgery.

-Donald Trump – Really? Several corporate bankruptcies and thousands of disgruntled bondholders might prove to be awkward for The Donald to explain. No need to mention his hair.

Congressman Ron Paul wants to do away with Social Security, Medicare and distribute six-guns to children (the last item is a joke…I think). The former governor of Alaska is virtually irrelevant to this discussion and is still struggling to get both of her Pradas out of her mouth since the Tucson Massacre. And then there is a larger cast of unknown wannabees.

And that’s pretty much the field. One has to believe that given a choice between Barack Obama and any of these Republicans yearning to “take back America” the American electorate will go with the incumbent.

It’s a long way to November 6, 2012. But given the challenges that he faces, Barack Obama is a very lucky president to have this class of potential opponents. Maybe there is something to the “Luck of the Kenyans”.

Blind Justice

Justice is supposed to be blind. Justice is not supposed to be deaf and dumb. Consider the recent case of Ms. Kelly Williams-Bolar in Ohio who was imprisoned for placing her son in a school district in which she did not reside. Not surprisingly her motive was to provide an opportunity for her son to get a better education.

We don’t have the space to consider all of the factual and legal issues but given what we know imprisonment seems an outrageous and cruel response. The punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime, if there was a crime.

Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan continues to sashay down the boulevard wearing an allegedly stolen necklace and all anyone wants to know is who designed the dress that she wore to court. Go figure.

Have a great weekend!

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Point of View Columns

Rent A Slave….continued

During the past week I wrote about the reckless and pitiful sham of grown men and women dressed in antebellum costumes to commemorate and celebrate the secession of southern states and the commencement of the Civil War.

And brace yourself, for it appears that there are enough liars, obscurers of the truth and defenders of racism to sustain 4 ½ years of these celebrations.

In fact that the Civil War was the bloodiest confrontation in which this country has ever been engaged. Civil War casualties exceeded American casualties in all other wars combined. It seems heartbreaking and cruel that there would be fools so foolish as to celebrate the commencement of this carnage. Turning this country into a charnel house is not a cause for festivities.

But, of course, there is more that offends. That secession was all about the continued enslavement of black men, women and children is not subject to debate.

The writings of the Founding Fathers of the bastard Confederate States of America were very clear that the intent of secession and the ensuing war was to preserve the damnable and peculiar institution called slavery.

On March 21, 1861, Alexander Stephens, the Vice President of the CSA wrote that Thomas Jefferson was “wrong in believing that the enslavement o the African was in violation of the laws of nature”. He went on to write, “Our new government is exactly founded on the opposite idea”.

This statement and so many others should be clear enough for the apologists for the Confederacy. The truth is that the southern states fought to the death to preserve slavery and their “right” to possess, own and abuse black men and women of African descent for eternity.

There is nothing noble about this heritage. And it is shameful that anyone would seek to glorify it or to put a spin on it.

The latest spin is to somehow turn the southern secession to a 19th century Tea Party rebellion against “big government” interfering with state’s rights. If I were a member of the Tea Party movement or its affiliates I would be disavowing this connection at every possible opportunity.

After all, could there ever be a time when state’s rights trumps human rights and civil rights? But the silence from the right wing of the right wing is deafening.

The problem with these “celebrations”, aside from their obscenity, is that it churns and distorts the truth. Too many Americans are already too ignorant of the history of this country. To articulate and perpetuate lies only serves to maintain and inflame the racial divide that is still very much a part of this country.

When Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour says that he doesn’t remember the civil rights era as being “all that bad”, there are some people who stop and listen and give this awful statement air time. I am sure that there were Germans who didn’t find the pre-war Hitler days as being “all that bad”.

Now, 150 years later, there are pseudo-historian buffoons across the South who plan to celebrate slavery, slaughter and residual animosities for the next 4 ½ years!

That any person of intelligence and goodwill, whatever their political persuasion, would celebrate such an awful aspect of America is a disgrace. That black Americans in particular have to bear witness to this blood libel for the next 4 ½ is a perversion.

I find it fascinating that the United States is the only country on this planet that permits the celebration of treason. I am not clear that the unsuccessful insurgents in any country would be permitted to prance around proclaiming the sanctity of their losing cause for 150 years. And yet, here in America, the offense continues.

In the most recent Point of View Weekend Edition, I suggested a proposition for these amoral secessionist revelers. Don’t stop at dressing up as slave owners. Get some black people to dress up as slaves – liveried servants, maids, butlers, chauffeurs personal attendants and concubines. Make the entire celebration authentic and, in the process provide much needed jobs for thousands of unemployed black people throughout the South.

Rent a Slave should be a big hit with these undisguised bigots. And, at the end of every assignment, the “slave” can be “emancipated” by the Rent a Slave customer. I can envision Frequent Slave Owner awards as well.

I might also suggest that O.J. Simpson be put into a work release program so that he can play the part of Nat Turner. That should add some further verisimilitude to this damnable madness.

These maniacs have no respect for history, morality, black people or these United States. They might as well wallow in it.

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Point of View Columns

To Live A Lie

It is probably slightly counterintuitive to discuss a book that one hasn’t read yet. But I have read the reviews of “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson, along with an in depth article about this book in last week’s New Yorker. The subject matter, the great migration of black Americans from the South during the period of 1910-1970 is so compelling that, if only for the subject matter, the book is worthy of note.

But there is more, much more. “The Warmth of Other Suns” is not simply an historical narrative filled with facts and statistics. Rather, the book focuses on the real life stories of real people. And given that almost all Americans are descendants of immigrants, the story has to resonate in a very personal sense for so many of us regardless of ethnic heritage.

I read about the stories told in “Warmth” and I can feel the story of my grandparents and the grandparents of so many friends, classmates and colleagues. And one begins to grasp the courage, determination and perseverance of these men and women who left the awful and often bloody grasp of the South for the unknown possibility of a glimmer of opportunity in the North, Midwest and Far West regions of the United States.

Ms. Wilkerson makes it clear through her series of interviews and compilations of life stories, that fear and terror and violence were the motivating forces that drove these American immigrants elsewhere in their own country. According to statistics compiled for “Warmth” during the first three decades of the twentieth century a black American was lynched every four days. An amazing statistic because it cannot possibly be inclusive of all lynchings or beatings or other acts of terror perpetrated with virtual impunity. And these acts were typically not perpetrated by criminals and outlaws but rather, the actors were in the main upstanding and respected members of the community who considered themselves to be honorable men and women. (The authoritative book on lynching in the South, “Without Sanctuary”, is recommended on this painful subject)

“Offenses” that resulted in lynching included not only being accused of criminal acts such as stealing livestock or assaulting a white woman, impertinent language directed towards a white person or “reckless eyeballing” (looking a white person in the eye) could get a black man or woman killed. Other “offenses” included being a successful farmer or business owner or being the owner of desirable farmland and refusing a lowball offer to sell.

It was the terror of the day and the night that drove millions of black Americans from their homes to someplace else, anyplace else. More than the declining economy of the primarily rural South or the siren song of employment in the factories of the North and Midwest, fear and terror was their inspiration. A realization that injustice would be eternal in the South and the chance of living without fear of the torch or the noose in the middle of the night was enough for people to change their lives, and America, forever.

Absorbing and understanding this part of American history is important. The men and women who crowded onto trains and buses and trucks to come to Chicago and New York and Los Angeles also played a crucial role in the founding of the black middle class in this country. Speak to any African American doctor, corporate lawyer, investment banker or elected official about their lineage and long silent strains of the South can be heard.

And while absorbing this bit of history, check out the latest news reports that Haley Barbour, the Republican Governor of Mississippi has temerity to suggest that, at age 62, he is part of the “new generation” of the South that had gotten past segregation and discrimination directed against African Americans.

Amazing, because in 1964, when he was 16 years old, three civil rights works – Cheney, Schwerner and Goodman – were lynched in the “new” Mississippi. Its hard to see how you just get “past” that awful event. Amazing, because as a teenager Haley Barbour had to have been witness to federal troops having to escort James Meredith onto the campus of the University of Mississippi because of the violent threats from rioting white students. The same University of Mississippi that Barbour attended soon thereafter. How do you get “past” that?

Amazing, because to this day Mississippi is Ground Zero for the tenacious grasping of traditions of racism and racial discrimination in this country despite the progress that has taken place in this state. The pathologies experienced by the black community in Mississippi continue to this very day. How do you get “past” that?

And Governor Barbour would have us believe that this tremendous “change” has taken place because the Republican Party has taken the leadership in progressive and affirmative action in the South. And so he lives a lie and invites us to join him.

There was virtually no Republican Party in the South until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, at which point white Democrats quit the party wholesale and moved to the Republican Party, where they have stayed ever since. They left the Democratic Party because of its support of civil rights and equal rights and human rights and it is simply a lie to suggest that the Republican Party came to life in the South for any reason other than the disgust and disappointment experienced by many white Democrats.

Haley Barbour is entitled to his opinions. He is not entitled to his own set of facts

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