Neither torch protest nor deadly earthquake dents Chinese Olympic spirit

There’s no denying that most Chinese took great offense to the human rights protests that stalked and plagued the relay of their Olympic torch around the world. Therefore, one can only imagine the relief they felt when it finally arrived in China, where it was celebrated with unfettered and wholly appropriate jingoism.

Then, just as everything was finally in place for them to showcase what a 21st Century marvel China has become, they were struck by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake! And what devastation it caused: reportedly almost 20,000 dead, 26,000 injured, and 20,000 still trapped under debris from the 4 million homes and buildings that have been destroyed.

Thank God the Chinese government has the resources and manpower not only to conduct search, rescue and recovery missions but also to rebuild all of the affected areas.

This, of course, stands in stark contrast to the incomprehensible refusal of Myanmar’s military leaders, in the wake of Cyclone Nargiss, to accept foreign aid to compensate for their lack of national resources and crisis management expertise. As a result, the death toll there is expected to exceed 100,000.

More to the point, the Chinese can thank God that no venue associated with the forthcoming Olympic Games was damaged. However, much is being made of the fact that - even as he read a speech about the government’s “deep concern for the people of the Sichuan province” - Premier Wen Jiabao seemed more concerned about reassuring the world that the games will go on!

But I do not think this reflects badly on the Chinese. After all, the Yankees and Mets returned to the baseball field just one week after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 devastated New York City. Moreover, in admittedly cruder terms, the loss of 20,000 out of a population of 1.5 billion Chinese pales in comparison to the loss of 3,000 out of 300 million Americans. Not to mention that the Chinese still have three whole months to grieve, recover and rebuild.

On the other hand, it is patently obvious why Chinese leaders are providing unprecedented 24/7 coverage of this national tragedy. Namely, they are acutely aware that nothing will drown out international cries to boycott the Beijing Olympics (as punishment for their brutal crackdown on Tibetan monks) quite like the despairing cries of Chinese parents for their children – many of whom are still buried beneath quake-ravaged rubble….

All the same, I extend my condolences to the Chinese people, and commend their leaders for upholding the unbreakable Olympic spirit.

UPDATE: Myanmar

After granting permission for the US and other countries to deliver plane loads of aid, the military junta sealed off the affected areas and decreed that no more foreign aid workers would be allowed in.

Meanwhile, the UN and Red Cross estimate the death toll at 128,000 and the number of people now at risk – due to starvation and disease - at 2.5 million. Yet reports are that military leaders are hoarding foreign aid supplies and selling them in other areas of the country.

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* Published originally yesterday at 5:02 am

earthquake China

West Virginia: Hillary wins one for the rednecks of America

The (predominantly white) people of West Virginia heeded Hillary’s clarion call to show the world that they will not vote for a black man even if their lives depended on it.

Unfortunately, for them (and for her), Hillary’s 67% to 26% win over Obama did virtually nothing to reduce his overall lead in the delegate count or his momentum towards the Democratic nomination.

Never mind that her redneck strategy - to make it seem as though white people in the rest of the United States will not vote for Obama - is patently flawed. After all, it is belied by the fact that he trounced her in predominantly white (swing) states, like Iowa and Missouri, and ran to a virtual tie with her in many other predominantly white states, like New Hampshire, Virginia and Indiana….

For the record, Obama now has 1,881 of the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. Hillary has 1,713.

Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why Obama is not sweating this loss in West Virginia it’s because, when he’s the nominee, he will send Hillary right back to convince those “poor, hard-working white people” that he’s really the second coming of JFK – for whom they retain almost cult-like affection. And by the way, he will send her not as his VP nominee, but as a woman who will be desperately seeking redemption for polarizing the Democratic Party along racial lines during her failed campaign to win the nomination.

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Bill Clinton loses his honorary title as America’s first black president

Last January, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) explained that he was so disgusted with the way the Clintons were playing the race card that he felt morally obligated to endorse Barack Obama for president of the United States. This, in turn, inspired me to pose the following question:

If Kennedy’s racial conscience has been so offended by the way the Clintons have played the race card against Obama, what does it say about the racial pride of blacks who continue to support them?

I reasoned further that:

…No black had a greater duty to address this question than Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. After all, she is primarily responsible for injecting into black consciousness the patently absurd notion that Bill is “the first black president of the United States.”

Of course, since January, even die-hard black supporters, like civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), have become so disgusted with the Clintons that Obama has been winning over 90% of the black vote in primaries and caucuses all over the country.

Not that the Clintons are pining over this loss. After all, they pivoted right into courting the white vote by pretending to be card-carrying members of the “Hill-Billy” redneck club….

More to the point, however, I was pleased to read how Morrison finally clarified her misbegotten pronouncement - in a May 7 interview conducted by TIME magazine - as follows:

People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race.

However, for the record, here’s what she actually said back in 1998:

White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime.

Nevertheless, as self-serving political spin goes, at least Morrison’s clarification has some socially redeeming value….

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TCI government implements controversial fingerprinting policy

First they fingerprinted the Haitians,
and you did not speak up because you were not a Haitian.
Then they fingerprinted the Dominicans,
and you did not speak up because you were not a Dominican.
Then they fingerprinted the Filipinos,
and you did not speak up because you were not a Filipino.
Then they fingerprinted you,
and there was no one left to speak up for you.

[My version of a poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller ]

Civil libertarians and human rights activists are expressing grave concerns about a new fingerprinting policy the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) implemented last week. This measure makes it mandatory for all persons seeking work permits, renewal of permits and residency permits to be fingerprinted.

The government insists that the primary benefit of having this new database is to enable the police to easily identify fingerprints left at the increasing number of crime scenes throughout the islands. It also cited an Orwellian need “to keep accurate information on residents” as our population (of 35,000) increases.

Yet, mindful of its controversial nature, RTCP press liaison officer, Sergeant Calvin Chase, attempted to preempt criticism by asserting that the TCI is merely emulating the U.S. and other countries by using fingerprinting as “a proper processing service…to know who is in the island (sic).” Fair enough….

Except that legal scholars inform me that this Orwellian policy violates both international human rights and the TCI Constitution (“Article 1 probably also Article 8”). Never mind that if the U.S. government can commit human rights abuses with impunity - in violation of international law and its own Constitution, then the TCI government could be forgiven for feeling self-righteous in doing the same.

(For example, consider the abuses the U.S. reportedly committed at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, as well as its inhumane detention of “suspect” immigrants and fingerprinting of not only people seeking residency and work permits but even of tourists simply visiting the U.S.)

But Sgt. Chase must know better than any politician that this procedure will do nothing to reduce or combat crime. After all, it’s TCIslanders who commit the majority of crimes, not those who need residency or work permits. In fact, the non-citizens this measure targets are invariably the most law abiding amongst us. No doubt because they live in constant fear of doing anything that might cause their residency or work permits to be revoked.

Therefore, this begs two questions:

1. Why doesn’t the government fingerprint TCIslanders as well?
2. What is the real reason it implemented this fingerprinting policy?

And I submit that the answer to both questions has everything to do with the public rebellion that erupted two weeks ago. That’s when the government brazenly attempted to impose a battery of new taxes upon TCIslanders to compensate for mismanaging (and allegedly misappropriating) national resources and funds.

After all, a tax rebellion like this one had not been seen since American colonists protested the British attempt to impose onerous taxes upon them; which, of course, was the proximate cause of the American Revolution. And, appreciating this forbidding precedent, TCI officials retreated hastily by rescinding two of the more vexing taxes (i.e., steep increases in airport departure and accommodation taxes).

Unfortunately, their desperate need to raise new revenues remained acute, and the full scope of their failed economic policies became manifest.

So, with increasing taxes on TCIslanders politically untenable, they resorted to scapegoating and exploiting these non-citizens. Specifically, the $65 fingerprinting fee they’re charging should raise at least $8,000,000 to help replenish their bankrupt coffers; which clearly makes this new policy nothing more than a quick-cash scheme.

Meanwhile, to my fellow TCIslanders - who take comfort from the fact that this tax is not being levied against you - beware! Because, just as it is with the work-permit fee, those of you who employ these non-citizens may soon be required to pay their fingerprinting fees as well.

To his enabling ministers

First he pillaged the country,
and you did not speak up because you got your share.
Then he silenced the press,
and you did not speak up because you did not care.
Then he raped a woman...?
and you did not speak up because you did not dare.
Then he screwed you, his ministers,
and there was no one left to speak up for you.

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* This article is also being carried today by Carribean Net News, the most widely read newspaper in the Caribbean.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

This week, Putin sealed his intent to rule Russia for life!

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Update: The Fat Lady is Singing but Hillary’s Ears seem Clogged with Wax …

Even if Hillary were to win all of the remaining primaries and caucuses in equally impressive fashion, she still would not make much of a dent in Obama’s lead amongst pledged delegates. This, no matter how the Democratic Party ultimately decides to include disqualified delegates from Florida and Michigan.

[Hillary’s ‘big-state” (superdelegate) endgame, The iPINIONS Journal, March 6, 2008]

Meanwhile, you’ve probably heard talking heads on TV spouting off about the pivotal role “superdelegates” will play at a brokered convention…. Nevertheless, I think the prospect of a bunch of politicians and “distinguished party leaders” deciding this race is grossly exaggerated. In fact, I'm convinced that the person who goes into the convention with the most pledged delegates (i.e., those duly won in the primaries and caucuses) will be the nominee.

[The winner of Super Tuesday Part II…The iPINIONS Journal, March 5, 2008]

The above quotes are from two articles I wrote over two months ago. And, despite all of the talk since then about Barack Obama’s (Rev. Wright) problem and Hillary Clinton’s (resurgent) momentum, nothing has altered Obama’s trajectory towards clinching the nomination.

(A fact the editors of TIME magazine finally figured out this week, and decided to celebrate it by featuring Obama on the cover of their current issue as the presumptive winner of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.)

Besides, even factoring in Tuesday’s split decision - with Hillary winning Indiana 51% to 49% and Obama North Carolina 56% to 42% - Obama actually increased his already insurmountable lead over Hillary amongst the all-important pledged delegates 1,588 to 1,419.

Accordingly, I reiterate today what I've maintained for months, namely, that the superdelegates will effectively ratify the number of pledged delegates each candidate has won. For now though, Obama claims 258 superdelegates for a total of 1,846 of the 2,025 delegates needed to officially clinch the nomination; whereas, Hillary claims 266 for a total of 1,685.

Nevertheless, she seems determined to continue her campaign against Obama as if it were a WWF death match. And she shows no scruples about playing the "politics of division and distraction" (i.e., the race card) as she hangs on for dear life - despite all the criticism and indignation hurled at her (and Bill) for doing so.

Indeed, the latest in this respect was her insidious pandering on Wednesday to the racist tendencies of white folks by declaring that, if Democrats want to win the White House in November, they’d better nominate her because poor whites will never vote for Obama.

Alas, there’s no denying that watching this fight between Hillary and Obama is as irresistible as watching a train wreck.

Still, no matter how anticlimactic this race or perverse the political pleasure it provides, let’s keep our eyes on the prize, which, for all intents and purposes, Obama won months ago.

NOTE: If you’re wondering why Hillary is persisting against all odds, I think only her (Clintonian) sense of entitlement to the presidency, which manifests a pathological delusion, explains it.

UPDATE: Myanmar

According to independent reports, including from the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, the death toll from Cyclone Nargiss is likely to exceed 100,000 and millions of survivors are facing death from starvation and disease.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's military leaders are still refusing to facilitate the rapid deployment of foreign aid workers to provide care and distribute food to remote areas of the country. For example, after one relief flight landed yesterday, they turned it away because, in addition to food and supplies, it carried a search-and-rescue team whose members did not have their permission to enter the country before taking off.

This prompted an extraordinary rebuke from the United Nations, which criticized Myanmar’s leaders for unprecedented obstruction of the international humanitarian response this crisis demands. Others, like the French foreign minister, have charged them with crimes against humanity.

Unfortunately, Myanmar’s military leaders seem utterly impervious to the notion that they might be responsible for killing ten times more people in this tragedy than Mother Nature did with her cyclone.

Nevertheless, since I have no doubt that the military junta will eventually give way, please click here to donate to one of the many reputable agencies waiting to participate in the relief effort.

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* Original version of this article was published on Wednesday

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Israel celebrates 60 years of Independence…despite the (Arab) odds

Today Israelis “will attend picnics and barbecues, the traditional way of marking Independence Day.”

And, considering that they’ve spent every day of their 60-year existence fretting about or fighting against the declared intent of Arab neighbors to “wipe Israel off the map,” this is certainly cause to celebrate.

Accordingly, I wish Israelis a Happy Birthday and best wishes for the next 60 years….

Meanwhile, Palestinians will mark the end of Israel’s week of independence celebrations by observing the "nakba;" i.e., the “catastrophe when 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes at the creation of Israel.”

And, truth be told, if the historic enmity of the Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians (Saudis, Iraqis and Kuwaitis) were motivated by a sense of Muslim brotherhood to avenge the Palestinians, I might find it a little more sympathetic.

Unfortunately, it smacks of vintage anti-Semitism, namely: Pan-Arab "rejection of the legitimate right of Jews to reconstitute their national home in the Middle East." And nothing the Israelis have done to the Palestinians justifies Muslims wanting to complete Hitler’s genocidal mission….

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Myanmar cyclone: 10,000 plus dead with tens of thousands still missing...

Reports are that 10,000 people were killed and millions more dislocated when Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar last week. And relief workers say tens of thousands remain unaccounted for (and are probably dead).

Rather puts the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in perspective, doesn’t it…?

But since it’s not wise to question why, how or where Mother Nature directs her tsunami-like wrath, I shall suffice to extend my condolences to the victims.

Thank God for all of the relief agencies, especially the International Red Crescent, that are assisting the survivors.

Meanwhile, even though Myanmar’s military leaders have appealed for international aid, they have reportedly prohibited U.S. planes carrying emergency relief supplies and a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) from landing in the country. (Although, given how poorly DART performed after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, who can blame them…?)

All the same, such a prohibition is entirely consistent with the military junta's persecution of the Buddhist monks who organized non-violent marches for human rights in the streets of Myanmar last year.

Nevertheless, First Lady Laura Bush announced yesterday that U.S. aid would be flowing to the victims through its embassy in Yangon. And I commend her for criticizing the military leaders for exacerbating the death toll by failing to provide not only emergency relief but also adequate warning about Cyclone Nargis’s impending doom. (Never mind that the ghost of Katrina will enable them to dismiss her criticism as a case of the pot calling the kettle black….)

Click here to donate to the Red Crescent.

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Sadly, the bell tolled for Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby

Last year, Barbaro was being hailed as the latest horse with a legitimate shot at winning the Triple Crown since Affirmed won it in 1978. And, after winning the Kentucky Derby by one of the largest margins in history, he had everyone in the world of horse racing salivating at the prospect.

Therefore, I understood the disappointment his owners and fans felt when Barbaro pulled up lame, after shattering the bones around the ankle of his right hind leg, at the start of the Preakness Stakes (the second of the Triple Crown races). What I did not appreciate, however, was the way his owners prolonged Barbaro's misery for eight months by having vets undertake all kinds of extraordinary means to rehabilitate his fatal injuries. And here, in part, is how I expressed my outrage:

Regardless of the fleeting emotional interest most people had in seeing Barbaro survive this fatal injury, I suspect his owners were so desperate to rehabilitate him because they felt he would become the biggest (fee-generating) farm stud in history. This, notwithstanding their post-mortem rationalization that the extraordinary fight to save Barbaro’s life will lead to new advances in equine medicine; especially since such advances will only make horses more durable for man's sporting pleasure.

The sport of kings, indeed; but so is the barbaric sport of fox hunting....

But I would like the readers who called me an uninformed cynic after I published this article to consider what happened on Saturday.

Because, just like Barbaro, Eight Belles pulled up lame, after breaking both front ankles, at the Kentucky Derby. However, unlike Barbaro, she was put out of her misery right on the spot!

Why? The reason, I submit, is that she did not have the potential to generate much income for her owners off the track. Therefore, they had no vested interest in trying to save her….

Meanwhile, those idiots from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are blaming Eight Belles’s little Panamanian jockey, Gabriel Saez, for the sins of this sport. But instead of calling for Saez to be suspended, PETA should be demanding far greater scrutiny into the breeding methods of race horses.

After all, it’s one thing to race horses in their natural state. It’s quite another, however, to inject them with so many pharmaceuticals to make them bigger, stronger and faster that their skinny legs cannot support their unnatural body mass….

Farewell Eight Belles

NOTE: For the record, Big Brown won the race in such commanding fashion on Saturday that he's now being hailed the way Barbaro was last year: as the latest horse with a legitimate shot at winning the elusive Triple Crown….

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Labour’s love lost in UK mid-term elections

Last week, Britain’s ruling Labour Party suffered its worst defeat in local elections in 40 years.

And to add insult to injury, the opposition Conservative Party also wrested control of the capital for the first time in 30 years when its candidate, Boris Johnson, upset Labour’s heavily favored incumbent Ken Livingston to become the next mayor of London.

But I shall leave it to British pundits to wax political about the reasons why it took PM Gordon Brown less than a year to lose so much of the gains it took Tony Blair 10 years to amass.

Instead, I shall suffice to note that his career as prime minister seems fated to end at the next General Elections.

After all, every conservative candidate, including the foppish Johnson, won last week by portraying Brown as a political clown; a portrayal, incidentally, that his dithering over the abolition of a 10p tax band only reinforced.

Nevertheless, this historic election will probably be remembered more for the comic relief it provided than for any policy debate. And almost all of that relief was provided by mayor-elect Johnson – who not only looks like a cross between Andy Warhol and Benny Hill but also acts like a hybrid caricature of them.

Indeed, hope springs eternal amongst British reporters that Johnson will continue to utter political gaffes and display personal antics that make those of former NYC mayor Ed Koch seem ordinary by comparison.

Therefore, here’s to Johnson and the Conservatives. And who would have thought they would prove a more appealing bunch than the politically correct and fashion-obsessed Labourites…?

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Wesley Snipes, actor and convicted tax evader, sentenced to prison

On January 30, before the jury in the tax evasion trial of actor Wesley Snipes began deliberating his fate, I published an article titled Actor Wesley Snipes takes on the IRS in the dumbest role of his life. And here, in part, is what I wrote:

His conviction, which I expect the jury to announce later today or tomorrow, should serve as a reminder that only big corporations can get away with paying no taxes. And I have just two words for anyone who is inclined to buy his line about being prosecuted because he’s black: Leona Hemsley!

Therefore, I was not at all surprised the next day when the jury convicted Snipes on three counts of failing to file tax returns. Nor was I surprised a week ago today when Judge William Terrell Hodges, citing his “history of contempt” for U.S. tax laws, sentenced him to the maximum three years in federal prison for his crimes.

This, despite Snipes’s eleventh-hour ploy for leniency by showing up to his sentencing hearing with a cheque for $5 million. Never mind that he owes the government millions more….

Snipes also offered a non-apology apology by conceding the obvious, namely, that he had made a “costly mistake.” He then added disingenuously that:

I am an idealistic, naïve, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually-motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance.

Prosecutors alleged that Snipes tried to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by trying to collect $11.4 million in fraudulent income tax refunds and failing to file returns for 1999 through 2004, despite earning over $35 million during that period.

Accordingly, the lead prosecutor summed up all that had to be said as follows:

The sentencing court sends the right message to the America taxpayer – you’ve got to pay your taxes.

Good riddance Mr. Snipes

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May Day, May Day! March today in support of (illegal) immigrants rights!

Over two years ago (on 10 April 2006 to be precise), I published an article exhorting all people of political conscience, especially black Americans, to take time off from work to join a national day of marches in support of (illegal) immigrants rights. Unfortunately, the issues that compelled my exhortation then remain so unresolved that they’re compelling me to entreat people to march again today.

Therefore, I shall suffice to simply republish last year's article as a literal expression not only of my frustration with the lack of progress but also of my Groundhog-Day determination to continue marching for this just cause:

________________________


Just as blacks marched in the 1960s for civil rights, Hispanics are marching today for immigrant rights. And just as many non-blacks marched back then in support of black civil rights, today many non-Hispanics are marching in support of Hispanic immigrant rights.

(Of course, as a Caribbean native, I’m acutely aware that people not just from my region but also from all over the world stand to benefit from the rights we seek.)

But just as a few blacks undermined the political influence and moral authority of civil rights marches by rioting and spewing bellicose rhetoric, a few Hispanics risk undermining these marches by donning gang paraphernalia and parading defiantly with foreign flags. Therefore, let’s march! But please leave the gangsta attitude and all flags—except old glory (the US flag) - at home!

That said, the issues involved in this fight for immigrant rights are complex. Indeed, unlike the fight for black civil rights, the solution to the problem of illegal immigration is not just black and white. But, as I lamented in a previous commentary on this problem:

Given the political grandstanding on both sides of this issue, it’s unlikely that any legislation will be enacted before the November 2006 elections.

And, sure enough, on Friday, the compromise bill, which included the comprehensive measures to assimilate immigrants that I believe are necessary to deal with this problem, was defeated in the U.S. Senate.

It is instructive to note, however, that the bill failed not on its merits, but primarily because opportunistic Democrats used technical tricks to defeat it so that they would have immigration as a political issue to run on in the November elections. And this is a critical point because most voters mistakenly assume that Republicans are solely responsible for the failure of comprehensive immigration reform.

Therefore, the political debate on immigration will rage on. But please ignore all of the talk about building fences to seal the border and making felons of people who help illegal immigrants (as some bone-headed Republicans want to do); because such promises only offer comfort to fools.

Moreover, I entreat my black American friends to march in support of Hispanics to emulate whites who marched in support of blacks during the civil rights movement. See you on the road....

Si Se Puede!

NOTE: The Democrats won control of Congress, in part, by denying Republicans the ability to take credit for passing comprehensive immigration reform. Yet they too have neglected to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Therefore, the organizing principle of our march this year should be clarion calls to defeat any Democratic or Republican Congressional candidate who fails to pledge unequivocal support for pending legislation in this regard.

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My last word on this Rev. Wright media farce

In the opening sentence of the article I published just yesterday, I dismissed the media’s obsession with Rev. Jeremiah Wright as a distraction from the gravest issue in this year’s presidential election: the (now virtually ignored) war in Iraq.

Yet, within hours of publishing it, my candidate, Barack Obama, played into this obsession by holding an extraordinary press conference to “divorce” Rev. Wright, his former pastor. Never mind that the reverend retired from his ministry months ago....

I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday…. And what I think particularly angered me was [Rev. Wright’s] suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing.

[Sen. Barack Obama criticizing remarks Rev. Wright made at the National Press Club on Monday]

But when I finally saw clips of Obama’s press conference last night, I was almost as dismayed as I was when I saw clips of Wright’s “performance” at the National Press Club. Because this public spat they’re engaged in now reminds me of the racial spectacle Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill provided during hearings on his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court; i.e., two intelligent black people engaged in an idiotic bout of mutually assured destruction as political sport for political gain.

This is why I find the ongoing Wright and Obama show so regrettable. Nevertheless, I feel constrained to make a few points:

* This is a media-driven story. Because, like everything Britney Spears does, everything Wright says is good TV. And no one knows this better than the prima donna of ratings whores, Bill O’Reilly – who keeps wondering aloud why Wright won’t “just go away” while featuring the reverend every night on his show.

* In his historic speech on race almost six weeks ago, Obama addressed all of the relevant issues raised by the 24/7 streaming clips of Wright’s most controversial remarks. And nothing Wright has said since then warranted the press conference Obama gave yesterday except political damage control.

* The irony is not lost on me that the thing that “angered” Obama most happens to be the thing that is most true about this controversy, namely: Wright’s assertion that Obama’s denunciation of him is “political posturing.” After all, it is self-evident that the only reason Obama held this press conference was to appease white (blue-collar) voters who are buying into the media (bogeyman) caricature of Wright hook, line and sinker.

* But hanging Wright’s sermons like an albatross around Obama’s neck reeks of racism, religious bigotry and political double standards. Because no other presidential candidate (not even JFK) has ever had to disown, or answer for the lunatic rantings of, his (or her) pastor. (And, for the record, Wright’s sermons are tame compared to the racist, homophobic, misogynistic and xenophobic crap many white preachers spew from their pulpits every Sunday.)

* No doubt this is why the pastor of Hillary’s Methodist Church, Senior Minister Dean J. Snyder, voiced support for Wright as follows:

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright is an outstanding church leader…. To evaluate his dynamic ministry on the basis of two or three sound bites does a grave injustice to Dr. Wright, the members of his congregation, and the African-American church.

Does it not follow therefore that the media should be calling on Hillary to denounce and disown her pastor for supporting Wright?

* With the exception of his insinuation that HIV/AIDS is a biological agent produced by the U.S. government to exterminate black people, I defy anyone to point to a single thing Wright has said that is untrue. (However, the fact that the government deliberately infected black men with syphilis for its Tuskegee experiment provides sufficient precedent for his suspicions about the origins of HIV/AIDS.)

* Like most black preachers, Wright’s sermons are dynamic, passionate and provocative. But that’s only “different not deficient” juxtaposed to the boring, frigid and by-the-Book sermons (most) white preachers deliver.

* I do not believe that Wright has been co-opted by the Clintons to sabotage Obama’s campaign. But the fact that a die-hard Hillary supporter was instrumental in securing his appearance at the National Press Club suggests that the Clintons’ Machiavellian hands are deeply involved in stoking this controversy.

* I believe that Wright is a remarkably brilliant, unquestionably accomplished and justifiably proud black man who intends no harm to Obama’s campaign.

Unfortunately, he's also a narcissistic egomaniac who is hell-bent on doing whatever he can to redeem his reputation (and reclaim his marketability as the Bill Clinton on the preachers’ circuit). And he’s just too conceited to consider the collateral damage this is inflicting on Obama’s campaign.

* Meanwhile, there’s no denying that Wright only reinforced the way the media has caricatured him by acting more like a gansta rapper than a respected preacher at the National Press Club.

* Moreover, the irony is not lost on me that nothing could be more antithetical to his black liberation theology than a black preacher being the one to undermine the historic opportunity for the first black man to become president of the United States.

* Obama is understandably “outraged and saddened” by Wright’s refusal to put his ego in check for this historic opportunity. Frankly, I am too. But he’s naïve if he thinks that heeding calls by (mostly white) political pundits to throw his (former) pastor under the bus will kill Wright as a campaign canard.

* And only God knows what they’ll be calling for Obama to do when Wright escalates their nasty public divorce by responding to this latest denunciation….

That said, I support Obama now more than ever. And I wish him luck in getting out his message of hope, common cause and racial reconciliation.

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33 years ago today, the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam

Notwithstanding the media’s obsession with Reverend Jeremiah Wright or warranted concerns about rising gasoline prices, the gravest issue in this year’s presidential election is the (now virtually ignored) war in Iraq. And since comparisons to America’s humiliating “cut and run” from Vietnam have become inescapable, I feel obliged to acknowledge this seminal day in the history of that war.

One unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens, whose agony would add to our vocabulary new terms, like 'boat people,' 'reeducation camps,' and 'killing fields.’

U.S. President George W. Bush

With all due respect to President Bush, however, that is precisely the wrong lesson to draw from Vietnam.

Because the unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America’s refusal to withdraw from an “unwinnable war” (as no less a person than Henry Kissinger has described the war in Iraq) should not be paid by thousands of American soldiers, whose deaths would add to our vocabulary new terms, like the fallacies of “[American-style] democracy is God’s gift to the world,” “shock and awe,” and “mission accomplished” on the one hand, and the terminal menace of “Islamic insurgents,” “torture,” and “IEDs” on the other.

Moreover, since Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has evidently drawn the same lesson from Vietnam as Bush, this alone provides just cause to vote for Sen. Barack Obama (or Sen. Hillary Clinton if she and husband Bill manage to steal the Democratic nomination) to become the next president of the United States.

After all, where McCain has pledged to “stay the course” in Iraq for 100 years (during which time U.S. casualties would surely surpass the 58,000 who died in Vietnam), Obama and Hillary have pledged to withdraw well before today’s 4000 casualties double to 8000.

But it is self-evident that the U.S. will have to cut and run from Iraq. The only question is when that will be and (in terms of lives and money) what price this defeat?

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Defending the reputation of TCI First Lady LisaRaye McCoy-Misick

On Friday, I wrote a column to put into proper context the extraordinary attack Premier Hon. Dr. Michael Misick of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) launched against me in Parliament last week.

One of the more ironic things about his attack was his accusation that I am a crony of the opposition PDM party. Ironic because, not so long ago, when I hailed Dr. Misick for his historic achievement on becoming the first Premier of the TCI, many PDM supporters condemned me as a “traitor.”

Well, today I’m writing about another matter that I feel obliged to put into proper context. And it pertains to the salacious and malicious rumours that are stalking the circulation (throughout the entire Caribbean) of a picture of TCI First Lady LisaRaye on the cover of a magazine called Smooth.

Frankly, I am shocked and appalled that so many purportedly intelligent and fair-minded people are not even bothering to wonder when this photo was taken before condemning the First Lady for bringing our country into ill-repute. Not to mention the self-righteous Christians amongst us who have apparently forgotten God’s admonition to “judge not, lest ye be judged.”

Beyond being shocked and appalled, however, I am profoundly dismayed. Because so many influential people (including some from the ruling PNP) seem hell-bent on besmirching the First Lady’s reputation as a craven means of twisting the knife in our terminally wounded Premier. And this is unfair, unseemly, and unbecoming.

Nevertheless, my faith in the innate compassion and good sense of my fellow TCIslanders remains unshaken. Therefore, I hope the facts I’m about to share about this prurient farce will not only set the record straight but also compel all of you to redouble your efforts to accord our First Lady the deference and respect she deserves:

a. The picture at issue was taken by a female photographer named Jeanette Rulli in the fall of 2003, which was over two years before LisaRaye even met the Hon. Dr. Michael Misick.

b. At the time it was taken, LisaRaye was working as an actress. And as such, she did what every beautiful and respectable actress from Halle Berry to Angelina Jolie did to further their careers; i.e., she modeled.

c. Unfortunately, starting out in their careers, none of these women are ever in the position to retain control over the use of the pictures that are taken of them. And that is why, all these years later, magazines like Smooth can publish them to exploit the positions of honor and esteem they attain in society, the arts or politics.

d. Whatever one thinks of the revealing nature of this picture, it is modest by comparison to what many other respectable actresses revealed in their modeling days.

e. And, even if LisaRaye appeared fully nude, I suspect it would have been in the artistic manner we see nude women on display in some of the most hallowed museums in the world, including at the Vatican in Rome. Of course, if you prefer a more contemporary reference, consider that a fully nude photo of the First Lady of France, Carla Bruni, was sold at auction just weeks ago.

That said, let us now focus our thoughts and attention on the truly scandalous matters we’re having to cope with these days. After all, it is also ironic that this unjust vilification of our First Lady (for taking a relatively innocent picture) has detracted from the just denunciation of our Premier (for squandering our nation’s wealth).

Finally, I suspect that many of you who have taken perverse delight in hurling indignation at the First Lady are the very ones who have already tried and convicted the Premier of rape. Therefore, I urge you to take a moment to reflect on what the following question says about our character and soul as a God-fearing nation:

Why did so many of us think so little about treating so cruelly a woman who must be crestfallen over allegations that her husband betrayed her by raping a woman in their home?

My fellow TCIslanders, each of us now has a duty to show the world that we are better than this….

NOTE: No doubt it will be difficult for some of you to appreciate why I have come to First Lady LisaRaye’s defense – especially given all that I’ve written about her husband. But I defend her for same reason I criticize her husband: the offices they hold reflect who we are as a people. And to the extent those offices are besmirched or corrupted, we too are besmirched or corrupted.

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* This article is also featured today at Caribbean Net News, the most widely read newspaper in the Caribbean.

LisaRaye McCoy-Misick

McCain’s pipe dream: Hillary and Obama engage in mutually assured destruction (MAD), and he wins by default…

Meanwhile, here, in part, is what I wrote several months ago (on January 29) about how the Clintons’ race-baiting campaign tactics so outraged the Kennedys that they felt morally compelled to endorse Obama:

It could only have reinforced Sen. Kennedy's disgust when Bill Clinton insinuated that Jesse Jackson could have done just as well after Obama won a landslide victory in the South Carolina primary. Because it was lost on no one that Bill was trying to foment racial resentment amongst whites and Hispanics against Obama to get them to vote for Hillary.

In fact, what he was really saying to blacks in South Carolina, and implicitly to blacks all over America, is “ya’ll can kiss my white ass cuz we don’t need you to win!” And, given that Hispanics now outnumber blacks, he might be right....

It took them long enough, but even “neutral” black leaders are now becoming disgusted with the Clintons. And no one has expressed this disgust with more dignified indignation than Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the so-called Dean of black Democrats.

The final straw seems to have been Bill’s recent pot-calling-the-kettle-black tirade in which he insisted that "Obama played the race card on me." And, when challenged about the patent falsity and absurdity of his claim, Bill exacerbated his delusion as he fumed to an aide:

I don't think I should take any shit from anybody on that, do you?

This, in turn, prompted Clyburn to call Bill’s tirade “bizarre,” and he admonished the former "first black president of the United States" (brother to “brother”) to “chill.”

Unfortunately, Bill and Hillary couldn’t care any less how blacks feel about them playing the race card or taking "the low road to victory.”

Nevertheless, they are such craven opportunists that once Obama gets the nomination, the Clintons will act as if they ordained it. Moreover, they will work fiendishly on his behalf to ensure access to the White House once Obama is elected the next president of the United States.

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Premier Michael Misick blames me for bankrupting the TCI?!

Republished from Caribbean Net News

caribbeannetnews.com

Published on Friday, April 25, 2008

By Anthony Livingston Hall


On Wednesday, in the midst of the most critical budget debate in the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), Premier Hon. Dr Michael Misick took to the floor of Parliament and accused me of plotting to ruin the country. Of course, if I suffered any of the delusions and pathologies he manifests, I would be flattered.

Frankly, this is rather like a crazy man who sets his house on fire and then accuses the firemen of trying to destroy it. After all, the Premier spewed this accusation at me in response to the opposition party’s indictment against him for the mismanagement, misuse and misappropriation of government revenues that have left us effectively bankrupt.

At any rate, as evidence of my phantom plot, the Premier claimed that:

a. I received $100,000 from the previous PDM government to perform legal services but “did nothing”;

b. I am a crony being used by opposition leaders to tell lies and drag our country through the mud in the international media. (Because he won’t let me do so in the TCI); and

c. I am not even a real citizen of the TCI because I have never lived there and care nothing about it.

And, in a perverse attempt to authenticate these fatuous claims, he added that two of my erstwhile cousins (namely, Deputy Premier Floyd Hall and Minister Jeffery Hall, MP) have denied any relationship with me.

At this point, I feel obliged to apologise to my fellow TCIslanders for the mockery our Premier made of the budget debate by launching into this incomprehensible attack on me. Especially since I am reliably informed that many of you watched this farce on (his) national TV.

That said, I’m sure everyone, except the Hon. Dr Misick, is wondering what in the world I have to do with the fact that he blew our national budget by $36 million, has overdrawn the government’s current cash account by $6 million, and is planning to burden us with massive tax and fee increases to compensate for his shortcomings as Premier.

In fact, his tirade against me is such a patent and puerile ruse to deflect blame that I seriously considered not dignifying his claims with any response. Ultimately, however, my respect for the office he holds compels me to.

Therefore, in order, here is all I have to say about our Premier’s attempt to assassinate my character:

a. I never, ever, received $100,000 (or anywhere near that amount) from the PDM government.

The fact is that over a 10-year period (from 1993 to 2003), I performed a variety of legal and consulting services for the government. And I did 99 per cent of this work free of charge.

Nonetheless, in the one case where I submitted a bill for legitimate and documented services rendered, the government paid only two thirds of it and the rest remains outstanding to this day. This, no doubt, is the case the Premier was alluding to in his parliamentary diatribe.

But I am sensible enough to know that it would be unseemly and futile for me to engage in a “he said, he said” argument about the facts involved.

Therefore, I invite the Premier (or any interested party) to contact the chairman and board members of the government agency who retained me for the work in question. As I am certain that, if they tell him today what they told me back then, he will be informed that the work I submitted took one-tenth the time to complete, was twice as good, and cost half as much as similar work they were obligated to pay a foreign firm to produce.

(Incidentally, I am quite prepared to subject all of my business dealings in the TCI to the kind of forensic scrutiny that would surely cause the Premier to break out in hives if his were subjected to similar scrutiny.)

b. I challenge the Premier to cite a single lie I’ve written about him or our country. And no fair-minded person who reads my commentaries could possibly think that I’m a crony of the PDM. Which is more than can be said for the (Barbadian) editor of his state newspaper, The Sun; after all, he peddles the Premier’s propaganda as if his livelihood depended on it.

But nothing demonstrates the Premier’s delusional state of mind quite like his accusing me of ruining our country by writing about his corrupt and incompetent government in the foreign press. Because, like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, he takes foolish pride in the fact that he has silenced all freedom of press in the TCI.

Indeed, it takes psychotic gall for this man – who is under investigation not only for embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars but also for raping one of our tourists – to be accusing me of dragging our country through the mud. It also reflects the fact that he has become completely detached from the realities of ordinary life and politics in the TCI.

This, however, is hardly surprising since the Premier has spent more time abroad spending our money like an Arab sheik than he has at home attending the affairs of state. Furthermore, he has used public funds to maintain a lifestyle (complete with domestic servants who earn more than civil servants) that makes the $50,000 net worth he declared when he was first elected seem like mere pocket change today.

(By the way, I fear some of his ministers have become equally detached. Because only this explains why, during the budget debate, Minister Jeffrey Hall offered the following instruction to long-suffering TCIslanders as a way they can help resolve the economic crisis the government created: Begin putting things in, and taking them out, of the refrigerator in the blink of an eye to conserve electricity...)

c. Thank God my status as a bona fide TCIslander is determined only by our Constitution.

Because, if it were up to the Premier, only islanders who swear cult-like loyalty to him, Russians and Czechs who conduct shady land deals with him, and Hollywood D-listers who sponge off him would qualify.

With that, I hope my fellow TCIslanders will find my answers to the Premier’s claims both dignified and wholly credible.

Now I shall conclude by reiterating two pieces of advice I have urged the Premier to heed:

1. Two years ago, when he was teasing us with talk of independence, I advised him to govern with such prudence and honesty that no one could accuse him of being a hollow politician who is more interested in posing as an independent leader than in assuming the duties and responsibilities of good governance. Alas, he did not heed this advice...

2. Two weeks ago, when rape allegations against him first surfaced, I advised him to stay far away from the United States because he would surely be arrested. And the last thing our people need is to see another TCI leader being hauled off from Miami Airport in handcuffs. It behooves him to take heed.

NOTE: Credible sources have reported that Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has joined TCI Opposition PDM Leader Hon. Floyd Seymour in calling on the Premier to resign. However, I suspect one would have better luck drawing blood from a stone.

This is why, over six months ago, I called on the more conscientious members of the ruling PNP to throw him overboard to save themselves and our country. But I fear their failure to do so will eventually force the British to dissolve this government and put our country into receivership... again.

ENDNOTE: Rumor has it that lawyers for the Premier are on the verge of concluding negotiations for him to pay off the woman who accused him of rape. If so, this will probably provide just the pretext TCI law enforcement authorities need to drop the case.

Nevertheless, he should be aware that once she reported this crime to the police in America, she retained no authority to decide whether to prosecute him. In fact, even if the Premier offers her millions, she could still be compelled to testify (and could be held in contempt if she refuses) and he could end up facing charges not only for rape but also for obstruction of justice.

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Happy (belated) 38th Earth Day

Tuesday, April 22, was the official date of this year’s Earth Day celebration.

This observance was conceived in the late 1960s by Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, as an enlightened response to carefree pollution all over America. And the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970.

But the environmental practices it inaugurated have become so much a part of our ordinary lives that I felt commenting on Danica Patrick’s historic car race was a greater priority on Tuesday - notwithstanding Al Gore’s prophecies about Earth in the Balance.

To be fair, however, this celebration of and deference to Earth’s natural wonders should be distinguished from Gore’s convenient truths about climate change (e.g. like his using fake images of melting glaciers in his documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” just to scare people).

After all, Earth Day consciousness ushered in conservation and greening trends that have led to cleaner air, more potable (lead-free) water and a much less polluted environment. Whereas, by Gore’s own admission, there has been “no improvement in the fight against climate change” since he began prophesizing his Cassandra warnings about global-warming.

Of course, if there’s any truth to Gore’s doomsday scenario (especially with China and India joining the United States as superpower polluters), I suppose there would be no point in wishing us earthlings another 38 years….

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Hillary wins Pennsylvania to remain a bona fide nuisance

For a variety of reason not worth mentioning, I thought Barack Obama would win yesterday’s Pennsylvania primary. In fact, here’s how I called it:

It seems no one thinks Barack Obama has a prayer of winning today’s Pennsylvania primary. But I think he’s going to shock the world by upsetting Hillary Clinton (i.e., by ending up in a virtual tie in her “home state”). And this will give him a lock on the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

More important, however, even if Hillary wins by the 10-point margin most pundits predict, it will have no significant impact on Obama’s lead in the overall delegate race 1655 to 1513.

What can I say, occasionally conventional wisdom is wise. Never mind my (and Obama’s) misguided hope that Pennsylvanians would reverse the trend of white voters promising to vote for Obama on the campaign trail but voting for Hillary on election day….

Despite the egg on my face, however, "read my lips:" Obama will be the Democratic nominee. In fact, even with her impressive win and all the delegates factored in, Obama retains his commanding lead in the delegate race 1694 to 1556.

Nevertheless, as a consolation prize, Hillary’s win will enable her to not only replenish her debt-ridden campaign coffers but also remain a bona fide nuisance to Obama all the way to the Democratic Convention in August. Indeed, she is now poised to make good on her threat to have a cat-and-dog death match with Obama on the floor of the Convention for the nomination.

Whatever Hillary….

NOTE: To all of the poor blue-collar workers out there struggling to make ends meet, please do not be fooled by Hillary's I-feel-your-pain-cuz-I'm-one-of-you shtick.

After all, this is a woman who has lived in either a governor's mansion (in Arkansas) or the White House virtually all of her adult life. And she was just forced to disclose that she's worth over $100 million for Christ's sake!

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Danica Patrick finally wins an Indy car race

I know many of you consider car racing a sport only simple-minded, beer-drinking, tobacco-chewing rednecks could enjoy. But this reflects your ignorance far more than it does any lack of sophistication among the fans of this sport.

After all, Indy car racing is a sport that requires the steady nerves of a surgeon, the daring skill of a jet fighter and the physical stamina of a marathon runner. And no sport can match the none-stop thrill, nail-biting anxiety and death-defying excitement one gets from watching those cars zoom around that track - jockeying for position at an average speed of over 220 mph…for 500 miles!

Now, add to these exhilarating dynamics Danica Patrick – all 5’1”, 100lbs of her in full racing armor – and the world’s most watched sporting event (over 300,000 in the stands) is injected with a level of human interest that transcends sport.

Indeed, when Patrick made her debut on the all-male Indy racing circuit in 2005, I was among the ardent feminists heralding her as the Tiger Woods of her sport. In fact, I thought her performance in that year’s feature race, the Indianapolis 500, was so promising that I wrote the following:

What a debut Patrick made! Because, after racing in such dramatic fashion - by skillfully navigating through a number of harrowing crashes, leading the race on several occasions (including at lap 190 of 200) and finishing 4th out of 33 of the world’s best drivers - Patrick easily surpassed her media hype and demonstrated beyond doub