Blog Safari #26

It is difficult to keep track of the great flow of information that flows from the many blogs in the afrosphere. I like to share some of the more interesting ones with our villagers via this 'Blog Safari' concept. I hope you will join our Rhino-Guide (she needs a name!) on a journey thru the cyber-jungle to read and enjoy these posts as you have time or inclination. Enjoy the flow!!

• America Magazine - 'Mister President: Letters and Memos to the Incoming Executive'
  
• Black Politics on the Web - 'Congressional Black Caucus Anticipates Greater Power'
  
• DeniseJacobs.com - 'Can the Afrosphere Survive the Age of Obama'
  
• On the Black Hand Side - '20 Questions with Anika Myers Palm'
  
• What Tami Said - 'Obama's Victory is Just One Step'

Let us know if you come across any remarkable posts that should be shared in our next Blog Safari!

Mr. Anh Cao Goes to Washington

America seems like a more just place this morning. I woke up to the news that the voters of Louisiana finally realized that they were represented in Congress by an indicted bribe-taking jerk. Among other evidence, Jefferson was videotaped by the FBI receiving $100,000 worth of $100 bills in a leather briefcase at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington, Virginia.

I asked William Jefferson to go away ... and the voters of Louisiana 'made it so'.

Jefferson was defeated by Anh 'Joseph' Cao, a little-known Republican lawyer ... the very first Vietnamese-American Congressman ever. Cao is an immigration lawyer and community activist who once pursued the priesthood with the Jesuits.

Hailing from New Orleans’s Versailles — the area of almost 100% Vietnamese, best known to outsiders as an area heavily damaged by Katrina — Cao is said to be affiliated with Boat People S.O.S., a refugee rights advocacy group based in Washington DC.

William Jefferson had been Louisiana’s first Black Congress member since Reconstruction. However, Black folks all over America are seeking quality in our public officials. Once you go Obama ... you NEVER GO BACK! Jefferson cynically counted on a loyal base to return him to Congress for a 10th term.

I join with other villagers in wishing Mr. Cao much success as he goes to Washington DC. I don't have much love for Republicans because of their policies ... but, I appreciate the historical significance of breaking another cultural barrier in our national politics.

How did you feel about these election results from Louisiana?

Blog Safari #18

There are truly remarkable bloggers sharing humorous, insightful and meaningful posts with us. I hope that you take a few moments to enjoy this week's 'Blog Safari'. Share some love with these blogs from other parts of the afrosphere.

• BDPA Detroit - 10 Steps Techies Should Take to Keep Their Jobs in a Financial Meltdown


• Black Digerati - Black Americans and the Blogosphere


• Black Political Thought - Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan Gave His Life for a Country In Which Some Discriminate Against Muslims


• Black Politics on the Web - 140 Years Ago, Black Senator Made History


• Dallas South - Consensus on Race Will Take Effort by All

Let us know if you come across any remarkable posts that should be shared in our next Blog Safari!

Kwame Kilpatrick Indicted; He Should Resign

I was very pleased to bring a national convention to Detroit in 2005. We tried unsuccessfully to get Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to drop by and participate in the event. We thought he would be a great role model for the young people and IT professionals at the event. I guess it was a good thing that he didn't get featured at the conference. Today, I watched Kilpatrick, a one-time rising star and Detroit's youngest elected leader, get charged with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages surfaced that appear to contradict his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy also charged the popular yet polarizing 37-year-old mayor with obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. Former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, 37, who also denied under oath that she and Kilpatrick shared a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.

"This case was about as far from being a private matter as one can get. Honesty and integrity in the justice system is everything. That is what this case is about," Worthy said at a news conference. "Just when did honesty and integrity, truth and honor become traits to be mocked, downplayed, ignored, laughed at or excuses made for them? When did telling the truth become a supporting player to everything else?"

Kym Worthy has been in the national spotlight before from a police beat-down given to citizen named Malice Green shortly after the Rodney King riots.

A perjury conviction could bring up to 15 years' imprisonment and force Kilpatrick to relinquish the mayor's office. It appears he won't be giving up the office without a conviction. No Spitzer-like resignation from Kilpatrick ... which is too bad for the city of Detroit. I lived in Detroit for 8 years and my eldest daughter still lives there. As such, I think that Kilpatrick should resign in the best interests of the city and its citizens.

Sheesh, didn't any politician learn from Bill Clinton? His issues didn't come from putting stains on Monica's dress ... they came when he lied about it afterwards. Mayor Kwame, was it worth it?