This blog seeks to look at events thru the perspective of Black people. We seek the Nguzo Saba 365/7 on on our blog. Please be active as a villager by using the COMMENT OPTION on blog posts, Subscribe to our blog, introduce yourself or view our most popular posts!
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us to judge a man by his actions ("content of his character"). I'm applying that logic to Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the judgment is a simple one -- Boehner doesn't like people of color. He appears to go out of his way to avoid any prolonged interaction with anyone that isn't Caucasian.
I began to notice the lack of racial comfort in Boehner last week when he turned down the offer to ride in Air Force One with the President, First Lady and others to the memorial being held to honor the fallen from the tragedy in Tucson. It didn't make sense to me that Boehner wouldn't go with President Obama to represent the nation at this seminal event of the new year.
In Tucson we witnessed a remarkable event:
A Republican, Catholic judge was killed going to the meeting of a Democratic Jewish Congresswoman who was saved by a Mexican-American intern and successfully operated on by a Korean-American surgeon. The dead were later eulogized by an African American President.
Where was Boehner at the time? He was hobnobbing with some white Republican leaders at some cocktail party. Boehner doesn't have a problem spending quality time with white folks ... especially if there is a cocktail included!
It is worth noting that the cocktail party was being held as part of an effort to unseat GOP chairman Michael Steele ... a Black man ... from the office he held over the past two years.
Today, we learn that Boehner is turning down an invitation to a state dinner being hosted in honor of Chinese president Hu Jintao and his wife. Boehner is second-in-succession for the presidency ... and he doesn't think it important to participate in this private dinner with the leader of the largest nation on the planet?
I thought perhaps Boehner just doesn't like to wear a tuxedo ... but, then I see that he didn't have any problem going to black-tie state dinner hosted by former president George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush a few years ago in honor of Queen Elizabeth II.
Boehner may joke about 'Being Black' ... but, the reality is that Boehner's rebuke of the African American family in the White House and our nation's guests from China shows a disturbing trend.
I think it is fair to say that Speaker John Boehner doesn't like people of color. What say u?
President Barack Obama is a man who works hard for us. He rebounded over the past couple of weeks from the 'shellacking' that he took in the mid-term elections. So, I'm glad that our president and his family are taking this 11-day vacation down in Hawaii. This should give him some time to spend with his family, walk on the beach, play some golf, do some reading and maybe leave a comment or two on this blog!
Unfortunately, I suspect that Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. John Boehner are taking advantage of the quiet time to come out of the box strong in January. I suspect that the days of bi-partisan accomplishments are about to come to an end. The GOP, powered by their Tea Party fruitcakes are itching to take on the President.
Hopefully, the president is building up his strength for the fight.
Anyhow, what are your vacation plans as we end the calendar year?
Last weekend, Tea Party Patriots gathered in the Capitol and showered racist and homophobic abuse on Democratic Congress Members supporting healthcare reform. As I watched the images on my television I was reminded of another time in our history ... Reconstruction. That was a time when Black leaders were taking on leadership roles in Congress. White folks got upset and begin to yell racist insults at the Black leaders. Today, we have a Black man making historic changes in the White House ... and racist insults and threats are being hurled at him and other Black congressional leaders.
One Tea Party protester called the former civil rights leader and current Atlanta Congressman John Lewis the "n-word". John Lewis was spat on and called the n-word when he marched on that bridge in Selma, AL over 50 years ago. Now as a respected member of Congress he has to endure it again.
Another spat on Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, also an African American.
The more things change ... the more they stay the same.
Republican leaders publicly denounced Sunday's ugly scene, but they failed to acknowledge that this is only the latest incident in a pattern of violent rhetoric, racially charged imagery, and paranoid conspiracy theories at Tea Party rallies. Many Tea Partiers aren't simply about dissent -- they use fear and hatred to assault the very legitimacy of our elected leaders. It's the worst America has to offer.
All things rise and fall with leadership. Watch the following video and tell me which leader you want to follow?
John Boehner and his GOP cronies know that this past weekend wasn't an isolated incident.
Villagers remember the rallies held to protest tax day last year, Tea Partiers carried signs that announced "Obama's Plan: White Slavery," "The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama's Oven," and "Guns Tomorrow!"
The Republican National Committee had endorsed the rallies, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele encouraged Tea Partiers to send a "virtual tea bag" to President Obama and Democratic Congressional leadership. After reports of the fear-mongering signs surfaced, Steele did nothing to distance his party from the lunatic fringe. He has even gone so far as to say that if he didn't have his current position, he'd be "out there with the tea partiers." Some Republican governors even planned a "Tea Party 2.0" for the following month in an effort to build on the rallies' momentum.
The Tea Party's venomous rhetoric picked up steam over the summer, when angry mobs flooded town hall meetings legislators had organized as sites for rational, civil debate on health care reform. After one meeting in Atlanta, a swastika was painted on the office of Congressman David Scott (D-GA), who had also received a flier addressed to "nigga David Scott." Some protesters showed up at town hall meetings carrying guns, including at least one man who was armed at an event where the President was speaking. Again, Republicans responded to these tactics with silence, doing nothing to denounce them.
Similarly, there was no public outcry from Republican leadership when Mark Williams, a leader of the Tea Party movement, was exposed for having described the President as "an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief" on his blog.
Instead, we see members of the GOP continued to show up to and endorse Tea Party rallies. And as recently as Sunday -- the day that the historic health care bill passed the House -- Republican members of the House riled up the same Tea Party crowd that had earlier harassed their fellow members with hate and bigotry.
It is time to put a stop to the hate. I encourage all villagers to sign the petition recently created by ColorOfChange.org. Do it now!
Did you watch any of the coverage of the health care reform bill in the House of Representatives yesterday? It was a remarkable moment in political history when Congress passed a sweeping overhaul of our health care system -- a major progressive victory that will rein in the worst insurance abuses and expand health care to 32 million Americans.
The Democrats were 'giddy' as they realized that they had the votes to pass historic health care reform. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) solidified her reputation as one of the most powerful leaders in congressional history. She gets the votes when it counts. Pelosi is credited with keeping the flame burning for comprehensive reform in February, after Sen. Brown (R-MA) was elected, when many others had abandoned the idea.
President Obama proved to the world once again that he was a political opponent to be feared as he cancelled a high-profile international trip to stay home for yesterday's vote. He used the power of his office to make a deal with Bart Stupak (D-MI) and five other pro-life Democrats.
Obama has to feel good today. No longer can people call him a weak president. After decades of attempts, this is a historic achievement.
