NAACP 500 Leadership summit

I have heavily critiqued the NAACP.

I’ve spoken about how it feels very much disconnected from my generation and I’ve watched as local chapters hold press conferences about ridiculous and frivolous issues. The nation’s oldest civil rights group to me seemed stagnant—Just a bunch of old Black folks being old and Black and not growing with the times. Yes, of course there were some places where the NAACP was still doing good work but I scoffed at it being genuinely relevant anymore.

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So when my co-host L. Joy Williams — an active member of the NAACP’s Brooklyn branch — wanted to invite the National  NAACP’s chairperson on to our radio show, I half-heartedly agreed and told her don’t get mad if I say something she doesn’t like.  Chairman Roslyn Brock appeared on “Blacking It Up” January 23, 2012, and when I thought I was pushing back on her and the organization she pushed back on me. She challenged me directly. She asked me if I was a member of the NAACP? If I had issues with it, why not join and voice them from within?

Why not work with them?

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t considered it before. At Netroots Nation in 2010 during the Black Caucus, the idea of “infiltrating” the NAACP was discussed by a group of very engaged Blacks who felt disconnected to the organization — but I personally didn’t follow up on that threat. The closest I came to joining was when they issued the resolution that there were racist elements in the Tea Party—which at first I thought was silly. But when the declaration caused some members of the Tea Party to respond with racism, I realized that it was sort of a brilliant move. Then within a week or two of that high profile checkmate, the Shirley Sherrod incident occurred and I crossed my arms and said “SEE.”

But as I spoke to the Chairman issuing a direct challenge to me, I felt as if I couldn’t just blow it off. If you’re going to talk smack about organizations you have to also be willing to stand up when asked. The historic nature of the NAACP can never be overstated. And with the challenge the chairman also invited me down to their annual Leadership 500 summit, a 4 day meeting of the minds discussing the path and focus of the organization.

That’s where I’m writing from now.

See Live Coverage of The NAACP 8th Annual Leadership 500 Summit, “Protecting our BMW’s – Black Men Walking,” here.

In the first full day there have been panels and discussions on a wide range of topics. There are people here that I wasn’t aware of before, like Shavon Arline Bradley, Director of Health Programs for the NAACP, who are speaking passionately and brilliantly about many issues that are plaguing our time in America. She came on “Blacking It Up” and dropped one of the scariest statements I’ve ever heard. When explaining the importance of universal healthcare and the actions that we have to take in order to make sure communities have access to fresh food and vegetables she said:

“This generation is the first one that may not live past their parents.”

Another one of my co-hosts, Aaron Rand Freeman had seen Bradley at an earlier panel and couldn’t heap enough praise on her. He was impressed by her knowledge and passion beyond belief. I mention him specifically because Aaron isn’t the type to get excited about conferences or speakers at said conferences. He’s not the type to want to join organizations like the NAACP. Yet after sitting around at the summit and observing it, he was not only excited, he was amazed. This was the NAACP people like myself and many others rarely get to see.

In recent weeks the media focus has been primarily on their recent stance on marriage equality for LGBT Americans, but there’s so much more going on. This civil rights group may be the oldest in the nation but the next generation of leaders are joining and stepping up to deal with the current civil rights issues of the day. Voter Id Laws, Healthcare, Drug laws—all of these are being dealt with head on. I thought to myself “I wish I heard more about this side of the NAACP.”

Then I realized maybe I should stop complaining and show this side of the NAACP.

As he evolved away from his past as Detroit Red, he transformed himself first, into a loyal protégé of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, then, into a world renowned human rights activist. He never hid behind his legend to avoid speaking of his time as a petty criminal, instead using his story to bolster the confidence of everyday men facing his same struggles. He let them know, in no uncertain terms, that they didn’t have to have a pristine past to make a difference in the present and the future.

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The seismic shift that occurred in our culture, politics and philosophy as Black Americans in the ’50′s and ’60′s will forever be linked to brother Malcolm and his strength in the face of adversity, his unwillingness to bow to the hypocrisy that he had grown to see within the Nation of Islam, and his refusal to dilute his power for a country that feared his influence.

When looking back at the often tumultuous days of Malcolm’s life, one can not help but wonder what was on his mind. As he began to separate from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the man he credited with saving his life, as he broke ranks with the Nation of Islam, the brothers he had molded into the image of Black manhood that was deemed necessary for the separation of Black and White Americans to be successful, as his philosophy began to shift away from merging race and religion, to his belief that matters of human rights can not be confined by such a flimsy institution, as he begin to realize that he was living a lie and all White Americans were no more our enemies than all Black Americans were our friends, what was on his mind?

Many of us forget that he was only 39-years-old when he was gunned down in the Audubon Ballroom just north of Harlem, New York on February 21, 1965. In his short life he went through three pivotal transformations that culminated with the founding of Organization of Afro-America Unity and Muslim Mosque, Inc. Though the two convergent movements never gained the traction and power of the NOI, it spoke to Malcolm’s influence that he was able to step out on purpose and take people with him that were ready to die for him.

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Where are those leaders today?

As we celebrate the birth of Malcolm, I’m reminded of the day that I had the honor of meeting his eldest daughter, Ambassador Attallah Shabazz in Los Angeles. I was able to look into her eyes and see her father’s spirit, intelligence, resilience and passion — and to also tell her that he shaped my philosophy on religion, politics and race. I shared with her that he gave me strength to stand on principal when it seemed that no one was standing by my side. She smiled when I told her that when I was first introduced to his focus on human rights, rather than civil rights — because how can we expect civility until we are first considered human? — it changed my life.

In a poem I penned last year on this date, I recount how I was also able to share my unyielding love and respect for the great El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz with my 7-year-old son:

Today, May 19, 2011, my son went to school like any other day
He took his shower, brushed his hair, ate his breakfast and
Kissed me goodbye
But not before I told him about a man
Not before I explained to him that, though this man’s time was brief
His impact on the world is one that shook the buildings in Washington
And the hoods from Detroit to Harlem
Not before I told him that here stood a Prince who stood for something
A brotha who struggled in the trenches each and every day
To shed light in darkness
To weld the power burning in our collective psyches
Into Weapons of Mass Instruction
Not before I told him that because of one Warrior
Freedom will forever be a word in his mother’s vocabulary

Because I’m ready to die for it

Not before I told him that there once was a man
Whose body was defiled by bullets and lies
His death certificate signed by traitors and bureaucrats
A man who could not contain brilliance so bright it lit minds
From the ghettos of this stolen nation to the deserts of Africa
Reminding us that the shackles of slavery have been broken
Yet we still have to escape the plantation
I told him about a Soldier who refused to withdraw from a battle with a country
That refused to define him as man and in that defiance of oppression
Taught an entire generation that equality  — on our terms — will be had

By Any Means Necessary

Before my son walked out of the door
I told him about his brother, his teacher, his elder, his ancestor
Who refused to live a lie even if it assured his death
Who refused to kowtow or step and fetch it
Or be a diluted version of the man he was destined to be
Just so he could later be deemed acceptable enough
To warrant a holiday on the day of his birth
Yes, my son went to school today…

But not before I told him about brother Malcolm.

Today, I hope we all take a moment to honor the life of a man who died for us all — and continue to walk in his legacy.

Happy Birthday, brother Malcolm.

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Joe Ricketts, founder of the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade, is the billionaire behind this latest attack. The Obama-Biden campaign address the proposal in emails sent out to supports, claiming that it shows in “vivid and gruesome detail what the President and all of us are up against.”

Unsurprisingly, they plan to paint the president as “slick” and “cocky,” which amount to nothing more than an update of the “celebrity” and elitist” jargon of  ’08. And because people “still aren’t ready to hate this president” they need a token, an “extremely literate conservative African-American” so Africans-Americans don’t think they’re racists.

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Anyone remember Michael Steele and his Hip-Hopping debacle as chairman of the Republican National Committee? How did that work out for you, Republican strategists?

According to the campaign literature, we should expect to see images of the POTUS juxtaposed with Pastor Jeremiah Wright, the September 11th attacks (they forget that was on Bush 43′s watch) and other hot button imagery to remind us that Obama is out to “destroy America.”

The proposal was presented last week in Chicago to associates and family members of Mr. Ricketts, who is also the patriarch of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs, reports the Times.

“Joe Ricketts is prepared to spend significant resources in the 2012 election in both the presidential race and Congressional races,” said Brian Baker, president and general counsel of a super PAC called the Ending Spending Action Fund. “He is very concerned about the future direction of the country and plans to take a stand.”

There are three things that it might behoove the GOP ‘Super PAC’ and Republican “strategists” to remember:

1.) African-Americans are not a monolith. Those who support the president have their reasons, as do those who oppose him. Bringing up trivial, insulting language with the primary purpose of race-baiting is going to back-fire. Hard.

2.) Nothing you say or do is going to make President Obama look worse than Mitt Romney. Maybe you should spend your time in that corner teaching him how to remember what exactly it is that he stands for.

3.) You’re attacking a president who allegedly raked in over $1,000,000 within 90 minutes of his announcement that he supports marriage equality and $15,000,000 the next evening at a fundraiser at the home of Hollywood superstar, George Clooney. Bottom line: You need more people.

Oh, and President Abe Lincoln was Black — so there is no need to add the racial qualifier before his name.

As usual, I have to wonder if these “strategists” are actually undercover Democrats, because nothing that the Obama campaign could do would make them look more foolish than they already do.

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“Newsweek” released the following preview of a piece by Andrew Sullivan analyzing Obama’s announcement on marriage equality:

“It’s easy to write off President Obama’s announcement of his support for gay marriage as a political ploy during an election year. But don’t believe the cynics. Andrew Sullivan argues that this announcement has been in the making for years. “When you step back a little and assess the record of Obama on gay rights, you see, in fact, that this was not an aberration. It was an inevitable culmination of three years of work.” And President Obama has much in common with the gay community. “He had to discover his black identity and then reconcile it with his white family, just as gays discover their homosexual identity and then have to reconcile it with their heterosexual family,” Sullivan writes.”

S**t? Meet Fan.

Black America has been turned on it’s head in the wake of “The Announcement” with civil rights and religious leaders such as Rev. Al Sharpton coming out in full support of the president and others, like Pastor Jamal Bryant, saying that they feel betrayed. Professor Michael Eric Dyson joined in the fray when he served as guest host on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” and called out religious “bigots” as “sexual rednecks.” Add to that half-way critics who are pitting the Black community against the LGBT community, as  if they don’t intertwine, and the situation has become combustible.

In an blog earlier this week, Sullivan articulated his unwavering support for the president’s move:

I do not know how orchestrated this was; and I do not know how calculated it is. What I know is that, absorbing the news, I was uncharacteristically at a loss for words for a while, didn’t know what to write, and, like many Dish readers, there are tears in my eyes.

So let me simply say: I think of all the gay kids out there who now know they have their president on their side. I think of Maurice Sendak, who just died, whose decades-long relationship was never given the respect it deserved. I think of the centuries and decades in which gay people found it impossible to believe that marriage and inclusion in their own families was possible for them, so crushed were they by the weight of social and religious pressure. I think of all those in the plague years shut out of hospital rooms, thrown out of apartments, written out of wills, treated like human garbage because they loved another human being. I think of Frank Kameny. I think of the gay parents who now feel their president is behind their sacrifices and their love for their children.

The interview changes no laws; it has no tangible effect. But it reaffirms for me the integrity of this man we are immensely lucky to have in the White House.

While the president has surely bolstered his support across the board with this move, it is clear that the dissension in the Black community will be a vulnerability for Obama in November — and “Newsweek” covers with the first Black POTUS with a halo over his head does nothing to stifle the conflict.

[Editor's Note: Though the cover appears on the May 21 issue of Newsweek, the magazine is currently available on iTunes.]

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The New York Post reports:

“Who sent the e-mail?” [Klein] asked Wright.

“It was from one of Barack’s closest friends.”

“He offered you money?”

“Not directly,” Wright said. “He sent the offer to one of the members of the church, who sent it to me.”

“How much money did he offer you?”

“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” Wright said.

“Did Obama himself ever make an effort to see you?”

“Yes,” Wright said. “Barack said he wanted to meet me in secret, in a secure place. And I said, ‘You’re used to coming to my home, you’ve been here countless times, so what’s wrong with coming to my home?’ So we met in the living room of the parsonage of Trinity United Church of Christ, at South Pleasant Avenue right off 95th Street, just Barack and me. I don’t know if he had a wire on him. His security was outside somewhere.

“And one of the first things Barack said was, ‘I really wish you wouldn’t do any more public speaking until after the November election.’ He knew I had some speaking engagements lined up, and he said, ‘I wish you wouldn’t speak. It’s gonna hurt the campaign if you do that.’

“And what did you say?” I asked. “I said, ‘I don’t see it that way. And anyway, how am I supposed to support my family?’ And he said, ‘Well, I wish you wouldn’t speak in public. The press is gonna eat you alive.’

“Barack said, ‘I’m sorry you don’t see it the way I do. Do you know what your problem is?’ And I said, ‘No, what’s my problem?’ And he said, ‘You have to tell the truth.’ I said, ‘That’s a good problem to have. That’s a good problem for all preachers to have. That’s why I could never be a politician.’

“And he said, ‘It’s going to get worse if you go out there and speak. It’s really going to get worse.’

“And he was so right.”

Two of Wright’s more controversial sermons, at least by GOP standards, were at the center of the storm. “The Day of Jerusalem’s Fall” delivered on September 16, 2001″ called the United States out for it’s hypocrisy when retaliating for the World Track Center attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. The unrepentant Wright held no punches:

“We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye… and now we are indignant, because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

Then, in “Confusing God and Government,” delivered on April 13, 2003, Wright exposed the United States government for its role in the horrific Tuskegee experiment and it’s systemic racism against people of African descent in the nation:

“The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment. They purposely infected African American men with syphilis. Governments lie. The government lied about bombing Cambodia and Richard Nixon stood in front of the camera, ‘Let me make myself perfectly clear…’ Governments lie. The government lied about the drugs for arms Contra scheme orchestrated by Oliver North, and then the government pardoned all the perpetrators so they could get better jobs in the government. Governments lie…. The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. Governments lie. The government lied about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and a connection between 9.11.01 and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Governments lie.

“When it came to treating her citizens of African descent fairly, America failed. She put them in chains, the government put them on slave quarters, put them on auction blocks, put them in cotton field, put them in inferior schools, put them in substandard housing, put them in scientific experiments, put them in the lowest paying jobs, put them outside the equal protection of the law, kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness. The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, not God Bless America. God damn America — that’s in the Bible — for killing innocent people. God damn America, for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America, as long as she tries to act like she is God, and she is supreme. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent.”

And Republicans went wild.

Voicing their concern that Obama was “anti-American,” many conservatives (and Hillary Clinton) wondered aloud that some of Wright’s hate had to have rubbed off on Obama; he had, after all, “sat in his church for 20 years.”

Before caving to the conflict and disowning his “spiritual advisor” in May of 2008 — the man who penned the sermon “The Audacity of Hope,” on which Obama based his electric 2004 Democratic National Convention speech that catapulted him into America’s conscious — Obama delivered his “A More Perfect Union” speech on March 18, 2008 in Philadelphia, PA, in hopes of taking control once again of the political momentum.

“I can no more disown [Wright] than I can disown the black community,” said Obama. “I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother — a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.”

But when Wright refused to go away, making more inflammatory statements as Obama was locked in the fight of his political career, the candidate made the choice to cut ties, claiming to be “saddened” and “outraged” by Wright’s remarks.

I find it no small coincidence that Wright has returned just in time for Obama’s re-election. He has cast himself as the proverbial friend scorned and proven that every ounce of political support that he threw behind Obama was based on friendship not politics. All the speeches and sermons, evoking racial fidelity and identification to shore up Obama’s support within the church, all the statements saying that Obama was the right choice for America, it all boiled down to a broken friendship.

With shades of Dr. Cornel West evident in his tone — a man whom I respect greatly, but who diminished his credibility as it pertains to Obama criticism when he complained that “the guy who picks up [his] bags from the hotel had a ticket to the inauguration” and he did not — it appears Rev. Wright is back with a agenda.

Obama did throw away their friendship for political ambition, and I personally find that reprehensible, but just as the church has no place in state policy, neither do personal vendettas have a place in political elections. There are a plethora of issues that one could challenge President Obama on, but to become entangled in a “you took your ball and went home, so now I’m tattling” dialogue is absolutely ridiculous.

That is something one would think a man of Rev. Wright’s caliber would understand.

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Your answer will help decide the next president.

Is it Barack Obama, as seen by Mitt Romney? Or Romney, the way Obama depicts him? For all their liberal versus conservative differences, when the two presidential contenders describe each other, they sound like they’re ragging on the same flawed guy. Or mirror images of that guy.

Will voters prefer the man waving with his left hand or his right?

Blame it on two cautious candidates with more traits in common than their disparate early biographies would suggest.

No Drama Obama is panned as professorial and aloof. Romney is deemed boring when he’s not being awkward.

Distrusted as too moderate within his own party, each is demonized as a radical by the other side. They don’t get specific about the tough stuff, like budget cuts or taxes, that would invite more precisely calibrated negative ads.

Add a presidential contest buried beneath a single issue, the economy, and original lines of attack are scarce. The candidates take jabs anyway.

“They’re trying to define each other. That’s what it’s all about,” said Ken Duberstein, chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan. “They’re throwing out different characterizations to see which one resonates.”

With quickie Internet videos and instant comebacks via Twitter, “the attack and counterattack is happening in real time,” said political communications expert Kathleen Hall Jamieson. “Campaigns are working to make sure nothing is missed.”

Attacks big or small get batted back, even if the response amounts to “I know you are, what am I?”

Democrats accuse Republicans of a “war on women,” Romney’s campaign notes rising female unemployment during the Obama years.

The Obama camp jokes about Romney’s dog riding on the roof of the family car; Republicans respond that Obama ate dog meat as a boy in Indonesia.

Both candidates are slammed as:

“Out of touch” with ordinary Americans.

Obama: Cloistered in the White House. Hangs out with celebrities, acting “cool.” Doesn’t understand the real world because “he spent too much time at Harvard,” according to Romney, who earned two Harvard degrees himself.

Romney: Grew up wealthy, with a governor for a father. Worth $200 million or more. He’s the kind of guy who had a Swiss bank account and wants a car elevator for his beach house, the Democrats note.

—

Bad for the middle class.

Obama: Failed to deliver on his promises to help Americans “struggling to find good jobs and make ends meet,” the Romney camp says. Median household income is down, unemployment up since he took office.

Romney: Wants to reduce taxes on the wealthy while devastating Medicare and cutting education, health care and other programs the middle class need, Democrats charge. Obama says that amounts to “social Darwinism.”

—

Suspiciously secretive.

Obama: Believing his microphone off, assured the Russian president he would have “more flexibility” after Election Day. Obama will reveal “his true positions only after the election is over,” Romney says. Republicans predict he would tack left on the environment, spending, gay rights and other issues.

Romney: Told campaign donors of plans to cut or eliminate the housing and education agencies as well as others – ideas he hasn’t disclosed publicly. “What’s Mitt hiding?” Democrats ask, demanding more about his personal tax returns and investments, too.

—

Too extreme.

Obama: Hopes to create “a European-style social welfare state,” Romney says, and “put free enterprise on trial.” Endorsing Romney, Newt Gingrich called Obama “the most radical, leftist president in American history.”

Romney: Referred to himself as “severely conservative.” He’s “extreme on women’s issues,” Democrats contend. Obama places him to the right of Reagan and suggests he’s akin to Barry Goldwater.

—

Unable to fix the economy.

Obama: Can’t get the jobless rate below 8 percent. He “delayed the recovery and made it anemic,” according to Romney, who says Obama lacks the private sector experience necessary to understand the economy.

Romney: As a venture capitalist, laid off workers and shipped jobs to Mexico, the Obama campaign says. Also created Massachusetts jobs more slowly than other governors of the time, Democrats note.

—

Not up to foreign policy.

Obama: Too weak to stand up to China or Russia or to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, and too eager to apologize for the United States, Romney charges.

Romney: Likely to stumble into another misguided war, according to Vice President Joe Biden. Wouldn’t have had the guts to send Navy SEALs into Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden, the Obama campaign suggests.

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The events Saturday at two universities, Ohio State and Virginia Commonwealth, were billed as the official kickoff of Obama’s re-election bid, even though he’s been solidly engaged in his campaign and filed the necessary paperwork to seek re-election over a year ago.

During the stops, the president will work to convince voters that his policies have put the nation’s economy on more solid footing despite fresh evidence that the job market remains weak. He also is expected to try to define Romney as a candidate peddling old policies for both the economy and national security that are proven failures.

Obama has already headlined dozens of high-dollar fundraisers around the country as his campaign seeks to build a solid money advantage over Romney. And in his official White House travels, often to battleground states, the president has been pitching policy positions that fit neatly into the campaign’s central theme of economic fairness, from a millionaires’ tax to freezing student loan interest rates.

But official campaign rallies are likely to free Obama up to take more direct aim at his GOP challenger. Until now, Obama has used Romney’s name sparingly, often choosing instead to cloak his criticisms of Romney in attacks against generic Republicans.

Some Democrats see Saturday’s rallies as an opportunity for Obama to put Republicans on notice that he plans to be an aggressor in his fight for re-election.

“What we’ve seen too many times in the past is Democrats are way too meek in defining their opponents or defining themselves in an election,” said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist. “This president is not going to let the Republicans define him.”

Campaign officials tamped down expectations that the new campaign speech Obama was unveiling Saturday would differ greatly from what he’s already been saying in fundraisers or what his surrogates have been saying on the campaign trail.

David Axelrod, an Obama senior adviser, said the president wasn’t a candidate who “reinvents himself week to week” – a shot at Romney’s sometimes shifting positions. Instead, he and other advisers said the president would reinforce his campaign’s broader themes of Obama as an advocate for the middle class and Romney as the candidate for the wealthiest Americans.

Republicans argue the Obama campaign is not aiming for consistency, but rather struggling to find a comprehensive vision for a second term.

“They have nothing positive to run,” said Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican National Committee. “No successful incumbent, no impressive record and no thriving economy.”

Job numbers out Friday highlighted the challenge Obama faces in convincing voters he is the right steward for the nation’s economy. Job growth slumped for a second straight month. The unemployment rate ticked down to 8.1 percent but largely because more people stopped looking for work and therefore were no longer deemed unemployed.

In the face of continued economic unease, Obama will aim in Saturday’s rallies to recapture some of the youthful, hopeful energy of his 2008 campaign. Both rallies are being held on college campuses: Ohio State in Columbus and VCU in Richmond.

The campus setting is likely to create the atmosphere where Obama is at his best as a speaker: feeding off the energy of an enthusiastic crowd. It will also allow Obama to appeal to young voters, a crucial voting bloc in his 2008 victory that the Obama team is intensely targeting again this year.

The president will be joined at both rallies by Michelle Obama. The popular first lady has become a regular on the campaign fundraising circuit this year.

By formally opening his campaign in Ohio and Virginia, Obama is underscoring the critical role both states will play in his efforts to keep his job.

In 2008, Obama won perennial battleground Ohio while reversing decades of Republican dominance in Virginia.

Since then, Virginia has swiftly swung back toward the GOP in statewide elections. Both Obama and Romney advisers acknowledge that the state is up for grabs six months before Election Day.

During a campaign event in Portsmouth, Va. Thursday, Romney said, “This may well be the state that decides who the next president is.”

]]> http://newsone.com/2005965/obama-escalates-election-fight-in-ohio-virginia/feed/ 1 obama-640 kirstenwestsavali obama-640 http://newsone.com/2005263/jon-lovitz-barack-obama-2/ http://newsone.com/2005263/jon-lovitz-barack-obama-2/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 05:07:21 +0000 Newsone Staff http://newsone.com/?p=2005263 ]]> In a profanity laced “comedic” tirade in January, Jon Lovitz called President Barack Obama a “f***ing a**hole,” as previously reported by Newsone. Since the audio has become public, the Saturday Night Live alum has decided to reiterate his stance and refuses to back down.

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Taking to the Twittersphere on Sunday, Lovitz clapped back at his critics, telling them that, “Last I checked, he’s President, not King! This is America! Freedom of Speech. what’s the bfd?”

The self-professed “liberal Democrat” said that the economy, last he checked, was “[not] Democratic or Republican… it was business and math.”

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Lovitz, apparently considering himself a member of the elite 1 percent in the United States economic caste system, accused the president of “lying” when he allegedly said that rich people don’t pay taxes:

The whole thing about Obama saying the rich don’t pay their taxes is f****** bulls***. And I voted for the guy and I’m a Democrat. What a f****** a**hole!”

[Editor's Note: President Barack Obama has never said that rich Americans do not pay taxes. Explaining his Warren Buffet Rule, he has repeatedly said that they should simply pay their fair share.]

Though Lovitz definitely makes a valid point concerning freedom of speech, it might carry more weight if the criticism were true. Still, this is the United States of America and a man has the right to make himself look like an idiot whenever the mood the strikes.

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Washington’s narrow 1983 victory over opponent Bernard Epton came after he won the primary after vanquishing incumbent mayor Jane Byrne in an earlier primary. Washington’s climb to the mayoral post was preceded by a life of service, culminating into a long and rich political career.

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Washington was a true native son, born to his father Roy, a police captain and lawyer, and mother Bertha, a singer. Washington was raised in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, once considered the nucleus of Black culture in the city. A budding track star in high school, Washington never completed his studies and instead dropped out just short of graduating. After some odd jobs, Washington was drafted by the military in 1942 during the height of World War II. While stationed in the Philippines, Washington balanced fighting for his country with standing proud in face of the racism he faced all the while.

Shortly after his military tenure, Washington enrolled in Roosevelt College (now University) in 1946. While attending, Washington became entrenched in school activities and became a vocal proponent of racial balance. Graduating from the school in 1949, he then entered the Northwestern University School Of Law, the only black student in his class. Upon his graduation in 1952, Washington’s political career would begin to take hold. Washington worked for 3^rd ward leader Ralph Metcalfe, a former Olympic athlete. Washington would organize young democrats across the city, fighting for a number of issues that affected Blacks in the wards where African-Americans lived.

Washington was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1965 after a controversial bid by a set of Black candidates was thrown out on a technicality. Washington would receive a high level of support but faced a tough time working for the state. He was criticized by the very people he tried to assist, yet he fought tirelessly for civil rights. Washington also managed to successfully help pass a bill to make Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday a state holiday, although his initial attempts were vetoed earlier in his career.

Moving to the Illinois Senate in 1977, Washington would routinely battle “The Machine” – historically known as the “Chicago Democratic Machine.” While working to pass the Illinois Human Rights Act of 1980, Washington was met with resistance from the Machine. He was assisted by Hyde Park political activist Carol Mosley Braun, who would go on to become the only African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

In 1980, Washington was elected to U.S. House of Representatives. His major coup during his time in the House was working to extend the Voting Rights Act, speaking openly against tactics that suppressed Black votes.

With his position in Congress firmly held, Washington would take aim at Chicago’s highest seat in 1983. The victory did much to erase racial lines in the divided city, as Washington’s “man of the people” speaking style helped to ease the fears of white voters and other critics. Washington had opponents at every turn, including Richard Daley who was then the State’s Attorney General.

As mayor, the city’s minorities supported Washington outright, although a group of council members known as “the Eddies” tried to head off every motion from the mayor. White Democrats resisted Washington at every turn, but the mayor wisely catered to the growing Latino population and continued to represent African-Americans fairly as possible.

Shortly after winning re-election in 1987, Washington suffered a massive heart attack while at his desk. On the morning for November 25, paramedics would be called to City Hall in an attempt to revive the mayor. Later that afternoon, Washington was pronounced dead. His wake was attended by thousands of supporters as the city dealt with the shock of losing the beloved leader.

All around Chicago today, Washington’s influence is still felt. The massive Harold Washington Library Center was a fitting tribute given the mayor’s reported love of books. The Loop College was renamed Harold Washington College in his honor. Several building and institutions around the city changed their name to reflect Washington’s name.

President Obama has gone on record to say that he was influenced by Washington, which prompted his move to the city to work as a community organizer. Calling the mayor “larger-than-life,” the President recognized Washington as an inspiration not only to himself, but to other African-Americans nationwide.

To learn more about Harold Washington and his legacy, click here.

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This past week, we saw the reenactment of the Selma to Montgomery march. Singer-actor Tyrese joined the march, and made an interesting comment. He challenged all of his celebrity friends by saying, “Why don’t y’all jump on y’all private planes, like y’all do to the All Star* game, and come down here and march for votes?” He also called upon them to step up and say something about voter suppression and the need for Black folks to get registered.

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Roland Martin and the Washington Watch roundtable discuss the most recent jobs report, unemployment numbers, job growth during President Obama’s term in office.

This week’s Washington Watch roundtable features Karen Finney, Dr. Chris Metzler, Deborah Simmons and Cornel Belcher.

This past week in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney had his biggest win to date. He finished with a double-digit lead, and is speech sounded a lot like he was accepting the nomination, rather than celebrating his New Hampshire win. It was filled with many juxtapositions of what the President does and what he will do, but one that stands out is this.

We talked earlier about all of these different comments that Republican candidates have been making when it comes to African-Americans and food stamps and welfare and things along those lines. Let’s be clear. This is all by design in terms of they want to push the buttons of White conservatives who’re walking around with particular views, as well as subjective views, of African-Americans. And so it appears as if they simply want to get a rise out of African-Americans every time they do it.

So, what should we be doing? First of all, not fall for the okey doke. Certainly, keep people accountable [for] what they say, but also continue to push them on policy and challenge them on policy, but also change the conversation to being mad with what somebody says, but explain to the American public that, “Look, more White folks are on welfare and receive food stamps than anybody else.” Black folks don’t need to own poverty. We don’t need to own the issue of welfare, just like when I discuss Affirmative Action, I make it clear that White women have benefit from Affirmative Action more than any other group in this country. So, some things we don’t need to own. Certainly, hold them accountable, but trust me. Let’s not fall for the tricks that they always play when it comes to trying to push the buttons of Black folks.

The race for the Republican nomination is full steam ahead. The Iowa caucus weeded out Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and made Rick Santorum a credible contender, even though he lost — just by eight votes. With a win in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney may be pulling away from the rest of the GOP presidential candidates.

Former RNC Chairman, Michael Steele joined Roland Martin on the set of Washington Watch to discuss the GOP presidential race, Santorum’s “Blah People” comments and more.

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Barnes, who will be gone by Tuesday, is quick to point out that there have been many domestic achievements, even though the public is dissatisfied.

“I completely understand what the American public is feeling,” she said in an interview in her tidy West Wing office. “Real people are hurting in a significant way. … At the same time, I’m proud of the things we’ve been able to accomplish over the last few years.”

Her office is wrestling with multiple thorny issues now just as it was when Barnes started as Obama’s domestic policy team director in 2009.

Back then, the economy plunged into free-fall and the country was in its worst economic crisis since the 1930s. Jobs were being lost at a rate of about 750,000 a month – a number Barnes still finds so staggering she said she has to double-check it every time she says it.

Homes were being foreclosed, unemployment was skyrocketing and reaching double the national average in the black community. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dragged on, an outbreak of H1N1flu virus became a pandemic, and a tsunami that hit Japan crippled a nuclear plant near Tokyo, to name some of the highlights.

Even her chance to play golf with the president, the first time a woman joined him, was a response to what was a public image crisis for Obama. The president was getting flak for playing basketball with men and fostering complaints about a boys’ club in the White House.

Just before Christmas, the president and Congress wrangled over a two-month extension of a Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Obama won a victory when the proposal won bipartisan support in the Senate and finally was accepted by House Republicans under extreme pressure.

Barnes, a Richmond, Va., native with a career in government and private sector work, is bowing out of the political arena as Obama struggles with low approval ratings on his handling of the economy.

A majority of Americans do not think the president deserves a second term, according to the most recent Associated Press-GfK poll. But at the same time, the unemployment rate has dropped to 8.6 percent, the lowest level since March 2009. The president’s overall approval rating stands at 44 percent, the lowest of his term in AP-GfK surveys.

His strong stance against House Republicans in the payroll tax standoff has caused an uptick in approval ratings in subsequent polls.

Barnes expects the list of legislative victories that she and others pulled off amid the hemorrhaging economy will become more clear in the coming year as the dark clouds of the economy disperse.

She tops that list with the early work to stabilize the economy, 21 months of consistent job growth and the president’s long-term investments in education overhaul, an area that became her specialty.

“Our work on education reform, it’ll be part of this president’s legacy,” she said.

Barnes said that with a fraction of what the federal government spends annually on education, about $100 billion, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the administration tapped into an education reform movement taking place at the grass roots among governors and local communities frustrated with the prescriptive, one-size-fits-all mandates of No Child Left Behind, the Bush administration’s education cornerstone.

Congress has yet to approve revisions to No Child Left Behind, states are using up the stimulus money, and Obama’s Race to the Top grant program faces spending cuts. But Barnes said Obama has given a boost to education law changes that now allow such things as connecting student performance and teacher evaluations.

Barnes, chief counsel to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Obama also deserves credit for passage of a health care overhaul, legislation that she had worked on for eight years with Kennedy. The Massachusetts senator spent his career trying to restructure health care.

There’s also the auto industry bailout, expansion of Pell grants to help fund college education, the end of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays and work to advance civil rights, she said.

“When you are worried about day to day, it’s hard to step back and to take all those other things in,” Barnes said. “Although at the same time, I’m literally in the grocery store and people come up to me and say, `Hey, you work for the president. You keep on doing what you are doing.’ “

Married a few months into the president’s first year, Barnes plans to spend more time with family. She is considering offers in the private sector but hasn’t disclosed what those are.

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It would keep in place a salary boost of about $20 a week for an average worker making $50,000 a year.

Successful passage in the House would cap a swift retreat by House Republicans. Their move to force a holiday season confrontation with Obama and Senate Democrats had threatened to hit 160 million workers with a tax increase on Jan. 1. But it backfired badly.

Just 24 hours earlier, House leaders had insisted the only way to prevent that tax hike and a phase-out of jobless benefits for people out of work for more than six months was to pass a full-year renewal.

Friday’s version of the bill would put off until January a battle over finding almost $200 billion in spending cuts and new fees to finance the 2-point Social Security tax cut, extend jobless benefits averaging around $300 a week and prevent doctors from absorbing a big cut in Medicare payments through 2012.

Those goals had been embraced by virtually every lawmaker in the House and Senate but had been derailed in a quarrel over demands by House Republicans for immediate negotiations on a long-term extension bill. Senate leaders of both parties had tried to barter such an agreement among themselves a week ago but failed, instead agreeing upon a 60-day measure to buy time for talks next year.

Thursday’s decision by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to cave in to the Senate came after days of criticism from Obama and Democrats. But perhaps more tellingly, GOP stalwarts including strategist Karl Rove and the Wall Street Journal editorial board warned that if the tax cuts were allowed to expire, Republicans would take a political beating that would harm efforts to unseat Obama next year.

House GOP arguments about the legislative process and what the “uncertainty” of a two-month extension would mean for businesses were unpersuasive, and Obama took the offensive.

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It’s easy to vault up the ladder, but it’s just as easy to come falling back down when people begin taking everything you say seriously, which should always be the case when evaluating those running for president of the United States.

It was clear at CNN’s Republican debate Tuesday in Las Vegas that the other six candidates on stage weren’t going to let Cain skate through another debate touting his “9-9-9″ tax plan and smiling and joking. The knives came out quickly, and the former conservative radio show host must have felt like he was getting ambushed.

Yet it was a question posed two hours earlier by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that brought Cain and his supporters back down to reality.

Using as an example the Israeli government’s exchange of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli solider, Wolf Blitzer asked Cain if he would release al-Qaida operatives in Guantanamo Bay in exchange for a U.S. soldier.

“I could see myself authorizing that kind of transfer, but what I would do is I would make sure that I got all of the information, I got all of the input, considered all of the options and then, the president has to make a judgment call,” Cain said.

When questioned on that, Cain quickly backtracked, saying, “Things are moving so fast,” and that he misspoke.

Well, Mr. Cain, as we saw this week with the killing of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, President Barack Obama’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the year, and the U.S. Senate’s rejection of a portion of the president’s jobs bill, things move pretty quickly in the White House. And the American people expect that the leader of the free world will be able to handle it all.

A few days before the debate, Cain caused an uproar by saying he would build an electric fence along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants.

When pressed about it, he demurred, saying, “That’s a joke.” Americans need to get a sense of humor, he added.

Sorry, Herman, but when a presidential candidate touches on the hot-button issue of immigration, you can expect the media and the American people to take you seriously.

But far more damaging to Cain this week was an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan. Cain gave the impression that he was pro-choice while simultaneously saying he was pro-life.

His confusing answer, as well as the anger with which socially conservative Republicans responded, forced Cain to amend his statement and reiterate that he is pro-life.

Are all of these problems manageable? Sure. Every candidate goes through this. But Cain is no ordinary candidate. He’s a political novice who’s trying to get the American people to trust that his business background is the most important qualification for becoming president.

There is no doubt that the 2012 presidential election will hinge on the economy and who voters think can best turn it around. But Cain needs to quickly realize that the person occupying the Oval Office has to be able to deal with domestic and foreign issues. And in every debate, Cain has faltered or looked like an amateur when discussing what’s happening around the globe.

Discipline is the greatest trait for someone running for president. For Cain, that seems like a hindrance more than it is an asset.

He’s sitting in a very good position today, according to the polls. But unless Cain is able to articulate his positions without later issuing a clarifying statement, he’ll be just another flash in the pan who’ll be remembered more for his joking and singing on the campaign trail than for being a man who was serious about taking on the toughest job in the world.

Roland S. Martin is an award-winning CNN analyst and author of the book “The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House as Originally Reported by Roland S. Martin.” Please visit his website at RolandSMartin.com. To find out more about Roland S. Martin and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 CREATORS.COM

Their rhetoric reads as such: If a Black man can get elected why not a white supremacist? It’s a question being asked by a growing list of white-power candidates from around the country. This new crop of bigots—some blatant, others more nuanced—characterize America’s collection of racist politicians.

We scanned the spectrum to offers a short list of legislators and officials whose bigoted comments and/or allegiance to racist organizations shed light the current state of political bigotry.

1. Former Louisiana State Rep. David Duke

David Duke may be the most unabashed racist bigot to make a name in American politics. A self-described “racial realist,” Duke was the former Grand Wizard of the Louisiana-based Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which he founded in 1974.  A well-groomed and professional Klansman who wore a business suit instead of the Klan’s traditional white robes, Duke entered politics in 1975 when he ran for the Louisiana State Senate as a Democrat. After his unsuccessful Senate campaign and later an aborted presidential run, Duke formed the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP) to shed himself of the Klan tag. In 1988, Duke changed his political affiliation for Democrat to Republican. A year later, he mounted a successful run in the special election for a vacated Louisiana House seat. Duke served in Congress from 1990 to 1992. Duke’s legacy will forever be marked by his stance against both legal and illegal immigration, his support of Holocaust deniers, his labeling of the Ku Klux Kan as “pro-white” rather than anti-Black. Earlier this year, Duke announced that he is considering running in the 2012 presidential election.

2. Arkansas State Rep. Loy Mauch

Mauch, a former head of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, proved the present day political clout of white supremacists, winning a seat last year in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Never one to back away from his white supremacist views, Mauch declared the Confederate flag a symbol of Jesus Christ, and has even said he believes Abraham Lincoln did not follow the Constitution.  As late as 2005, Mauch was listed as the chairman of an Arkansas chapter of the League of the South, a neo-Confederate organization that advocates for the second secession of the south and for a society dominated by white rule.

3. Mississippi State Rep. John Moore

Elected to the House of Representative in, John Moore has called civil rights a “philosophical idea” about “one group of people,” and has advocated against it a bill to make teaching civil rights mandatory in Mississippi schools. Moore has also given speeches at various rally sponsored by the Council of Conservative Christians, a group that has worked hard to deny its racist sentiments, but who the Republican National Committee has openly condemned in 1999 and that the Southern Poverty Law Center has described as a crudely white supremacist group whose website has run pictures comparing pop singer Michael Jackson to an ape and referred to blacks as “a retrograde species of humanity.” Moore has defended his affiliation with the group saying he felt “very comfortable” meeting with the group’s members.

4. Minnesota State Rep. Michele Bachmann

Although Bachmann has not been linked to any white supremacist groups, she’s among a new crop of political bigots who blur the line between blatant racists and those who understand the art of concealing their ideologies.  Despite not being an unabashed bigot, Bachmann’s Tea Party affiliation, the party’s questionable record on race and numerous racial gaffes have prompted many to see her as a racist conservative.  Earlier this year Bachmann endorsed a pledge that claimed Black families were better off during slavery. She also railed against a government settlement paid to Black framers, who claimed the federal government discriminated against them for decades. In another instance she claimed,  “Not are cultures are equal, not all values all equal.” And she consistently panders to the racially based economic fears saying America might suffer conditions comparable to Africa. Overlooking a number of suffering economies, Bachmann said we may be the next ‘Zimbabwe.”

5. Texas Governor Rick Perry

Like Bachmann, Rick Perry is an ambiguous bigots whose records and affiliations are not blatant enough to call him racist, yet the racist tone of his politics straddles the line. Just recently, Perry came under fire after it was learned that his family’s leased hunting compound in West Texas was named “Niggerhead Ranch.” Perry’s racist tag also has much to do with his relationship with Karl Rove, whose political mentor was Lee Atwater — the master of Southern racial politics known infamously for crafting the 1988 Willie Horton attack ad on the Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. The Perry-Rove connection also draws racist claims as Rove has become known for his part in what many call a targeted effort to eliminate thousands of votes among black and elderly voters in the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Perry also openly embraced and defended the Confederate flag when the NAACP campaigned to remove the flag from statehouses and other government buildings across the South. Then lieutenant governor of Texas, Perry said the flags should not be removed and that Texans “should never forget our history.”

Special to NewsOne by contributor Bobby Marvin

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) was honored with the unveiling of his official portrait commemorating his tenure as the 62^nd Chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means committee.

A small bi-partisan group of congressional lawmakers including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, House Speaker (D-MD), John Boehner (R-OH) and Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) were on hand to congratulate Rangel, who made history when he became the first African-American appointed chair of the committee in 2007.

Rangel made history again in 2010 when he stepped down from the Ways & Means chairmanship amid ethics allegations. Rangel was later censured for ethics violations by his congressional peers.

RELATED: Rep. Charles Rangel Censured By Congress In 333-79 Vote

Yesterday, however, Rangel’s comrades focused on the positive.

“You are the one who is a champion for those who need it most,” said New York’s Democratic junior Senator Katherine Gillibrand.

Rangel was the first New Yorker in 140 years to Chair the powerful Ways and Means committee, which oversees federal funding for Social Security, trade, Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment benefits. Rangel currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Ways and Means Committee. He is also a founding member and former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“My life is a story that [says] anyone can make it, from a high school drop-out [to being] the chair of this committee,” said Rangel during a speech after the unveiling.

Hundreds traveled on coach buses from the congressman’s district in New York’s to see the ceremony.  L. Ann Rocker, a community activist from Harlem, said she voted for Rangel when he first ran against and defeated Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in 1970.

“I was really pleased to see such a magnificent portrait of our esteemed congressman who has really worked for 40 years, not just for Harlem but for America,” said Rocker.

Following the ceremony, Rangel hugged and shook hands with constituents as he made his way around the Ways and Means Committee room. Right behind him was his wife Alma, who did the honors of drawing back the curtain to reveal the painting of her husband.

“He worked very hard over the years, he’s been a good congressman,” said Alma Rangel. “The portrait is an example of his dedication to public service.”

The unveiling coincided with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference taking place this weekend in Washington, D.C.

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In 2011, a number of high profile executions, as well as judges and politicians campaigning for office are once again making capital punishment a part of the mainstream political conversation.

The Grio reports:

A number of recent events have once again placed executions in the forefront. For one, on September 21, Georgia is set to execute Troy Davis, who has been on death row for two decades for the 1989 killing of a police officer, despite no physical evidence tying him to the crime. Seven of the original nine witnesses in the case recanted or contradicted their stories, and three of those say their statements were coerced by the police.

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Speaking to reporters ahead of next week’s straw poll in Iowa, Bachmann says the economy would start to improve shortly after she becomes president if signals are sent to the marketplace that remove uncertainty about taxes, regulation and the nation’s debt.

Bachmann said Friday a report that 117,000 jobs were created last month shows that the economy remains weak. She says this week’s stock market plunge is proof that an agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling was, in her words, “a stinky deal.”

Tim Pawlenty and other candidates for the Republican nomination for president also are campaigning in Iowa ahead of the Aug. 13 straw poll.

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In honor of their unique, yet undeniable place in politics, NewsOne presents this era’s Top 5 Black Republicans, who are a threat to the Democratic Party:

Are Black Republicans Selling Out Black America?

5. Michael Steele

Many Democrats probably wondered where in the world he came from, however, Michael Steele made a name for himself when he became the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee. Before becoming chairman of the RNC, Steele was the first African-American to be chair of any state Republican Party.

Steele is the founder of the Republican Leadership Council, a fiscally conservative and socially inclusive political action committee. Though Steele has aligned himself to the right, there’s one politically flawed policy he reportedly supports that most Republicans oppose: Affirmative Action.

But don’t count Steele out. He’s published a book “Right Now: A 12-Step Program For Defeating the Obama Agenda”— quite a bold move.

Unfortunately, much intraparty hostility occurred within the Republican Party as a result of Steele’s publication, arguably leading — compounded with his flamboyant rhetoric — to him dropping out of the race for re-election as RNC chairman.

He may not be a huge threat to the Democratic Party but you never know, right?

4. Tim Scott

Though he’s a freshman congressman, Tim Scott (R-S.C.) wasted no time in making his presence known when he threatened to impeach President Barack Obama, if he decided to raise the country’s debt limit without a congressional vote. He also accused the president of trying to usurp the government.

Scott strongly opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and has proposed his own alternative health care bill that would limit non-economic damages and reform Medicare. Additionally, Scott strongly supports cultural assimilation, which would make English the official language in the government, and force immigrants to learn the English language.

Scott is the first African-American Republican to be elected to the South Carolina congress in 100 years. But don’t let that fool you; though welcomed with open arms by the Congressional Black Caucus, Scott ardently opposed membership stating, “My campaign was never about race.”

Scott could very well play an instrumental part in the right wing’s attempt to repeal “Obamacare.”

3. Allen West

Allen West (R-Fla.) is no stranger to the media as of late. His recent tirade against Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in which he called her “cowardly,” proves he isn’t afraid to talk the talk. West is the first African-American Republican congressman from Florida since Reconstruction.

He served more than 20 years in the United States Army, and comes from a dynasty of veterans. His father served in World War II, his brother served in Vietnam and his mother was a civilian employee of the Marine Corps.

In January 2011, West condemned the official flying of a Palestine Liberation Organization flag in Washington. He said that the raising of the flag is “an attempt to legitimize an organization with a known history of terrorist actions.”

In response to his remarks, West later said “I will always defend your right to practice a free religion under the First Amendment, but what you must understand, if I am speaking the truth, I am not going to stop speaking the truth. The truth is not subjective.”

As a serviceman, West has received the Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medal. Could West one day capitalize on his armed force experience to seek the presidential office? It almost worked for Sen. John McCain.

2. Herman Cain

He went from a self-made millionaire and business-savvy tycoon to a presidential candidate. How impressive is that? Though his many out-spoken antics have overshadowed his credibility, one must not overlook his track record.

Cain has had his hand in a plethora of businesses including The Coca-Cola Company, Burger King, Pillsbury, Godfather’s Pizza and even radio. It’s argued that Cain made his way to the political stage when, as president-elect of the National Restaurant Association, he challenged President Bill Clinton’s health care plan and its affect on small businesses. Cain even ran against George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 to make a political statement. He later said that he had a “better message.”

If he’s audacious enough to run against Bush, it’s no wonder why he has grown to be a favorite in the GOP primary race.

He may not be the front-runner in the race, but he’s surely not down for the count.

1. Clarence Thomas

Only the second African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, the Honorable Clarence Thomas is arguably one of the most conservative Republicans in government—and while sitting on the highest court in the land, he holds sizable influence.

Thomas has often approached federalism issues in a way that limits the power of the federal government and expands power of state and local governments.

Think of any policy, and Thomas will more than likely rule on the conservative side, whether it’s affirmative action, the use of firearms, free speech, or gay rights. Thomas has even argued that the executive branch has broad authority under the Constitution and federal statutes.

It’s safe to say that Judge Thomas isn’t going nowhere anytime soon, and he surely isn’t backing down from his conservative views. Though he’s portrayed as a callous conservative, most people say he’s affable and good-humored.

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“Get your a– in line,” he demanded to the caucus.

The GOP has been quite divided between those who back Boehner’s plan and those — mostly Tea Party members — who argue his plan’s spending reductions are “puny.”

Others have accused Boehner of being a traitor for negotiating with President Obama in possibly increasing government revenues.

Read More At HuffingtonPost.com

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Blacks and white liberals alike have challenged the seemingly hypocritical nature of what it means to be a Black Republican, posing the question: “Are Black Republicans the biggest bigots?”

The Grio explored this question and more.

Read more at The Grio.

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Now it seems the mudslinging is being reciprocated, as rumors of Marcus’ sexuality is steadily making its way to the forefront.

Jon Stewart and Jerry Seinfeld lampooned Bachmann’s effeminate manner and “center-square gay” voice. Even singer Cher said on her Twitter that her “gay-dar” was set off by Bachmann.

Video of Lampoon Below:

If true, the irony will pose far too appetizing for Bachmann critics during the presidential campaign.

The Daily Beast Reports:

But in Bachmann Land, where politics is so personal, what will be the reaction to the suggestion that Marcus is the very thing he has long devoted himself to fighting against? Slamming the congresswoman as a Jesus freak or an antigovernment extremist only fills her with pride. But how will she and her camp deal with her husband being lampooned as a closet case?

It’s like Ronald Reagan being tarred as a down-low commie—or Grover Norquist being accused of harboring big-government impulses. Harsher still, as the FrumForum has noted, Bachmann’s fellow righties have thus far not been leaping to her defense on this most ticklish of issues. She and Marcus have been left to twist in the wind as outlets like Gawker compile the increasingly brutal commentary.

Read More At TheDailyBeast.com

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McConnell’s proposal suggests a lack of confidence in Congress’ ability to reach a bipartisan agreement on spending cuts.

Republican lawmakers adamantly refused to approve any deal that would include tax hikes, while Democrats rejected the idea of possible cuts on Social Security and Medicare.

President Obama urged lawmakers to come to an agreement, calling daily meetings to reach a deal before the Government is obliged to default on its loans on August 2.

The NY Times Reports:

Mr. McConnell’s proposal would give Mr. Obama sweeping power to increase the government’s borrowing authority, in increments, by up to $2.4 trillion — enough, it is estimated, to cover federal obligations through next year — only if Mr. Obama specified spending cuts of equal amounts. But Congress would not have to approve the spending cuts prior to the debt-limit increase.

Read More At NYTimes.com

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Obama Administration Negotiate Debt Ceiling With Lawmakers

According to a report in The Washington Post, in 1979 the U.S. reached a last-minute approval that resulted in technical malfunctions in processing the backlog of paperwork, and subsequently thousands of late payments to holders of Treasury bills that were maturing that April and May.

While brief and inadvertent, the U.S. did technically default on loans.

The Treasury had missed payments on about $120 million worth of bills that led to a class suit against the Government. The bills were eventually payed with back interest.

The Washington Post Reports:

“It’s not as if God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai and said, ‘The U.S. will always be a AAA credit.’ Our reputation is something that we have earned,” Angel said, adding that history is filled “with countries that were once great and blew it. The simple lesson is, you’ve got to pay your bills on time. If you don’t pay your bills on time, bad things happen.”

Read More At WashingtonPost.com

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Obama: “Nothing Can Be Off-Limits ” In Budget

The Daily Beast Reports:

Republican presidential candidates are still vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, of course, but they are mainly going after President Obama’s economic record. That makes sense because the lagging economy is by far the top concern of voters. It also makes sense because with each passing month, the health-care law is woven more tightly into the fabric of American life and becomes more difficult to unravel.

David Axelrod, Obama’s top political adviser, says Republicans will make a mistake if they dwell next year on repealing the law. “The American people want to move forward. If there are problems with reform, fix it. They don’t want to start all over again,” he told me.

The article also reports that Republican candidates would have to not only repeal the bill, but formulate an alternative, which could be difficult.

Read More At TheDailyBeast.com

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Obama Health Care Lawsuit Rejected By Judge