Yes, we know we said No Fools Allowed was going
to be a weekly column. Yes, we know we did not deliver. Yes, we
have a valid excuse. No, we are not going to explain any further.
However, we will do our best to produce as often as possible. The November 3rd Movement
Moving right along, Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider Column
of September
30, 2004 entitled "The November 3rd Movement", resonated
with a number of  readers.
Wayne Owens of Middletown, California believes Margaret has a
precise and honorable voice.
Your well-spoken thoughts have the clarity and integrity which
alone can bring the Democratic party back from the brink of its
self-inflicted degradation.
Congratulations to you for the courage and the candor you so
clearly and eloquently express. I well remember when I first
became aware of Terry McAullife, Bill Clinton, Ron Brown, et
al. One needn't have done more than simply look and listen. The
smug sheen of money-lust was all over them, wishing as they clearly
were to be in with the corporate chieftans who were even then
well on their way to corrupting the political process.
At the heart of Fascism lies the lust for control of all the
wealth a country can create. When the Democratic Party, led by
these weak and short-sighted men, tried to emulate the new Wall
Street Radicals in the Republican Party,
they started all of us on the road to hell.
I sincerely hope that your voice will be heard by an ever-widening
audience, and that you will continue to fight for the very survival
of all that we hold dear.
From Bethesda, Maryland, Margaret Iovino asks to be signed up
in Margaret's corner on November 3rd.
I agree it has to start w/ the media. We expect politicians
to betray us, but the media needs to be reformed in order for
democracy to survive.
It is no different from the Nazi-controlled media in Germany
which I studied.
Imagine inflating the image of a dangerous psychopath like Bush.
I think that they should be investigated and tried for war crimes, like Julius
Streicher.
African Town
Reverend Reynard N. Blake, Jr., President/CEO
of Community Development Associates in East Lansing, Michigan
thanks Sister Kimberly for
her "African Town: Motor City Melodrama" column of October
7, 2004.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Your African Town article is an important piece in terms of using Detroit
as example of urban desperation to revitalize an area. Although I live in
East Lansing, I serve as a a minister of community development at Tried Stone
Baptist Church in Detroit. Let me tell you, it has been the hardest job of
my life!
Churches, which are the only viable institutions in some neighborhoods,
cannot work together for any length of time to address community
economic development issues, not unless there is a direct economic
benefit to the institution or some egregious act of racism in
the area. Having stated this, one would question how the secular
world of Detroit could work together.
Common goals are never established in Detroit, much less united
action. Meanwhile, some neighborhoods and the downtown area become
wastelands. To be honest, I really do not know what to do, sometimes.
Even the state and area universities have limited commitment
to improving Detroit, not unless there is large amounts of grant
money. Now, THAT'S BAD!!!!
We have had Dr. Anderson [author of the African Town plan] to speak at a
couple of our community economic development conferences. I was never impressed
and after reading his book I became more disillusioned because his ideas
are outdated (even nostalgic) and almost unachievable.
Hopefully, things will change for the better in Detroit however, things may
have to get worse (which, in some areas, has already reached that level)
before it gets better. But then, there will be an even stronger movement
to the suburbs. Pray for us!
Again, thank you for your important and timely article.
Be at peace.
The Governator
A reader going by the name DPEASEHEAD reacted to
Margaret's September
23, 2004 column entitled: "President Arnold Schwarzenegger."
The best thing that can be said about both the recent recall
election in California, and the 2000 Presidential election, is
that each event puts one more nail in the coffin of the myth
of American meritocracy. Unqualified White men continue to be
installed in positions of great power to the detriment of the
nation and of the world.
Leutisha Stills of Oakland, California does not take the blame
for the election of the Governator.
As a resident of Northern California, I know the embarrassment
one feels when they go out of state and get hit with the question:
"HOW DID YOU ALLOW SCHARZENEGGER TO
BECOME CALIFORNIA'S GOVERNOR?"
First of all, I need to remind people that the majority of votes
the Terminator received came largely from Southern California
- with Los Angeles being the only county to join all nine Northern
California counties in not voting for him and not supporting
the recall. Those of us in Los Angeles County and Northern California
were definitely not drinking the Kool-Aid regarding Ah-nold.
Second, since he's become Governor, Ah-nold
has flip-flopped on more legislation and political stances
than Bush and Kerry
COMBINED. Ah-nold's tactic is to attempt to bully the Legislature
into giving him what he wants, and if that fails, then he attempts
to place the issue on ballot initiatives and let those in rural
California decide legislation that affects us all. He also mocks
the Legislature by calling them "Girlie-Men" (which
was code speak for him calling the men and women who serve in
the Assembly or Senate the homophobic slur of "fags")
and the amazing thing is, no one called him on it.
He has yet to set foot in Oakland, cause he knows he's going
to have to deal with us and the budget cuts he's imposing, which
lessens the quality of life for the lower-income masses, the
elderly and children (the state didn't put Randolph Ward over
the Oakland Unified School District to save it - but to destroy
it and sending it into privatization and facilitate the promotion
of school vouchers). He won't come to Oakland because he knows
we will hold him accountable for the way he displaced a democratically
elected governor (Gray Davis) by campaigning on the promise that
he could do the job better than Gray. All he has done is implement
what Gray Davis was going to do, anyway, and he's managed to
really screw it up. At least Davis was competent enough to do
what was beneficial for all of Californians, and not just those
with fat bank accounts (that are probably off-shored in the Caymans).
This whole recall thing was embarrassing and made California
a laughing stock in the eyes of the Nation. However, don't be
surprised if other states (especially those with Democratic governors)
try it to advance their personal political agendas. But then
again, this is the land where five fools on the Supreme Court
acted in concert to give the White House to George W. Bush, despite
his being the most unqualified individual that has ever occupied
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Your article, as always, was insightful reporting. I just wanted
to share the experience as a Californian, the pain and embarrassment
behind it.
Race Pride
On September
16, 2004, The Freedom Rider Column, "Race Pride - Weapon
of Mass Distraction" caused Gary Harding to thank Margaret
for advice on dealing with Black traitors.
Thank you very much for your very frank advice in how to deal
with persons with black faces who continue to betray the African
American community and the worlds' black community.
We do need a wake up call to help us deal with the facts, reality
rather than emotional charged wishes. All groups have traitors,
and more of these traitors need to be identified, and exposed
for the good of the whole community.
Again, I thank you and Black commentator for your leadership
in this very important area. Enemies need to be identified no
matter what color they might be.
Painful Voting
's
Cover Story: "Kerry - A Painful Vote" on September
9, 2004 brought this comment from William Bowles.
Yes, very painful indeed. Having read both
the "Painful
Vote" piece and Ms Kimberley's "The Unthinkable" it's
hard not to come to the conclusion that in urging people to (painfully)
vote for Kerry they will have to pretend it's the Democratic
Party they're really voting for, not Kerry and that once elected,
the DP grassroots will, through some process exert some kind
of influence over the State Department and the Pentagon. But
is this a realistic position given that it'll be Kerry who's
prez not the DP?
After all, Bush is only widening the path
already carved by Clinton (and tested to destruction in the
now former Yugoslavia).
Is it realistic to assume that Kerry will move "backwards" as
your piece put it? And backwards to what? Kosovo?
On the key issues, Iraq (and other points East), Israel, the
Security State, Kerry is in lockstep with Bush. You say that
on domestic issues he may save what's left of social benefits
but how will he pay for it if he is to pursue the key elements
of a US imperialist foreign policy? He may well not have evangelical
(fascist) judeo-christians on his side but he doesn't really
need them to pursue the policies. In fact, he may well be better
positioned to enact Bush policies than Bush is. I think the mistake
is to view it as a Bush versus Kerry fight when the events unfolding
are intrinsic to the system.
It strikes me that there's a lot of wishful thinking involved
in rationalizing a vote for Kerry for it assumes that this time,
the grassroots and the Left will mobilize. We live in hope.
Go well
Negro Miseducation
Joseph Adefope writes to thank Dr. Rhymes for
his "EXCELLENT" commentary
on Desegregation. ("The Continuing Miseducation of the Negro" by
Edward Rhymes Ph.D., September
2, 2004).
I've shared the same feelings regarding African American children
in the public school system! My wife and I are currently struggling
with our second child in PISD (Plano Independent School District,
Texas). ALL of your commentary provides perspective and answers!
I sent it out my distribution list and encourage those to send
it on to family, friends and school administrators!
My wife and I belong to a group called Club Generations Success
(www.clubgs.org), a non profit group that champions the interest,
concerns and advancement of African American children in the
Dallas, TX metroplex.
Haiti in Chains
Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian
Lawyers Leadership Network posted Kevin Pina's article
of Sept 16, 2004, "One
Man’s Democracy is Another Man’s Chains: The Untold
Story of Aristide’s Departure from Haiti", to her
list. Her introduction was the following.
"One Man's democracy is another man's chains..." is
one of the best and most thorough accounts of the OAS/US/EU machinations
that led to the overthrow of Haiti's democracy I've yet to read.
I too was present at that hotel lobby in Port-au-Prince when
Luigi Einaudi of the OAS made his infamous remark, before the
necessity for a Coup d'etat, about how horrible it was that "Haitians
were running Haiti." This article is required reading for
all Haitian men, women and children. It should be in all our
textbooks and translated in every language for all interested
in unraveling the Latortue/Haitian army noose being secured around
Haiti's Liberty and how the 2004 Coup d'etat, the insane bloodletting
Haitians have suffered this year, was orchestrated and implemented
by the Western powers.
Ethnic Warfare
Cheryl Hutchinson appreciated our September
23, 2004 Cover Story: "Ethnic Warfare as Policy: Sudan
and the U.S. are Guilty."
Your article published today regarding Sudan is the best, most
edifying article I have seen on the subject. It is a difficult
conflict to understand because so many are using it to advance
their own agenda.
The ADL for example wants to further incite Christians against Muslims. Therefore,
they want to portray it purely as a clash between the two religions, in spite
of the fact many victims are also Muslims, or even animists. They, along
with others, also seem to like to throw in the race issue, portraying it
as Arabs vs. Blacks, though racially, many on both sides are racially indistinguishable.
Other nations (France and China come to mind, among others) want to downplay
the situation because of their own greed and avarice (oil resources!). All
of the posturing is tragic, particularly since there seems to be so little
concern for the actual victims and the daily hell they are living!
Thank you for not only clarifying what is going on, but putting it in context.
I hope your article enjoys the widest possible readership.
Faith-Based Economics
The Black Commentator's core audience is African
Americans and their allies in the struggle for social and economic
justice. Therefore,
the truth about jobs in the U.S. is extremely important to us.
It was with great interest we read "Faith-Based
Economics" in Counterpunch written by Paul Craig Roberts.
Here are some excerpts.
The US economy has ceased to create jobs in tradable goods and
services. The disastrous September payroll jobs data are a repeat
of the monthly trend that has held for the nearly four years
of the Bush administration.
Of September's 96,000 new jobs, 73% are accounted for by two
categories: government jobs and temporary help! There were only
59,000 private sector jobs created in September, and 33,000 of
those--56%--are temps!
It is easy to blame the Bush administration, but the real blame
lies with outsourcing and offshore production. By locating production
for US markets offshore, US firms can substitute much cheaper
foreign labor for US labor to make the goods and services sold
to Americans. The high speed Internet makes it possible for US
firms to hire foreigners residing abroad, where living costs
are low, to do knowledge-based jobs formerly performed by US
university graduates.
The US is losing the ability to manufacture a range of advanced
technology products and is now dependent on imports of advanced
technology goods from China and Japan. Entire high tech occupations
are beginning to disappear in America, with computer engineering
enrollments in topflight schools such as M.I.T., Georgia Tech,
and UC, Berkeley shrinking by 45%.
Last week economist Joseph Stiglitz reported that median US
income has fallen by over $1,500 in real terms over the past
three and one-half years.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, "free market," "free-trade" economists
continue to give assurances that Americans are prospering from
outsourcing.
This delusion is equivalent to the Bush administration's delusion
that the US is winning in Iraq.
As high-tech US jobs move offshore, economists chant a lemming-like
chorus: the answer is more high-tech education.
Other economists claim that we need more tax cuts to help US
firms acquire more capital with which to make US workers more
productive and, thus, more competitive. This is a pointless exercise
when the capital (and technology) is being used to employ foreigners
in place of Americans.
Outsourcing and offshore production are new phenomena. They
have not been around long enough to comprise a large share of
US production abroad. But they have been around long enough to
erode American employment and wages in tradable goods and services.
When a US multinational ceases to produce in Ohio for its domestic
markets, and moves the production abroad, the Ohio jobs disappear.
Wages fall or stagnate in similar lines of work that still remain
the the US.
American students are becoming aware of the facts, but economists
hold firmly to their fantasy that other new and even better jobs
are taking the place of those that have been outsourced. There
is no evidence whatsoever in behalf of this claim.
Economics has ceased to be an empirical science and has become
a religious faith.
Paul Craig Roberts is John M. Olin Fellow at the Institute
for Political Economy and Research Fellow at the Independent
Institute. He is a former associate editor of the Wall Street
Journal and a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury.
He is the co-author of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.
Listening to The Black Commentator
John Farabee is a RADIO
BC listener.
1) Thanks for the "Cuba" radio commentary. I never
considered the race angle (silly me). 2) The absurd proposition
that a substantial amount of Americans want to send Bush 2 back
to the White House betrays a widespread, debilitating panic: "If
we don't keep Bush, we'll be forced to surrender some of our
white privileges." This stain wears well.
P.S: Thanks for your always sleek, sinewy, unadorned analysis. It's a privilege
to know you!
All RADIO BC commentaries are voiced by Co-Publisher
and Editor-In-Chief, Glen Ford. All of these audio commentaries
are available for listening on the RADIO BC main
page.
 Some of them were created for broadcast on the program Uprising on KPFK-FM,
Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles which can be heard live Monday thru
Friday from 8 to 9am Pacific time. RADIO BC is
part of Friday's program.
All audio files are in WMA 9 format. Click
here to download a Windows Media 9 Series player for your
PC or MAC. The Windows Media player is free and free to download.
It is usually included as part of a Windows operating system.
Each program is between 3 and 4 minutes long
Glen also speaks for when
our thinking is requested by radio and television interview programs.
Deborah Edghill heard Glen in New York City.
I heard your interview with Doug Henwood on WBAI radio. It was
engrossing and perceptive. I stumbled on your site sometime ago
when I was researching the Tennessee Congressman H. Ford.
Your on air voice was as compelling as your web commentaries.
Too bad Skip Gates is the only media darling for the intellectual
black voice. I wish
more people who market themselves as a "black voice" had your depth
within historical and current event frameworks. His sometimes shallow and
self deprecating work is in serious need of psychoanalysis.
Brother Ford responded as follows.
Dear Ms. Edghill:
Thanks for the kind words. Prof. Gates has groomed himself
over a lifetime to be an acceptable "black voice" -
acceptable, that is, to the general white audience. In that
sense, he is quite successful. He acts as
a filter of the Black world view. White folks think they're smoking, but
it ain't the real thing.
A dead Senator
A powerful senator dies after a prolonged
illness. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter
at the entrance. "Welcome
to Heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in,
it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around
these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you. "No
problem, just let me in," says the guy.
"Well, I'd like to but I have orders from higher up. What
we'll do is have you spend one day in Hell and one in Heaven.
Then you can choose where to spend eternity. "Really, I've
made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,"
says the senator. "I'm sorry but we have our rules."
And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he
goes down, down, down to Hell. The doors open and he finds himself
in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a club
and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians
who had worked with him, everyone is very happy and in evening
attire. They run to greet him, hug him, and reminisce about the
good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the
people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster
and caviar.
Also present is the Devil, who really is
a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling
jokes. They are having
such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.
Everyone gives him a big hug and waves while the elevator rises.
The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on Heaven where
St. Peter is waiting for him. "Now it's time to visit Heaven."
So 24 hours pass with the head of state joining
a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing
the harp and singing.
They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours
have gone by and St. Peter returns. "Well then, you've spent
a day in Hell and another in Heaven. Now choose your eternity."
He reflects for a minute, then the senator
answers, "Well,
I would never have said it, I mean Heaven has been delightful,
but I think I would be better off in Hell." So St. Peter
escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to Hell.
Now the doors of the elevator open and he
is in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.
He sees all his
friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it
in black bags. The Devil comes over to him and lays his arm on
his neck. "I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday
I was here and there was a golf course and club and we ate lobster
and caviar and danced and had a great time. Now all there is,
a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable.
The Devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday
we were campaigning... Today you voted for us!"
Send your e-Mail to [email protected].
Thank you very much for your readership and keep writing. No Fools
Allowed will return in the near future - stay tuned! |
