Obama’s landslide victory last night in South Carolina has provided crystal clear answers to several fundamental and burning questions about this year’s campaign. And none of those answers bode well for Hillary, Bill or the Clinton legacy. But maybe, just maybe, the answers bode well for America.
Boy oh boy! What an exciting primary season. Last night I stayed up for the first time to watch the results come in live and to follow the discussions on CNN, the BBC, English language Al Jazeera and on the Internet.
With Obama’s overwhelming victory
Continue reading "Now We Know" »
It’s a damn shame. This should have been one the most significant and inspiring presidential election seasons since the first time Americans went to the polls in 1789.
Perhaps I was expecting too much or I am naïve or as some would say even pollyannish. But I couldn’t help myself.
Continue reading "The Arkansas Rumblers Tag Team Strikes Again" »
Monday, January 21, is Martin Luther King Day in the United States. I dedicated some time over the weekend to read and watch some of his speeches and to see a wonderful CNN special appropriately entitled MLK: Words That Changed a Nation.
Dr. King did indeed change a nation and it was primarily through his words that he catalyzed and led that change. The purity and incontrovertible truth of what he wanted to share with us, the absolute passion and humility with which he spoke and the magic oratory style he was a master of brought his concepts to life in a way that could not be ignored. And as I read and watched this weekend, I realized that those of us who care deeply about or are in whatever way involved in the conflict between Israel and Palestine need to hear his words as if for the first time. We need to understand as never before what Dr. King lived and died for.
Most people know his “I Have a Dream” and “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speeches. Fewer people may be familiar with one of his lesser known sermons from 1957, a Sunday church sermon that enunciated so clearly and so beautifully
Continue reading "Listen… Listen Close Enough to Hear… His Words Resonate As Loud As Ever" »
It was appropriate and perhaps even significant that the Democratic candidates for president buried the race hatchet during Tuesday's debate which of course coincidentally fell on Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday.
It was however equally inappropriate and perhaps significantly cowardly that all three leading candidates used the moment to pat each other on the back and with such niceties take race and gender off the table:
"I know that John and Hillary have always been committed to racial equality," said Obama.
"I'm proud of the fact that we have a woman and an African American who are very, very serious candidates for the presidency," said Edwards.
"Neither race nor gender should be a part of this campaign," said Clinton.
Don’t get me wrong.
Continue reading "Race and Gender? You Bet!" »
