Because People Matter

Steele Trap: How the Steele, RNC Debacle Spotlights GOP Tokenism

by Roger White

On more than one occasion the new Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele has cast himself as the black anti-Obama; someone who, because of his race, age and savvy is uniquely positioned to articulate an effective counter to the President’s agenda. He’s even gone so far as to claim he would run for president himself “if God told him to.” But Steele’s early stumbles reveal more than just a lack of political finesse and humility. They reveal the deep discord between the substance of racial inclusion and the cultural and ideological limits of the GOP. They also highlight fault-lines between different factions of the black conservative movement.

Steele was elected into the leadership ranks of the national Republican Party by a hundred or so Capital insiders because the Party needed to present a face to the American electorate that neutralized the powerful multi-cultural symbolism that the Democrats embodied in the wake of Obama’s 2008 victory. It’s not that the Democrats don’t have their own racial baggage and legacy of discrimination.  One could plausibly argue that Michael Steele and his top of the ticket running mate Robert Ehrlich beat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in the 2002 Maryland gubernatorial race because of Townsend’s decision to choose an obscure, white retired admiral for a running mate instead of rewarding the black communities decades long Party loyalty and electoral clout (blacks make up a third of the state’s electorate) by putting an African American on the ticket.  But this much is clear. On racial justice issues, the further away we get from Reconstruction the worse the GOP looks.  

Thomas Friedman: George W Bush plus corny cliches

By Murray Cohen

Corporate America’s pop culture  is  a market-generated virus compounded of puerility and disingenuousness, which attacks the consumer’s taste and kills his morality. Add a greedy, murderous arrogance and you have the Bush administration.  Add  corny clichés and a pro-Israeli default, and you have Thomas Friedman. A fine example is Friedman’s column in the Sacramento Bee last November. 

The lessons we need to learn from Haiti so we can become better world citizens

By Jaime Díaz

Haiti is in ruins. Many countries ran to offer help, including Cuba which increased its number of doctors in Haiti from 300 to 450 and set up hospitals and clinics to tend to the injured and dying. Haiti also had 400 of its own medics to offer support … who were trained at Cuban medical schools. Doctors and nurses from around the world came to help a nation in need after the terrible earthquakes suffered there. More importantly, it was a moment for nations to look at the causes that led up to the tragedy and learn more about themselves and the consequences of greed and of coveting a neighbor’s resources.