Republicans Must Work To Appeal To People Of Color In The Future

The Republicans must look to the future and realize they can not continue to survive by merely appealing to white people. In the short run, sure, the Republicans can continue to get away with it. But, at some point, the GOP must expand its umbrella and work to win the trust and support of people of color (Latinos, blacks, Asians, etc.) or it will be left behind in the decades to come. Obviously, the Republicans had a very challenging time trying to win any significant amount of minority votes running against a black man, Barack Obama, who now is president-elect. Additionally, the Republicans must work harder to appeal to younger voters (many of whom became inspired to vote for Obama). Republicans also must work harder to appeal to the large number of moderates in the middle of the country who are politically-savvy, but not necessarily considering themselves affiliated with a particular political party. The GOP needs to head in a different direction and divorce itself of the extremist elements in its party and on its side of the political spectrum (Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and others). It’s these true extremists that served as an anchor attached to the ankles of the Republican Party. The black population showed an increase in the last census and the Latino population is in the midst of explosive growth. If Republicans continue with a message that appeals almost exclusively to whites, the GOP will be left playing catch up to the Democrats in the future.

When Will These Politicians Learn?

It never ceases to amaze me how some of these politicians, the big-time ones and the small-time ones, become drunk on their own power and hungry for more power. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appears to be in a world of trouble. Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday and charged with trying to make money or earn other favors in exchange for his decision as to how to fill the vacant spot in the United States Senate (a spot opened by the resignation of President-elect Barack Obama). Apparently, he thought he was holding a brick of gold and was ready to let the bidding process begin … a sort of political auction. Unfortunately for the Illinois governor, the authorities did not appreciate his attempt to capitalize on this opportunity. In fact, the Feds are pretty much throwing the book at him … a couple of books, actually. That is among the other things he was charged with when he was hooked up in some cuffs. Politicians, for whatever reason, seem to feel as if they have this sort of invincibility (the O.J. Simpson effect). But, as O.J. discovered, if you take it too far and keep taking it too far - eventually you get busted. It appears Blagojevich’s time has come.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/09/illinois-governor-blagoje_n_149546.html

Fox News “Analyst” Throws Immature Temper Tantrum

I don’t know how Fox News has managed to pull together so many nutty right wingers on one propaganda-rich (or is it poor?) network. One of the more irrational and erratic people Fox News typically brings on is “contributor” Andrea Tantaros, who threw an on-air, immature tantrum recently.

Here is the lead from a story published by News Hounds:
FOX News contributor Andrea Tantaros, a conspiracy theorist who thinks the vice president is in charge of the Senate, proved yet again the liethat FOX News likes America. During a two-part discussion on last night’s (12/8/08) Hannity & Colmes, Tantaros repeatedly denigrated the majority of Americans who vote Democratic. When Alan Colmes suggested that Republicans need to offer more to voters than attacks on Democrats, Tantaros snapped, “We’re never gonna stop talking about how bad your party is, Alan, ’cause it’s true.”

This, it seems, is not a stable woman. Feel free to read on from the link below, but Tantaros is indicative of the lack of stability, impartiality, journalistic integrity and professionalism that largely defines Fox News. You could find a room filled with 1st graders who could show more maturity than to say, “We’re never gonna stop talking about how bad your party is Alan (Colmes, co-host of Hannity and Colmes), ’cause it’s true.” It sounds like the kind of talk that drives elementary-school teachers nuts.

News Hounds:
http://www.newshounds.us/2008/12/09/why_does_fox_news_contributor_tantaros_hate_america.php

Fox News Still Beating The Tired Drums Of Jeremiah Wright And Bill Ayers

Fox News is obsessed with storylines involving Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. Even with the election over, and even in spite of the fact that the Republican candidates the network wanted to win have lost in decisive fashion, Fox News continues to pursue this tired agenda. Throughout the presidential campaign, Wright and Ayers were used as attack weapons against Barack Obama in an effort to derail his historic and successful run to become President-elect Barack Obama. Even today, more than a month since Obama was elected president of the United States of America, Republican-leaning Fox News is continuing to talk about Wright and Ayers. News Hounds has been documenting much of this ridiculous obsession. A Dec. 9, 2008 story posted on the Web site chronicles the latest round of Wright and Ayers discussion by Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, who apparently is looking for stories since there well has run dry fawning over Sarah Palin and obsessing over stories of missing white women (of course she has apparently decided to get back into the whole O.J. Simpson thing, but we’ll have to see how deep that goes). As News Hounds points out, it is amazing how conservative Fox News hosts are appalled by what they feel is hate coming from Wright, but over the years turned a deaf ear to hateful words and deeds from the likes of Michael Savage, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh, people at McCain-Palin rallies, Rod Parsley, John Hagee, G. Gordon Liddy … and the list goes on. Where is the outrage over hate coming from these people or events? It’s nonexistent because hate, in the eyes of conservatives on Fox News, can only come from the left wing. Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Van Susteren (who spent the entire campaign following Palin around like a lovesick grade-school child … flipping her middle finger at impartiality) and others can talk all the want about fairness and objectivity, but it’s garbage.

News Hounds:
http://www.newshounds.us/2008/12/09/van_susterens_double_standard_of_tolerance_for_hate.php#more

Fans Of Lions Should Blame Management More Than The Players

Detroit Lions football player Dominic Raiola has more than served his time as a member of what has already become a sad-sack franchise that in many ways is undeserving of a loyal and enthusiastic fan base. Detroit is a great sports town and desperately craves a National Football League winner. Sadly, it has been quite some time since the Detroit Lions were NFL significant in a winning way. So, it is no surprise that there has been a lot of venom coming from the local sports media in Detroit as well as the fans toward the franchise. Unfortunately for so many of the football players on the Lions, much of the anger is naturally aimed in their direction. Why would it not be aimed at them? The players are right on the field, the most accessible and the ones we feel we know. But, blaming management of the Detroit Lions for efficiently running this franchise into the grown kamikaze style. Raiola made local, state and national headlines with an obscene gesture directed at fans he felt had crossed the line with their verbal assaults of him and his teammates. To be sure, there is ample frustration that is natural when a team is 0-13 and headed toward a dubious record: being the first team to finish 0-16. Frankly, the Lions have a great shot at this historic mark. But, I would suggest that fans of the Lions spend less time berating the players and more time berating management and hold these individuals responsible. The players are working hard, but the Lions are mostly over matched from a talent standpoint in many of the games they’ve played this season. Twice they could have and perhaps should have beaten Minnesota. But, for the most part, the Lions have really not been very close. The players play, but it is the responsibility of the coaches to put the right people in the right positions. This franchise, from a management standpoint, has proved to be inept in assembling a team. It’s time for a bold change and it’s time to bring in someone with a strong track record of winning championships. Whether it’s Bill Cowher or someone else, the Lions need to bring in someone who demands respect, adds credibility and truly is determined to become a winner. Matt Millen became the laughingstock of front-office management and head coach Rod Marinelli has been only slightly more credible as a coach (factoring in that he is playing with a hand that is not all that great). Detroit needs credible football people with relevant experience and success that can not be disputed making football decisions. Anything short of that continues a disturbing trend of professional football futility.

AP/Yahoo Sports story:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-lions-raiolasgesture&prov=ap&type=lgns

Right Wingers Fail In Hail Mary Attempt To Derail Obama Presidency

The right wingers have worked hard - even since the election - to try and find some way of stopping the rolling tide of history. Some on the right, in the simplest of terms, still can not come to grips with “President-elect Barack Obama.” It’s still difficult for so many of them to say. I think this is a major part of the reason we’ve seen these ridiculous lawsuits by people trying to portray Obama as not being a natural citizen and otherwise trying to smear him to somehow boot him off of his journey to the White House as president of the United States of America. Man, does that sound sweet. It’s a shame that a bitter and out-of-touch segment of our population still clings to bitterness over a convincing victory by Obama and Joe Biden over theinadequate Republican rivals (mainly inadequate was Sarah Palin). Here is an article that illustrates the last-gasp effort on the part of some extremists to stop Obama from becoming president.

Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/silentpatriot/scotus-rejects-case-questioning-obam

Still Wondering If Sean Hannity Will Man Up And Find Someone Strong To Co-Host Show

Does Sean Hannity have the testicular fortitude to have someone of strength on the show opposite him? I doubt it. No need for Hannity to do a cup check on this one. We can only hope and pray that Fox News (anything but fair and balanced) will not hand Hannity a full hour to spew his bigotry and fear mongering. The American people deserve better than to have a nut like that be given a full hour in prime time (without any checks and balances of a liberal given the power to truly confront the right-wing nut. For those interested in finding out more about Hannity, check out Dickipedia.

Dickipedia:
http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=Sean_Hannity
Spinsanity:
http://www.spinsanity.org/columns/20020826.html

Say It Isn’t So, Plaxico

Man, standout National Football League player Plaxico Burress has had a tough time during the last week or so. Late last month, the New York Giants receiver allegedly shot himself (I doubt it felt like an alleged bullet when it went into his leg, but I do understand the legalese with which we must write and speak), accidentally, while he was in a club in New York. According to ESPN, the incident took place at the Latin Quarter in midtown Manhattan.
Here is a statement released by the New York Giants regarding the incident that now has Burress facing the strong possibility of jail time as a result of his possession of the weapon.
“We are aware of the fact that Plaxico was involved in an apparent accidental shooting last night. We have been in contact with Plaxico since shortly after the incident. Plaxico suffered a wound to his right thigh. Obviously, our primary concern is for Plaxico’s health and well-being, and given the circumstances, we are relieved to say he was released from a New York City hospital at approximately 2 p.m. today. We have been in touch with NFL Security on this matter. At this point, we are attempting to gather all the facts surrounding this incident. This incident could become a matter for law enforcement officials, and because of that, we have no comment on any of the details.”
When will these star professional athletes learn to stop carrying these guns and getting themselves in trouble? Certainly, we’re all happy that Plaxico is physically OK, but he still has legal troubles that he must handle that will be far more challenging than even being shot in the leg. Hopefully, Plaxico will learn from this lesson - a lesson that might prove very costly in the end. If nothing else, this incident with Burress seems to confirm that it’s too much to ask for that these high-profile professional athletes avoid putting themselves in bad/compromising positions by hitting the night clubs. Any club you need to carry a gun to is not a club I would be interested in checking out.

ESPN on Plaxico Burress:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3733021

World to O.J. ... We can't Do Nothing For Ya Man!

Over the weekend, I spent some time with a group of friends and the subject of O.J. Simpson came up after he was convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping and probably some other stuff, too. Unlike 14 or so years ago, when O.J. was on trial for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, the media madness was at a minimum this time around. We’ve all overdosed on O.J. Simpson and few of us are able to muster much sympathy for the tragic figure he has become. I won’t spend a whole lot of time rehashing the ins and outs of his most recent trial (I will instead provide a link to some other news story or stories). But, I will say that it is probably a good thing that his stupid ass is back in jail for what looks like at least nine years … maybe longer. O.J.’s ego has swollen larger than that blimp of a head he has on his shoulders. And, apparently, his head is about as empty inside as a blimp or a hot-air balloon. O.J. had gotten away with so many things during his tragic life. He was living the high life down in Florida, but for about 14 years continued to find ways to rub his escape from murder convictions in the face of the Brown and Goldman families as well as so many millions of people around the world who thought him to be guilty. Even being found liable, civilly, did little to let some of the air out of his enormous ego. He did interviews, wrote books and more, not so subtlytaunting the Browns and the Goldmans as well as the police, the media and all people who thought him to be as guilty as sin. Simpson continued to do stupidthing after stupid thing until he found himself in a LasVegas courtroom having a book thrown at him by a judge who probably took some delight in letting the disgraced O.J. have it. I can shed no tears for Simpson. He was stupidand put himself in a position to be thrown in jail. Maybe he was truly set up this time and maybe he wasn’t, but the bottom line is he put himself in a stupid situation and finally ends up where so many people feel he has belonged for years. You wonder if he will find some way to weasel out of it, but this time I think luck (or whatever you want to call it) finally has run out on the Juice. Considering his mental state (personally, I think this cat is crazy) I think he is right where he needs to be … in jail.

O.J. Simpson:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCQk1ZEIwNf4&refer=home

Bo Would Be Feeling Pride As Young Wolverines Begin To Grow Program

Bo Schembechler, the former legendary football coach at the University of Michigan had a famous saying: “Those who stay will be champions.” That quote is an enduring one that has remained with the U-of-M’s athletics program for decades. Saturday, as current Michigan men’s basketball team pulled off a stunning 81-73 upset of national power Duke University, I could not help but think of that quote from Schembechler. I also could not help but think of some of the people I argued with about current Michigan head men’s basketball coach John Beilein. I argued with several people who were critical of Beilein and his ability to return Michigan Basketball back to national relevance and potentially back to national prominence. Now, if Michigan played Duke 10 times (five in each team’s gym) Duke would probably when seven of those games). Duke has a better team and program that has been built over decades. U-of-M is working to get back to that level. Beilein, in my estimation, is ahead of schedule with the Wolverines. There is a lot of basketball left to be played and there will be a lot of highs and lows. But, Saturday made one thing clear to me, Beilein is finally mixing in the kinds of players (Stu Douglass and Zack Novak) who fit his system and can thrive in his brand of college basketball. He has young guys who are developing quickly blended in with some more experienced players (like DeShawn Sims who had 28 points and 12 rebounds). Michigan will still have its share of peaks and valleys, but I expect Michigan to be relevant by the end of the season. Who knows what it will translate to in terms of post-season tournaments? No one knows. No one can know. But, Beilein is on the right track for a program this season that has wins over UCLA and Duke. That’s not too bad.

Detroit News Columnist Jerry Green’s Argument Is Not Even Close

This morning I read a stunningly one-dimensional column written by Detroit News writer Jerry Green. Within his numerous attempts at humor, he does attempt to make a few points here and there. The primary focuses of the column were: (1) criticize President-elect Barack Obama for advocating a college football playoff and (2) bash all these supposedly horrible things that would occur should a playoff system of one kind or another be implemented. Unfortunately, what I read from Green was a fairly shallow column that missed the point in several ways. First, Green implies that Obamais saying that the implementation of a playoff system will be this wonderful panacea for college football and we will all go on to live happily ever after. It also stretches the imagination to make it seem as though Obama is somehow this lone soldier fighting a rogue battle against what seemingly everyone else thinks is a somewhat-flawed but still reasonable Bowl Championship Series (BCS) setup. Obama reflects the opinions and the frustrations of many of us who believe that a small playoff of perhaps eight teams or four teams (essentially the plus-one format some people talk about) is not all that unreasonable if the arguments truly were for the best interest of college football and the best interest of student-athletes. You can’t tell me that these major Division I student-athletes are any better the student-athletes than the young men who play college football at the Division II and Division III levels. And, at the Division II and Division III levels of the NCAA, there are playoffs that decide the true national champion. Yet, somehow these young kids go on to become productive citizens who havegood jobs or go on to graduate school before getting good jobs in the careers of their choice. These are not student-athletes who are steered into some blow-off courses or a major designed to keep Division I college football players who are making a stop on their way to the National Football League eligible during their three to five years in what is essentially the NFL’s minor league. So, spare me any garbage about how this is about education and protecting the student-athletes. What this is really about are the money makers: (1) non-conference games that bring in tons of money for college football and (2) the bowl games … which bring in tons of money for college football. No one wants to get rid of those millions of dollars generated by these big-time programs hosting these mid-major teams in these games that the fans hate but pay big money to go and watch. No one wants to upset the corporate sponsors of the bowl games who pour in big money and may not want to see the money they’re spending for some of these secondary bowls be potentially further devalued by a college football playoff. So, this is not about the best interest of the student-athletes or college football that these anti-playoff people are advocating. Don’t be fooled by such one-dimensional arguments when we have conference championship games and students spend weeks away from home and campus preparing for these bowl games. There is no playoff system that will be perfect. But, use legitimate arguments instead of weak scare-tactic arguments about students missing class time - arguments that are laughable.

Detroit News:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081206/OPINION03/812060453

Idiot Dick Morris Again Making Foolish Opinions On O’Relly Factor, Fox News

Dick Morris, an “analyst” for Fox News often featured on the right-wing show “The O’Reilly Factor,” has fast become a caricature of a true analyst thanks to his string of irrational and idiotic predictions. Morris, however, has disgraced the word analyst with his many predictions that have missed the mark and his blatant and unprofessional on-air campaigning for Republican candidates during the recent general election. The Web site Media Matters for America recently chronicled many of Morris’ most egregious shortcomings and outright failures as an analyst. One of the most recent puzzling and idiotic comments that seems to prove his obsessive anger with the Clintons was on full display during a recent episode of “The O’Reilly Factor” with right-wing commentator Bill O’Reilly.

Here is Media Matters for America’s summaryof its article:
On The O’Reilly Factor, Dick Morris predicted that Sen. Hillary Clinton would challenge President-elect Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination in the 2012
presidential election. But some of Morris’ past attempts at political prognostication have been wildly off the mark. Morris’ latest prediction is also inconsistent with his assertion in April that “[o]bviously, if Obama beats [Sen. John] McCain, Hillary is out of the picture until 2016.”

So, in addition to pretty much contradicting himself, he is obviously working from the right wing of the political spectrum fighting with blind rage against the Democrats. In some ways, however, Morris is a bit crafty in that he is trying to plant the seed that the Democrats are going to blow themselves up. Morris is continuing to push this extremist right-wing stuff on the American people (many of which are drunk off it daily on O’Reilly’s show). Be sure to check out Media Matters for America’s list of the many failed predictions and outlandish statements of Morris.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200812040016?f=h_clips

Big Ten-ACC Challenge: Advantage ACC

It’s not exactly breaking news that the ACC is a better college basketball conference than the Big Ten. However, I do have reason to feel more optimism about the status and the future of the Big Ten (in spite of the fact that the league’s two top teams were slaughtered in their home states during the challenge as Purdue was whipped by Duke and Michigan State was smoked by North Carolina). The ACC is better than the Big Ten, right now, but I expect Michigan State to be much better by tournament time (health permitting). I also expect Purdue to be better by the end of the season. Will that make them better than North Carolina and Duke … not likely. But, in the NCAA Tournament, anything can happen. The ACC-Big Ten Challenge still makes for good theater. Hopefully the Big East, one of the best college basketball leagues in the nation, can get some kind of a challenge started with maybe the Southeastern Conference (SEC). These challenges seem to have the fans excited.

Tar Heels Maul Spartans

Watching the Michigan State-North Carolina college basketball game Wednesday night was painful … very painful. This Big Ten-ACC Challenge thing is a made-for-television event to fill in those normally dull weeks in November and December when big-time teams used to feast on the mid-major schools to pack up wins (much to the boredom of fans). I was, however, excited to watch the Spartans take on the top-ranked Tar Heels in an event that was moved to Ford Field in Detroit where officials kept their fingers crossed for a gigantic crowd that never really materialized. Something else never really materialized: competition for North Carolina. Now, I expected the Tar Heels to win. North Carolina is BY FAR the best team in college basketball that I’ve had a chance to see this season. I did, however, not expect to see MSU beaten as badly as it was beaten. By the end of the game, the Spartans appeared physically drained, mentally spent and flat-out tired. But, the damage was done long before that. Even in the early stages of the game, the Spartans missed layups, dropped easy passes, threw inexplicably-bad passes out of bounds. To be fair, MSU played without starting center Goran Suton and UNC seemed to hit pretty much every big shot it threw at the rim. By the way, UNC center Tyler Hansbrough is the real deal. I don’t know how good of a professional player he will be, but he is one of the best college players I’ve seen in quite some time. Some of MSU’s key players had trouble finishing plays and some of the players seemed to be in a sort of mental fog. The Spartans have far better talent than they showed against North Carolina and I expect MSU to be a team far better able to compete against UNC by the end of the season. The Spartans need to relax, get healthy, work on some team chemistry and FINISH shots that they are strangely not finishing. Better days are ahead for Coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans.

Deluded Republicans Grasping At Straws With Saxby Chambliss Victory

Republicans can oftentimes leave you scratching your head with some of the things that they say. In the most recent election, one in which Democrats all but crushed the Republicans at most levels of government, the GOP is fighting hard to keep the machine on spin cycle for as long as possible. With the runoff reelection of Sen. Saxby Chambliss, in Georgia, some of the top Republicans (well, one in particular) are trying to spend this as some mammoth victory that somehow wipes out the crystal-clear mandate the American people of the United States gave President-elect Barack Obama, a Democrat and the first black president in U.S. history, and all of the other Democrats who rolled to victory. While the Al Franken-Norm Coleman recount in Minnesota is considered somewhat close, frankly the reelection of Chambliss was never really in doubt. That being said, the following mind-numbing comments from RNC Chairman Mike Duncan are puzzling (to say the very least):

“Georgians refuted any notion that the ideology of the country has shifted to the left. They supported the candidate who believes that people should keep their hard-earned dollars; that every American resource should be leveraged to address our energy crisis; that the role of judges is to interpret the Constitution; and that America must be vigilant against the very real threats to our nation and its citizens.
Notably, Chambliss won in spite of strong support by President-elect Obama and Democrat organizations for Jim Martin. Georgian’s [sic] clearly sent a message that any rhetoric about a liberal mandate is nothing but hot air.”

If you were running a clinic on how to spin a clear and decisive series of political defeats, this might be the example that would be used. Apparently, to Duncan, this victory by Chambliss (in a Republican state) somehow wipes out the crushing defeat that President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden dealt the Republicans in the general election. Sorry, Mike, but that is flat out crazy - even by Republican standards.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/04/hunter-chambliss-victory/

“Barack Obama Day” Is A Holiday In One County … Wait Until Conservatives Hear About This

Perry County (Ala.) likely can soon expect to fall victim to random attacks. This onslaught, however, is likely to come from Republicans and conservatives. In a 4-1 vote, county commissioners decided to pass a measure that would close all offices on the second Monday of each November in honor of the election of the first black president of the United States, President-elect Barack Obama. The day officially will be called “The Barack Obama Day.” That means the 40-or-so workers will get a paid day off in honor of historic figure that President-elect Obamasuddenly has become with the recent election. I can’t say I’m surprised about this development. In fact, I called this after the elementary school was renamed in recognition of Obama and the historic nature of his election.

Here are a couple of passages from the story I found interesting:
Sponsoring commissioner Albert Turner Jr. said the holiday is meant to highlight the
Democratic president-elect’s victory as a way to give people faith that difficult goals can be achieved. Perry County has 12,000 residents, most of them black. Voters there backed Obama by over 70 percent in a state that gave 60 percent of the overall vote to Republican John McCain based largely on strong support from white voters.

Obviously, the story was going to highlight the fact that the residents of the county were predominantly black. It’s debatable how much relevance that has to the actual story, or what the agenda was behind calling that out, but whatever. One of the intriguing things about bringing the race issue into the story was to illustrate how there is a bit of a racial division with the election as so many whites in Alabama strongly supported Republican John McCain while nearly all blacks supported Obama. Maybe we are not quite as close to the post-racial world as so many people have wanted to believe. At any rate, it is an intriguing story and I would encourage you to read it.

Huffington Post/AP:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/03/alabama-county-passes-ann_n_148216.html

Conservative Fox News Comedian Sean Hannity Cracks Us Up

Fox News channel’s Sean Hannity is the right winger’s right winger. Of that there is little doubt. The right-wing extremist had a lot of people shaking their head after the following exchange he had with a guest by the name of John Ziegler on the “Hannity and Colmes” show.

Here is the exchange:
HANNITY: If you don’t listen to talk radio, if you don’t watch the FOX News Channel, you’re not anywhere nearly as informed as people that are just hearing the bumper stickers, the slogans, the snippets of the commercials of the media. So, journalism died in 2008, and it influenced a lot of people on the way out.
ZIEGLER: That’s exactly right.

It’s a shame that Hannity was probably being serious with his comments. If journalism died in 2008, then Fox News has blood on its hands.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/03/hannity-viewers-misinformed/

“Barack Obama Day” Is A Holiday In One County … Wait Until Conservatives Hear About This

Perry County (Ala.) likely can soon expect to fall victim to random attacks. This onslaught, however, is likely to come from Republicans and conservatives. In a 4-1 vote, county commissioners decided to pass a measure that would close all offices on the second Monday of each November in honor of the election of the first black president of the United States, President-elect Barack Obama. The day officially will be called “The Barack Obama Day.” That means the 40-or-so workers will get a paid day off in honor of historic figure that President-elect Obamasuddenly has become with the recent election. I can’t say I’m surprised about this development. In fact, I called this after the elementary school was renamed in recognition of Obama and the historic nature of his election.

Here are a couple of passages from the story I found interesting:
Sponsoring commissioner Albert Turner Jr. said the holiday is meant to highlight the Democratic president-elect’s victory as a way to give people faith that difficult goals can be achieved. Perry County has 12,000 residents, most of them black. Voters there backed Obama by over 70 percent in a state that gave 60 percent of the overall vote to Republican John McCain based largely on strong support from white voters.

Obviously, the story was going to highlight the fact that the residents of the county were predominantly black. It’s debatable how much relevance that has to the actual story, or what the agenda was behind calling that out, but whatever. One of the intriguing things about bringing the race issue into the story was to illustrate how there is a bit of a racial division with the election as so many whites in Alabama strongly supported Republican John McCain while nearly all blacks supported Obama. Maybe we are not quite as close to the post-racial world as so many people have wanted to believe. At any rate, it is an intriguing story and I would encourage you to read it.

Huffington Post/AP:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/03/alabama-county-passes-ann_n_148216.html

Could Student-Athletes Make A Difference In NCAA’s Poor Record Of Hiring Black Football Coaches?

Roy S. Johnson, a Yahoo Sports blogger, had an interesting take on the sort of complex issue of so few black head coaches and, seemingly, so few opportunities for blacks to become head coaches in major Division I college football. Johnson is of the belief that the black student-athlete can have a significant impact on the apparent unwillingness for many schools to strongly consider blacks as candidates for head coaching jobs at the Division I level.

Here is a passage from Johnson’s blog/column:
In his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech former NFL tight end Kellen Winslow charged a generation of recruits to leverage their opportunity to influence change: “‘Son,’” he said at one point, speaking as if he was a college coach recruiting a top player, “‘we’d really like for you to play for State U. We have a fine academic program, and a winning tradition, and it’s close to home, so your folks can see you play a lot.’ — Player to coach — “‘That sounds great, but it bothers me that there are only two African-American coaches on your staff, and neither one of them is the offensive or defensive coordinator.’”
“With these few words, African-American athletes can begin to open doors of opportunities that for whatever reason were once closed to African-Americans.”

It’s an intriguing argument, but I have to wonder how receptive many young black athletes would be to such an argument. Is there enough forward thinking in student-athletes to imagine what it will be like for many of them who may want to become head coaches someday? Would this be enough to persuade many of the administrators at these powerful schools to be more open-minded to minority candidates? Only time will tell. But, it would be interesting if Winslow’s advice was heeded.

Roy S. Johnson:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/post/Like-their-predecessors-young-black-athletes-mu?urn=top,126226#remaining-content

Fox News Again Caught Unethically Doctoring Photos To Make People Look Bad

Fox News has fast and already become a disgrace to objective journalism. First, we know that Fox News is stacked with right-wing commentators and that many of its anchors are right wingers who fight their primal instincts to try and portray an image of objectivity. But, this is the second time I can think of that Fox News has blatantly doctored photos of people in an effort to make them look bad. It is a disgrace to real journalists who work hard and play by the rules to portray people they report on in a fair and accurate manner. But, we have the people at Fox News who spit in the face of the ideals of good and pure journalism to advance their own political agenda that is right wing and conservative (from any objective point of view). The last time Fox News did this there were hints of racism in the stereotypes that this “news” channel used to grotesquely distort the images of two New York Times writer (see link below to read full Think Progress story).
Think Progress has documented the latest instance of Fox News and Bill O’Reilly inappropriately distorting a photo of NBC President Jeffery Zucker. O’Reilly has pissed away any claims of objectivity he can muster with his obsessive hatred and blind rage toward NBC. He has pimped Fox News and abused his prime-time spot to advance his ideology and used it as a platform to attack NBC, MSNBC and the good people involved in those organizations because they don’t bow down and kiss his feet.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/02/oreilly-zucker-photo/