Well, for now, they are making nice. After a week of each side accusing the other on issues of race, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama called a truce.

So, to wrap things up, I wanted to share with you an article containing excerpts from various columnists across the country. Some of these were from people who called it down the middle but, at least one, was a right-winger who just hates Clinton, period. So, take it for what it’s worth.

At any rate, here it is.

Popularity: 16% [?]

I find it amazing that a man who as made billions in the media world is not more media savvy. So, I wonder if what he said was out of ignorance, arrogance or a combination of the two. However, once again, the Clinton camp is finding themselves having to clean up a mess made by one of their surrogates.

At a Hillary Clinton rally in South Carolina, Johnson made what is his now-infamous statement on Barack Obama:

“And to me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues since Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood –­ and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in the book –­ when they have been involved.”

Critics say that Johnson, like other Clinton surrogates, are trying to slam Obama on his admitted drug use as a youth and are trying to turn his teenage indiscretions into a campaign issue. Johnson, and now the Clintons, are in clean-up mode and are saying that Bob Johnson was only referring to Obama’s years as a community organizer.

However, I heard and saw things for myself and it seemed pretty clear that Johnson’s comment was meant as a slam on Obama and, unless Johnson holds some deep-seated animosity towards community organizers, he was referencing Obama’s use of drugs as a teen.

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo hits the nail on the head when he states the following:

We seem to be at the point where there are now two credible possibilities. One is that the Clinton campaign is intentionally pursuing a strategy of using surrogates to hit Obama with racially-charged language or with charges that while not directly tied to race nonetheless play to stereotypes about black men. The other possibility is that the Clinton campaign is extraordinarily unlucky and continually finds its surrogates stumbling on to racially-charged or denigrating language when discussing Obama.

I’ve included the video below so you can judge for yourself.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Rep. James Clyburn is regarded as the most powerful black Democrat in Congress and one of the most influential political figures in South Carolina. An endorsement by him would be a harbinger of good tidings for a Democratic candidate in South Carolina.

A few days back, I heard Hillary Clinton try to distinguish herself from Barack Obama by citing a hope versus experience example and she chose to say the following on Fox News:

“I would point to the fact that that Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the president before had not even tried, but it took a president to get it done. That dream became a reality, the power of that dream became a real in peoples lives because we had a president who said we are going to do it, and actually got it accomplished.”

When I heard this, I was taken aback. It seemed to be implying, to me, that 1) all Dr. King did was “dream” and not take action and 2) what King did was not a big part of Johnson finally taking the appropriate steps to get civil rights legislation passed.

Somebody must have dropped a bug in her ear because, at the next campaign stop, Clinton quickly tried to clean it up by talking about “how Dr. King was beaten and jailed and how he worked with Johnson to pass the landmark law”. However, it appears that the damage might have already been done.

Apparently, I was not the only person taken aback. Rep. Clyburn had the following to say about it:

“We have to be very, very careful about how we speak about that era in American politics…It is one thing to run a campaign and be respectful of everyone’s motives and actions, and it is something else to denigrate those. That bothered me a great deal.”

Now, there are rumblings that Clyburn could do something that he originally believed he wouldn’t do — endorse a candidate in the South Carolina primary. At this point, everything is speculative but, this comment by Hillary Clinton and others by Bill Clinton, seemed to have rubbed Clyburn the wrong way.

This leaves some wondering what his endorsement could be. In a hotly contested race between Clinton and Obama, not to mention what an Edwards win in South Carolina could mean, a Clyburn endorsement could put a candidate over the top.

I, for one, am greatly interested in what Rep. Clyburn will do in the next few days.

Popularity: 17% [?]

I just wanted to share this because it now sounds so funny. Do you remember when right-wing commentators used to bully people with Republican talking points. Now that they see the country’s views on their “leadership” souring, they begin sounding desperate.

Here’s an example of just that (thanks to Crooks And Liars for the clip).

 

 Hannity Sounding Desperate: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 19% [?]

I remember a post I did a several months ago about Ron Paul. In it, I brought up questions about a newsletter, published under his name in the early 90’s, in which anti-black, racist vitriol was spewed. His supporters tried to dismiss it because Paul says he didn’t write it — it just appeared in a newsletter bearing his name but, he had no idea about what was being put out.

At the time, I thought this was a problem with just one issue of the newsletter so, to be fair, I could see how one issue of a printed newsletter could slip under the radar.

However, what I did not know was that this was not an isolated incident.

After scouring such obscure places as the University of Kansas and the Wisconsin Historical Society, The New Republic was able to track down some of the old newsletters and their contents are eye-opening and hard to defend, to say the least.

First of all, it’s apparent that the Ron Paul newsletter has been in existence since 1978 and has been published under many names: Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report. Did you notice that they all have “Ron Paul” in the name? Wouldn’t you think that, if a newsletter is being put out with your support for many years, you might be responsible for the content. Furthermore, many of the writings don’t contain bylines so, it seems that someone wanted to express these as the opinions of Ron Paul so, did he only denounce them because of the unwanted scrutiny these writings were receiving?

Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about, read this excerpt from the article:

Read More… »

Popularity: 29% [?]

Golf is not exactly known for its diversity (although I see that changing). So, maybe it’s just a knee-jerk reaction on my part but, the recent words of Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman (followed, subsequently, by an apology) really ticked me off. Tilghman, supposedly, was trying to express how dominant a player Tiger Woods is and suggested that young players should “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley” in order to compete with him.

Now, considering the history of lynching in this country (the OVERWHELMING majority of which targeted black people), this is not something that is exactly the stuff of jest.

But, who knows, maybe it’s just me…

Popularity: 25% [?]

Just a quick word to say that, tonight, my thoughts are with the people of Kenya.

As you are aware, a disputed election has plunged the country into turmoil and violence. The death toll stands at some 500 people and another 250,000 have been displaced.

While we are caught up in issues of a war, worsening economy and politics at home, I hope that we can still take a brief moment to pray for Kenya.

Popularity: 25% [?]

As you know, although this is blackmystory.com, I comment on other things in the world around me. You might also know that, when it comes to kids who have been victimized, I don’t care about color. My issues, by and large, are with adults, not young people.

So, I was outraged when I read about the death 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan. Nataline had been denied a liver transplant by her health care provider, Cigna. After 9 days of protesting and bad press, Cigna relented but, it was too late. Just hours after the approval, Nataline died.

Presidential candidate, John Edwards, has made taking on big corporations on behalf of average Americans a part of his platform. In speeches, he has cited this story as an example of what he sees as part of the problem. This prompted the Sarkisyan family to reach out to the Edwards campaign and pledge their support for his presidency.

Now, when it comes to the death of a young girl, most political folks would steer clear of criticizing such a thing.

Unfortunately, for the Clinton campaign, they don’t have enough of those folks. Instead, Clinton spokesman Jay Carson wades knee-deep in the muck with an email stating, “the references in Senator Clinton’s speeches are about people she has actually helped and changes she has actually made, not stories she’s pulled from the newspaper and included in her stump.”

Perhaps, in a clumsy way, Carson was trying to tout Clinton’s experience. But, instead, he came off as trying to score a cheap shot at the expense of a dead child.

Wasting little time, Edwards fired back:

“This campaign doesn’t seem to have a conscience…The more I thought about it, the idea that somehow everything is about them, I mean, it’s an indication that they have no conscience about what’s at stake here. These families are who this is about. It’s not about them, nor is it about me. It’s about whether we’re going to actually stand up and fight for these people and how much we care about them.”

Just one day from the primary voting in New Hampshire and with their candidate apparently trailing in the polls to Barack Obama, this is the last thing this campaign needed. But, if this is any indication of what could be expected in a Clinton candidacy, it is perhaps a blessing that this is coming out, now.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Growing up, I knew, as a black person, I was going to have to fight harder for what I wanted. However, I never considered that it would include health care.

Strangely enough, I hadn’t given too much thought to racial disparities in medical treatment until very recently in life. Honestly, I don’t know why. If racial disparities can exist in other areas of life, why not health care delivery?

Nonetheless, I was floored to read the results of a recent study on cancer treatment. It states that many black cancer patients are not receiving health care any better than they had 10 years prior:

The researchers assessed the type of treatment given to more than 143,000 Americans over age 65 for lung, breast, colon, rectal and prostate cancer from 1992 to 2002 under the Medicare government health insurance program.

Black patients were consistently less likely than whites to receive the recommended types of treatment, the study found, and the problem was just as bad in 2002 as in 1992.

The solution? Fight for everything. Sadly, though I think that the last thing a sick person should have to do is fight for the same health care that other people get by virtue of skin color, this is just what seems necessary. Better yet, those of us who are still healthy need to stand up for those who are not because, without a doubt, some of us will be in those same shoes one day.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Now, though I give props for Obama’s win in Iowa, I must keep things in perspective. I am no Obama fanboy. In fact, posts like this and this should indicate to people where I stand on Obama. Neither he nor any other candidate has earned my vote, yet.

You see, I like the idea of change. However, change can mean anything. Or, worse yet, it’s easy to talk of change but, I have heard so much lip service given to the notion that I have to question if a person is truly going to deliver on what they claim. With that being said, sometimes you have to look at a persons past actions/statements to determine if you can believe them. This applies for Obama or any other candidate but, since I am talking about Obama, specifically, I have to share with you an article that appeared last month on ZNet. It’s called, Obama Speaks: “Oh Great White Masters, You Just Haven’t Been Asked to Help America” and offers another view on the thoughts and actions of Barack Obama. It’s a good read and I encourage you to check it out.

As voters, it shouldn’t be just about who we find most electrifying or most electable. We also need to know if our interests will be represented.

Popularity: 31% [?]