A conversation about what's going on in the world at any given point in time…and what I think about it. Occasionally, guest bloggers may appear. Viewer comments are welcome. Peace! Alpha Heel
Yesterday, like last Tuesday, Super Tuesday, several U.S. states conducted Primary Elections. Nikki Haley bowed out of the GOP Nomination process a week ago today. At that point, technically, there was no remaining mystery related to who would represent the Grand Old Party in the 2024 Presidential Election. The reality is, we’ve known for some time who would be the two principal candidates.
But, as is often said, the job is not done until the paperwork is complete. Wrapping up the job requires a candidate on each side to reach the required numerical threshold. For Biden, the number of delegates required to clench the Democratic Nomination is 1,968. Biden exceeded that number early last night, almost as soon as the polls closed at 7:00 p.m. in Georgia (ironically), and news agencies projected Biden’s win in the Peach State. Within 10 minutes of the polls closing at 11:00 p.m., in Washington State, Trump, who needs 1,215 delegates, was declared the winner, and simultaneously, cited as having earned his party’s nomination. States voting yesterday included primaries in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington, and Caucuses in Hawaii.
So far in the pre-electoral process, Trump has won every state, but Vermont, while Biden has lost only the Territory of American Samoa. This is one of the earliest points in history when the finalists have been determined for both parties. There are 236 days remaining until Election Day. That means many things, perhaps none more important than for the next 33 weeks, we will be locked in one continuous 2024 Election Day news cycle. Oh yeah, it is vital to know and note, both candidates have to go to their respective Conventions and be officially voted in as the Nominee.
We have been warned about the intrusion of AI into our election process. The candidates and their surrogates will be endeavoring to paint their opponent with the least flattering of brushes. Meanwhile, The GOP House will try to impeach President Biden. Team Trump will be working to delay, and or pursue judicial elimination of court cases in New York, Washington, DC, Georgia, and Florida, on one hand, while, on the other, appealing massive (literally, hundreds of millions of dollars worth) court ordered payouts.
Lest we forget, last week, President Biden delivered the State of the Union (SOTU) Address. Republicans leaned head over heels into painting Biden as an old, addled, dementia-suffering frail being, who may not live to next week. Frankly, it sounded as though they didn’t think he’d even make it through the SOTU last Thursday. Not surprisingly, after the GOP lowered the bar of expectations to just North of ground level, Biden easily cleared the hurdle, so much so, until they were forced to change their attack line from Biden’s inescapable feebleness to, Biden was, instead of low energy and lost, he was too loud, and overly political. Side note: let’s not gloss over the fierce and loud suggestion of Biden’s mortality, as I have previously advised in other posts, is primarily about the intense fear that in the event Biden were to die while in office, he would, horror of horrors, be succeeded by Vice President Kamala Harris. The fear (and in may instances disdain) of a Black woman President is real, and palpable. Even Nikki Haley argued, when she was an active candidate, “There will be a woman President. The choice is whether it will be me or Kamala Harris.”
The beauty of being entrenched in opposition to Biden is, when one idea or position fizzles, or is demonstrated to be untenable, the GOP just secures another attack line and rides the wave until it’s necessary to reboot and find another rhetorical brick to hurl into the debate. Yesterday’s brick was the testimony of Special Counsel Robert Hur, who wrote a report describing Biden as “old, forgetful, and sympathetic.” However, despite those notable negative traits, the one that most ignited Republicans was “Unlikely to be convicted by a jury.”
During questioning, Hur likely left both Democrats and Republicans dissatisfied. He insisted on noting the word exonerated did not appear in his report. That frustrated some Dems. And, while he defended his decision to characterize Biden as he did, he added he did not say Biden was senile. GOP House members were visibly and audibly disappointed. Upon direct questioning, Hur said Biden didn’t hide documents, or refuse to cooperate/testify, or direct his lawyer to lie, or ask aids to move classified material to keep them hidden or deny access to any of his homes. There was more, but you get the point.
I understand you may be tired of hearing about the coming Election. I apologize. Regardless of whether I write about how our nation’s political dynamics are playing out, you will find them at every turn, and in every nook and cranny. We are there. “Biden-Trump 2.0: It’s On!”
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Yesterday was the second biggest day in American Electoral politics, Super Tuesday, exceeded in importance, and in actual number of Americans voting, only by Election Day, November 5, 2024. Ten weeks ago, I noted after the first couple of Republican contests, the GOP Caucuses in Iowa, and the New Hampshire GOP Primary in the Granite State, that we could confidently project the 2024 Presidential Race would feature the same two candidates as the 2020 Campaign. Donald Trump won both contests, and while the Democratic Party’s Primary Season had yet to kick off, as an incumbent President, Joe Biden was certain to be the other principal in a binary choice.
As I write this, the results from Super Tuesday continue to roll in. At midnight, there has been one deviation, as Nikki Haley won the Vermont Primary. Meanwhile, Biden seems poised for a clean sweep of the states with Democratic contests. However, he did lose the one Territory, American Samoa, that was contested last night.
The bottom line is, we are about to, as they say in sports parlance, run it back. There are two candidates capable of winning in November, Biden, and Trump, and you get to vote for one. The end.
So yesterday was the end of the beginning of our two-part voting season. For all practical purposes, you have one more shot, the fall Early Voting period/Election Day. This is where I insert my regular programming. If you haven’t registered to vote, do it tomorrow. Plan to vote as soon as the Early Voting period begins, if your state or territory has one, and if it doesn’t have one, plan to vote on Election Day.
As I watch and listen to various analyses of the candidates, and the pending Election, two key things resonate. First, Republicans in general, and especially Trump supporters, believe whatever he says. They accept the mean tweets, they embrace the hyperbole and untruths as fact, and they largely consider those who take exception to his rambling rants, as infidels. Second, Trump himself says those who don’t get on board with him should be forever exiled from MAGAdom. His supporters dutifully agree.
If Super Tuesday resolved anything, it is that the GOP Race, if there ever was one, is over. Late last night, House Speaker Mike Johnson congratulated Trump as “our Nominee.” At this writing, Nikki Haley had not conceded.* She declined to issue a statement after last night’s results. Nevertheless, Trump continues to move rapidly toward the goal of 1,215 of 2,429 delegates required to win the nomination. The powers that be within the GOP are nearly unified in urging Haley to drop out so Trump can focus solely on Biden. Team Trump has projected that they may reach the threshold as early as next week. The clock is tick, tick, ticking, and the hands of time cannot be turned back. Miss Nikki’s days are numbered. The remaining outstanding questions appear to be, will Haley make an about-face and endorse Trump, and if so, when?
On the other side of the equation, Biden has his own set of concerns. His support is lagging among several constituent groups of the Democratic coalition, as I mentioned in last week’s post, including, but not limited to, African Americans, Moslem Americans, Hispanics, young people, and progressives. In the final analysis, the margins in all those groups will matter. Biden may not fall below 50% support in any of those groups, but every vote counts. If the margins are substantially less that they were in 2020, it may be lethal to Biden’s chances to win. However, it’s not just those who will vote for Trump instead of Biden that matter. Just as important, and possibly more so, will be those who stay at home and don’t vote.
In summary, I will say again: your vote matters. Moreover, for all those who don’t know, don’t recognize, or don’t believe Biden did anything to enhance their lives over the past three plus years, he did. Let me count (some of) the ways:
Leveraged the full force of the federal government to advance racial justice and equity
Created new business opportunities/promoting entrepreneurship for Black Americans; 60% wealth increase vs. pre pandemic
America is the premier energy producing (including oil) country in the world
Added 14 million jobs since January 2021 (Trump left office at minus 2 million jobs)
Contributed to the lowest unemployment ever, including for African Americans
Unemployment has remained below 4% for 22 consecutive months
Inflation (which is still too high) has fallen by two-thirds
Reduced child poverty to historic lows
Expanded access to quality low income housing
Increased access to quality education with historic funding to HBCU’s
Expanded access to affordable healthcare
Advanced voting rights and police accountability
That’s just a dozen examples of things that too often fly under the radar, but that affect the day to day lives of millions of average Americans, especially those in the Democratic coalition. The Biden Administration has fostered and executed the initiatives above, and many others.
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Before I get started, allow me to interject, this post does not reflect anyone else’s data, research, or views; only my own, based upon my assessment and interpretation of contemporary current events.
Many Democrats, blinded by party loyalty, refuse to publicly prosecute the vulnerabilities…at least publicly, of Joe Biden. That’s not to say Republicans are more inclined to critique Donald Trump; they most certainly are not. But this post is not about Trump. This missive is an elocution on Biden and yesterday’s protest vote in the Michigan Democratic Primary.
First, let us note, President Biden is in the initial stages of a challenging re-election campaign. We always knew it would be. Full stop. In a big picture dynamic, there are those who will argue that Biden has labored under a mixed bag of self-inflicted wounds, bad luck, and circumstances beyond his direct control. Regardless of whether that is fair, the fact is, whoever sits in the Oval Office has the awesome responsibility of owning the spot where the proverbial buck stops. There are no ifs, no ands, no buts…simply put, no way around it, whatsoever.
The Democratic Party has a large, unwieldy, and loosely aligned coalition. It’s commonly known as a big tent. When things go well, it’s an impressive machine. At the end of the day, in 2020, it clicked. Joe Biden garnered over 81 million votes, the most in any U.S. Presidential Campaign, ever.
The election four years ago occurred during a global pandemic, amidst economic chaos, an education crisis, and supply chain disruption. The sitting President was actively promoting unorthodox and non-scientific remedies for the covid virus, had been impeached once, and was impeached again a week before his term expired. Oh yeah, the charge for his second impeachment was “incitement of insurrection.” Clearly, there was a significant wind filling Biden’s sails.
That was then. Every election stands on its own. 2024 brings with it, specific challenges. For President Biden, that includes a weakening of support among several subsets of the Democratic coalition, including Blacks, Hispanics, Youth, progressives, and in Michigan especially, Moslem-American activists. Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib has led the charge in creating a campaign for Michiganders identifying as Democrats, to vote “uncommitted,” to send a message to President Biden. Tlaib, and Arab-Americans are angry about Biden’s support of Netanyahu and Israel in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East, arising from Hamas attacking Israel on October 7, 2023. The progressives want Biden to pressure the Israeli Prime Minister to cease and desist with the bombing campaign that has resulted in tens of thousands of Arabs, many of them children, being killed. More importantly, they also want a cessation of aid to Israel. The not-so-subtle messaging behind the campaign is to say to Biden, we are giving you a dress rehearsal, demonstrating what could happen in November, if you don’t meet our demands.
President Bident was declared the winner of last night’s Michigan Primary very early in the evening. However, winning the Primary was never in question. What was at issue was the number/percentage of people who would ultimately vote uncommitted. Tlaib set the modest goal of 10,000 votes as the floor. That number, which admittedly was a lowball figure, was quickly exceeded. By midnight, with roughly 50% of the vote tallies, over 60K “uncommitted” votes had been counted.
Here’s the rub. Michigan (along with Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) is a swing state, and was instrumental in determining the outcome of the 2020 Presidential race. It is expected to be pivotal again in 2024. The Moslem community went heavily for Biden in 2020. In a state he won by roughly 150,000 votes, Moslem-Americans voted him by approximately the same number of votes (Not all “uncommitted” votes were by Arabs/Moslems). That seems simple and straight-forward enough. But the fundamentals and context of the broader discourse is considerably more complex. As noted earlier, several of the constituencies in the Democratic coalition have seen their support of Biden soften, relative to what it was in 2020. Moslems are just one of them. He must be concerned about all of them.
As it relates to Tlaib and the progressives’ stated posture on a ceasefire, and discontinuing aid, there is a particular calculus that does not portend a favorable outcome. Another of the stated groups of the Democratic coalition are Jews. The odds that Biden, or any U.S. President would stop aid to our single most reliable ally in the Middle East is, in a word, zero! The President has even been reticent to publicly pressure Netanyahu to cease the bombing, and to the extent he’s implied it, Bibi has blown him off, and talked about not being a puppet of the U.S. Of course, the Prime Minister is a rightward leaning politician, and has maintained a less than enthusiastically supportive/positive posture with Democratic Presidents (See Barack Obama), so the President’s reluctance to go there is not surprising. One other key consideration is, politically, there is an argument to be made that it is in Netanyahu’s interest to extend the war. He is an unpopular leader, and without the war, he would immediately face daunting challenges to his tenure.
There are multiple dimensions of the playing field when it comes to resolving the dispute between Israel and Hamas. President Biden and his team have been immersed in trying to end the conflict. He was instrumental in reaching the ceasefire that led to the earlier release of some hostages. Undoubtedly, he will continue to work diligently, moving forward. But if you take nothing else from this conversation, understand this reality: “Michigan Primary: The Horns of a Dilemma for Biden!”
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I am well on the way to my 17th year as a Blogger, Content Creator, or whatever other term you choose as your preferred euphemism. In sixteen and a half years, I have made over 850 blog posts. The range of topics I have tacked run the gamut, and include, among other things, politics, history, sports, holidays, healthcare, education, race, America, labor, wars, personalities, and travel, just to cite a dozen categories. One thing I have never written about, and in full disclosure, have never contemplated writing about, is Country Music. Decades ago, I heard a Country Music singer say, “The Country in Country Music, is America.” While admittedly, not a fan of the genre, then or now, I must admit, the moment I heard the guy say that I thought it was profound. I still believe that to be true.
Yesterday, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter’s new song, “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted as the Number 1 song on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Even if it’s only a paragraph, I must write about that. Image Bey being featured/nominated for one or more awards in the Country category at the 2025 Grammy’s, or at the Country Music Association Awards Show next year. We all know Bey & Jay are music royalty. When they make music, they make news. That’s been the case, since long before the two became the power couple they are today. For them, grabbing headlines in the music world is virtually de rigueur. But even by that standard, this is different.
Let’s not get it twisted though. Black folks are not new to this country music thing. The first string bands in this country were enslaved people. Moreover, the root of country music is blues, of which Santi Elijah Holley said, “It’s Black as hell.” When I was growing up, Charley Pride, was the Country sensation of the era. In 1962, Ray Charles released his 17th album, entitled, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. He went on to earn a Grammy for Album of the Year. Oh yeah, lest I forget to mention it, Beyoncé’s other new country song “16 Carriages” ranks No. 9 on the Billboard Country Music chart. Yes, in addition to debuting at Number 1, she also has a second Billboard Country Music chart Top 10 hit.
Today, there are several successful Black artists, popular for their singing country music, including Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown, Jimmy Allen, Brittney Spencer, and Willie Jones. They are all fine artists. However, none of them is Beyoncé, who has collected 88 Nominations, and 32 Grammy Awards: both, the most in history. Incidentally, Jay-Z has also garnered 88 Nominations, tying “his Bey” for most ever, to accompany his 24 Grammy Awards. Yes, that’s right, between the two of them, they have earned 176 Grammy Nominations, and 56 Grammy Awards.
In landing her first-ever No. 1 single on the country charts, Beyoncé enters rare air. She became only the second solo woman with no accompanying artists to achieve the feat. Taylor Swift, whose songs “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” hit No. 1 in 2021.
Bey is also the first woman to have topped both the Hot Country and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts since the lists began in 1958. Morgan Wallen, Justin Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Ray Charles are the only other artists to have reached No. 1 on both charts.
Her current hits, “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” were released Feb. 11, after Beyoncé teased the release of new music in a surprise Super Bowl ad for Verizon. She also announced her eighth solo studio album “Renaissance Act II” is scheduled for release March 29, 2024. “Bey Watch: This Is My “Country!””
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Last week in this space, I wrote about Republicans having had a tough day. Well, yesterday, as I predicted they would, House Republicans reversed one of the elements of their hard luck dramafest. By the slimmest of margins, the narrow House GOP majority, voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The vote was 214 to 213. Three Republicans – Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Tom McClintock of California – voted against the measure. For context, only one Cabinet official has previously been impeached in American history: Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.
But even with another questionable record to its credit, not everything was cookies and cream for the Grand Old Party. Also yesterday, in a New York Special Election, Democrat Thomas Suozzi defeated Republican Mazi Pilip, in a race to claim the seat previously held by disgraced former House member George Santos. With the defeat, the House GOP Caucus now has 219 members. Within the 435-member Chamber, 218 members are necessary to form a majority, when all eligible members are voting. From now to November, there are sure to be many tight votes in the House. That, of course presumes, the Speaker of the House will allow votes to take place, rather them delaying, or scuttling them via various parliamentary procedures. “The GOP Gets One Back; Impeaches Mayorkas!”
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The Terrible – An Appeals Court rules there is no such thing as Trump Immunity
The Horrible – Republican efforts to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas failed
The No Good – The Party’s standalone Israel aid bill fell in the House
The Very Bad Day – Trump’s denial of endorsing Langford was exposed as untrue
All things considered, in the future, 75%, or. 3 out of four of those items could be reversed. And quite frankly, GOP voters have established that the fourth, simply does not matter…to them.
In a 57-page unanimous opinion, a 3-Judge panel of DC Circuit judges wroth that our justice system allows a former president to be held accountable for his actions while in office, because the public interest in holding a potentially criminal president answerable outweighs any potentially “chilling effect” on the presidency.
Trump has promised to appeal. He appointed 3 of the nine Justices, and 6 of the 9 are conservative/Republican.
The House is nearly evenly divided, but Republicans hold a slight numerical edge. Yesterday, they thought they could only lose three votes. Then, when an unexpected Democrat showed up and voted, suddenly the magic number was 2. They lost 3, which resulted in a tie. In a last-minute bit of parliamentary legerdemain, one supporter changed his vote to nay, widening the defeat, but giving the GOP the opportunity to bring the measure up again, later.
Almost certainly, when it resurfaces, Republicans will have the requisite numbers.
The Israel aid bill came about because many House Republicans want to demonstrate support for Israel. However, the Freedom Caucus split from the majority, leaving Republicans needing to employ a procedural maneuver that requires two-thirds majority for approval. The arithmetic of that ploy left Republicans needing Democrats to bail them out, for the measure to pass.
Democrats, however, want to secure funding, not just for Israel, but also for Ukraine, for Taiwan, and for border security. Dems passed; the bill failed.
In an interview with conservative radio host Dan Bongino, Trump claimed, never to have endorsed Senator Langford, a conservative Oklahoma Senator who led the GOP negotiations in the Senate that produced a bi-partisan bill to resolve a host of border security issues, while also providing aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. While the bill is bipartisan, it is pretty much all things the GOP wants on the border, and nothing preferred by Democrats. It been labeled by most knowledgeable observers as the most conservative leaning border legislation ever. While the bill includes things the GOP would normally salivate over, Trump has asked Republicans not to sign off on it, because he wants to run on the border. Back to the question of Trump having endorsed Langford. Trump told Bongino:
“Just to correct the record, I did not endorse Sen. Lankford. I didn’t do it. He ran, and I did not endorse him.” So, I’m sure your person will be happy to hear that.” He later added, “I like James. I did not endorse James, but I like James.”
Trump’s claim is untrue. Trump said in the September 27, 2022, endorsement statement:
“James was strongly committed to America First, and everything it stood for, and likewise strongly committed to me, as President. Sometimes we didn’t exactly agree on everything, but we do now. He is a very good man with a fabulous wife and family, loves the great State of Oklahoma, and is working very hard on trying to Save our Country from the disaster that it is in.”
Trump categorically and repeatedly declared, with no caveats, that he had not endorsed Lankford at all. In a word, untrue.
The one is irrevocable. But history has shown, Trump being untruthful is not a deal-breaker for MAGA-voters. So, in conclusion, though it may not stick, yesterday was “The GOP’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!”
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Last week, I wrote a brief post about the apparent eventuality of a Biden-Trump rematch. Not much has happened on that front since then, other than Nikki Haley insisting that she’s in the race to stay, even though, she lost the first two contests (Iowa & New Hampshire), and despite the fact she will be completely shut out in the next one, the Nevada Caucuses, next week on February 8th, where she’s not even on the ballot, and notwithstanding, she is currently trailing by 30 points in the one after that, her own home state, of South Carolina, slated for February 24th. As long as Ms. Haley can persuade donors to pony up, she will be able to hang around. That’s been her focus the past week, while D-Trump and his backers have been engaged in a campaign to collect endorsements and donors, while concomitantly disparaging Haley and dissuading anyone who would be inclined to support her.
There are a lot of people, mostly non-Republicans, who wonder why so many people say they support Donald Trump over all other Republicans, many of whom insist they will do so, even if he is convicted on any of the 91 felony charges he faces. I’ve given that some thought, and I will likely write about it, in some future post. Now, I’ll leave you with one thought. When Trump says, I will be your retribution, or I would be a dictator for just one day, or Biden and the Democrats stole the election, his acolytes love that, want that, and feel that he understands their grievances, and only he, will make it right.
Today, I simply want to say a few words about the incongruous directions of Republicans, especially in the House, where there is an effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ostensibly for the “so-called” high crime and misdemeanor of not protecting the southern border, while they simultaneously and crowingly vow to kill a bi-partisan bill generated by Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, to protect the southern border. Indications are, even though an agreement in principle has been reached, some Republican Senators may back away from their consent, to avoid embarrassing their House counterparts, by sending them a bill they have already decided to scuttle, should it come their way.
It cannot be overlooked that one of, if not the principal reason, the GOP is contorting itself, and opting to commit political hari-kari, is because Donald Trump has asked them to do so. See my note two paragraphs above, about why Republicans support Trump, even when he expresses sentiments antithetical to the democratic (small D) credo. The current rhetoric among Republicans asserts, “There is no need for legislation; the President can take Executive action to resolve the problem at the border.” The thing is, whenever Biden openly considers taking Executive action, Republicans vociferously argue, the President is acting like an autocrat, and doesn’t have the power to act unilaterally. Consider Biden’s effort to eliminate student debt.
The long and short of it is, we are in the midst of a Presidential Campaign, and every action Biden takes is going to be characterized as overreach, while every act of restraint will be called weakness. Trump and his collaborators will make sure that any other course will be deemed GOP political malpractice.
That’s all well and good…if you’re a Trumpophile. However, anyone else needs to see this for what it is, exactly the opposite of the so-called “Country-first” mantra Republicans purport to represent. In fact, it is a strategy designed to do one thing; grease the skids for Trump’s presumed run to the White House. If this gambit succeeds, cynicism carries the day, Trump wins (the argument), and America loses the high ground as the world’s leading voice of democracy. For shame. “Impeach Alejandro, Kill the Immigration Bill: The Screaming Contradictory GOP Illogic of It All!”
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This will be a short post. No links, no preponderance of citations; just a few personal observations about the events of the day…or, as it were, yesterday.
For the second week in a row, politics and presidential candidates took center stage, and for the second week in a row, there was virtually no suspense. The results in both the Iowa Caucuses, and the New Hampshire Primary were rendered before the clock struck 9:00 p.m. On the GOP side, Donald Trump won both contests, becoming the first non-incumbent GOP Presidential candidate to win in both Iowa, and New Hampshire. Moreover, no Republican has ever won both, and failed to win the Party’s nomination.
Democrats are part of a different narrative. In Iowa, there will be a Primary in March, which will result in delegate allocation. In New Hampshire, President Biden did not register for the Primary, as the DNC effectively decertified the Primary due to New Hampshire Democrats flouting the DNC decision to hold its Primary before the February 3rd South Carolina Primary, which the DNC opted to make first in the 2024-Cycle. Just to be cautious, Democrats arranged a hastily constructed Write-in Campaign, to ensure that Biden didn’t lose, while not even running. Biden won. As a Write-in. No Delegates were awarded.
To make what could be a long story, appropriately short, in all appearances, we have come full circle. The 2020 Race is effectively, the 2024 Race. Translation: for the next 11 months, America Past will battle America Present for the right to become America Future. Lots of people disdain the circus that is politics, and they shut down when that is the subject du jour. Recognizing what lies ahead, I’ve trod lightly in the political arena over the last 12 months. I can assure you, the coming months will not be all politics, all the time. However, it will not be possible to avoid discussing what’s likely to be a bruising campaign between the current and former Presidents. So, I will take this opportunity to keep it short and sweet. Here’s to the next 286 days. “New Month, New Year, Same Race!”
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My original posting about the King Holiday dates-back-to January 19, 2011. In 2022, I amended the topic to add a perspective shared by Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Solomon Peña, who lost his 2022 bid for New Mexico state House District 14, was arrested Monday by an Albuquerque SWAT team for allegedly paying and conspiring with four men to shoot at the homes of two state legislators and two county commissioners in December and January, authorities said. No one was injured but investigators said Peña intended to cause serious injury or death. Peña, attributed his defeat to a “rigged” election is accused of masterminding a series of shootings targeting the homes of elected Democrats. But I digress. Consider this “batschitt” craziness an FYI! It’s not the topic of today’s post.
Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Over the years, I’ve written a post about Dr. King, the holiday, and how it came to pass. Today, I am again revisiting a post I initially wrote and posted Wednesday, January 19, 2011, and that I reprised January 18, 2017, January 17, 2018, and again, January 23, 2019, examining the advent of the King Holiday. It’s been 37 years since the initial observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (MLK DAY), and 40 years since President Reagan signed the MLK, Jr. Holiday bill into law. Contemporary events continue to remind us that now is an apt time to look into the rearview mirror of time.
After over three decades of inculcation into the very fabric of our society, it may be largely forgotten that the conceptualization, submission and continual resubmission of the idea, the enactment, and the gradual national observance, was not the product of universal acceptance of a grand and enlightened concept, but rather, was emblematic of the civil rights struggle itself; steeped in controversy, and the eventual victory of a relentless movement to achieve richly deserved, and long overdue social justice.
Several members of Congress, a few states, and even a President, using a host of creative means, sought to undermine, outmaneuver, sabotage, subvert, and otherwise derail the efforts of the measure’s proponents. Ultimately, the movement was consolidated, snowballed, and would simply not be thwarted.
The effort to create a King Holiday was started by U.S. Representative John Conyers, Michigan, shortly after Dr. King’s death, in the spring of 1968. It was first introduced in the House of Representatives in 1979 but fell 5 votes short of the number needed for passage in the Lower Chamber.
High profile opponents to the measure included Senator Jesse Helms, NC, Senator John McCain, AZ, and President Ronald Reagan. Both Senators voted against the bill, and Senator McCain publicly supported Arizona Governor Evan Mecham for his rescission of MLK Day as a State Holiday in Arizona. The campaign however, reached a critical mass in the early 1980’s. Spurred on by Stevie Wonder penning a song in King’s honor called, “Happy Birthday,” a petition drive to support the campaign would attract over 6 million signatures. It has been called the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. History.
Buttressed by what had become a wildly successful public campaign, Congress soon followed suit. The proposal passed in the House by a vote of 338-90, and in the Upper Chamber by a vote of 78-22. Given the dimensions of this overwhelming support, in the form of bicameralveto-proof votes, President Reagan signed the provision November 2, 1983, and it became Federal Law. The first observance under the new law took place January 20, 1986, rather than on January 15th, Dr. King’s birthday. A compromise in the legislation specified that the observance take place on the Third Monday in January, consistent with prior legislation (Uniform Monday Holiday Act).
Of course, that was not the end of the story. It would take more than 30 years after Dr. King’s death before the Holiday was fully adopted and observed in all 50 states. Illinois holds the distinction of being the first State to adopt MLK Day as a State Holiday, having done so in 1973. Twenty years later, in 1993, for the first time, some form of MLK Day was held in each of the 50 States.
It was not until 2000 that South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges signed a bill to make MLK Day a paid holiday for State employees; giving the Palmetto State the dubious distinction of being the last of the 50 States to do so. However, Mississippi also sets itself apart by designating the Third Monday in January as a shared Holiday that honors the memory of Robert E. Lee and Dr. King…two fine southern gentlemen.
Summer before last, after entertaining a whirlwind, on again off again, job offer at UNC, journalist, McArthur Fellow, Pulitzer Prize winner, and UNC alum Nikole Hannah-Jones opted to choose Howard University as her next employer, over UNC. Ms. Hannah-Jones, who gained notoriety for her work on the 1619 Project, has become a lightning rod for discourse around issues of civil rights, and the much-ballyhooed topic known as Critical Race Theory, #CRT.
A year ago, NH-J was invited to give an MLK speech on Monday. She discovered that a few members of the group hosting her wrote and subsequently leaked emails opposing her giving the speech. Those who opposed her felt it dishonored Dr. King to do so and characterized her as a “discredited activist” “unworthy of such association with King.”
This insight motivated her to call an audible. She scrapped her original speech and spent the first half of her speech reading excerpts from several of Dr. King’s speeches…without revealing that they were his words. She subbed BLACK for Negro, to avoid dating the material and giving away the fact that it was from over half a century ago. Literally, that’s all it took to transport to 2022.
Here is some of Nikole Hannah-Jones’ 2022 MLK, Jr. Day speech:
“It was in the year 1619 that the first BLACK slave was brought to the shores of this nation. They were brought here from the soils of Africa and unlike the Pilgrim fathers who landed here at Plymouth a year later, they were brought here against their will…”
“White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society…The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism…”
“The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power. A nation that continues year after year to spend more $ on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
“The crowning achievement in hypocrisy must go to those staunch Republicans and Democrats of the Midwest and West who were given land by our government when they came here as immigrants from Europe. They were given education through the land grant colleges…”
“These are the same people that now say to black people, whose ancestors were brought to this country in chains and who were emancipated in 1863 without being given land to cultivate or bread to eat; that they must pull themselves up by their own bootstraps…”
“What they truly advocate is Socialism for the rich and Capitalism for the poor… “We know full well that racism is still that hound of hell which dogs the tracks of our civilization.”
“Ever since the birth of our nation, White America has had a Schizophrenic personality on the question of race, she has been torn between selves. A self in which she proudly professes the great principle of democracy and a self in which she madly practices the antithesis of democracy.”
“The fact is, there has never been a single, solid, determined commitment on the part of the vast majority of white Americans to genuine equality for Black people.”
“The step backwards has a new name today, it is called the white backlash, but the white backlash is nothing new. It is the surfacing of old prejudices, hostilities and ambivalences that have always been there…”
“The white backlash of today is rooted in the same problem that has characterized America ever since the black man landed in chains on the shores of this nation.”
“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance…with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that BLACK AMERICANS HAVE come far enough.”
“…for the good of America, it is necessary to refute the idea that the dominant ideology in our country, even today, is freedom and equality and that racism is just an occasional departure from the norm on the part of a few bigoted extremists.”
“If America does not respond creatively to the challenge to banish racism, some future historian will have to say, that a great civilization died because it lacked the soul and commitment to make justice a reality for all men.”
“Why do white people seem to find it so difficult to understand that the Black people are sick and tired of having reluctantly parceled out to THEM those rights and privileges which all others receive upon birth or entry in America?”
“I never cease to wonder at the amazing presumption of much of white society, assuming that they have the right to bargain with the BLACK for their freedom…”
Oh, the uncomfortable silence as I read Dr. King’s words at a commemoration of Dr. King’s life when people had no idea that these were his words. When I revealed that everything I said to that point was taken from his speeches between ’56 and 67… Can you say SHOOK!
Then I read all the names that white Americans called King: charlatan, demagogue, communist, traitor — and brought out the polling showing more than three-quarters of Americans opposed King at his death while 94 percent approve of him now.
I left them with this: People who oppose today what he stood for back then do not get to be the arbiters of his legacy. The real Dr. King cannot be commodified, homogenized, and white-washed and whatever side you stand on TODAY is the side you would have been back then.
In fact, most white Americans in 1963 opposed the March on Washington where Dr. King gave the “I Have A Dream” Speech with that one line that people oppose to anti-racism like to trot out against those working for racial justice.
When the speech was over, Father Pfleger, who had been cheering me on from the crowd, whispered in my ear: That’s what you call the “You Gone Learn Today” speech.
“This is why the 1619 Project exists. This is why the decades of scholarship that undergirds the 1619 Project exists. Because if we do nothing, they will co-opt our history and use it against us.”
Dr. King was a radical critic of racism, capitalism, and militarism. He didn’t die. He was assassinated. And many, including Reagan, fought the national holiday we’re now commemorating. “If you haven’t read, in entirety, his speeches, you’ve been miseducated & I hope that you will.”
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. –Psalm 90:10 KJV
So, a few days ago, I entered the world of septuagenarians. In doing so, I was reminded that I’ve attained a milestone. My father died at 67, my mother transitioned at 49, and my brother passed away at 31. To wit, I’ve lived longer than anyone in the nuclear family, to which I was born.
In many ways, and for many reasons, that is a sobering contemplation. A few of those ways and reasons follow.
My mother died when I was in the second grade. She was a housewife who spent her time raising, directing, and correcting me. This is where I say, I was a precocious kid, who required (and received) a lot of correcting. LOL! The thing that I recall most vividly, about my mom is, she taught me to read, using the newspaper, before I entered first grade. Oh yeah, in case you’re wondering, Statewide public kindergarten was not available in North Carolina when I was 5. Mom was my kindergarten teacher/Headstart Administrator, and first grade was my introduction to formal education, all of which was conducted in public schools (First Grade through Graduate School). Her tutelage served me well. I was an above grade-level reader, throughout my primary and secondary education years. Thanks mom!
My Big Brother was twelve years my senior. By the time I entered school, he had relocated to New York. We didn’t spend a lot of time together. My enduring memory of him is a visit with him in Albany, NY during Christmas Break, during my freshman year of college. That trip resulted in us taking the only picture of us together that I possess. I cherish that photo, and I miss him. Less than three months later, he was dead. I was 19 when he died.
My dad was a larger-than-life figure. At least he was to me. He was a minister. I heard him preach hundreds of sermons. Undoubtedly, I heard him repeat a few, yet they never got old. He was my hero. For several years, we talked every weekday. I called him. I think he looked forward to our conversations. They were never long, but they were reliably predictable.
He developed a terminal illness. He knew it; I knew it, but he fought valiantly for as long as he could. His physician was his best friend, and my fraternity brother. One Friday night, outside my dad’s hospital room, his doctor told me my father was approaching the end of the road. Absent life support, he would succumb, in a matter of days, if not hours. He had zero quality of life. He was in pain, he could hardly breath, and he had been in that debilitating state for weeks.
The question posed to me was in that moment was, whether to approve a DNR directive? I was conflicted. I thought about it for what seemed an eternity, probably only a couple of minutes in real time. Reluctantly, tearfully, I made what felt like the most difficult decision I’d ever been called upon to render. In that moment, I realized I was tacitly saying good-bye to dad. Just thinking about it, and typing these words brings back the painful memories.
Early Sunday morning, I got the call. My father had transitioned around 6:00 a.m. I got up and went to the hospital one final time. I sat alone with my dat. Again, it seemed like an eternity. It was probably 15 minutes. I thought about this man who for all my life, challenged me to be the best me that I could be. I observed how the ravages of the disease had diminished his stature so that he was no longer more stout than life itself. I reflected on losing the last member of my nuclear family. I said a prayer, shed a tear, and composed myself. After all, there was business to be conducted, and that charge now fell to me. I was 33. It’s hard to reckon, I’ve lived more years since he died, than I did before he passed away.
Here’s the thing. This is not a sad story. In fact, it’s celebratory. I’ve lived 70 years, and part of 8 decades, the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s, 2010’s, and 2020’s. Blessed and highly favored are the words that come to mind; arguably, even blessed beyond measure.
Last month was pretty big in my orbit. My wife and I visited Egypt, where we saw the Sphinx, and the Pyramids of Giza, symbols of my Fraternity, and her Sorority. I observed the 50th Anniversary of membership in my Fraternity, and of course, I celebrated my 70th Birthday. My wife decided we should do something to commemorate these milestones. To that end, a few of my closest family and friends gathered, including my children, relatives from my hometown, folks with whom I went to elementary and high school, college classmates, Fraternity Brothers, former co-workers, and guys I played basketball with, for years. There was music, food, dancing, pictures, and a whole lot of reminiscing and friendship.
As I concentrate on being future-focused, that was a night I will always remember with fondness. Threescore And Ten: Next!
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