It’s time to Break It Down!

It took 364 days, more than 100 practices, and 40 games, but this past Monday night, when the University of North Carolina Men’s Basketball Team emerged from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, they emerged with a record of 33-7, and having been crowned the 2017 NCAA National Champions. A year ago, on the Wednesday following the first Monday in April, the annual day of the Men’s National Final, I published a post entitled, “One For The Ages: Hail To The Cats” (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2016/04/06/one-for-the-ages-hail-to-the-cats/). At that I summarized what was one of the most dramatic and exhilarating, while simultaneously crushing and dispiriting (depending upon for which team one was rooting), abrupt endings in the history of NCAA Basketball Title Games.

As the title suggests, the Cats (Villanova) won (and my beloved Tar Heels left, having had the chance to chase victory in overtime unceremoniously snatched away in the very last second, literally. For Tar Heel hoops fans everywhere it was perhaps the most sudden and devastating of losses.  To make matters extraordinarily worse, the coup de grace was this dreadful termination was executed on the biggest of all stages in the sport. It is a game whose results are validated, with great fanfare by a poignantly edited video accompaniment of Luther Vandross singing One Shining Moment. The best players in college basketball routinely dream of hearing that song, punctuated by a sea of confetti, falling on both the victors and the vanquished.

The story has been dispersed widely by now. The CliffNotes summation is, over the summer, in preparation for the coming season, the Tar Heels adopted “Redemption” as the season’s overarching theme. In doing so, they dedicated themselves to returning to the Final Four and winning the prize they were denied in such an abrupt and disheartening manner during the 2016 Title Game. By approximately 11:35 EDT Monday night, the Heels had accomplished their mission.

To be clear, under no scenario is UNC equated with the Sisters of the Poor of college basketball. However, in the current era many of the most high profile Division-1 colleges and universities target and successfully recruit what are know as one-and-done prospects to augment their quest to attain a Title. The University of Kentucky, Duke University, and Kansas University are among the most successful at adhering to this strategy. Tt’s worth noting Carolina has not attracted a player who spent only one year in college since 2007, or a decade ago. In a sport such as basketball, in which only 5 players per team are permitted in the game at one time, and in a sport in which any and all players are subject to be disqualified as a result of drawing 5 fouls, or two technical fouls, a one-and done-player or two…or more can go a long way in elevating a team’s prospects of “winning it all.”

This year for instance, Duke had several players projected to be one-and–done, as well as a host of McDonald’s All-Americans (10 in all). They were expected to win the Atlantic Coast Conference (the Conference in which Carolina plays), and they were the odds on favorite to win the National Title. During the course of the Regular Season and Conference Tournament, duke did defeat the Tar Heels twice, splitting a pair of games during the season (both teams won on their home court), and besting the Heels during the ACC Tournament.

As it turns out, that was as good as it would get for the Blue Devils. The Tar Heels finished two games ahead of the field in the ACC; duke was seeded 5^th. As a result, when the seeding was announced for the NCAA Tournament, a single elimination competition composed of 68 teams from conferences all across the country, Carolina earned one of 4 Number 1 seeds, while Duke garnered a 2 seed. The Blue Devils won once, losing their second game during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile Carolina went on to win twice the first weekend, then repeated that feat again the second weekend, then three-peated it during the third weekend, securing the National Title in the process, two nights ago.

In all, Carolina played and won 6 games to win the Championship. During the opening weekend they beat Texas Southern 103-64, the largest margin in the 2017 Tournament. Their Road To The Final Four ultimately included the following:

• Defeated Texas Southern University 103-64
• Defeated University of Arkansas 72-65 (Scored the last 12 points)
• Defeated Butler 92-80
• Defeated Kentucky 75-73 (Scored winner with .3 of a second left)
• Defeated Oregon 77-76 (Didn’t score a basket in the last 3 minutes)
• Defeated Gonzaga 71-65 (Scored the last 8 points)

In the aftermath, it must be said, an instant classic the Title Game was not. It was however an epic battle between two evenly matched teams armed with a bevy of traditional post players. Some called it a battle of the Titans. The big men inside, on both sides, for the most part spent the evening steeped in foul trouble. As a result, guys on the perimeter became the central players and playmakers. Often as not, the focus leaned more to playmaking than shot making. The Heels shot only 14.8% from behind the 3-point line, the lowest percentage by any winning team in the 2017 Tournament, They went four-for-27 and Joel Berry made all four. The Tar Heels were out-rebounded, and shot a lower 3-point percentage, The Heels did shoot a higher percentage overall, though only an anemic 35.6%. Carolina also had more steals, more assists, more blocks, and fewer turnovers.

By most of the media accounts that I’ve seen, the referees were the stars of the game. Most folks with whom I have spoken that are not Tar Heel partisans seem to think that hurt the Zags more than the Heels. I don’t claim to be unbiased on the subject, but I do know there were 44 fouls called and 22 of them were on the Heels, including 4 each on post players Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks, and 3 on Luke Maye, with another 3 on Joel Berry who led the Heels and the game in scoring, and who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Unless you are partial to alternative facts, that is not a function of the team I happen to follow and for which I root, but simply a matter of basic arithmetic. Half the fouls called were on North Carolina.

On a macro level the Title Game was big for the North Carolina program, and for its coach Roy Williams. This year’s Final Four run marked North Carolina’s 20^th trip (most ever), and Coach Williams’. (fourth most ever). The win was Carolina’s 6^th (third most), and Coach Williams’ 3^rd (tied for fourth), half of Carolina’s total, and one more than his mentor, Dean Smith, who won twice. On an individual level, the young men who play the game, especially those who played in the 2016 Final Four in Houston, are the real story. Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks are seniors and, as such, have played their last game for Carolina. In all probability, so has Justin Jackson, who elevated his game immensely, earning ACC Player of the Year, and 1^st Team All-America honors. There is also a good chance that Joel Berry, who has said he will test the NBA waters, may not return.

Those stories will play out however they do over the next several weeks. Every young man on this team has acquitted himself well, and been a fine representative of the Tar Heel Nation. There is one more however, that I am compelled to mention. In the post on this topic a year ago, I zeroed in on Nate Britt. He is the adopted brother of Kris Jenkins, the young man from Villanova who hit the shot heard around the basketball universe, sending the Tar Heels home broken-hearted, and in tears. This year, ‘Nova was eliminated early, so Jenkins followed Britt after his own team lost. He could be seen behind the Tar Heel bench in the last several games, including Monday night. Last year I wrote the following about these two guys:

“So basically, for the rest of their natural lives, Kris and his brother Nate, both juniors in their respective programs, will have the 2016 Title Game as a shared experience…and Kris’ shot as a reminder of one’s transcendent sports moment and the other’s hoops nadir.”

As a result of a collective indomitable team spirit, a great deal of talent, skill, and ability, along with a healthy dose of good old fashioned luck, the Tar Heels not only returned to the Final Four, they won the Title, grabbing the proverbial brass ring. That embellishes the program’s hoops bona fides, elevates Coach Williams’ stock as someone who actually has a clue about what he’s doing on the court, gave this team “One Shining Moment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfPBQyQkUKI), and finally, it provides Nate Britt with a Championship Trophy and Ring. Now he’ll have his own bling to point to when he and Kris are chilling and reflecting back at the crib.

In conclusion, this years’ Title game will not be memorable for an abundance of graceful plays and athletic moves. What it will forever connote is “Redemption – Carolina Style: An Ugly Win…Is Still A Win!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2701356-unc-point-guard-joel-berry-ii-has-just-one-last-item-on-his-ncaa-to-do-list?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2701660-joel-berry-named-2017-ncaa-final-fours-most-outstanding-player-after-unc-win?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kJHDNisY5u8

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/north-carolina-finds-redemption-beats-gonzaga-to-win-ncaa-championship/2017/04/04/18a314e8-18a0-11e7-855e-4824bbb5d748_story.html?utm_term=.b1fa1b0601b8&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/bracket

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2697572-ncaa-tournament-2017-get-to-know-all-68-teams-in-the-bracket

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2017-04-03-north-carolina.html

http://wncn.com/2017/04/04/welcome-home-celebration-for-tar-heels-to-be-held-tonight-in-dean-dome/

http://www.scout.com/college/north-carolina/story/1768135-ictv-party-time-on-franklin-street

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/unc/article142537274.html#emlnl=morning_newsletter

It’s time to Break It Down!

In a couple of previous posts I’ve written about the NBA and it’s efforts to integrate females into the fabric of its coaching rubric. In 2014, the Spurs hired Rebecca (Becky) Hammon as an Assistant Coach. I first mentioned her in a post on August 6, 2014, entitled, “First The Spurs Won The Title: Now They Are Making History!” That story detailed the Spurs opting to bring her into the organization. Subsequently, I reprised her as a subject July 22, 2015, in a post entitled, “The Spurs and Becky Hammon: Another Chapter Added!”

This story discussed her leading the Spurs to the Championship of the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League the previous Monday evening. In a more recent footnote, Hammon became the first Female Assistant Coach for an NBA All-Star Team in 2016 (coincidentally, the winning West squad). Clearly, even though she largely flies beneath the radar, she is amassing serious NBA coaching bona fides. However, if one takes a step back, low profile notwithstanding, it should not come as a surprise that the League, which like other professional sports businesses, is exploring staging teams internationally, is also looking for ways to leverage its commitment to this element of coaching diversity.

NBA Commissioners are noted for their heavy involvement with various League protocols. Former Commissioner David Stern, who at one time responded to his concern about the image of NBA Players, actually instituted a dress code to ensure that players comported themselves in an acceptable manner, sartorially speaking, anyway. To that end, it is entirely conceivable that if this Commissioner believes (and it is clear he does) the League will benefit by adding women to its coaching carousel, it almost certainly will do so. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN discussed the matter with Commissioner Adam Silver and reported that the Commissioner not only believes it could happen, but that it could happen in the near, or at least, not-to-distant future. According to the ESPN reporter, Silver said:

“There definitely will (be a female NBA Coach), and I think it is on me to sort of ensure that it happens sooner rather than later. There’s ‘”absolutely no reason”’ a woman can’t handle an NBA head-coaching role.

He added, the league is “very focused” on making it happen. He mentioned three leading possibilities in the pipeline that might break the proverbial glass ceiling, according to ESPN:

• Becky Hammon, Assistant Coach, San Antonio Spurs
• Nancy Lieberman, Assistant Coach, Sacramento Kings
• Natalie Nakase, Assistant Video Coordinator, Los Angeles Clippers

In an interview to promote both the league and Leanin.org’s new campaign to raise gender-equity awareness, Commissioner Silver indicated that the league also hopes to hire additional female game officials as the referee roster increases by 25 percent over the next three seasons. Lauren Holtkamp is the only woman currently officiating games. Violet Palmer and Dee Kanter have previously officiated league contests.

In a completely different camp than Silver is radio host Mike Francesa. During a recent broadcast, Francesa said a woman has no shot at being a head coach, and if one were to be hired, it would be a publicity stunt. The Commissioner, in responding to Francesa’s suggestion noted that in coaching, there are no physical requirements, unlike with players. He went on to say:

“When it comes to coaching, there is absolutely no physical requirement. When it is not a function of how high you can jump or how strong you are, there is no physical litmus test to being a head coach in the league. There is absolutely no reason why a woman will not ascend to be a head coach in this league. We are very focused in on it.”

Years ago a similar debate centered on whether people who never played in the NBA could coach in the league. Obviously, that concern has long since been vanquished. People with a public forum, such as Francesa can surely escalate the topic as a key point of discussion. One person, in addition to Commissioner Stern, who doesn’t consider Francesa’s point to be pertinent, is Spur’s Coach Gregg Popovich (Hammon’s boss). In fact, the word “Pop” used to describe Francesa’s comment is nonsense. Incidentally, Hammon recently turned down an offer to coach the University of Florida’s Women’s Basketball Team, in order to focus on becoming the first woman coach in the NBA. Popovich added that he views the matter of the first female head coach in the NBA as a societal issue, and that he doesn’t see Hammon as the first female anything. As he went on to put it:

“In America, we are great at sticking our heads in the sand and being behind the rest of the world in a whole lot of areas. We think we are this big democratic, fair place. But you look at our world now, whether it’s gender-wise or racially or religiously, there’s all kinds of stuff that is not the way it’s supposed to be.”

“I think a female coaching a team these days has a lot to do with the people on the teams maturing as individuals, as members of a society understanding that it’s not about any of those things. It’s about talent. It’s about respect. People like Becky over time will gain respect and people will understand that this is possible. It can happen. It’s like women getting the vote. Think about how long that took before change was made.”

“I think since 2000 changes have been pretty damn lacking in a lot of ways. I think people are fed up with it, injustice, and people not respecting other people’s space and who they are. I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

Ultimately, we do not know when a woman will join the ranks of NBA coaches. After all, how many woman coach men’s D-1 college basketball teams? The answer to that question is zero. In fact, there has only been one, and she only coached one game, as a result of a quirky set of circumstances. Teresa Phillips, Athletic Director at Tennessee State University, appointed herself coach for a game during which the incumbent had to sit out due to players fighting during a game. I admire Commissioner Silver’s instincts and intentions. I believe he will, if he stays around long enough, make it happen. But let’s be clear, he’s swimming against the tide. I’m pulling for him though. “When the Best Man for the Job is a Woman: Silver’s Golden Idea!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2700391-adam-silver-wants-a-woman-as-nba-head-coach-sooner-than-later?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/07/22/the-spurs-and-becky-hammon-another-chapter-added/

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5516202214514810687#editor/target=post;postID=9175551925371279615;onPublishedMenu=template;onClosedMenu=template;postNum=140;src=postname

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_National_Basketball_Association_head_coaches

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/adam-silver-believes-woman-will-be-nba-head-coach-sooner-than-later/vp-BByY9VL

http://www.usatoday.com/videos/sports/2017/03/28/adam-silver-believes-woman-nba-head-coach-‘sooner-than-later’/99724986/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/ct-adam-silver-first-female-nba-coach-20170328-story.html

http://www.si.com/nba/video/2017/03/28/adam-silver-woman-nba-head-coach-sooner-later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTIUOJsEv6M

http://www.espnsa.com/adam-silver-will-female-nba-head-coach-sooner-rather-later/

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/2014/04/05/teresa-philips-tsu-ncaa-basketball-legendary-lady/7348299/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Silver

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Francesa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Popovich

It’s time to Break It Down!

For much of our history as a nation, the first 140 years to be precise, there was no formal position known as White House Press Secretary (WHPS). However, over the past 88 years, 12 Administrations, and 15 Presidents, we have had 30 people, and counting, serve in that capacity, plus at least two people who served as Acting, or De Facto in the job. Twenty-three of those, twenty-five if you count the interims, served during my lifetime. One, James Hagerty, who held the position during the entire Eisenhower administration, stands out for having had the longest tenure on record (8 years, or two entire Presidential terms).

The WHPS is a senior White House official whose principal job is to serve in the role of spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States government administration, particularly for the President, senior executives, and for policies articulated by the administration. Key responsibilities of the office include collecting information on matters taking place within the administration, and articulating the administration’s reactions to events and developments worldwide. The WHPS regularly interacts with the media, typically including daily briefings with the White House press corps.

The individual occupying the position serves by the appointment and at the pleasure of the President. This position does not require the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. Despite this distinction, the position is considered a very prominent post.

Chart Listing White House Press Secretaries

It goes without question, the WHPS is, and has always been, a challenging job. In contemporary parlance, the party in question must be comfortable and adept at spinning. Surely, he or she must do so on a daily basis. Spinning is an art. Dee Dee Myers, Bill Clinton’s first WHPS (he had four), said of the practice:

“Spinning is not lying, but rather marshaling the facts in service of an argument.”

She is not the only practitioner to address the subject. Larry Speakes, who held the position under Ronald Reagan, framed it thusly:

“Spinning aims to minimize the damage by surrounding bad facts with context and good facts.”

That’s all well and good, but at some point, one almost has to resort to using the tactic to describe it effectively. The Late Tony Snow, who performed the function under President George W. Bush, said at one point:

“If it got to the point where I thought it would cost me my credibility, I would have no choice but to walk away.”

That was a decade or more ago; might as well be calculated in light-years. That was pre-Obama. Don’t underestimate the importance of that timeline marker. Virtually everything that highlights the bright line of demarcation between the ideological poles was heightened and super-sensitized after the 2008 Election. The opposition slowly, surely, and systematically turned off all filters over the course of the Obama Administration. Fast forward to today, and we see that fake news is a thing; one that is normalized, no less, and the concept of alternative facts has been invented. Both concepts seem to have permeated the day-to-day communications strategy of the current administration.

That leads us to the here and now. There has been a dizzying song and dance about the propensity, and arguably the wisdom of either taking the leader of this administration and of the free world, literally, but not seriously, or seriously, but not literally. I personally don’t think that nonsense even qualifies as spin. Rather, it is both seriously and literally bullshizzle! But that’s just me. (Or is it?)

Yesterday marked Day 60 of the current President’s first term. In those two months it’s perfectly fair to say, no matter what the WHPS’s salary is, he underpaid. He has unquestionably had to clean up more crap than a circus attendant. Laying Mr. Snow’s perspective to the side, I’ve seen no indication the incumbent has given any thought to walking away. Chances are, he’ll be asked to leave before he decides to do so.

Two months have been more than enough time for questions of credibility to arise. In fact, a number of sources have suggested that Mr. Spicer has pushed the envelope hard enough and often enough that reasonable people are within bounds to question whether this WHPS has fractured, ruptured, or flat out obliterated even the thinnest strain of credibility. No doubt some would suggest, and I concur, that he has not one scintilla (of credibility) remaining.

Here is an abbreviated list of (10) assertions Sean Spicer, in his role as Press Secretary, has made that numerous fact checking organizations found to be patently false allegations, including:

• The 2016 Presidential Inauguration crowd size was the biggest ever
• 14% of the 2008 Presidential Election voters were non citizens
• Paul Manafort played a very limited role in the campaign for a very limited time
• Philip Bilden is 100% committed to becoming Naval Secretary (after CBS reported he would withdraw, which subsequent to Spicer’s comment, he did)
• Obama used the British to tape Trump (After American Intelligence agencies said there was no evidence American Intelligence Agencies had done so), sparking an international incident. After that claim was also debunked, Spicer said it was silly to equate quoting a news story to support for that story.
• 45 won more Electoral votes than any Republican since Reagan
• CNN retracted statements questioning Kellyanne Conway’s Credibility
• There was no concern expressed about President Obama’s criticism of the Supreme Court
• The ban (which supposedly is not a ban) was always about specific countries, rather than about Muslims (though throughout the campaign, we were promised a Muslim Ban)
• The Jobs Reports were fake, but they are real now

Since most of the items above are downright laughable, I will not spend any extra time relating the details or timelines that refute the lunacy. I intentionally omitted the item that kicked off the most recent kerfuffle, though I included a related incident. Saturday before last, Mr. Spicer’s boss rendered a tweet accusing President Obama of wiretapping him (at Trump Tower). While the FBI and the other Intelligence Agencies have dismissed this as something that simply didn’t happen, Mr. Spicer repeatedly indicated that his bossed “believed” it happened. Considering his boss also believed (until mid-September 2016) President Obama was not American, and that he saw thousands of Muslims cheering in Jersey City in the wake of 9/11, there is obviously no accounting for what he “believes.” Having said that, I must pivot back to my opening premise, “The 30^th White House Press Secretary: When Spinning Spun Out of Control!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Press_Secretary

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Spicer

http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/21/media/sean-spicer-credibility/index.html

http://wwlp.com/2017/03/20/sean-spicers-credibility-in-question-after-defending-trump/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/24/sean-spicer-just-keeps-killing-his-credibility/?utm_term=.21b42b18fc43

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/01/23/spicer-inauguration-crowds-credibility-editorials-debates/96956320/

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/sean-spicers-credibility-called-into-question/vp-BBytWvw

http://www.wjr.com/news/how-sean-spicer-lost-his-credibility/

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/05/media/melissa-mccarthy-sean-spicer-snl/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/03/10/white-house-briefing-sean-spicer-jobs-report-nr.cnn

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/46811_Debunking_Sean_Spicers_Lie_That_14_of_2008_Voters_Were_Non-Citizens

https://mediamatters.org/research/2017/01/24/renowned-liar-sean-spicer-lied-about-lying-press/215111

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/11/22/donald-trumps-outrageous-claim-that-thousands-of-new-jersey-muslims-celebrated-the-911-attacks/?utm_term=.ec562b5dd77e

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/donald-trump-birther/index.html

It’s time to Break It Down!

It has been said there’s a first time for everything; also that there is a time and a place for everything under the sun. In those lights, and in full disclosure, I have not previously used this space to review a movie. In the broadest sense, I am doing that today.

I finally went to see the film, I Am Not Your Negro, this weekend. I presume most folks who frequent this space are culturally literate, woke, conscious, or otherwise attuned to contemporary culture, however you may characterize that sense of being. With that knowledge uppermost in mind, I’ll begin by providing a simple 30,000 feet bird’s eye summary and then go deeper. The movie is a 2016 American documentary film. It was directed by Raoul Peck, and is based on James Baldwin‘s unfinished manuscript Remember This House.

Actor Samuel L. Jackson provides narration. The key objective of the film is to explore the history of racism in America through the lens of Mr. Baldwin’s reminiscences of three iconic black civil rights leaders: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. All three men were assassinated between June 1963 and April 1968, each before his 40^th birthday. They were Baldwin’s contemporaries. He was born the year before Medgar and Malcolm, and five years before the Rev. Dr. King.

The picture was widely acclaimed, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature last month at the 89th Academy Awards. Prior to that it premiered in September 2016 at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. There, it won the People’s Choice Award in the category of Documentary Films. A short while later, Magnolia Pictures and Amazon Studios acquired the film’s distribution rights. It was preliminarily released in December 2016 in order to qualify for this year’s Oscars. Subsequently, the filmed had its primary opening in February 2017.

In addition to garnering an Academy Award Nomination and winning a People’s Choice Award, its Rotten Tomatoes approval rating is 98%, based on 107 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The summary review on the website reads:

“I Am Not Your Negro offers an incendiary snapshot of James Baldwin’s crucial observations on American race relations — and a sobering reminder of how far we’ve yet to go.”

On Metacritic, the film has a score of 96 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating “universal acclaim.”

The breadth of critical acclaim the film has attracted is voluminous, with numerous nominations, some of which are still pending. However, it has actually won the following:

• Black Film Critics Circle – Special Mention
• 52nd Chicago International Film Festival – Audience Choice/Best Documentary
• Hampton International Film Festival – Audience Award/Best Documentary
• International Documentary Association – Creative Recognition Award/Best Writing – Raoul Peck
• International Documentary Association – Creative Recognition Award/Best Writing – James Baldwin
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards – Best Documentary Film
• Philadelphia Film Festival – Audience Award/Best Feature
• Philadelphia Film Festival – Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature
• San Francisco Film Critics Circle – Best Documentary Film
• St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association – Best Documentary Film
• 41^st Toronto International Film Festival – People’s Choice Award
• IndieWire Critics Poll – Best Documentary/3^rd Place, Best Editing/9^th Place
• National Society of Film Critics Awards – Best Non-Fiction Film/Runner-up
• Village Voice Film Poll – Best Documentary/3^rd Place (Tied w/No Home Movie)

The listing of nominations is equally long and includes:

• Academy Awards – Best Documentary
• Alliance of Women Film Journalists – Best Documentary, Best Editing
• Austin Film Critics Association Awards – Best Documentary
• Black Reel Awards – Best Documentary
• Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association – Best Documentary Film
• Florida Film Critics Award – Best Documentary Film
• Gotham Awards – Audience Award, Best Documentary
• Hampton International Film Festival – Brizzolara Family Foundation Award For a Film of Conflict and Resolution – Best Film
• Independent Spirit Award – Best Documentary Feature
• International Documentary Association – IDA Award for Best Feature, Video Source Award
• NAACP Image Award – Outstanding Documentary – Film
• North Carolina Film Critics Association – Best Documentary Film
• Online Film Critics Society – Best Documentary Film
• Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association Awards – Best Documentary

There are also several nominations still pending, including:

• Central Ohio Film Critics Association – Best Documentary
• Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US – Cinema Eye Honors Choice Prize, Outstanding Achievement in Non-Fiction Feature Filmmaking, Outstanding Achievement in Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Editing, Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score

In February 2017, Vintage International, a Division of Random House published the book, “I Am Not Your Negro,” as a companion document to the movie. This is arguably one of those rare instances in which the movie preceded the book, sort of. Needless to say, the framework for the book came into being long before the movie debuted. That’s a fair point, and one I am not contesting.

I noted earlier that I “finally” got to see the film. I became aware of it from a trailer back in December when it was initially released. I knew right away I wanted to see it.

The story begins with Baldwin’s reflections on that moment, while living in France as an expatriate, that he came to realize he felt the pull of an irresistible magnetic force to return home and engage more directly with what was this country’s quintessential civil rights movement. He was irrevocably moved by the image of a young black girl, Dorothy Counts, in Charlotte, North Carolina, being confronted by a white mob as she integrated the city’s Harding High School.

Upon returning to the United States, Baldwin wrote a number of essays about the movement for various periodicals, including, Harper’s, Partisan Review, Mademoiselle, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and The Progressive

During his travels, he met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X, among many other notables engaged in the struggle for human equality and economic empowerment. He would come to know, work with, and write extensively about all three of the principals and the work they did in an effort to move America to redeem itself of the vestiges of its original sin. Over the course of his travels across America, observing and writing, he would have occasions to review and chronicle the lives, the work, and the deaths of Medgar, Malcolm, and Martin. Moreover, he began work on what would have been a seminal work on the depth and scope of the Movement, entitled, Remember This House. That unfinished work became I Am Not Your Negro, and addresses among other things, the different and similar views and approaches of this triumvirate of members of the Movement’s pantheon of martyrs.

Obviously I am no film critic. But after nearly a decade of occupying this space, I do consider myself an active social commentator. It is in that role, I enthusiastically recommend this film for your viewing. In fact, I would suggest adding it to your personal catalogue/library. Even if you view the world through a different lens than any of the prominent characters in the story, it is worthwhile to have direct access to a number of real time accounts and reflections by someone who was in the midst of, or on the periphery of, these incredibly important historic events. At the very least, to paraphrase part of the Rotten Tomatoes review, despite however far we have or haven’t come, it is “a sobering reminder of how far we’ve yet to go.”

That’s all I’ve got. “Baldwin’s Reminiscences: Chicken Soup for the Afrocentric Soul!” I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remember_This_House

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Not_Your_Negro

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_am_not_your_negro

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/movies/review-i-am-not-your-negro-review-james-baldwin.html?_r=0

http://oscar.go.com/nominees/documentary-feature/i-am-not-your-negro

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/03/entertainment/i-am-not-your-negro-review/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03en4usVQBk

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-not-your-negro-review-20161205-story.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5804038/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/i-am-not-your-negro-931087

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_L._Jackson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Toronto_International_Film_Festival

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_Tomatoes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacritic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Counts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte,_North_Carolina

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Rahv

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery,_Alabama

It’s time to Break It Down!

As I was perusing recent news items, thinking about what to focus on as today’s topic, I encountered a number of stories that reminded me of the tangled web we weave as we attempt to navigate issues of race and class, especially race, in America. I trust you will indulge me as I examine three cases.

There are circles in which slavery is characterized as America’s original sin. Interestingly, in other arenas, it appears that people have been persuaded to believe the institution never existed. Or, if it did, that it was a mere side issue that barely warrants mentioning, and certainly did not affect the growth and development of this country in any substantive way. Suffice it to say, anyone who embraces or touts the views premised in those other arenas, maintains only a casual relationship with the truth, at best, or has been fundamentally misled, or as Dr. Carter G. Woodson might have framed it, is miseducated, or is utterly in the deepest possible denial state.

With that preamble, let’s get into the examination of the cases at hand. If you need more expanded background on the role of slavery in fueling the early American economic engine, this post may be too advanced for you. American History is replete with examples. Do some homework and get back to me.

So in Case Number 1, the new Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, an avid school choice proponent, in a speech a couple of weeks ago, described Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) as “pioneers of school choice.” School Choice? How about No Choice? No Other Option? Or, No, You Cannot Attend School Here?

Whether a function of designed dissembling, or of unintentional tactless maladroitness, her statement was widely deemed unacceptable. There was sure, swift, and pointed pushback against Ms. DeVos’ loosely worded characterization. After meeting with leaders of HBCU’s, she subsequently praised the institutions for identifying “a system that wasn’t working and taking it upon themselves to provide the solution,” from the outset of their founding. As she endeavored to cleanup her misstatement, she asserted that:

“The institutions started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education.”

“HBCU’s are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality.”

Wait just a cotton-picking minute (pun intended). What she did not say was anything relating to the historical context underlying the creation of HBCU’s, such as:

They were a response to Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation in the South.

Such laws barred black students from attending white colleges and universities.

Ergo, HBCU’s were institutions of necessity (for black higher education), not of choice.

There is more to this conversation, to be sure, but I think this is enough to establish the predicate that even as we push, inexorably, toward the end of the second decade of the 21^st Century, many people, including leaders of the highest order, frame narratives built on lies, or charitably, misinformation, rather than leading with difficult truths.

In case Number 2, we have known for decades that Sally Hemings played a pivotal, or at least bigger than advertised, role in the life and legacy of Thomas Jefferson, venerable Founding Father, Second Vice President, Third President, First Secretary of State, U.S. Minister to France, Virginia Delegate to Congress, Second Governor of Virginia, Virginia Delegate to the Second Continental Congress, President of the American Philosophical Society, founded the University of Virginia, author of the book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), considered the most important American book published before 1800, instrumental in making the Louisiana Purchase (during his Presidency), and principle author of the Declaration of Independence (you know, the all men are created equal document).

In contemporary vernacular, Jefferson was a bad mother…Shut your mouth…But I’m talking about Jefferson! And, as Isaac Hayes said of John Shaft, Thomas Jefferson was a complicated man. Almost on cue, the next line of the song is, “But no one understands him but his woman.” That’s where Sally Hemings enters the epic Jeffersonian tale.

Mr. Jefferson, in addition to all of the stellar assignations noted above, was a slave owner. Ms. Hemings was his property. But, it went further than that. For more than a century, it was denied, but we now know that Jefferson and Hemings were sexually involved, to put it in a light more generous than he deserves. The unvarnished truth of the matter is Jefferson willfully availed himself of her body from as soon as her early teen years, and he was the father of at least one of her children (DNA verified, in case anyone wants to argue that point). In other words, he raped her. At will. Repeatedly. For years! That is not hyperbole, it’s not fake news, and it’s not an alternative fact. It’s just, in a word, truth. I think that’s enough about the TJ cover-up.

Case Number 3 involves another current Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary. Secretary Carson was a candidate for President, and before that he was a distinguished neurosurgeon. Whether one believes he is an apt fit for his current job, he has certainly earned a certain amount of respect and intellectual gravitas. And yet, when in public forums, he has been known to sound as though he is ensconced somewhere between awkwardly uncomfortable or inelegant and down right ridiculous. Earlier this week, he trended toward the latter.

In his first meeting with staff at HUD, Carson shared several anecdotes having to do with his career as a neurosurgeon and then praised immigrants who worked long hours to build a better life for their families. Then, almost before one could blink, he…”passed the Rubicon.” He asserted that slaves brought to the United States against their will were immigrants. To be more precise, he said:

“There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”

As you might imagine, at least I hope you would, his comments, those above in particular, drew quick condemnation from African Americans in general, and from civil rights groups in particular, the latter casting his remarks as offensive.

Just so we’re clear, enslaved Africans did not voluntarily come to the United States. Moreover, they were denied freedom for hundreds of years. Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect said of Carson’s remarks:

“This is as offensive as it gets.”

That may or may not be an accurate assessment, but Mr. Goldstein was not alone, nor were his comments the most forceful directed at Carson. The Twitterverse was fully engaged, including a hyper-poignant vitriolic bomb from Samuel L. Jackson. While I will not repeat Sam’s rant, you can click on the final link below to see it, in the event you have yet to run across it. Also count the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) among those who criticized Dr. Carson.

On the flip side, a HUD spokesman referred to the reaction to the Secretary’s comments as:

“The most cynical interpretation of the secretary’s remarks to an army of welcoming HUD employees. No one honestly believes he equates voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude.”

It’s also worth noting Dr. Carson was well received by hundreds of HUD employees in the room. He got a standing ovation at the end of his comments. As an aside, the spokesman and the employees do work for Secretary Carson. But that’s beside the point. I am not deflecting to HUD staff. This was about Dr. Carson, Thomas Jefferson, and Betsy DeVos. Keep a keen eye on them or on their examples, and on anyone else who plays fast and loose with the facts as they pertain to race and class, especially to race. Why? Because I consider…”Avoiding the Inconvenient Truth About Race: An Invitation to Lie!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/07/opinions/monticello-carson-devos-truth-bailey-opinion/index.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/03/06/ben-carson-calls-slaves-immigrants/98816752/

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-carson-idUSKBN16E011

https://www.yahoo.com/news/carson-calls-slaves-immigrants-speech-drawing-criticism-001616371.html

http://www.standard.net/National/2017/02/28/DeVos-called-HBCUs-pioneers-of-school-choice-It-didn-t-go-over-well

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/devos-calls-hbcus-pioneers-of-school-choice-888129603528

http://www.standard.net/Government/2017/03/01/AP-FACT-CHECK-Black-colleges-hardly-school-choice-pioneers

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94828368

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/education-secretary-devos-makes-the-wrong-case-school-choice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immigrant

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_DeVos

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/samuel-l-jackson-on-ben-carsons-slavery-comment-mothafa-please_us_58bdd2f5e4b09ab537d5e4b0

It’s time to Break It Down!

In penning today’s post, I opted to take a “Road Less Traveled” approach. When you read the post, you’ll understand. In the unlikely event you do not, hit me up and I’ll clarify.

For some, the best thing about this post is it’s really brief. You can thank me later. Without further ado, let’s do this!

Yesterday afternoon, the Harvard Foundation bestowed the prestigious Peter J. Gomes Award to Ms. Robyn Fenty. The award, popularly known as Harvard’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, is given annually to recognize prominent public-spirited leaders in honor of the late Rev. Professor Peter J. Gomes. The Award, introduced in 1984, comprises a long list of luminary recipients, including:

• Physician-statistician Hans Rosling
• Actor James Earl Jones
• Nobel Peace Prize Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland
• N. Secretaries General Ban Ki-moon, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, & Javier Perez de Cuellar
• Gender rights advocate Malala Yousafzai
• Anti-child-labor spokesman Kailash Satyarthi
• Tennis player and activist Arthur Ashe
• Former Health and Human Services Director Louis W. Sullivan
• Farmworker rights advocate Dolores Huerta

Without question, that is an august list. Ms. Fenty’s work has earned her place among her stoutly credentialed predecessors. According to S. Allen Counter, the Harvard Foundation’s Director, Ms. Fenty, a native of Barbados, burnished her humanitarian bona fides by:

Charitably building a state-of-the-art center for oncology and nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat breast cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Founding in 2012, the nonprofit Clara Lionel Foundation Global Scholarship Program, named for her grandparents, for students attending college in the U.S. from Caribbean countries, and supports the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project, which provides children with access to education in over 60 developing countries, giving priority to girls, and those affected by lack of access to education in the world today.

The Harvard Foundation presented the Award to Robyn in a ceremony yesterday at 4:00 p.m. at Sanders Theater on the campus of Harvard University. Oh, by the way, did I mention this world-famous Bajan has a middle name by which most of you are likely to know her? For the legions who are not pop culture maven, Ms. Fenty is better known by most of us as Rihanna. In addition to her robust humanitarian vita, she is an international musical phenomenon, a singer, an actress, and a songwriter who has sold more than 200 million records. The woman most of us know best as a musical icon has just gone upscale; Harvard, no less. “Her Momma Named Her Robyn; I’mma Call Her Robyn, Humanitarian of the Year!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.gq.com/story/rihanna-harvard-humanitarian-award

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/02/28/rihanna-named-humanitarian-of-year-orig-tc.cnn

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/02/rihanna-named-humanitarian-of-year/

http://fusion.net/story/389414/this-video-of-rihanna-becoming-harvards-humanitarian-of-the-year-is-your-joyful-thing-of-the-day/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Foundation

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/national/rihanna-named-humanitarian-of-year/html_894eedca-13c0-5269-bf8e-175d4634954c.html

https://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/02/24/rihanna-honored-as-harvards-humanitarian-of-the-year-award-for-extensive-charity-work/

http://events.tbo.com/blogs/media/winner-and-loser-of-the-week-rihanna-named-harvard-universitys-2017/2314313

http://www.reformer.com/stories/people-rihanna-named-humanitarian-of-the-year,499347

https://www.yahoo.com/news/rihanna-receive-harvard-humanitarian-award-002700680.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J._Gomes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rihanna

It’s time to Break It Down!

As the CIAA Tournament bucks the trend of sporting events that eschewed North Carolina due to the State’s insistence on adhering to the infamous HB2, and brings its crown jewel of conference competition (The CIAA Basketball Tournament) to Charlotte this week, and as the ACC season kicks off it’s last fortnight of pre-tournament hoops competition, my mind frequently contemplates basketball. The game still excites me and more often than not, I continue to lace ‘em up and play twice a week, including yesterday, and most likely tomorrow.

Most folks who know anything about my predilections and proclivities are familiar with my strong, some would say, exuberantly unyielding support for the Broncos (Fayetteville State University), the Tar Heels (University of North Carolina), and the Lakers (Los Angeles). In the light, yesterday marked the close of an era for the Lakers. Many of my fellow fans believe it’s about time, while others are convinced the change is long overdue.

Spoiler alert! Not only am I tackling something other than the recent politically-themed topics I’ve been tracking, I pledge to keep the conversation relatively brief. I understand not everyone is a sports fan in general, nor a Lakers fan in particular. I get it. This is where it’s really cool for me that it is my blog. But I digress.

So the long and short of it is this. Earvin Johnson, Magic to those who remember him as a player, returned to the Lakers franchise on February 2 to advise the owners on basketball and business. Johnson, who has long noted his interest in returning to the Lakers, if the opportunity presented itself, wasted no time in revealing his desires. He told USA Today, shortly after being hired that he wanted, “To be in charge.”

Yesterday, he was named president of basketball operations, according to a press release issued by Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ governor. In his new role, Johnson will terminate his work with ESPN, where he appeared on the show “NBA Countdown.”

Speaking about his being reunited with the only NBA team he ever played for, Johnson said:

“It’s a dream come true to return to the Lakers as President of Basketball Operations, working closely with Jeanie Buss and the Buss family. Since 1979, I’ve been a part of the Laker Nation and I’m passionate about this organization. I will do everything I can to build a winning culture on and off the court. We have a great coach in Luke Walton and good young players. We will work tirelessly to return our Los Angeles Lakers to NBA champions.”

In additional moves the team fired general manager Mitch Kupchak, and also relieved Jim Buss of his duties as executive vice president of basketball operations. Buss had said he would step down after three or four years if the Lakers were not performing at a high level. Frankly, the team has toiled in mediocrity for several years, last reaching the playoffs in 2013, the year Jerry Buss the team’s Patriarchal owner, died.

In putting yesterday’s actions into perspective, Jeanie Buss said:

“Today I took a series of actions I believe will return the Lakers to the heights Dr. Jerry Buss demanded and our fans rightly expect. Effective immediately, Earvin Johnson will be in charge of all basketball operations and will report directly to me.

Our search for a new General Manager, to work with Earvin and Coach Luke Walton is well underway, and we hope to announce a new General Manager in short order. Together, Earvin, Luke and our new General Manager will establish the foundation for the next generation of Los Angeles Lakers greatness.”

In addressing the issue of her brother Jim, Jeanie said:

“He is an owner of this team and we share the same goal: returning the Lakers to the level of greatness our father demanded. Our fans deserve no less.”

The Lakers are among the most storied franchises in the history of the NBA. They have won 16 NBA Titles, second to the Boston Celtics, who have won 17. As of yesterday morning their record was 18-39, next to last in the Western Conference, and almost certain to miss the playoffs, yet again.

In the 80’s the Lakers were Magic’s team. Today they have come full circle, except, Earvin is not Magic. At least not yet, he isn’t. He has never:

• Run a team
• Served in any personnel role
• Acted in the capacity of a scout
• Been a GM
• Led a team as president
• Drafted a player
• Made a trade
• Haggled with a free-agent
• Fired a coach* (No Paul Westhead doesn’t count for the purpose of this discussion)
• Faced Laker Nation as team management

Jeanie Buss, the Lakers, and Laker Nation must hope Magic becomes the second coming of Jerry West (7 Titles) and not Bill Russell with the Supersonics, or Elgin Baylor with the Clippers, or Willis Reed with the Nets, of Kevin McHale with the Timberwolves, or Wes Unseld with the Bullets, or Larry Bird with the Pacers, Michael Jordan with the Wizards and/or (pre-GM) Hornets. The team’s first-round pick goes to Philadelphia unless it’s in the top 3, and their 2019 pick could go to Orlando. Welcome home Earvin.

Almost certainly, the most compelling reason for turning the reins over to Johnson is because he is Magic…at least he once was, and Lakers everywhere must hope he can be again. He does still retain star power. But can he attract free agents? Will he be the difference-maker that Kobe Bryant was unable to be at the end of his stellar career, and that coach Walton will need to help him stock up on guys who can take the team to the next level, or as its known in Los Angeles, back to the pinnacle to which they are accustomed? Magic elevated the team; can Earvin do the same? We will see. “Changing of the Guard: Lakers Move On!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/21/sport/magic-johnson-lakers-president/index.html

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/02/21/lakers-fire-mitch-kupchak-name-magic-johnson-president-basketball-ops

http://www.nba.com/lakers/releases/170221-magic-johnson-president-basketball-operations

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/02/21/nba-reacts-to-los-angeles-lakers-front-office-shake-up

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/02/21/can-magic-johnson-turn-los-angeles-lakers-around

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/02/21/lakers-trade-lou-williams-corey-brewer-rockets

https://www.tmz.com/2017/02/21/magic-johnson-jim-buss-mitch-kupchak-fired-lakers/

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lakers-744606-buss-jeanie.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765692955/Lakers-fire-Kupchak-put-Magic-in-charge-of-basketball-ops.html

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/feb/21/lakers-fire-kupchak-put-magic-in-charge-of-basketb/

It’s time to Break It Down!

I know Valentine’s Day is for all intents and purposes merely a Hallmark Holiday for many, but a holiday it is. Yesterday, as I’m sure you know, was Valentine’s Day. Typically, I lean toward recycle mode during holiday weeks. Today, I’m opting for a compromise. I’m going with a rare trilogy theme. I can only recall once before when I actually used an entire month to develop strands of a central theme. This is not that. It has just played out that way.

For the past two weeks, I have ferreted out a variety of aspects dealing with a device commonly known in writing as irony. The topics of the past two weeks, and of this week are topically unrelated, and are tied together simply by the infusion, in each case, of irony.

The news this week has been rife with reports about newly former National Security Adviser, General Michael Flynn, and his tortuous route to the ranks of the  unemployed. The irony referenced in this post has to do with the response of the administration, stemming from Flynn’s resignation, or firing, depending upon whose account you choose to believe.

There really is a significant amount of background that ultimately led to the disassociation of General Flynn and the current administration. I will not be delving deeply into much of it. If you have followed the current administration, you already know. If you haven’t, chances are you neither know nor care. As a matter transparency and generally being forthcoming, and, in the event you haven’t noticed, I have opted not to write directly about the winner of November’s election for the country’s top official. That won’t change today.

I digress. Back to the matter at hand, it was reported several weeks ago that certain Russian operatives had attempted to sway the outcome of our general election, to the detriment of Hillary Clinton, and in favor of her opponent. It was revealed that said reporting reflected the consensus opinion of America’s 17 related National Intelligence agencies. The administration in waiting dismissed the findings, characterized the reporting as fake news, and leveled charges at the outgoing administration for trying to undermine its successor. Surely, methinks they protest too much.

As reported by NBC News yesterday, below are a number of key dates and occurrences related to the fateful trajectory of Adviser Flynn (alternative facts not included):

Summer 2015 — Flynn first meets Trump, according to an interview he gave to the Washington Post.

Dec. 2015 — Flynn took a paid trip to Russia and appeared at a gala for RT, the state-run TV station, where he dined with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

June 2016 — Russian hackers are identified as the culprits behind hacking of Democratic institutions and figures; U.S. officials will later say Putin was involved and the goal was to meddle with the electoral process.

Donald J. Trump

✔

‪@realDonaldTrump

I highly recommend the just out book – THE FIELD OF FIGHT – by General Michael Flynn. How to defeat radical Islam.

11:49 PM – 22 Jul 2016

Nov. 18, 2016 — President-Elect Trump names Flynn his national security adviser.

Dec. 29, 2016 — Obama administration unveils sanctions against Russia for election-related hacking, expelling diplomats and shutting down two compounds. The same day, Flynn speaks to Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak by phone.

Dec. 30, 2016 — Putin says he won’t retaliate for the sanctions and invites children from the U.S. embassy to a Christmas party. Trump then praises Putin in a tweet.

Donald J. Trump

✔

‪@realDonaldTrump

Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!

2:41 PM – 30 Dec 2016

Sometime after Dec. 30, 2016 — The FBI reviews intercepts and finds the Flynn-Kislyak conversation. The matter gets folded into the FBI’s ongoing probe into Russian election-related hacking and related issues.

Jan. 11, 2017 — Trump denies members of his staff had contact with Russia before the election, during the campaign.

Jan. 12 — Washington Post columnist David Ignatius first reports the contact between Flynn and Kislyak, raising questions about whether sanctions were discussed.

Jan. 13 — Trump spokesman Sean Spicer says Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the ambassador and the purpose of the call was to schedule a time for Trump and Putin to speak post-inauguration.

Jan. 15 — Vice President Mike Pence tells CBS’s “Face the Nation” that sanctions were not discussed: “It was strictly coincidental that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.”

Jan. 19 — Obama administration officials — Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan and Acting Attorney General Sally Yates — discuss the situation and want to warn the Trump team that Flynn has misled Spicer and Pence. FBI Director James Comey vetoes that, saying it will compromise his ongoing investigation.

Jan. 20 — Trump inaugurated.

Jan. 20 or 21 — The FBI questions Flynn about his call to the ambassador as part of the bureau’s broader investigation into Russia, according to a senior U.S. official.

Jan. 23 — At Spicer’s first White House press briefing, he says that Flynn assured him the night before that the Flynn-Kislyak call did not involve sanctions. The subject, Spicer says, was a plane crash over the holiday, Christmas greetings, a potential conference in Syria on ISIS, and scheduling a call with Putin.

Jan. 26 — Acting AG Yates tells White House Counsel Donald McGahn what she knows about the call, according to the White House. Trump was told immediately, Spicer says, and the White House counsel launched an “exhaustive” review that included questioning of Flynn.

Jan. 30 — Trump fires Yates, saying she’s being axed for refusing to defend his executive order temporarily banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Feb. 9 — The Washington Post reports that Flynn, according to current and former U.S. officials, did discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador; officials confirm the content of the discussion to NBC News. This day is the first time Pence is informed of the Justice Department warning about Flynn’s call — two weeks after Trump was told.

Feb. 10 — A spokesperson for Flynn tells NBC News that Flynn “can’t be 100 percent sure,” but doesn’t remember talking sanctions. Trump denies knowledge of the reports that Flynn and the Russian talked sanctions. “I don’t know about it. I haven’t seen it. What report is that?” he tells reporters. Also that day, Flynn speaks by phone to Pence, reportedly to apologize to him.

Feb. 13 — Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway tells NBC News that Flynn has the full confidence of the president. Moments later, Spicer says Trump is evaluating the situation. Hours after that, Flynn resigns, saying he “inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador.”

Feb. 14 — At a press briefing, Spicer says Trump asked Flynn to resign because of an erosion of trust — not because any laws were broken.

Hallie Jackson

✔

‪@HallieJackson

“No, absolutely not” says Sean Spicer, when asked if ‪@POTUS instructed Flynn to talk about sanctions with Russian ambassadors

1:35 PM – 14 Feb 2017 · Washington, DC

The record shows there is a lengthy summary of dates and acts. It appears that there are a number of inconsistencies and other incongruences relative to the assertions of the Trump administration. So in this third edition of ironies, we appear to have arrived at the irony of all ironies. How does the administration conclude, after all of the above, that the real concern is leaks to the media, rather than the actions of a National Security Adviser who apparently either misled (notice I generously did not say lied) the Vice President, or perhaps, who really acted on behalf of the administration, and is now just being a good soldier and taking the fall for his Dear Leader?

Well, on second thought, the administration couldn’t be expected to cop to the latter. But the former is supported by quite a compelling cacophony of arguments. Beyond that, it should be noted that had the report not surfaced (been leaked), the administration would still be poised to feign ignorance, and keep this story from the daylight view of the American public. While I won’t pretend I speak for the administration, I am confident the American public is in a better place as a result of the recent revelations. It was not that long ago the prevailing chants were “Lock her up” and “Drain the swamp!” Where is all that indignation and search for political purity? In summation, I give you…”Irony Part III: Perhaps…The Mother of All Ironies!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/14/politics/michael-flynn-congress-reaction-republicans-democrats/index.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mike-flynn-timeline-his-rise-fall-russia-call-n720671

http://www.cnn.com/?refresh=1

http://www.kboi.com/news/republicans-call-for-leak-investigation-after-flynn-fallout/

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/313055-california-rep-bashes-trumps-call-for-leak-investigation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkXZTXT39UY

http://www.politico.com/media/story/2017/01/trump-calls-on-congress-to-investigate-leak-to-nbc-news-004910

https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-leaders-join-call-for-probe-of-russian-hacking-of-u-s-election-1481589660

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/14/team-trump-flynn-called-russia-ambassador-no-sanction-talk-plain-and-simple.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-senate-intel-panel-plans-probe-russia-spying-002246277.html

It’s time to Break It Down! 

Last week I discussed the stark reversal of course by some GOP lawmakers and their expectations for Sally Yates performance as a member of the Justice Department staff. In summation, when GOP Senators questioned Ms. Yates during her confirmation hearings for the post of Deputy Attorney General, Jeff Sessions asked her a number of pointed questions that clearly framed his expectations that should she be confirmed, she would oppose any rules, regulations, or executive orders that President Obama, a Democrat, proposed, if she thought they not consistent with either the law or the Constitution. As fate would have it, after Mr. Obama left office, Yates was asked to serve as interim Attorney General until the new AG is confirmed.

So guess what happened. The new GOP President issued an executive order that Ms. Yates did not believe complied with some elements of the Constitution. She then proceeded to do, as she said she would during her confirmation; stood on principal and refused to ask Justice Department staff attorneys to defend the Executive Order, regardless of whether it’s a ban or a pause. The administration of course, promised a Muslim ban. It was even described that way by the administration…until it wasn’t. At any rate, not surprisingly, the administration fired Yates.

Interestingly enough, U.S. District Court Judge James Robart, a Bush appointee, ruled in favor of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who sued to invalidate key provisions of the executive order. That fight continues as the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel heard arguments from both sides in an hour-long conference call at 3:00 p.m. PST yesterday.

The degree to which the GOP’s sense of holding the opposition’s feet squarely to the fire, while having no such affinity to be held to the same standard did not stop there. The GOP is now promoting its Party’s nominee for the Supreme Court. In doing so, the Grand Old Party, collectively, has been quite salty about what it views as Democrats’ attempt to obstruct, deny, or even delay the confirmation of the next Justice-in-waiting.

The most readily at hand reference for comparison sake for most people may be the fact that the GOP refused to even grant interviews to Merrick Garland, the last Obama nominee for the High Court. Justice Antonin Scalia’s died in February 2016. In March of that year, President Obama nominated Garland as an Associate Justice for the SCOTUS. Republicans not only refused to hold hearings to consider his confirmation, they declined to even grant him individual interviews, which is a courtesy commonly extended to candidates for the High Court.

As if that were not bad enough, the disdain, disparagement, and disregard did not end there. Late in last year’s electoral season, when it appeared that Hillary Clinton might win the Presidential election, Senator John McCain exclaimed:

“I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,”

After making those comments, Senator McCain appeared to up the ante, suggesting that if Hillary Clinton were elected, Republicans would block any Supreme Court nomination she would make. Ever!

Hark, there’s more. CNN reported on private remarks made by North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, who was running for reelection. According to the cable network, he said:

“There will be no lame-duck confirmation, and if Hillary Clinton becomes president, I am going to do everything I can do to make sure four years from now, we still got an opening on the Supreme Court.”

That sentiment aligned him perfectly with another conservative Senator, Ted Cruz, who told Dave Weigel:

“There is certainly long historical precedent for a Supreme Court with fewer justices. I would note, just recently, that Justice Breyer observed that the vacancy is not impacting the ability of the court to do its job. That’s a debate that we are going to have.”

And there’s more still. There was also support for the argument among conservative intellectuals. Manu Raju noted in a CNN story on November 1, 2016:

“Ilya Shapiro argues in The Federalist that the Senate should block any Clinton nominees, saying the Constitution allows it. Michael Stokes Paulsen writes in National Review that the Court should be reduced from nine to six justices. While he supports a legal change in the future, Paulsen says attrition by refusing to confirm would be a good way to get down to six.”

Technically, Shapiro is correct…as far as it goes. While there is no explicit, affirmative obligation to confirm, refusing to confirm is hardly conservative. In fact, it’s deeply anti-conservative, in the small-c sense of following norms and customs, as laid out by the Constitution, and according to precedent.

In short, the tacit implication of the arguments made by Senators McCain, Cruz and Burr’ is that Democratic presidents—whether Obama or, hypothetically, Clinton—are less legitimate than Republican presidents, who clearly should be allowed to make appointments on the Supreme Court. The essential motivation even though unstated, is just as clear—ideological disagreement—but there is no longer any reasonable argument, not even a pretense, of respecting the notion that Democrats ever have a mandate. It’s the only logical end, and in fact inescapable conclusion to the increasing politicization of the court-nomination process.

To that end, I simply cannot close without noting that while all the noise registered by Republicans may indeed be buttressed by their current numerical advantages, as they control the executive branch, the legislative branch, and they are poised to gain sway in the judicial branch, it’s time to drop the veil of phantasmical assertion that Democrats somehow are breaking new ground in their effort to at least offer a modicum of resistance to the Borg-like power sweep that the GOP is executing. In other words, welcome to…“Irony Part II: McCain, Cruz, Burr, et. al. Speak on Blocking Any and All Clinton SCOTUS Nominations.”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/17/498328520/sen-mccain-says-republicans-will-block-all-court-nominations-if-clinton-wins

http://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2016/10/18/13314336/mccain-block-clinton-nominees

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2016/10/18/mccain-promises-a-united-republican-front-to-block-clinton-scotus-nominee-n2233690

http://www.snopes.com/2016/10/17/john-mccain-block-scotus-nominations/

http://kfyo.com/ted-cruz-joins-john-mccain-in-threatening-to-block-clinton-supreme-court-nominees/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-mccain-supreme-court_us_581cabece4b0d9ce6fbb5d38

http://www.newser.com/story/232696/mccain-trump-might-not-be-better-for-supreme-court.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/19/john-mccain-is-right-senate-republicans-could-block-a-clinton-supreme-court-indefinitely/?utm_term=.ebf5b66e9622

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-mccain-hillary-clinton-supreme-court_us_58050653e4b0162c043d4c9a

http://mediamatters.org/research/2016/10/20/newspaper-editorials-slam-mccain-unprecedented-pledge-block-any-clinton-nominee-supreme-court/213997

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/federal-judge-in-seattle-halts-trumps-immigration-order/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/03/federal-judge-in-seattle-temporarily-halts-trump-s-immigration-order-nationwide.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrick_Garland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrick_Garland_Supreme_Court_nomination

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-supreme-court-nomination-20170131-story.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/whats-the-opposite-of-court-packing/506081/

It’s time to Break It Down!

Senator Jefferson Beauregard “Jeff” Sessions III is the junior United States Senator from Alabama and a member of the Republican Party. He is the most senior junior Senator, and is also the current nominee, and likely imminent appointee as the next United States Attorney General.

Sessions served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, and re-elected in 2002, 2008, and again in 2014. The Senator is considered one of the most conservative members of the Senate, and was rumored to be a possible Vice Presidential nominee by the current administration.

Sally Quillian Yates is an American attorney who practiced law at the King & Spalding law firm in Atlanta. In addition, she:

• Was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney by Bob Barr for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia
• Served as Chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section in that office
• Acted as the lead prosecutor in the case of Eric Rudolph, who committed the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Rudolph was a terrorist convicted for a series of anti-abortion and anti-gay bombings across the southern United States between 1996 and 1998, which killed two people and injured over 120 others.
• Rose to First Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2002 and to Acting U.S. Attorney in 2004. In the U.S. Attorney’s office she held leadership positions under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
• Was nominated by President Barack Obama to be U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia.
• Was confirmed by the Senate on March 10, 2010.
• Was appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder to serve as Vice Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.

The United States Senate voted 84–12, in 2015, to confirm Yates as Deputy Attorney General of the United States, the second highest-ranking position in the Justice Department. While Yates was going through confirmation hearings, Senator Sessions posed a series of questions that ultimately led to him encouraging her to resist unlawful orders.

She served under Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who took office shortly before Yates’s confirmation.

As Deputy Attorney General, Yates was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Justice Department, which included approximately 113,000 employees. In 2015, she authored the policy, known as the “Yates memo” prioritizing the prosecution of executives for corporate crimes. During the final days of the Obama administration, she oversaw the review of 16,000 petitions for executive clemency, making recommendations to the President.

Circling back to Ms. Yates’ confirmation hearings to become Deputy Attorney General, and Senator Sessions’ questioning her, he grilled her intensely regarding her willingness to oppose a President (Obama) if he required her to execute “unlawful” views. As it turns out, Sessions is now on tap to lead the Justice Department.

During her hearing, the Senator observed:

“You have to watch out because people will be asking you to do things and you need to say no. You think the attorney general has the responsibility to say no to the President if he asks for something that’s improper?”

He went on, referring to AG Nominee Loretta Lynch…

“A lot of people have defended the Lynch nomination, for example by saying, ‘Well, he appoints somebody who’s going to execute his views, what’s wrong with that?’ ”

“But if the views the President wants to execute are unlawful, should the attorney general or the deputy attorney general say no?”

Ms. Yates responded:

“Senator, I believe the attorney general or the deputy attorney general has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution and to give their independent legal advice to the President.”

So fast forward back to the present. Earlier this week, Yates, who had been running the Justice Department while Sessions completed the confirmation process, transformed her 2015 words to 2017 actions.

On January 2017, Yates accepted a request from the incoming Administration to serve as Acting Attorney General, beginning on January 20, 2017, and serving until the United States Senate confirms the new Attorney General. On January 30, 2017, Yates ordered the Justice Department not to defend Trump’s executive order on travel and immigration. She wrote:

“At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities of the Department of Justice, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful…I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right. For as long as I am the acting Attorney General, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of this executive order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so.”

Former Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted he trusted Yates’ judgment, in response to her statement. Not surprisingly, the administration reacted in stark contrast. Shortly afterward, she received a hand-delivered letter from the administration firing her.

She was replaced with Dana Boente, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. According to the White House statement on the subject, Yates “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.”

It is a peculiarly ironic time warp in which Sessions and Yates find themselves. It began manifesting itself when Sessions, a Republican, questioned Yates at her Deputy AG hearing. At that time, he and his fellow GOP’ers wanted assurances that as Deputy AG, Yates would not just roll over and execute the recommendations of the President, who at the time of course, was a Democrat. Time and circumstance have a way of showing themselves fickle. By the time Yates was actually faced with the real world scenario Sessions had asked about, the worm had turned, Yates was tapped to serve as acting AG until Sessions received confirmation, and the President, as we all know, is now a Republican.

Yates held up her end of the bargain. As she said she would, she declined to order staff to defend an executive order that she did not believe to be lawful. Based upon the predicate conversations during her 2015 hearings, her actions were, or should have been predictable. She did not disappoint. Let’s be clear, the administration also did the expected, in light of what it considered defiance. It fired Yates. All things considered, no one should be surprised by any of this; least of all the principals. “Jeff & Sally: The Irony of It All.”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Sessions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Yates

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Rudolph

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Olympic_Park_bombing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3yDjylQ5Ps

http://www.businessinsider.com/sally-yates-jeff-sessions-video-2015-confirmation-hearing-2017-1

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/31/politics/sally-yates-jeff-sessions-deputy-attorney-general-hearing/index.html