Don't I Know It

Clinton-Obama Quandary for Many Black Women

O'Reilly Meets Blacks, Eats Their Food

Thanks to Media Matters--and my mother--for tipping us off to this juicy little tid-bit: apparently Bill O'Reilly thinks Black people curse a lot. And are generally crass. And use profanity to request service. All the time.

I'm not even going to attempt to go further than that in describing what he said; I'll just let you read it here. Keep in mind that this was his response after dining at the famous Sylvia's Restaurant up in Harlem, with Al Sharpton.

O'REILLY: I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks... There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, "M-Fer, I want more ice tea."

Maybe it was just that folks were on their best behavior because they saw him coming. Or maybe not. But I seriously don't know how any media figure can be so continuously stupid and still be revered by millions. It's moments like this that remind me just how hard it will be for Barack, and maybe even Hillary, to win the election...I guess it's really true what they say: there is no finish line when it comes to achieving equality. Days like today make it feel like we've barely even gotten out of the blocks.

Lies, Lies and More Lies

Want to be a journalist? Apparently all you have to do is make shit up.

Alexis Debat, a consultant to ABC News and, until yesterday, a senior fellow at the Nixon Center (counterterrorism is his specialty), has been found to have fabricated a whole host of interviews he claimed to have done with esteemed public figures like Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Alan Greenspan. Though his veracity was challenged before, none of the publications printing his work seemed to take it too seriously until Barack Obama came out swinging over a faked interview that ran in the esteemed French mag, Politique Internationale.

Looks like Jason Blair's bench is getting deeper by the minute.

Mississippi Burning

Seriously. This place is hot. And wet. And tho in some instances that might be a good combination, for my taste this environment is nowhere near hospitable. The physical environment, that is. The emotional, human component makes up for a lot, tho. That, and the unbelievable food.

Since I've spent just about every minute of the last 4 days thinking about the lasting devastation of Hurricane Katrina, I think I'll use this opportunity to think about something else. Like Hillary Clinton. I'm hoping that despite the fact that I'm Mississippi I'll still be able to watch the Logo/HRC debate tonight (god bless wi-fi). But because I was up to my neck in boiled shrimp at the Imperial Palace Casino buffet last night, I missed the AFL-CIO debate.

I haven't had a lot of time to dig around for feedback on what went on, but I do see on Feministing that there's a little bit of outrage brewing over the fact that Hillary referred to herself as a "girl" during the debate And it's funny: though under normal circumstances I might have the intellectual space to delve into the ins and outs of what that kind of slip of the tongue might mean--to the women's movement, to the political sphere, etc.--something about all the freakin' reality down here makes it a little bit harder to get riled about something which, in the grand scheme of things, is really so minor.

Nobody who was planing on voting for Hillary is not going to vote for her simply because she called herself a girl on one occasion; and frankly, it's probably a wise move for a woman who gets painted as "too hard" by the media to try to soften that image as she gets closer to having to woo voters who are not her natural constituents. It's all a game, right? And Hillary's as expert at playing it as anyone else (and so far, better than any other American woman). So why are we liberals so constantly surprised when she "fails" the various purity tests we put to her? She's out to win a general election, and sadly enough, in order to that she's going to have to sell her soul...again. Time to either get used to it--or find a way to back a different candidate to win the nomination.

Time for Another Debate? You betcha.

I bet it feels to you like it was just last night you were watching a debate between the candidates for the presidency of the United States. It certainly feels that way to me. But lo and behold, it is now time for those motley crews to gather together again and try not to offend each other too much while tearing apart the policies of their colleagues on the other side of the ideological divide. And this time, they've gone all techie on us: tonight at 7pm ET tune your channel to CNN and check out the first debate hosted by our friends at YouTube, which will take place in good old Charleston, SC.

And because YouTube is the bigwig behind this particular debate, you, netizen, have your very own shot at having your searingly sharp question be deflected by one of the major candidates: just visit YouTube to submit a question (note: you've gotta have a video or web camera to do this) and from there a crack team of CNN producers will whittle the pool down to the 75-100 questions they imagine Anderson Cooper will feel most comfortable sharing with the candidates (so nothing too too gay, please).

Since it's the closest most of us will ever get to being in the ring with the big boys, I highly advocate giving it a shot. (Though interestingly enough, I actually got somewhat of an invite to travel to Charleston to blog the event... and sadly enough, the fact that I have a j-o-b kept me from being able to go. Which brings me back to my earlier point: the YouTube debate is a godsend for most of us.)

Democracy (sorta) opened up to the demos? Pretty rad.

We've Got Him Just Where We Want Him

Need I say more?

To buy this and other yummy Barack paraphernalia, visit: www.barackobama.com

Barack Beats the Health Care Drum

At last! A plan from our buddy Barack. As part of a campaign stop at the University of Iowa, Obama finally unveiled his plan to fix our doddering health care system--you know, the one that leaves nearly 47 million Americans without an ounce of coverage.

His goal is to provide universal coverage, and yes, it's going to cost something: probably something int he neighborhood of $50 to $65 billion. And yes, the Federal government will be responsible for picking up that check. How does Obama propose to make up the difference? By repealing those tax breaks President Bush put in place for the privileged few: those who make over $200,000 a year.

Sounds like a plan to me...

Michelle Obama in the Spotlight

From today's New York Times, a profile and video offering on the wife of Presidential hopeful Barack Obama. As much as I like Obama, I must say I like Michelle even more, and sometimes have that same feeling when watching her stump for her husband that I did watching Kerry Kennedy Cuomo stump for hers--i.e., that SHE ought to have been the one running, rather than playing the role of back-up singer (though In the Cuomo/ Kennedy Cuomo case the imbalance was much greater, for sure).

In any case, I'm hoping that Michelle will continue to get ample face-time as this race continues. My only gripe: can we stop talking already about how she's "meaner" and "tougher" than he is? There are more options for black women, certainly, than being either the coddling mammy or the stone cold butch... How about we let Michelle be the three-dimensional person she is? A radical notion, I'm aware, but one with striving for.

Weekend Round-up

Funny, isn't it, how life and art (or journalism) intersect? This morning as I was walking down Wall Street with a copy of this weekend's NYTimes Magazine griped firmly in my left hand, I noticed an absolute phalanx of combat ready NYPD officers clogging the street, the sidewalks, and the entrance to the number 1 train. Being that this is New York, and downtown NY at that, only blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood, seeing all this police activity made my heart race a little bit--and not in a good way. And then I heard the shouting in the distance, rhythmic and punctuated by an intermittent drum beat, and when I looked again and saw once officer with a camera to his face, snapping madly at the scene, I realized what was going on: a protest. An anti-war protest. It's the first one I've seen in person here in Manhattan and it made me wonder if we've finally reached a place where people are actually going to begin standing up and demanding real change... Which brings me back to the life/art connection, because what I was holding in my left hand, in that NY Times magazine, was this week's cover story on women and war--or, specifically, the female US soldiers who are returning from their tours with cases of PTSD caused not just by the trauma they are seeing in the war zone, but also by the sexual trauma inflicted upon them by their male counterparts in the military. To have been so fully immersed in the story on my subway ride downtown this morning, and to have had the sense, in reading it, that the shit is really about to hit the proverbial fan in regards to this war; and then to emerge from there straight into the middle of an anti-war protest... Well, it gives you the feeling that the war really is everywhere--that the chickens have come home to roost. And the most terrible part about it all is that, in so many ways, the damage has already been done. There's no going back for the thousands of soldiers dead or damaged. The only question left is: how many more lives are we willing to ruin in the name of oil and power?

On that happy note, a few items of note from this past weekend:

Let the Mudslinging Begin (Again): Barack's team may be disavowing it, but this video spot that parodies Apple's landmark "1984" commercial is the best piece of pirate political advocacy I've seen yet.

Is Ignorance Bliss?: From the NYTimes, a paralyzing article about one young woman's choice to find out whether she possesses the genetic marker for Huntington's disease (she does). Likely to provoke the "What Would You Do?" sentiment in most of us. For the record, I don't think I have the capacity to hold such knowledge about the limitations of my life expectancy and still live any full kind of life. When it comes to pain and suffering, I'm a wimp, quite frankly. So let me float off in a daze, all who are listening...

Pre-abortion Ultrasounds Could Be Required Under SC Law: In another move to limit a woman's right to abortion without being lectured to or coerced, a bill is now winding its way through the South Carolina legislature that would require women seeking abortions to view ultrasounds of their fetuses before actually going through with the procedure. Un-freakin'-real.

To Do: Spend $1,000 to Breathe Same Air as Barack & Michelle

I won't be shelling out the cash for this particular fundraiser (not because I don't support Barack, but because I am trying to support myself), but if there are any of you out there who are interested in seeing the junior Senator from Illinois and his wife up close, here's your chance. Next Friday, March 9th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Barack and Michelle will attend one of their first major fundraising events here in New York, at the Grand Hyatt. If you're interested in learning how to get tickets (minimum donation: $1,000 per person), shoot me an email and I'll let you know more.

And for those who can't swing the price of that ticket, there'll be another event for the Obamas later that evening, where you can catch your glimpse for a more reasonable $100 a head. God bless those community organizing roots!

Weekend Round-up

Happy President's Day! If, like me, you're one of those folks lucky enough to have the day off, I'm sure you'll be reading this on Tuesday. But if, like Katie Sherwin, you're one of those whose job screws you out of mid-major holidays, here are a few tidbits to keep you happy while the rest of us are cavorting:

Reading Barack's Blackness: Another article on the question of Barack's racial identity, our perceptions of it, and why we should find the question itself utterly infuriating. (21 months out from the election and I already do.)

Siblings with Difference: A close look at the reality of being a typically functioning child whose sibling has developmental and/or emotional disabilities.

Another Woman Takes the Lead: Though last week was all about Harvard's big female appointment, Yale also took a big step in elevating a woman this month: Sharon Kugler-- a Catholic-- is about to take the helm as Yale's new chaplain.

The Hillary/Barack Non-Divide

Great op-ed in the NYTimes today written by Gloria Steinem, on why those of us who consider ourselves progressive should avoid the trap of pitting Hillary and Barack (and their respective subject positions) against one another. The set up:

"EVEN before Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton threw their exploratory committees into the ring, every reporter seemed to be asking which candidate are Americans more ready for, a white woman or a black man?

With all due respect to the journalistic dilemma of reporting two 'firsts' at the same time — two viable presidential candidates who aren’t the usual white faces over collars and ties — I think this is a dumb and destructive question."

Read the full article for the "why" behind the "dumb and destructive" comment. Makes you think again about how history--should we actually choose to pay attention to it--really does inform both present and future.