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Alan Keyes, perennial candidate and the Washington Generals of politics. No offense to the Generals.
This was not merely a hoax. This is madness, for we should all be very, very mad about this.Once upon a time, Yates was one of the flagship football programs in the Houston area. In 1985, Yates produced the first all-black team to win the Texas state football championship - blanking fabled powerhouse Odessa Permian 37-0. Rick Telander, who briefly touched on Yates in his book titled "The Hundred Yard Lie," watched a tape of the game and said Yates "crushed (Permian) the way a steamroller crushes a pair of sunglasses."In the mid-1980s, Yates had more than 3,000 students walking its hallways on a aidly basis. Now, its enrollment number isn’t even half that. When the University Interscholastic League collected enrollment figures for the most recent realignment in February, Yates reported an enrollment of 1,325.
“In the ’80s, you had the whole community of Third Ward booming,” McKinney said. “Lots of families lived there and the kids took pride in going to Yates. Now you have open enrollment in HISD and there are a lot of kids in Yates’ zone that don’t attend Yates.”
This weekend, in a county a few miles north of my home, there will be an event called the Great American Cooter Festival.
Does that sound like the sort of leadership that we want in the White House? Again, I'm almost certain the obituary for his campaign is going to be eye-popping. We only thought Hillary Clinton's campaign was a mess.Top Republican officials have let it be known they are distressed about McCain’s organization. Coordination between the McCain campaign and Republican National Committee, always uneven, is now nearly dysfunctional, with little high-level contact and intelligence-sharing between the two.
“There is no communication,” lamented one top Republican. “It drives you crazy.”
At his Northern Virginia headquarters, some McCain aides are already speaking of the campaign in the past tense. Morale, even among some of the heartiest and most loyal staffers, has plummeted. And many past and current McCain advisors are warring with each other over who led the candidate astray.
One well-connected Republican in the private sector was shocked to get calls and resumes in the past few days from what he said were senior McCain aides – a breach of custom for even the worst-off campaigns.“It’s not an extraordinarily happy place to be right now,” said one senior McCain aide. “I’m not gonna lie. It’s just unfortunate.”
But what has some GOP operatives shaking their heads is the missed opportunities that that $150K represents. Had the RNC forgone the clothing purchases, they could have put more mail in mailboxes, more boots on the ground, and more advertisements on air.
Indeed, a look at some ad buy statistics provided by a Democratic source shows that the RNC put more money down on Palin's attire than they and the McCain campaign have spent on a weeks-worth of advertising in half a dozen, potentially, swing states.
There's a strong chance the presidential election could come down, as it has in recent years, to Florida. And if that happens, then those 27 electoral votes could be decided by "a few square blocks in Tampa."Since moving here in December, my stock response to "what's Tampa Bay like?" questions has been "like Houston but with better weather and beaches." That's partially true.We are diverse racially, economically, politically and ideologically, but the area is not so much a melting pot as it is a collection of tribes situated around a giant pool of saltwater.
We ascend from places like Jamaica and Cuba and Puerto Rico, and hang tiny flags from our rearview mirrors. We descend from states like Ohio and Michigan and Indiana, and unpack our futons and Midwestern values. More and more of us are coming from New Jersey and New York, our kids sporting Long Island blowbacks and white sneakers.
I don't think John McCain could have handled that situation. I'm almost certain Sarah Palin couldn't do it. Barack looks him in the eye, is respectful but direct, and makes his point. This is the difference between true toughness and bluster.The following is a comment that I left at TNC's spot (with some tweaks and a little switcheroo on a couple of grafs):
Who knew? Continue Reading »“In Somalia, there are over 2,300 maritime pirates who include trained military men, security experts, professional translators and experienced brokers […]
”These organised, hi-tech gangs have managed to seize a Ukrainian vessel carrying tanks, arms, ammunition and military equipment and their ransom demands are high.
“These pirates have become rich and powerful and the owners of many commercial institutions,” he wrote.
“Pirate Jama Shino in the Somali town of Garowe, threw the most lavish wedding party for his second marriage and invited hundreds of people from the local authorities and among citizens,” Hussameddin wrote.
“The bride and the young women who attended the party, said: “Marrying a pirate is every Somali girl’s dream. He has power, money, immunity, the weapons to defend the tribe and funds to give to the militias in civil war.”
For the moment, it looks like proposals for gay marriage bans are gaining wide-ranging support in California and Florida, a couple of states that should know better. I don't think history will be kind to our generation for not pushing back more forcefully against civil inequality of this kind. Continue Reading »Maybe it's because I'm gay but I think all people should be equal
I just had to post this text message from my father, who apparently followed through on his promise to vote early on Tuesday:In my life, I vote for a black man for president of the u.s. It's unreal!
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is either really unimpressed with Sarah Palin or he's still smarting from being passed over. Wow.I asked Crist if he thought Palin was going to lure undecided voters to the ticket.
"I think we both know the answer to that," he said.
Last night, when news of Obama's ailing grandmother was making its way onto cable news broadcasts, I turned to the First Lady and said: "Those are some good-hearted white people."But now, more than anyone, I am thinking of Barack Obama's grandparents. One of the big mistakes we make when we look at the history of race in this country is to focus on big people and big events. What should be remembered is that, though our racial history is mired in utter disgrace, though the deep cowardice of post reconstruction haunts us into the 21st century, at any point on the timeline, you can find ordinary white people doing the right thing.
Right. And as much as I generally wish good health for everyone, I have a special place in my heart for Madelyn Dunham. She was one of those people who anonymously moved the history of our nation forward. It only seems just that Mrs. Dunham be around to see her grandson make a little history himself.... let us speak of people who were ahead of their times, who were outside of their times. Let us remember that Barack Obama learned the great lessons of life from courageous white people. Let us speak of those who do what normal, right people should always do when faced with a child--commit an act love.
"Obama is about as far from being a socialist as Joe The Plumber is from being a rocket scientist," said Darrell West, director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution. "I think it's hard for McCain to call Obama a socialist when George Bush is nationalizing banks."But since when did McCain let anything like facts or book-learnin' get in the way of a good lie? Continue Reading »
Lindsey Evans, Miss Teen Louisiana USA, who was busted for a dine-and-dash in Bossier City this weekend. At a very mediocre Mexican restaurant, I might add.
I missed a lot during my week off and out of town. Now that I'm back, here's a roundup of some of the stuff bouncing around my the corners of mind. Lots and lots of news ... I don't even mention sports here:
Via UBM comes the sad news that comedian Rudy Ray Moore died Sunday at the age of 71. For the uninitiated, that's Dolemite.
I'll leave it to people much smarter than I to determine whether or not Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama this morning will actually matter at the polls on Nov. 4.Powell also said "the approach the Republican Party and Mr. McCain" are taking on the campaign trail is getting "narrower and narrower" while Obama has been "inclusive." In a shot at Palin's remarks about small town values being superior, Powell -- born in Harlem, raised in the Bronx -- said Obama pushes the idea that "all villages have values, all towns have values." Powell said he was "disappointed" in McCain for tacking issues he found "no central" to the nation's challenges, specifically McCain's focus on Obama's association with education professor William Ayers, a former member of the violent radical group the Weather Underground.
... Powell, who served as Secretary of State for President George W. Bush, said he was also "troubled what members of the Republican party" have said along the lines of , "We know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." First off, Powell said, Obama is a Christian. But more to the point, he said, "is there something wrong with being a Muslim?" He worried about the message the GOP was sending to a hypothetical 7-year-old Muslim American who thinks he can grow up and be president some day.
It's easy to say after the fact, but I can't ever imagine Bernard Hopkins taking an ass-whuppin from anyone. Especially Kelly Pavlik.Ignoring Hopkins' cliched spiel about the media, it's remarkable to think that the 43-year-old fighter has never really lost decisively since a 1993 title bout against Roy Jones Jr. Since that match 15 years ago, Jones has become something of a shot fighter and Hopkins has remained a viable championship contender.“I’m tired of proving myself,” Hopkins yelled toward the reporters seated ringside.
Indeed, he entered this fight as an underdog, with many people calling the upstart Pavlik the next big thing in boxing. But after 12 rounds, it was clear that Pavlik did not have enough experience or skills to beat Hopkins, the former undisputed middleweight world champion.
“Ninety percent of the media picked Pavlik and I always appreciate naysayers,” Hopkins said. “That’s what motivates me.”
His full name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. And he owes back taxes, too, public records show. The premise of his complaint to Mr. Obama about taxes may also be flawed, according to tax analysts. Contrary to what Mr. Wurzelbacher asserted and Mr. McCain echoed, neither his personal taxes nor those of the business where he works are likely to rise if Mr. Obama’s tax plan were to go into effect, they said.Vetting and fact-checking simply aren't things McCain and his campaign have the time for, I suppose. Continue Reading »
So, basically, Palin's version of "real America" has more non-Hispanic whites than the general average. Sounds a lot like Wasilla. Or Main Street. It's just too bad she would have to govern from a Communist stronghold - and home to hundreds of thousands of Marxists black folks - like Washington, D.C.Since her coming out in Dayton, Ohio on August, 29th, Palin has held (or is scheduled to hold) public events in 44 cities according to the Slate.com candidate tracker. These include all events described as "rallies", "town halls", "gatherings" or "discussions", but not things like press availabilities, fundraisers or debates. I looked at the racial composition of voting-age (18+) population in these 44 cities as according to the 2000 census.** They are, on average, 83.3 percent non-Hispanic white, 7.5 percent black, 5.2 percent Hispanic, and 4.0 percent "other". By comparison, the US 18+ population in 2000 was 72.0 percent white, 11.2 percent black, 11.0 percent Hispanic, and 5.9 percent other. Thirty-four of Palin's 44 cities were whiter than the US average.
