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This Is What Democracy Looks Like
Today's Note From a Madman
March 31, 2008
Another Al
Break out the Medal of Freedom and the gold watch once again. HUD (Housing and
Urban Development) Secretary Alphonso Jackson, a Bushie who is actually under
criminal investigation, is resigning his post on April 18. Of course, Jackson
isn't citing his legal problems as his reason for leaving his cushy post within
The Administration of Diminished Responsibility. His reasons are more "pure",
shall we say:
"There comes a time when one must attend more diligently to personal and family
matters. Now is such a time for me."
-Jackson
Any time with which one can deflect problems away from President Bush and his
failed policies is a good time, right Secretary Jackson?
"Al" Jackson becomes the third "Al" to join the ranks of the unemployed during
the Bush administration. Big Al (Alan Greenspan) had enough of the Bushco roller
coaster ride through the economy and called it quits; and Sleazy Al (Alberto
Gonzales) had to sacrifice himself as the goat-du-jour for the good of the
administration, much in the same way New Al (Alphonso Jackson) is doing today.
Whether his resignation is coming following a Congressional investigation or by
his own hand, New Al just had to go.
Here's what happened and what New Al's being investigated for, according to the
Associated Press:
"Jackson, 62, has been fending off allegations of cronyism and favoritism
involving HUD contractors for the past two years. The FBI has been examining the
ties between Jackson and a friend who was paid $392,000 by Jackson's department
as a construction manager in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina."
-The AP article by Marcy Gordon
Jackson, like so many other members of the Bush "base" of "haves and have
mores", simply saw an opportunity to make a buck for a pal in the wake of the
worst natural disaster in American history.
"I have known Alphonso Jackson for many years, and I have known him to be a
strong leader and a good man,"
--Bush
Did someone say "And Jackie here - you're doing a heck of a job?"
Jackson took the opportunity of his departure announcement to toot his own horn.
He told of thirty years of good works in the housing industry and how he
"transformed public housing". Of course, that makes me wonder if New Al actually
has ever been inside a public housing complex like the one in New York City's
Coney Island where I grew up. I sincerely doubt it or he wouldn't have been
seeking credit for it.
Setting aside Jackson's silence during the housing debacle of the past year
(after all, the "H" in HUD does stand for Housing), his record in "helping"
(another "H") after Katrina hit New Orleans is even worse. Although he treated
his friend's company well in the aftermath of the hurricane, making sure that
his company "earned" nearly $400,000, New Orleans itself hardly benefited from
his leadership.
Although Jackson is still being investigated, President Bush is sure that his
soon-to-be former HUD guy will be proven innocent of all charges. He has to be
if for no other reason than Bush Picked him.
President Bush "expects that the investigation will clearly establish that he
did nothing improper or unethical,"
-A White House statement
Not only is one innocent until proven guilty in the President's eyes, but one,
if he (or she) is a loyal Bushie, is innocent even after being found guilty.
Scooter Libby comes to mind here.
But the Katrina windfall (alleged windfall, that is) and the current housing
crisis aren't the only problems facing Jackson. The Housing Authority of the
City of Philadelphia is suing New Al because they wouldn't allow another of his
friends to get his way in the City of Brotherly Love. Their claim is that HUD,
under Jackson, punished them for their disloyalty. Jackson, much like so many
other Bushies who are called in to face the music, refused to answer
Congressional questions about the affair.
And in other New Al Jackson news, in 2006 the HUD Inspector General investigated
money which he blocked because the applicant said he didn't like President Bush.
The IG found that Jackson denied the money "for a significant period of time"
and, in true Bushie fashion, blamed his underlings. he later admitted that he
lied.
Surely, as the President said himself, Jackson is "a great American success
story." That is under his definition of success, after all.
-Noah Greenberg
THE LAVENDER TUBE: OH THE HORROR,
THE HORROR
by Victoria A. Brownworth
copyright c 2008 San Francisco Bay Area Reporter, Inc.
There’s excitement in the air these days. This week marks the return of all our
fave shows. It took a few weeks, but the writing and shooting have been done and
now we can all breathe more easily: into the vast array of game and reality
shows will finally come some fine-tuned comedy and drama.
One little benefit of the writer’s strike, however, was the decision by some
cable networks–notably Showtime and USA–to trend over to network with some of
their more popular items. Showtime has long been an expensive premium cable
channel which many folks simply didn’t pick up. Which meant there would be a
whole new audience for shows like *Dexter* on network.
*Dexter* is one of the five best shows on the tube, so it was a smart move.
*CSI* is still quirky and fun, and April 3rd marks the return of that top-rated
show on TV, but CBS was incredibly smart to pick up *Dexter,* a showcase for the
*CSI/Criminal Minds* coterie that CBS has wooed for years.
If you aren’t watching *Dexter,* with the superb Michael C. Hall, you are
*truly* missing something.
Meanwhile, speaking of criminal minds, is there a better show on cable right now
than *The Tudors*? The epic series returned last week with–what else?–a
vengeance. There *may* be a sexier man on the tube than Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as
King Henry, but who would that be? Those full lips, that perfectly waxed and
toned body, that voice? Rhys-Meyers makes it easy to see how women (and men)
could lose their heads over Henry.
And of course there’s the wonderful addition of the estimable Irish actor Peter
O’Toole, who at 75 is still in peak form. As Pope Paul III, O’Toole delivers his
homilies with a quiet murderousness. If anyone doubted the complicity of the
Church in Henry’s exploits, O’Toole’s portrayal of the Pope puts those doubts to
rest.
There are many reasons beyond the oft-naked Rhys-Meyers and splendid O’Toole to
watch *The Tudors.* In this election season, much can be gleaned about the rise
and fall of powerful men. Something to think about when you tune in. Not much
has changed over the centuries, it seems.
Speaking of change, it does seem that every time we surf the tube we see
presidential hopeful Barack Obama on one or another show. His appearance on *The
View* on March 28th was, well, creepy.
One of the perils of celebrity TV is that not everyone fits the dynamic. We have
long wondered if politicians belong on entertainment shows. It’s one thing to
see a presidential bidder on CNN, MSNBC, PBS or the Sunday morning shows. But
*The View*? We understand Obama is trying to shed his stiff image and look more
comfortable with fewer than 10,000 people at a time, but *The View*? *For the
entire hour?* (The show was billed as “the drama of Obama”–which made it sound
like something on the WWF!)
And we *must* note for the record that it’s definitely time for Barbara Walters
to retire before she loses *all* her dignity. *All.*
There is something unseemly about the once-dignified Miz Walters oozing over the
staid Obama and saying, “You’re very sexy.” Especially as it was followed by the
peripatetic and right-wing Elisabeth Hasselbeck cooing, “I’m interested!”
As we said–creepy. Really creepy. Obama looked *intensely* uncomfortable
surrounded by the *View* women.
Obama discussed many of the pertinent issues that have been raised in recent
weeks, notably the controversy over Obama’s mentor and pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
New allegations have been raised about the Pastor and his questionable
characterizations of ethnic groups, Hillary Clinton and other issues. Obama
continued his defense of Wright on *The View.*
“I never heard him say some of the things that have people upset,” Obama
asserted
Pardon us, but this seems so unbelievable. Obama was in Wright’s church for 20
years. There are no less than 50 videos on YouTube of various ontoward comments
in sermons by Wright–all videotaped because Wright runs a megachurch and sells
his sermons. So either Obama wasn’t the church-goer he asserts he is, or Wright
managed to only say these things when Obama wasn’t there.
And while we understand most of America seats their outrage at Wright’s racist,
ethnic and sexist slurs and seemingly anti-American diatribes, we would like to
add how disturbed we are by Wright’s homophobic rhetoric, which includes AIDS.
Obama said on *The View* that if Wright hadn’t retired, he would have left the
church. Wright just resigned last month. *After* the controversy erupted.
When Hasselbeck queried whether Obama’s judgment might be questioned because of
his fealty to Wright and his statements, which include claims that the U.S.
government invented AIDS to kill off the black community, Obama responded: “Part
of what my role in my politics is to get people who don't normally listen to
each other to talk to each other, who [say] crazy things, who are offended by
each other, for me to understand them and to maybe help them understand each
other.”
This was the same excuse Obama rendered for his close association with ex-gay
minister Donny McClurkin, with whom he spent months traveling to black churches
last fall. McClurkin, as we reported here months ago, believes homosexuality is
the “worst scourge against humanity” and *McClurkin* asserted that it is through
homosexuals that AIDS has been unleashed in the black community.
*We* wondered if Obama had asked his mentor, Wright, why tapes of the offending
sermons were being sold by the church–avidly. We also wondered why any candidate
claiming to be building a bridge between various groups would be raising his
children in a church that is actively racist and homophobic and hanging out with
people like Wright and McClurkin. Somehow we think that if Hillary Clinton were
hanging out with David Duke, an assertion about trying to have disparate groups
understand each other wouldn’t be an excuse anyone would buy. Even the women on
*The View* among whom *two* do not believe in evolution....
We checked in with *The View* to see when they would have Obama’s opponent,
Hillary Clinton, on the show for a corresponding hour of free publicity. We were
told “There are no plans for such a show at this time.”
Hmmm. The show for women not hosting the *female* candidate for president? Well,
*The View* *is* on ABC, the Oprah network.
Still. A bit unseemly, isn’t it?
Speaking of unseemly, the news you’re not seeing, as the nightly news focuses
*all* its myopic attention on the presidential race is that the war in Iraq has
intensified in recent days. The passing of the horrifying milestone of 4,000
dead American soldiers last week barely netted a mention. But the killing is
up–a lot. There have been attacks on the Green Zone and throughout Basra.
Check out *BBC World News* on PBS if you want to see the actual news from Iraq.
The networks and CNN seem to have made a collective decision to ignore the war
in Iraq in favor of the minor tensions between Clinton and Obama.
PBS’s presentation of “Bad Voodoo’s War” on *Frontline* is not to be missed. The
show will air on April 1st and 8th, but is also viewable online. Don’t miss this
incredibly compelling documenting of one National Guard platoon’s harrowing time
in Iraq, the perils of stop-loss, the failures of the war to achieve the goals
set forth by the Bush Administration and every other horror you’ve heard about
the war. Unforgettable.
Most TV shows have studiously avoided discussing the war, with a few notable
exceptions: *Boston Legal,* which never fails to insert some diatribe against
the Bush Administration into each episode. Go David Kelley! *Law&Order,* which
also has addressed the war regularly. *ER* was the first series to factor the
war into its regular plotline, followed by *Brothers & Sisters,* which returns
this week and continues its war-related storyline.
But *As the World Turns* is a soap opera, and those, as we know, are given to
fantasy more often than reality.
Yet soaps have been known to break ground on social issues. The telenovellas on
Telemundo and Univision have been a showcase for storylines about AIDS
awareness, for example. In the U.S. soaps have addressed compelling social
issues like rape, sexual abuse, domestic violence, abortion, HIV/AIDS, cancer,
drug and alcohol addiction and mental health problems.
Dealing with overtly political issues has always been a sketchy area, however.
Yet years ago, *ATWT* had a storyline with a central character–Tom Hughes–who
had been a Vietnam veteran. One day Hughes’ daughter–fathered while in
Vietnam–appeared in Oakdale.
That storyline created quite a bit of controversy (and also launched the career
of Ming-Na, the then-girl who portrayed Hughes’ Vietnamese daughter and
went on to star on *ER* for several seasons).
The current war storyline involved Noah and Luke, the gay college couple, who
have added Ameera to their relationship–unwillingly, but then the path of queer
love never runs smooth on a soap. Ameera was about to be sent back to Iraq when
Noah decided to marry her to keep her safely in America. (Did we not predict
this more than a month before it happened?)
Now the Iraq war and its consequences have been placed on the front burner on
*ATWT,* if not on the nightly news.
Tensions are heating up between Noah and Luke–not to mention the ever-watchful
feds–over the faux marriage. Let’s hope the boys can make it all work. They
continue to generate an amazing chemistry on screen, in large part due to the
stellar acting of Van Hansis (Luke).
Nevertheless, we are pleased to see the war coming home to small-town America,
like Oakdale, Illinois. Sometimes art imitates life better than the news
portrays it.
Stay tuned.
In response to, "One wonders if big Bush supporter and pitcher on the Boston Red
Sox Curt Shilling would pitch to Lo Duca if they were teammates," Robert
Scardapane writes:
You mean the White House doesn't have a fake catcher ready to go for these sort
of events? Can't they get Jeff Gannon Guckett to "step up to the plate"? By the
way, Chimpy McFlightSuit (that would be Bush) got booed by the crowd.
In closing of the current sexism vs. racism debate, Victoria Brownworth writes:
People seem to have this delusional idea that Jeremiah Wright is some storefront
pastor, instead of being the head of a multi-million dollar megachurch whose
famous millionaire congregants have also included Oprah (wealthiest woman in
America and the person who initially funded and persuaded Obama to enter the
presidential race), hip hop mogul Common, Michael Jordan and others.
I'm not sure how white women---or which white women--have profited from racism
in the 20th or 21st century. Women of all races got the vote 50 years after
black men. Women of all races continue to make two thirds of what men make for
the same work. And the sexism of this election has been so flagrant and hideous,
that it begs the question of not when but if we will EVER address what has been
done to women and girls in this country and continues to be done every single
day.
I suggest the writer read my column on what we cannot say in America--and then
read it again.
I live in a 95% black neighborhood in Philadelphia, a city that is in the top
ten poorest cities and is also 65% people of color. It is also 60% female. All
those factors contribute to the poverty because it is WOMEN who most frequently
live in poverty---women of all ages and all races.
This isn't a question of dueling oppressions. It's a question of oppressions,
period. No one--save perhaps Obama--is saying that we actually live in a
"post-racial" society. We CLEARLY do not. But we are so far from even addressing
the issues of sexism--we aren't even at the lunch counter stage. That's the
reality. Denying it won't help anyone.
Send your comments to: NationalView@aol.com
-Noah Greenberg