Uncategorized
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Secrets of the Neocon Noir
A friend of mine once referred to a prominent black conservative writer as a “blackface mercenary.” In kind of a knee-jerk response, I agreed, since I disagree with most so-called black conservatives. On deeper reflection, I asked myself: is that really a fair characterization? And then I recalled a curious little essay by one black…
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Less Merlot, More Meatloaf
If Sen. Barack Obama harbors any hope of winning the Ohio Democratic primary, he will have to flip the script on his so-far successful formula. In most of his primary and caucus victories, Obama relied on the energy and excitement of college kids to build a movement-like crusade. The settings for his stump speeches have…
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Maybe They Cheated. So What?
Here’s what I’m rooting for after the Congressional hearings into whether Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee lied to the Mitchell Committee. I hope Congress figures out a better way to spend its time and my tax dollars. I don’t need Sen. Arlen Specter convening a committee into why New England Patriots coach illegally taped opponent’s…
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Cindy Speaks. Bring It.
I was starting to get very concerned about Cindy McCain. Up until this past Tuesday afternoon, when she took a not-so-subtle shot at Michelle Obama, she has been what some have dubbed the political “Stepford Wife.” Think about it. Mrs. McCain walks quietly and adoringly behind her husband as he campaigns. She is blonde, blue-eyed,…
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A Culture Warrior's Impact on AIDS in Africa
Jesse Helms, former six-term Republican senator from North Carolina and de-facto leader of his party’s “culture wars,” found a way to make HIV-AIDS the communism of the 1990s. As chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Helms did not simply use his power to cut U.S. government assistance to international HIV-AIDS programs, he leveraged his…
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Undecided in Paradise
After living here for two years, I’ve grown accustomed to life in Hawaii. My attorney is Japanese. The woman who rings up my eco-friendly Martha Stewart pans at K-Mart is Filipino. The baggers at Safeway are aging Hawaiian ladies, and the young woman who takes my order at Jamba Juice is “hapa haole,” or half-white.…
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Reagan Couldn't Win Either
Can Obama be elected? Can he actually win? Is Bill Clinton right about the Obama fairy tale? I am sick and tired of these questions. Yes he can! Yes we can! Remember, a village in Texas has been missing its idiot for nearly 8 years now. If we can elect Bush president of the United…
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The Ban on Head Scarves Had to Go
Turkey’s parliament voted overwhelmingly this month to end a ban on women wearing head scarves at universities. While this move was decried by Turkey’s secular elite, it was the proper thing to do. The ban was originally intended to limit the role of Islam in the public sphere, but it wound up inflaming the passions…
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The American Military Moves Into Africa
Donald Rumsfeld, the Bush Administration’s Defense Secretary forced to resign for his failed policies in Iraq, left a parting gift to the people of Africa, a unified U.S. military command in Africa, also known as AFRICOM. AFRICOM, which is being run from an outpost in Stuttgart, Germany, is the embodiment of the militarized U.S. foreign…
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Did the Pan-African Dream Die With Apartheid?
Not long ago, I wrote an article for the Paris-based magazine, Africa Report, about the broken ties between African Americans and Africans. I described how the two groups had worked in harmony to end apartheid in South Africa some two decades ago, which raised hopes for a pan-African future. But, I wrote, “The momentum was…