I was watching the Republican Presidential debate this week and I was happy to see the surprising presence of a new face. Standing on the far left of the stage meticulously dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and deep red tie was none other than Alan Keyes. I was surprised and excited. Alan Keyes is a new and late comer to this primary season but he is not new to Presidential politics. He is a brilliant scholar and renowned debater. True his greatest political achievement was a surprising third place finish in the 2000 Iowa Caucus, but nevertheless I was excited to see him on the stage.
Agree or disagree with his politics...Alan Keyes is a straight shooting hard charging statesman. He says what he believes and he will not apologize for it. He said seemingly unheard of things in the debate...like he believes that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights...I found myself thinking, "is he allowed to say that on television?" I mean sure all the candidates in both parties pay lip service to faith and mention God, but this guys talks about God as if he were real and involved in the affairs of man.
I have to say that I am glad that Alan Keyes is back in the race because love him or hate him you sit up and listen to what he has to say. He certainly had me thinking and maybe that is good for the process. After all when did quoting the founding fathers start to sound crazy or even unusual?
Friday, December 14, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Subtle Racism
Some things must not be allowed to slip by without comment. Every time they do we lose sight of reality and slip deeper into a television induced coma. A classic and unfortunatley all to common incident occurred on Tim Russert's "Meet The Press". I am quite certain that Tim himself did not have any idea what was happening and will probably not gives today's show a second thought.
Despite the willfull or blissful ignorance of some liberal elitists, the fact is that racism no matter how subtle is still racism and we must not let it continue to influence our social and political dialogue without recognizing it for what it is and striking back at the powerful influence it can have. This morning's show provided a classic scenario in which the vilian's subtle but truly adept attack probably went unnoticed by all but a very few...I doubt even the vilian himself had any conscious thought when he continuously and consistently stooped to questions steeped in racism. How did this happen? 3 out of the 4 commentators on the show were white. They were all asked a series of pointed questions but all were general in nature and add sweeping implications. The 1 African-American commentator...a well known and respectable political and social thinker was asked extremely narrow and condescending questions about the black voter and how the black voter will react and who will win the black vote. Was this man somehow without qualification to speak on any other issue? Of course not. But he was never given the opportunity. What a bitter poison pill to swallow and yet we as a society swallow it over and over again without thinking twice. We lable and divide and then rather than engaging in honest debate. We assume that if someone does not fit a category they are not qualified to speak on it or worse yet...we assume by our questions and actions that a person is not qualified to speak on anything outside their own social, racial, or sexual category.
It is not my desire to sound negative or bitter and I do not for one minute believe that Tim Russert is a angry racist who is out to harm the African-American community...but he did it today and in a dangerous and subtle way by treating one black man as inferior and not giving him the same treatment as everyone else on the show or asking him broad questions.
While I fail to see eye to eye with many of the candidates running for President and do not see eye to eye with Obama...I hope that we as a nation can truly set aside color and vote for or against him based not on color but rather on the character of the candidate. After all equal and fair treatment, a level playing field and one day a color blind society are great and noble goals. Categorizing, dividing and ultimatley sidelining any person on the basis of color is not only stupid it is the most dangerous kind of racism. The subtle racism of limiting influence and opportunity based on color and racial stereotypes and allowing one's race rather than their actions and beliefs to identify and define a person.
Despite the willfull or blissful ignorance of some liberal elitists, the fact is that racism no matter how subtle is still racism and we must not let it continue to influence our social and political dialogue without recognizing it for what it is and striking back at the powerful influence it can have. This morning's show provided a classic scenario in which the vilian's subtle but truly adept attack probably went unnoticed by all but a very few...I doubt even the vilian himself had any conscious thought when he continuously and consistently stooped to questions steeped in racism. How did this happen? 3 out of the 4 commentators on the show were white. They were all asked a series of pointed questions but all were general in nature and add sweeping implications. The 1 African-American commentator...a well known and respectable political and social thinker was asked extremely narrow and condescending questions about the black voter and how the black voter will react and who will win the black vote. Was this man somehow without qualification to speak on any other issue? Of course not. But he was never given the opportunity. What a bitter poison pill to swallow and yet we as a society swallow it over and over again without thinking twice. We lable and divide and then rather than engaging in honest debate. We assume that if someone does not fit a category they are not qualified to speak on it or worse yet...we assume by our questions and actions that a person is not qualified to speak on anything outside their own social, racial, or sexual category.
It is not my desire to sound negative or bitter and I do not for one minute believe that Tim Russert is a angry racist who is out to harm the African-American community...but he did it today and in a dangerous and subtle way by treating one black man as inferior and not giving him the same treatment as everyone else on the show or asking him broad questions.
While I fail to see eye to eye with many of the candidates running for President and do not see eye to eye with Obama...I hope that we as a nation can truly set aside color and vote for or against him based not on color but rather on the character of the candidate. After all equal and fair treatment, a level playing field and one day a color blind society are great and noble goals. Categorizing, dividing and ultimatley sidelining any person on the basis of color is not only stupid it is the most dangerous kind of racism. The subtle racism of limiting influence and opportunity based on color and racial stereotypes and allowing one's race rather than their actions and beliefs to identify and define a person.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Of Wars Lost and Won
This past week a prominent American political figure declared that the war in Iraq was lost. If that is the case, why are we still there? Why waste one more life on a lost cause? And what of the lives already lost...were they tossed away for nothing?
No. The answer is no. We can win. We will win if we make the decision that defeat and failure are not an option. Regardless of whether an American citizen agrees with going to war in the first place, once we are in a war we must succeed. We must have peace through victory. Nothing else matters once we commit to such a thing as terrible as war we must not quit until we win. One life is too many to throw away in a war that is not worth fighting and winning. So once we have stepped the first irreversible step down the path of war we cannot and must not stop until victory is acheived. Of course we must be willing to do whatever it takes to win, if we are not so willing then we must not begin wars in the first place.
Please let the troops know that you are behind them and support them. The worst thing a soldier can believe is that they or their brothers in arms have sacrificed all for nought. So when you support the troops support the cause and the mission. You do not have to agree with the why or the how but once our Great Nation makes a decision to go to war then we must all be behind the effort. Nothing is more basic than this most simple and fundamental principle of citenzenship and nothing is more critical to the survival of our own or any Nation-State.
When we go to war, we are the good guys and the enemy is evil. There can be questioning or second-guessing that once the battle has begun. Of course, this is what makes the careful discernment of when and why we go to war so incredibly criticial.
No. The answer is no. We can win. We will win if we make the decision that defeat and failure are not an option. Regardless of whether an American citizen agrees with going to war in the first place, once we are in a war we must succeed. We must have peace through victory. Nothing else matters once we commit to such a thing as terrible as war we must not quit until we win. One life is too many to throw away in a war that is not worth fighting and winning. So once we have stepped the first irreversible step down the path of war we cannot and must not stop until victory is acheived. Of course we must be willing to do whatever it takes to win, if we are not so willing then we must not begin wars in the first place.
Please let the troops know that you are behind them and support them. The worst thing a soldier can believe is that they or their brothers in arms have sacrificed all for nought. So when you support the troops support the cause and the mission. You do not have to agree with the why or the how but once our Great Nation makes a decision to go to war then we must all be behind the effort. Nothing is more basic than this most simple and fundamental principle of citenzenship and nothing is more critical to the survival of our own or any Nation-State.
When we go to war, we are the good guys and the enemy is evil. There can be questioning or second-guessing that once the battle has begun. Of course, this is what makes the careful discernment of when and why we go to war so incredibly criticial.
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