MARCH 2004
STATE OF
DISUNION...AGAIN.
=========================
[Col. Writ. 1/22/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal
There is something deeply disturbing
about George W. Bush standing in the well of Congress, 
smirking out at
his audiences.
Even though it is important that
political commentators view the spectacle, I have
studiously avoided it, because of the unpleasant feelings
it evokes.
I watched it for a few minutes,
however, and was surprised to be surprised about what I
saw.
It was a classic moment, one surely
missed by the millions who relied on written reports of
the event. George, surely not the world's best
speechmaker, was revving up on the infamous Patriot Act,
and he delivered the following lines:
.."Key
provisions of the Patriot Act are set to
expire next
year. The terrorist threat will
not expire on that
schedule ... You need to
renew the Patriot
Act."
What was lost in the written text, was
the congressional reaction. When Bush delivered the
line saying the Act was set to expire, a significant
number of congress people applauded that fact. Bush
seemed momentarily rattled, then glared at those
applauding, as he tried to make his main point (the next
line). By that time, congressional Republicans
caught on, and began out-clapping those who applauded his
first line.
It was a moment, true, but it
reflected the truth that there are significant divisions
and disunions, in American society.
For many people, the provisions of the
Patriot Act, among them the abrogation of the 4th
Amendment 'guarantee' against unreasonable search and
seizure, are terrifying. That Amendment, is now
only good for history books.
Nor can we forget how it came to pass;
a frightened, harried Congress, fearful from an apparent
anthrax attack, rushed the bill through, at the urging of
the US Justice Department, fearful of the political
repercussions if they didn't.
Detroit's senior congressman, John
Conyers, days after the voting, told a televised audience
on BET that neither he, nor many of his colleagues, had
even read the bill!
Rushed, harried, fearful, under
Justice Department pressure, they signed into law a
sweeping measure that profoundly changes many areas of
American law.
Amazing.
Yet, with the Administration using the
ultimate 'weapon of mass destruction' -- fear, the
nation, deeply divided, seems on the brink of even
greater, and more terrible change.
Americans, when fearful, are ever
capable of doing great and terrible things. The
now-shameful forced relocation of thousands of Japanese
citizens to concentration camps, and the confiscation of
their properties, still haunts the nation.
Racist and xenophobic politicians
played on American fear; and the fears became law.
There will come a time, even if it
takes years, perhaps decades, when the forced confinement
of Arabs in this country and in the Guantanamo Gulags
will elicit the same views.
Despite claims of Iraqi 'liberation',
within hours of the address CIA reports surfaced
suggesting the nation faces a very real threat of Civil
War, along the fault lines of faith and ethnicity, for
the Shiites, who comprise nearly 60% of the Iraqi
population, have been waiting for over a generation to
flex their political muscles. The US occupation has
opened the way to potential chaos there and throughout
the region. We may, in a matter of months, be
watching the emergence of a Shia state,
that rivals its neighbor, Iran.
And while millionaires thrill at their
games of chance on Wall Street, average Americans are
twisted with anxiety over what some economists have
called a 'jobless recovery.'
As for Bush's claim to America's
"mission", nations the world over have some
idea of that "mission", and most have rejected
it, outright, as New Age Imperialism
The State of the Union, is Disunion.
Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal
===============================
[Mr. Jamal has written widely about war and other issues.
His latest work, *Faith of Our Fathers* (Africa
World Press, 2003) was named one of "The Most
Remarkable Books of 2003" by *Black Issues Book
Review* (Nov/Dec '03).]
Turnout
75 %
Electability......
By John Burl Smith?©2004
Singing a siren song of "electability,"
Democrats are rallying behind Senator John Forbes Kerry,
as their predecessors marched behind Adlai Stevenson,
Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Walter Mondale and
Michael Dukakis. Achieving his status as the
alternative to Howard Dean, Kerry now crows as if, he
established leadership driving political debate and
motivating rank and file opposition to George W.
Bush. Democrats who believe Kerry can hit a higher
octave are singing along regardless of his tune.
Abandoning black voters, their most loyal following,
Democrats have loss the presidency and control of both
houses of Congress trying to woo white men. Humming
their new anthem of "electability," Democrats
are single mindedly focusing on who they want to defeat,
rather than who they will elect.
Unfortunately, Kerry's Democratic sing-a-long has the
rhythm but not the words blacks can croon. First,
the record shows that when votes were counted Kerry
supported Bush on every issue he now opposes. A
work in progress, as humans should be, prompts the
question, what brought about Kerry's evolution?
Growth and change are good. However, the challenge
for Kerry is not whether he can win the nomination but
can he bring in enough new black voters to get the huge
turnout he will need to offset incumbency and a $200
million war chest? The impact of Bush v Gore and
voter fraud in Florida hit a sour note not made sweeter
for blacks by the Democrats' swan song. The melody
of "electability" does not fuse with the hip
hop beat of "a count-ability," as in actually
counting black votes.
The chorus of Senatorial Democrats refused to support the
"Gentle Ladies" from the US House of
Representatives, who on behalf of Florida voters, sounded
a challenge to Election 2000 results because all votes
were not counted. Kerry's silence then makes the
timing of his transformation highly suspect. If he
did not believe black votes were worth fighting for in
2000, why should blacks believe he will fight in
2004? Moreover, Kerry's past performances have
never headlined a major black issue in or out of
Congress.
Jobs are the single greatest concern of blacks, and
Kerry's challenge is to score an arrangement that soothes
these blues. Black unemployment historically runs
more than twice that of whites; Kerry's voice is not a
lead in remedying this tragedy. Blacks face hiring
discrimination, especially at the professional and
corporate levels, and the low paying jobs blacks were
relegated during segregation are being given to
immigrants. How does Kerry's remix sound?
Will it voice hope for blacks families?
The finale leaves real questions regarding the amount of
deference Kerry must show Bush as a "Skull and
Bones" brother. His bandwagon of
"electability" is drowning out questions of
"credibility" in opposing Bush. Democrats
look upon Kerry as Republicans looked upon Bush during
the 2000 campaign. They said openly, "we just
want to win." They did not care what Bush said
or meant. Now, America and the world live with
their uncritical acceptance. Democrats once stood
for something, but now with the symphony of
"electability," not only do Democrats dance to
Republican tunes, the rank and file is also singing
along.
JOHN BURL SMITH...thedish@ga.net
