Have Whites Accepted A Black President?

Amy Alexander, writing for The Defenders Online, asks “Has Fear of A Black President Driven Some White People Crazy?”

This provocative article cites Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. of Harvard Medical School, who said in a recent interview with TheDefendersOnline that extreme racism can constitute a form of mental illness.

It is not rational, but [some whites] see America as ‘their country,’ which translates in their minds that this President is not legitimate,” Poussaint explained. “If they are unemployed, if they are struggling to keep their families together, they will blame Obama instead of Bush, even though it is obvious that the Bush Administration was actually in charge when the economy went bad.

“But these folks shouting at the President won’t blame Bush, in large part because Bush is a white man. Obama is black, blacks are inferior and can’t do anything right, so in their thinking, he is to blame for it,” Poussaint said.

Misplaced anxiety and anger over lost jobs, or diminished finances or perceived threats to one’s safety by a political changing of the guard, appear to be exacerbating in those who previously managed to keep racist opinions or beliefs in check, Poussaint said.”

I just got back from Washington, D.C., where you’d think that issue wouldn’t be a problem. But you would be wrong. There are many in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs who have not accepted a black President. And Michelle as First Lady? Denial is the order of the day. Below is a picture of the First Lady doll I spotted on sale in some of the souvenir shops. Finally in a store in Union [train] Station, I could resist no longer and had to take a photo. (I tried to get a better picture so you could see plainly that the sash says “First Lady” but the store proprietor started shouted imprecations, and I was afraid he would take my camera!)

Women In Iran for Freedom

Arizona Daily Star, 6/25/2009

President Obama’s Many Moods

From the Arizona Daily Star:

Criminals of the Economy, from the Arizona Daily Star

Rashid Khalidi’s New Book: Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East

The March 6, 2009 issue of The Chronicle Review features an interview with Middle-East scholar Rashid Khalidi on his new book and also on the precarious place of Palestinian advocacy in American society.

In Sowing Crisis, Khalidi criticizes U.S. policies during the Cold War, which, formulated to oppose the Soviets, “consistently undermined democracy and exacerbated tensions in the Middle East.” He maintains that militant political Islam was exploited as an “ideological tool” against Communism: “It may seem hard to believe today, but for decades the United States was in fact a major patron, indeed in some respects the major patron, of earlier incarnations” of Islamic fundamentalism.” The problems that beset the Middle East today, Khalidi argues, are in large part a result of the “blowback” from these Cold War policies.

This argument is very similar to the one made by Steve Coll, the Pulitizer Prize winning author of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 . In this book, Coll argues that the fires that fueled the growth of Al Qaida were stoked by Cold War policies, again by supporting fundamentalism as a tool against the Soviets.

Whereas Coll won a Pulitzer Prize for his contentions, Khalidi has been demonized by the American press. An unfortunately typical example of the attacks he has endured was the allegations by the Republican nominees that Khalidi was a “radical” and “terrorist” equivalent to a “neo-Nazi” (and, need it be said, “friend of Obama”). Khalidi has also been barred from lecturing about the Middle East in the New York public-school system (even though he holds the prestigious Edward Said Chair in Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University).

Khalidi is looking for solutions to the Palestinian situation. He avers, “I wouldn’t ask an Israeli to feel misery at the establishment of his state, so I don’t see why a Palestinian should be asked to feel joy about the destruction of his society.” The reception accorded to Said raises the interesting (and perennial) question of how far academic freedom extends to those who advocate paradigm shifts, especially one so freighted with religious, cultural, and political meaning.

Visual Depiction of the $819 Billion Stimulus Package

The Washington Post published this graphic from the Congressional Budget Office:

See it full-sized here.

Who Is Joshua DuBois?

Joshua DuBois has just been appointed Director of the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships by President Obama.

As head of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, 26-year-old DuBois will help steer federal dollars to social service organizations—both church-based and secular—and get those groups involved in the government’s efforts on social issues. In the Obama administration, that could mean neighborhood and faith groups have a more active role than ever in policymaking, according to The Washington Post blog WhoRunsGov.com.

DuBois was born in Bar Harbor, Maine. His stepfather was an itinerant minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, so he spent much of his childhood on the move. At age seventeen, he went to Boston University. He embraced social activism after he was “struck by the injustice” of the acquittal of four New York City police officers who had shot and killed unarmed Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo.

He got involved in a nearby church affiliated with the United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God, a small, predominantly African-American denomination. Eventually, he was named associate pastor at the church, Calvary Praise and Worship, and occasionally filled in as preacher.

DuBois earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 2003, and went on to Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, where he received his master’s in public affairs in 2005. He enrolled part-time in law school at Georgetown University, and simultaneously worked as an intern in Rep. Rush Holt’s (D-N.J.) office and then as a fellow in Rep. Charles B. Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) office. On Capitol Hill, Mr. DuBois was part of a Democratic working group focused on building relationships with religious leaders, especially evangelical Christians alienated by the Republican record on economic inequality, foreign policy and environmental matters.

Then, DuBois heard Obama’s keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and one line impressed him: “We worship an awesome God in the Blue States.” That broadcast decided DeBois’s fate for him.

DuBois never completed his law degree, leaving instead to work on the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.
 In 2008, at the age of 25, he was appointed director of religious affairs for the Obama campaign. In his new position, he will head the office that acts as a liaison between faith and secular community groups and the White House, often partnering with them to tackle social issues. It also helps these groups apply for federal grants available to them.

Border-Fence Project for Illegal Immigrants – Update

An article by Stephanie Simon in today’s Wall Street Journal outlines some of the snags in the ongoing construction project.

At present, it seems that the walls are only keeping out individuals who want to work and animals who want to mate, while drug smugglers and other nefarious characters find ways to work around the walls – namely: “The smugglers build ramps to drive over fencing, dig tunnels under it, or use blow torches to slice through. They cut down metal posts used as vehicle barriers and replace them with dummy posts, made from cardboard.”

Ms. Simon points out that “There are about 300 miles of … pedestrian barriers up now, built at an average cost of $3.9 million per mile, including land acquisition, according to the Government Accountability Office. …In remote regions where drive-through smuggling is the top concern, the Border Patrol has built vehicular barriers, often steel posts driven into the desert ground at close intervals. The average cost is about $1 million per mile, according to the GAO.” By the border in Arizona, at least, you can also see large helicopters hovering overhead, and swarms of border patrol trucks. This all comes at additional cost.

The Journal notes that “Apprehensions, a rough proxy for measuring illegal crossings, were down 18% at the southern border last year and Border Patrol attributes some of that to the fence. But a report in May by the Congressional Research Service found “strong indication” that illegal crossers had simply found new routes.”

Read the entire story here.

Who is Nasir al-Wuhayshi and Why is He Important to the United States?

Nasir al-Wuhayshi is the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen. Al-Wuhayshi is an ethnic Yemeni who spent time training in Afghanistan under Osama bin Laden. On January 20, 2009, he announced the formation of a single al Qaeda group for the entire Arabian Peninsula under his command.

The announcement also mentioned that a Saudi national (and former Guantanamo detainee) identified as Abu-Sayyaf al-Shihri has been appointed as al-Wuhayshi’s deputy.

In addition, links were provided to downloadable versions of the latest issue of the group’s online magazine, Sada al-Malahim, (Arabic for “The Echo of Battle”).

On January 24, links went online for a 19-minute video from the new group titled “We Start from Here and We Will Meet at al-Aqsa.” (Al-Aqsa is an Islamic holy place on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.) According to Stratfor (the global intelligence company): “The video threatens Muslim leaders in the region (whom it refers to as criminal tyrants), including Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Saudi royal family, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It also threatens so-called “crusader forces” supporting the regional Muslim leaders, and promises to carry the jihad from the Arabian Peninsula to Israel so as to liberate Muslim holy sites and brethren in Gaza.”

Jihadica (a clearinghouse for materials related to militant, transnational Sunni Islamism, commonly known as Jihadism) maintains: “The video served at least three purposes. The first was to tap into popular outrage over Gaza. The speakers presented their campaign as part of the struggle to liberate Palestine, since Israel and the Crusaders are one. … The second purpose was to display the union between the Saudi and Yemeni mujahidin. The seating arrangement (Yemeni-Saudi-Yemeni-Saudi) and mutual praise signalled a happy marriage. The third aim was to humiliate Saudi authorities, who have let al-Shihri and al-Awfi, both former Guantanamo detainees (ISN# 372 and 333 respectively) and graduates of the famous rehabilitation program, slip away.”

It also gives support to the position of hard-liners in the U.S. who have opposed the closing of Guantanamo and release of all prisoners.

Yemen, as Stratfor explains, “is a country with a thriving arms market, a desert warrior tradition and a tribal culture that often bridles against government authority and that makes it difficult for the government to assert control over large swaths of the country. Yemeni tribesmen also tend to be religiously conservative and susceptible to the influence of jihadist theology.” Yemeni militants have been relatively quiescent from a dearth of leadership, but they have become more active and effective under the leadership of al-Wuhayshi.

Jihadica observes:

“Since al-Awfi and al-Shiri are not bringing a big fighting force to the table, the merger is probably not going to have any immediate consequences for al-Qaida’s capability. However, it does say something about intentions: it basically removes all doubt that al-Qaida now intends to use Yemen as a launching pad for operations in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Gulf.”

Why Didn’t Presidents Before Obama Use the Lincoln Bible?

President Obama was the first President to be sworn in using the Lincoln Bible since its first use in 1861. Why didn’t other president-elects use it? The History News Network gives the answer:

“Because the Library of Congress didn’t offer it up. The Bible, which was given to Lincoln by the clerk of the Supreme Court, is part of the permanent rare-books collection of the library. Other presidents probably could have used the Lincoln Bible if they’d asked for it, but LoC staffers proposed the idea themselves shortly after Obama’s election. The library already has plans to mount an exhibition of its vast cache of Lincolniana to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, Feb. 12. The newly famous inauguration Bible will go on display directly following its use by Obama.”