A White Supremacist’s Threat?
It’s the taboo subject you’re not supposed to talk about – Barack Obama’s safety in light of the rise of white supremacists in America. ANP investigates in Memphis, Tennessee, where our cameras infiltrate the Stormfront.org Euro Conference. We probe the minds of the Anti-Defamation League, the Racist Skinhead Project and David Duke to assess legitimate threats to the next U.S. presidency.
Kindergarten votes for Barack Obama
It is amazing, this pre-occupation with the outcome of the elections, Americans feeling justifiably proud that they dared to redefine the democracy brand, as evidenced in the waves of jubilant celebrations reverberating around the planet. Almost a decade had been spent tarnishing an image that was already steadily losing favor around the world, and the sensation of Barack Obama was the last call to restore even a tinge of integrity to brand America.
The nation wept tears of joy the night of November 4, some on behalf all of those who had suffered the pain of racial injustice, while others found in Obama’s victory absolution from the sins of their fathers. Then again, a few may also have shed bitter tears at the demise of their hopes for another four GOP years in the Oval Office. Fat chance. America needed to hope and smile again, and CHANGE showed that promise. The weeping endured way into the night, until real joy rose on the wings of dawn.
It could have been my imagination, but the next morning there were a lot more smiles around, and more excuse me’s and thank you’s.
One big indicator of the impact of Obama’s victory was played out right before my eyes on the job the next day. As a behavior therapist, my schedule on November 5 had me doing some in-school shadowing of a young case-study subject. The five year olds had engaged in mock-elections the day before, having been given a bulletin presenting the candidates to take home and discuss with their parents. They were then required to bring their bulletins back, the name of their chosen candidate duly circled, and placed in the ballot box.
The annual fees at this kindergarten academy maxed out at around 20K, so the little darlings had to be assured of a well-rounded education, politics included. Seriously though, many US public schools held mock-elections to increase awareness of this civic duty among the young, and also to spark healthy discussion. A capital idea, and one it would do well for some other unnamed nations to adopt, especially those where you could lose your head if you are affiliated to the wrong party.
So there I was in the art class, making notes on the participatory levels of Andy, my charge (who I have renamed), when I was unavoidably drawn to a lively conversation among three kindergartners, regarding the mock elections held the day before. Their art teacher had suggested they draw some scenes from the elections. I drew closer to hear Zachary, Jean-Luc and Scott (all re-named) engaged in a serious political discussion:
(Zachary is coloring the face of one of his figures, using a beige crayon. The other two look on.) Zack: Hey, this is like skin color, right?
Jean: yes but not everybody has that skin color
Zack: I know some people are like me and you…
Scot: And some also like our new president!
Jean: Did you vote for him?
Scot: Who, the black guy?
Jean: Yes, Barack O-ba-ma!
Scot: Of course I did, not Mccain, I voted for Obama, did you vote for Obama?
Jean: Yes I did, I think our whole class did
Zack: Yes they did! I was only aware then, that Ms. Glenn the art teacher was listening when I looked around to see how far away she was. We both smiled and shook our heads. Obama had won their little election hands down the day before, she said, and the wisdom of many of the five year olds came straight from their parents, mid-thirties, affluent, educated. Scott was five going on twenty-five, she explained. Before the art class was over, it occurred to me that the shift in public opinion may have been imperceptible for a period, but it was now evident that America has experienced a revolution without a single shot being fired. When the nation is through with patting itself on the back, the energy from this movement could be harnessed to achieve much for the Union and the world.
Barack Obama — Can He Deliver?
President-elect Barack Obama must have seen it coming. There are still celebrations in the most remote reaches of the globe. The expectations following his victory are so stupendous, it seems many are setting themselves up for eventual disappointment.
From every corner of the planet, the jubilation that has greeted his accession to power is somehow wedded to the belief that material benefits will be showered on countries like Jamaica and Kenya, that tourist arrivals will skyrocket in a little Japanese town that bears the same name, and immediate world peace will descend on nations struggling under the weight of American cultural or militaristic hegemony in its enduring quest for global dominance.
There is no doubt that the outcome of the November 4 election has marked a momentous period in American history, when after much deliberation the nation elected this son of parents from America’s white heartland and from the East African plains of Kenya, born and raised in Hawaii with part of his upbringing in Indonesia. Obama’s compelling journey began in the turbulent civil rights era, with his birth in 1961, on the eve of the passage of the Civil Rights Act in ’64. A generation later, after a remarkably efficient campaign, his stunning victory is thought to have further ratified the US constitutional claim that “all men are created equal”. America is still in a daze.
Amid the glowing congratulatory messages from heads of state from all over the globe, and even before the stage lights and platforms of Chicago’s Grant Park were completely dismantled, the Russians delivered a withering message of their own, choosing to fire the first salvo with the sounds of victory still ringing in Obama’s ears. President Dmitry Medvedev’s excoriation of US foreign policy was accompanied by conditions: If America wants to cultivate good relations with Moscow, the Kremlin declared, the new administration must be willing to trash the current foreign policy of the Bush regime. Perfect timing, drawing the line this early in the game.
Obama is being tested literally from day one. Palin’s comedic campaign utterances of “Putin rearing his head” in American airspace just took on a darker shade of pale with the issuance of the Kremlin’s threat to deploy ballistics missiles to Europe, the first threat of its kind since the end of the Cold War. Before the new president has taken a moment to recover from the stress of a protracted and vigorous campaign, his wake-up call has been issued, and more importantly, from America’s old nemesis.
In the meantime, many Kenyans are rejoicing in the belief that the doors of American opportunity will now be open to them with a son of theirs in the White House, similar to the expectancy of not a few Jamaicans, that his presidency will deliver increased opportunities for trade or access to financial aid for the economically challenged island nation.
The truth is that America is itself facing crises on many levels and will look to its own interests as a new administration seeks to restore the nation to its former glory, perhaps the same intentions of the Kremlin for itself, nearly 20 years after the Soviet Union’s collapse. Barack Obama won’t have much of a honeymoon.
Still No Fix as World Economy and Trade Tumble
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have issued new reports that show continued bad news for the global economy and project the first decline in output in advanced economies since World War II.
While the IMF’s World Economic Outlook said prospects for global growth have deteriorated over the past month a WTO report confirmed that world trade slipped to 6 per cent growth in 2007.
“Prospects for global growth have deteriorated over the past month, as financial sector deleveraging has continued and producer and consumer confidence have fallen,” said the IMF. “Accordingly, world output is projected to expand by 2.2 percent in 2009, down by some ¾ percentage point of GDP relative to the projections in the October WEO.
“In advanced economies, output is forecast to contract on a full-year basis in 2009, the first such fall in the post-war period. In emerging economies, growth is projected to slow appreciably but still reach 5 percent in 2009.”
The Fund notes that these forecasts are based on current policies and global action to support financial markets and provide further fiscal stimulus and monetary easing can help limit the decline in world growth.
For its part the WTO’s 2007 report, “International Trade Statistics 2008”, says that weakening demand in developed countries, realignments in exchange rates and fluctuations in the prices for commodities, such as oil and gas, introduced uncertainties into the global markets in 2007. As a result, growth in world merchandise trade slipped to 6 per cent in real terms, down from 8.5 per cent in 2006, according to statistics published by the WTO on 5 November.
The 6 per cent trade growth is slightly higher than the preliminary assessment of 5.5 per cent announced in April but still a considerable decline from the 2006 figure.
The slowdown “is due to a deceleration of import demand, mainly in the United States, but also in Europe and Japan,” the report says.
“Trade remained strong in most developing countries. Regions such as Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), developing Asia and South and Central America showed sustained growth in their economies in 2007.
“While higher commodity prices helped to improve the financial situation of certain countries, higher energy and food prices also increased inflationary pressures worldwide.”
Higher commodity prices induced a 19 per cent rise in the total value of agricultural exports, a higher increase than for trade in manufactured goods, fuels and mining products.
In value terms, for the first time in five years, commercial services trade rose faster than trade in goods at 18 per cent compared with 15 per cent. This was mainly due to the expanding international supply of many financial, computer, and miscellaneous business, professional and technical services and the increase in the price of transportation.
I RISE
The first couple’s first kiss after the victory. Wednesday 5th November 2008
Yes He Did
Barack and Michele Obama wave to the crowd at his acceptance speech, Grant Park, Chicago. Barack Obama created history Tuesday night, becoming the first non-white to win the United States Presidency.
Thousands thronged cities all over the country to celebrate what until a few months ago even might have seemed an impossible dream.
His Republican rival, John McCain, was gracious in defeat, pledging his full support for the president elect, and President George W. Bush called Obama to offer his congratulations.
Obama was magnanimous in victory saying he would strive to be president for all Americans and ofered an ear for those who did not vote for him.
Jesse Jackson, widely viewed as the first serious African American contender for the presidency, who ran in 1984 Democratic Party primaries wept quietly as he waited for Obama to begin his speech, and during the president-elect’s presentation.
The rev Jesse Jackson weeps as Barack Obama addresses the crowd in Chicago.
Jackson was a supporter and colleague of civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who in a 1968 speech, had envisioned a time when blacks could achieve the highest success in the USA, and Obama recalled King’s legacy in his acceptance speech.
Bank Gives to Hurricane Ravaged Caribbean Countries
Comtrust director Dawne Williams presenta a cheque for BDS$50,000 to director general of the Barbados Red Cross Society Edmond Bradshaw. Haiti, The Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Jamaica have received more than US$150,000 for disaster relief FirstCaribbean International bank announced in a release. This follows the adverse effects of several severe weather systems in recent months and the significant recovery efforts needed to return these countries to normalcy.
Jamaica will be allocating the funds to assist with repairs to schools, senior citizen’s and children’s homes and affected farming communities. Funds for Turks and Caicos Islands will be administered by the National Disaster Relief Fund and the Red Cross, while the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) will oversee funds to assist with the rebuilding of Morton Salt located on Great Inagua.
The bank through its charity, the FirstCaribbean International Comtrust Foundation Limited recently teamed up with the Barbados Red Cross Society to assist with the Haiti Hurricane Appeal. The Bank donated US$25,000 to Haiti to assist with general recovery efforts.
During a special presentation to the Red Cross, Comtrust director, Dawne Williams, described the situation in Haiti as heartbreaking.
“This donation is therefore from the hearts of all of us at FirstCaribbean,” said Willaims, also observed that in its six years of operation, FirstCaribbean has made disaster relief one of the main priorities of its social responsibility agenda.
“The Comtrust budgets annually for hurricane relief. We see this as no better way of fulfilling our responsibility to our Caribbean communities.”
The first shipment of basic materials such as tarpaulin had already arrived in Haiti. Edmond Bradshaw, director general of the local chapter of the Red Cross, explained that cash donations were preferred in light of the difficulty of shipping items from port to port which, in some cases did not reach the destination intended.
Bradshaw urged donor agencies to remember that Cuba was also among countries needing assistance.
The Comtrust administers the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility and comprises a seven member board of trustees which is currently chaired by managing director for The Bahamas, Sharon Brown.
Capital Punishment is Barbaric
The polls suggest that Jamaicans wish to resume the hanging of convicted murderers notwithstanding the possibility that innocent persons may be subject to the capital punishment. It is acknowledged that frustration may be a natural response to the violent anarchy that is contemporary Jamaica. However, the debate regarding the resumption of capital punishment is based on the government’s inability to competently deal with crime and violence, rather than the notion that capital punishment is a reasonable, justified and effective means of addressing violent crime.
The six (6) objectives of the criminal justice system include:
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Retribution, which entails the notion that the severity of punishment for the commission of a crime should be reasonable and proportional to the severity of the infraction;
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Deterrence, which involves the idea that punishment is a necessary consequence of a crime to deter the individual offender from committing future crimes, as well as the future crimes of others by making examples of specific criminals;
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Denunciation, which refers to punishment as a symbolic expression of society’s disapproval of criminal acts;
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Incapacitation, which refers to punishment in the form of imprisonment as a means of preventing criminal activity and protecting society;
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Rehabilitation, which is the restoration and re-socialization of criminals through therapy and education; and
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Reparation, which refers to the compensation of the crime by the criminal.
Capital punishment either fails to achieve these established goals or unreasonable impairs on civil rights in an attempt to achieve them. Firstly, capital punishment is more based on revenge than retribution, which may seem natural on an individual basis, but is the weakest conceivable foundation of a criminal justice system in a democracy. State-imposed death of citizens cannot be reasonable considering that violent crime has been effectively addressed in other countries without it. There is evidence to suggest that the right to life is often arbitrarily and disproportionately infringed upon with regards to economically-disadvantaged individuals.
Secondly, capital punishment does not allow the opportunity to deter future offences of the offender, while the deterrence of others is questionable because the literature has shown that the certainty and celerity, rather than the severity of punishment that discourage criminal activity. In fact, there is no correlation regarding the implementation of the death penalty and a decrease in the murder rate. Moreover, a prison sentence without release or parole serves as a deterrent, without infringing on the rights of citizens.
Thirdly, capital punishment should be rejected as an unacceptable means of obtaining justice because it is not necessary to address crime. As such, capital punishment unjustifiable impairs on one’s constitutional right to life. Therefore, the other less drastic means of denunciation and incapacitation should be given focus. The lack of creativity, research, competence or even resources of a government cannot justify capital punishment.
Fourthly, rehabilitation is the only certain way to permanently protect society from a specific offender, which is clearly denied, along with reparation. This is the priority of developed nations, which should be adopted by the less developed world.
Capital punishment is barbaric. Its implementation necessarily causes psychological and physical suffering. The inevitable and irreversible miscarriages of justice through the execution of wrongfully convicted persons are too high a price, especially in context of established police corruption to convict citizens. It undermines current trends of norms and principles of international human rights. It also provides little benefit for the nation. The practice appeals only to the primordial emotion of revenge, which certainly does not outweigh the aforementioned deleterious effects. There must be a more enlightened approach than killing people who kill people to show that killing is wrong.
Antonn Brown,
Hatfield, Manchester
brown.ant@gmail.com
The GOP and PNP for 2012
2012 is going to be a significant year for any number of reasons. According to the Mayan calendar, there is supposed to be a major astrological event that year and there are some folks who are of the opinion that Doomsday will occur in that year as well. The magnitude and significance of these events are open to question and, possibly, ridicule but we do know that for Jamaica and the US they do hold significance.
The next scheduled general elections (after the upcoming US elections) for both countries will be in 2012 and both will feature contests in which there will be reconstituted political parties: the PNP in Jamaica and the GOP in the US.
According to reports in the US, the Republican Party (aka the GOP – Grand Old Party) will meet within a couple days after this upcoming election to review and analyse what it has and has not done to find itself in the position it is currently in. Various factions within the GOP will also supposedly examine and reexamine their roles within the party, and it could either result in a party that will either reach a goal of peaceful coexistence or a fracturing. A primary goal of this meeting is to develop a core message that would form the basis for the party going forward. It would be tweaked to reflect the times and circumstance but its foundation would not change.
This brings us to the PNP and the fact that it has and is undergoing its own review and analysis now that it has become the Opposition. Unlike the GOP, the PNP’s leadership issue is settled, at least for the time being, and the primary issue seems to be the development of a ‘Progressive’ agenda. This agenda is supposed to ensure equal opportunity and ‘equality of outcome(s)’ if what’s been reported is correct. This agenda that the PNP is working on is supposed to be reflective of the goals/ideals/pursuits of the Party as well as the underlying basis for the Party’s message going forward. I would imagine that the PNP agenda will be flexible enough to be tweaked depending on the times and circumstances.
Looking at this argument, there are three points here worth looking at:
1) What role(s) will certain factions within each political party play in their plans to reconstitute and otherwise reposition themselves? According to the PNP hierarchy, the Peter Phillips faction of the PNP has a role to play and a supposedly significant one at that. But really, is anyone buying that? It is being seen that this agenda that the PNP is formulating is aimed primarily at the party’s base supporters and is not so much trying to reach out to attracting new supporters. This is the same charge being leveled at the GOP in that it is preaching to the converted rather than trying to incorporate themes and ideas that can attract new members. Some folks have also been wondering what role(s) will moderates and the more dovish Republicans have in what looks increasingly like a more rightist GOP. The intelligentsia within both parties are looked at with a great degree of suspicion and even disdain.
2) What is the message? As mentioned earlier, the PNP leadership claims to be working on an agenda for the Party that is supposed to be reflective of its roots but which, if what’s been leaked out so far is any indication, might be nothing more than tired old rhetoric from failed social experiments. In any democratic society, equality of opportunity should be a given but ‘equality of outcomes’ has me stumped. What we will likely see from the ‘reconstituted’ GOP will likely be the same old message repackaged as ‘new and improved.’ That is tax cuts for the well-off, less government interference and private enterprise as the panacea for all that ails a society. In other words, ‘old wine in a new bottle.’ However, this could change somewhat if the moderate wing of the GOP were to wrest control from the conservatives.
3) What is being done to reverse the negative perceptions? Like it or not, both the PNP and the Republican Party have image problems. For the PNP it is that of a party that condones corruption and cronyism. Its leader, Portia Simpson-Miller, despite her street smarts, is not exactly seen as a paragon of virtue. Thus far she has failed to rid the PNP of those who have brought the party into disrepute and the odds are that it won’t happen since just about all those characters supported her in her bid to retain the party’s presidency. For the GOP, there is the perception that it is hostile to minorities, especially African-Americans. This past Republican Party convention was the whitest party convention ever and one is left to believe that if the ‘conservative’ wing of the party has its way that will likely be the case. Like it or not, the face of the Republican Party is increasingly being represented by the likes of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and others who think like them – very right-wing, mostly Caucasian and not exactly noted for their tolerance of those who don’t think like them.
When all is said and done, there are certain steps that both the PNP and the GOP will have to take make themselves more palatable to a wider public. Political parties should be seen as ‘big tents’ that can accommodate and tolerate diversity in terms of viewpoints and even colour. While it may asking too much of perfection in party leaders it surely is not asking too much of them to elevate the level of discourse about the issues. When one is thrust into a position of leadership there is a heightened degree of responsibility that comes with it. Leadership demands that tough decisions be made and for political parties that means that the agents of intolerance, the corrupt and the criminal should have no place within them. The parties and their supporters should not be setting low expectations for their leadership. Also, political parties are going to have to do a better job of getting society involved in helping to resolve the issues and problems that beset it.
It’s okay to differ/disagree without being so strident or militant in our disagreements. After all, democracy is not helped when disillusionment replaces participation, ignorance replaces knowledge, and homogeneity replaces diversity.
Barack, Hilary and Me — The Orlando Rally
I had heard people were there at sunup, more than twelve hours in advance of the Orlando Obama/Clinton rally, slated to begin at 6:00, but I had an appointment I just couldn’t let go, so it was 5:45pm when I exited my car in the Amway Arena parking garage to wend my way to the area inside the security perimeter. It was to be an outdoor event, standing room only. All along the Florida Turnpike I was thinking please let there be space, please let there be space, envisaging so great a crowd I’d be turned back.
The afternoon sun was going down and the Orlando autumn chill was rising, which made it the best weather for a rally like this. Too many bodies packed in tight place can generate a lot of heat, so I was happy summer was over. I am at the perimeter. The guards are serious but pleasant and there is no magnetometer, and I am not searched. Once inside I heave a sigh of relief. I got here before the main event. My excitement mounts as I watch other people file in orderly, not even speaking much, just very determined and focused. I can sense the great expectancy of the crowd as they wait. Not a good judge of crowd size, I am not able to guess the number of attendees from the sea of faces, but the reports will later reveal that there were 20,000 inside the security perimeter with another 30,000 outside.
I notice there are many mothers with children, surprisingly well-behaved. Native Americans, Hispanics, Whites, African Americans, everyone is orderly, almost as if the magic of the atmosphere is so fragile they are afraid to break the peace. Not a single baby is crying. A phone rings near me and it reminds me to place mine on vibrate. Or risk the glacial stares and enduring wrath of those around me if it rings during Obama’s speech.
I wonder why they call these guys the Secret Service if they stick out in a crowd so much? There’s one. And another. And there again, another. Hands always at waist level, clasped, free of all encumbrances in the event they have to whip out a weapon. Perhaps those with the hand-held radios are Amway Security…
The crowd starts chanting OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! and my focus is drawn to the stage. It is exactly six and the stage is too far for me to discern the figures, so I watch the huge screen close by. There is a brief moment of silence and when Senator Bill Nelson announces Obama and Clinton’s arrival, there is a deafening roar and applause. Hillary is very funny, but she needs to loosen up a little. Let go of the sphincter a little, Hillary. And inject some warmth into that rictus you call a smile.
With her and Barack there is no hint of animosity; their body language shows harmony, as he stands behind her in support while she speaks. Her parting shot: “Now is the time to close the deal for Barack Obama and close the book on 8 years of failed Republican leadership….America will rise from the ashes of the Bushes,” she said, to tremendous applause.
Now it’s Barack’s turn and the crowd is going wild. He has to wait until the applause recedes before he speaks. He says thank you several times before he gets a word in. I watch the crowd around me, and all eyes are fixed on the stage, not daring to look away. What a speaker! In the crowd you feel the electricity you may not feel when you watch him on television. I wonder if you can be an effective leader without this quality, this ability to convey hope and trust in every gesture and every word. As much as I want to keep my eyes on the screen, I do want to watch the faces of the crowd, hanging on to every word of this phenomenal speaker. I swear, the kids are not fidgeting, and every time the crowd breaks into the Obama or yes-we-can chant, they join in. Perhaps they rehearsed it at home.
There is resounding applause when Obama mentions his line about “monitoring your own kids by turning off the television and helping them with their work.” Even the kids are cheering. Obama adds a few jokes about the other candidates, in addition to the issues. There are no character assassinations, nor the injecting of fear or hatred, and if there is any booing when he mentions McCain or Palin, he instantly stops it in its tracks. He speaks of increasing employment in America and would spend $15 billion on the auto industry and renewable energy, keeping jobs in America for Americans. “Jobs, baby, jobs”, chants the crowd.
I sigh. Will goodness win over hatred and division this time? I think about the saying nice guys finish last and wonder when Obama’s camp is going to talk about Palin and the Alaskan Independent Party, and what are they going to do when the formidable Republican machine pelts the Democrats with turd, as they always do, if they get a little desperate at the end of a campaign. And why are we as a nation blessed with so many ignorant among us, who may fall for their last-ditch low-down GOP tactics?
The whole crowd erupts into endless applause at it is all over, in no hurry to disperse, just enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime experience. On the way to my car I speak to a demonstrator whose placard bears the revelation that Obama is Muslim. He says he can’t vote for a man who is a Muslim and whose associations are questionable. I think the detractors should make up their minds. Obama goes to Rev. Wright’s church for 20 years and is “accused” of being a Muslim, while McCain doesn’t go to church at all, but is considered a good Christian. Yet Obama’s meetings continue to dwarf his opponents’. Around the same period of this meeting, McCain had 1,700 in Pensacola. Not to be confused with 17,000.
On the drive back to Ocala, I am now understanding why the Senator from Illinois draws the crowds.
James Kirkland is a former New Yorker transplanted in Ocala, Florida.
He may be contacted at psalm27@embarqmail.com