Specter Defected

First Colin Powell endorsed then candidate Barack Obama. Now Sen. Arlen Specter decides to join the Democratic Party. Hey look, I'm running out of Republicans to like.

Olympia Snow come on down your the next contest on This Party is Right.

The 1st 100 Days

Some say President Obama is restoring Americas greatness, bringing us back from the brink of the abyss. Some say he’s taxing and spending the country into oblivion. Most experts agree that it’s too early to tell one way or the other.

All I know for sure is that I'll take advantage of any occasion to celebrate the victory of hope and change. I look at the 1st 100 days the same way a young newlywed might look at his first three months of marriage. It might not be an accurate measure of the whole relationship, but so far it sure is mighty sweet.

Fighting

Fighting is a movie about, wait for it ….fighting. I went to see it because I think Terrence Howard is a versatile and entertaining actor. To bad his performance is something of a distraction in this movie. Overall the movie is dull.

The movie seemed rushed. The characters were one dimensional and their connections with one another were tenuous at best. The fight scenes were brief and few and too far apart to make the movie interesting overall. The fight sequences were as predictable as a Rocky sequels. The rise of the hero Shawn McArthur, played by Channing Tatum, was unrealistic. His subway workout was ridiculous. The back story was seriously flawed. Then there was his romantic interest. I haven’t seen a more contrived and ill conceived romance since the Titanic. There was one lone attempt to deliver a plot twist, but it was stillborn.

There was one pleasant surprise. Brian J. White (pictured here) gave the only believable performance in the movie. I really found myself hating his character Evan Hailey. That means White did his job. I didn’t care at all if the hero had a happy ending. I just wanted White’s character to get what was coming to him. Interestingly enough, the best performance in this movie was given by an actor who got something like fifth billing in the credits. Most public relations material says "Brian White plays opposite the star Channing Tatum". But that’s like saying Darth Vader played opposite Jar Jar Binks.

All and all this movie is worth seeing. On cable. If you're suffering from insomnia.

In Memoriam

Ernie Barnes

1938-2009

Ernnie Barnes was an African-American artists who graduated from North Central University. His most well known work was, Sugar Shack (pictured above), which was an album cover for Marvin Gaye. His paintings were featured in the popular 70's sitcom Good Times.

In Memoriam

1922-2009

Bea Arthur

Whoever said "timing is everything" was talking about Bea Arthur. No line ever written for her was as funny as the arresting looks she could give. Anyone can recite a funny line. It takes a comic genius like Bea Arthur to master the silent moment, the pause pregnant with innuendo. As Vera Charles, Maude, and Dorothy her acid tongue burned deep; but her sharp piercing glare cut to the bone. The funny bone that is.

The Legacy of George Bush: Invasion, Torture, Occupation

President G. W. Bush invaded a sovereign nation, deposed their leader, occupied the country and set up a puppet government of his choosing. That ought to be grounds for a trail at The Hague. Whether or not his operatives sanctioned torture seems to be a minor point. He ordered U.S. troops to violate international law on a trumped up charge. Every other abuse of power flows from this illegal fount. Every subsequent action was illegal including torture. To investigate and hunt down every decision maker might mean bringing to trial every member of the Bush administration plus half the Congress.

I understand that many people feel duped. We should. We were. And the costs of Bush’s not so merry prank are still mounting. The state of the world is dire. There are pressing issues at hand. President Obama has wisely stopped the violations of the Geneva Convention. In a spirit of transparency the Atty. General declassified files that we might learn from the mistakes of the past. Sometimes that's all we get. History shows that sometimes a president’s reach regrettably exceeds his grasp. Would we file legal action against Lincoln for suspending habeas corpus during the War of Northern Aggression, Andrew Jackson for the Trail of Tears, Kennedy for the Bay of Pigs, or Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson for Vietnam?

The prosecution of any of these previous administrations would be just. But given the current state of the world I doubt it would be an expedient use of the countries time and resources; as much as I hate to admit it.

President Hugo Chavez: Man of The People

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela gets a bad rap in the U.S. media. I’m not saying he’s a role model. But I don’t think he’s the villain lots of conservatives think he is. Like most people in the world he’s not good or bad. He’s complicated. Chavez, born to black Indian parents, is one of the few Latin American leaders whose look is distinctly non-European. Since the days of Columbus the descendants of Spaniards have governed Latin America and excluded native people. I don’t agree with all his tactics; but I also fail to completely understand what native people in Latin America suffer as a result of colonialism.

Centuries of European and Western (i.e.United States) influence in Latin American have lead to a series of social ills that are reminiscent of post colonial Africa. Corruption, classicism, and racism have left indigenous people sick, poor, and ignorant. Think what you will about his brand of populism, you can not ignore that his policies on the redistribution of wealth combat disease, illiteracy and malnutrition among people who have been exploited by the ruling classes (i.e. Europeans, Creoles and U.S capitalists).

The book President Chavez gave President Obama is called The Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano. I hope he reads it. It explains the history and exploitation of Latin America. I believe that an understanding of what kind of world created a man like Chavez is crucial to creating better relations between the two countries. Colonialism has had costly consequences in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. In order to lead the world to a brighter and more amiable future in the community of nations, U.S. policy makers must begin to reflect a fundamental understanding of the points of view of nations struggling still to recover from their pasts.