Rutgers Wrong on Rice

Once again Rutgers University  has diminished itself  and shown it doesn’t belong in the upper echelon of second tier universities. And I’m not talking only about their lackluster football and basketball programs. I’m talking about the  controversy regarding Condoleezza Rice as the university’s choice to be this year’s commencement speaker.

The opposition’s major problem with Condoleezza Rice was her involvement in the Iraqi War and the use of water boarding by the Bush administration. While most of the Democrats did indeed object to water boarding , they did vote strongly in support of the Iraqi War. Mind you not on principle but because the overwhelming majority of Americans were behind President Bush’s military operation. In addition, intelligent sources both domestic and foreign claimed the Iraqi regime had weapons of mass destruction. In fact, they had already used them on the Iranians and Kurds.

We know how that story ended. But to place blame on Secretary Rice would be like blaming Secretary Clinton for the failure of the Arab spring.

An accomplished, multi-talented woman, Secretary Rice deserved better. But the voice of the minority (reportedly about 300 students out of 10,000)has once again scored an unlikely  victory. How many times will the feeble-minded, 97-lb. weakling  score victory after victory over a more accomplished  adversary.

Egging on the dissident students were  a few non-descript academicians who could not even entertain the possibility of teaching in a prestigious university like Stanford where Rice teaches and has served as provost.

Preening around these days  as a card-carrying member of the intelligentsia seems pretty simple. All you have to do is take the ultra-liberal contrarian view on common sense issues. It might even land you a spot on the Al Sharpton Show. Some of the Rev. Sharpton’s best friends are African-American but I doubt Secretary Rice would be in that number. Any accomplished, free thinkers in the African-American community seem anathema to Sharpton  and his associates.

Rice took the high road. An elevation the undistinguished, faculty members who  condemned her appearance will never reach. But what perturbs me is why take the high road? Why be at the mercy of the minority. Why always acquiesce? Why compromise? Why give the opponents of free speech and  the open exchange of ideas  even the slimmest of victories? If we don’t stand up for our beliefs as free Americans that right may be taken from us.

So now  former NJ Gov. Kean will be the commencement speaker. It should be a safe choice. Perhaps the president of the Left-Handed Plumbers Union had prior commitments.

Less Than Sterling

Of course the statements by Donald  Sterling were abhorrent to men and women of good will. And NBA Commissioner Silver rightfully declared him persona non grata in his league. But this whole episode “stinks on ice” to use a phrase from my grandfather.

This has all the earmarks of a set up. Was this visor-wearing vixen put up to this mischief; or was she just trying  muddy the waters  to impede the Sterling family from  recovering her ill-gotten gains? Or was this a gambit to force Sterling to sell his team. Some names of potential buyers  being bandied about: Oprah, P Diddy, Magic Johnson and Floyd Mayweather. Hmnn.

Also, why was the NAACP set  to award Mr. Sterling with a second lifetime humanitarian achievement award even though they were  aware of his past indiscretions.

In at least two instances, Mr. Sterling was implicated in biased behavior. First involving Clippers’ general manager, Elgin Baylor and then again for discriminatory practices regarding  property rentals to minority tenants in his vast real estate empire. Was the NCAAP as easily bought off as hucksters like Reverends Jackson and Sharpton that they would give this bigot an award to ameliorate his image?

This kind of hypocrisy does more to perpetuate racism as does the off putting remarks from African- Americans who adhere to the same vitriol as Sterling. Rev. Jackson and his “Hymietown” remark. Rev. Sharpton and his involvement in the Tawana Brawley case and the incineration of Freddie’s, a Harlem haberdashery, run by, Sharpton’s term, “ a white interloper.” In the case of Freddie’s, seven fatalities resulted from the fire. And what about that firebrand, Rev. Jeremiah Wright preaching sermon after sermon of divisiveness.  In terms of sheer hatred Rev. Wright, though, comes in a distant second to Louis Farrakhan whose machinations rival Herr Eichmann.

Where are the men and women of color to speak against these bigots? Too often they are silent. Until they can find it in themselves  to condemn racist remarks by other than white racists there will be no real progress in the fight against bigotry. And are we to believe   no racist remarks were ever uttered by African-Americans or Asian-Americans?

Racism is not a one way street but is only portrayed that way.

We Don't Need No Stinkin Tequila

Wasn’t it amusing to hear about the rift between casino magnate Steve Wynn  and actor/ Tequila salesman George Clooney in regard to his so-called “friend” President Barack Obama. Typically, like the high strung, naïve  child actors are, George stormed off.

Sure the president is his good friend because of all the money he raises for the Obama agenda. And he, like other Hollywood stars,  make unusually large sums of money manufacturing, for the most part, mediocre material. They like talking the talk( especially when someone else is writing the words for them, making them sound far more intelligent than they are). But how about walking the walk?

 They seem to be at one with every liberal cause. They happily sit at fund-raising dinners sometimes for as much as $100,000 a ticket. Why not take a portion of these exorbitant dinner prices and help the poor and downtrodden at the local level and eliminate the middle men and women who spend most of the booty disseminating propaganda and consolidating  power.

Prior to the heated exchange. Wynn,  Clooney and  partner Rande Gerber, was discussing future business opportunities  supplying Wynn hotels and casinos with Casamigos Tequila,  a company Clooney and Gerber are affiliated with.

Gerber  intimates that the argument was not about politics, “it was about George standing up for a friend.” Everything about Obama is politics. If Mr. Wynn wished to express his displeasure  with the Obama administration he has the right. I’m surprised Mr. Clooney didn’t go to DEFCON 1 and assert Mr. Wynn was a racist the default comment when anyone criticizes this woeful administration.

All politicians have two things in common they want power and they want legacy. In Obama’s case the subterfuge has reached critical mass.  With his poll numbers dropping precipitously and his cache abroad diminishing, George has his work cut out for him if he wants to stand up for his friend.

In the meantime, Mr. Wynn should re-think serving Casamigos in his establishments. And taking a page out of the Rev. Sharpton  playbook , we should all boycott George’s tequila.

Your Mother Should Know

When your own mother doesn’t want you to run for president you should heed her advice. Jeb Bush is as likely to be elected president as Harry Reid is to go through a day without lying.

I cringe every time the idea of another Bush  running for president is uttered. Nothing against the man personally.  I happen to like soft, pudgy men who remind me of the Pillsbury Doughboy. But in 2016 we’re going to need  more than someone who reminds us of flaky pastry to right the ship of state and I don’t think Jeb Bush is the candidate to do it. Can you see him facing off against Iron Man Vladimir Putin. Granted he couldn’t do any worse than our present-day, straw man president – Mr. Red Line. But the international community will need a dynamic, American leader who will go toe-to-toe with the likes of:  Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping and Bashar Assad and the aforementioned Mr. Putin.

 Moreover, a Bush candidacy  reeks of the dynasty issue that seems to be of little consequence to American voters in this day and age. Couple another  Bush run with another  likely Clinton run and the underlying   message is that the great unwashed  need not apply.

We’ve been seeing with more and more frequency  the sons and daughters, nephews and nieces of former office holders and hacks  running for any office that avails itself. Members of the Carter, Kennedy, Cheney, Graham and Nunn families  have announced their intentions to  follow the family  tradition and seek office. Add to that the names Begich, Graham,  Pryor, Cuomo, Landrieu, Brown, political scions all --   who have  already been elected and you get a general idea that our democracy is taking on an  oligarchic flavor.

We know name recognition is important in a political campaign. That’s the reason a lot of “name”  candidates get the nod to run in the first place. And it’s distressing  that  this paradigm  trumps dedication and a burning desire to solve problems and help people.

The political class is an emerging entity in the United States. And why not? It seems politics is the easiest way to riches these days. Dirt poor candidates like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama who had never held any job other than a political or public one come in with nothing but leave with much. In  local political offices this is even more palpable. Politics like the old neighborhood butcher shop has become a hand me down career. But when thinking about a political run your mother’s advice is worth listening to.

If the Shoe Fits or Flies

It’s comedic all the controversy surrounding the  shoe throwing incident involving former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Pundits have come out of the woodwork speculating that the whole incident was staged. For exactly what purpose – who knows. What difference at this point does it make. To borrow  a phrase.

When it comes to the Clintons everything they do seems calculated for ulterior motives. In this latest episode in Las Vegas a woman, identified as Alison Ernst, threw a shoe at Madam Hillary who was speaking to a group about solid waste management. Initially  she thought the projectile was a bat. A thrown shoe actually behaves differently in flight than a bat. Former Senator Clinton seems to know a lot more about solid waste  than airborne rodents.

But was the whole incident staged? The Clintons have a history of being accused of staging events. There was the time when President Clinton was seen on Omaha Beach in Normandy during the 50th anniversary of D-Day when he, extemporaneously bent down and formed a cross near a pile of stones in commemorating  all those who lost their lives in that bloody invasion. We found out later  those stones were put there by the president’ staff.

Then there was the time, post-Lewinsky, when the Clintons, in an effort to save their marriage were seen dancing affectionately close on a beach in the Virgin Islands, signaling to the world that indeed they had weathered the marital maelstrom. Was there any doubt that this most political of marriages wouldn’t survive?

Then, there was the Congressional  hearing about the attack on Benghazi where our ambassador and three others were murdered.  Secretary Clinton stalled her appearance because of a blood clot many thought was contrived to fashion a plausible account of events that wouldn’t damage any future political aspirations.

 The  fact that  her tenure as Secretary of State yielded meager results was inconsequential. Yet it was applauded by most media outlets for the sheer amount of miles she logged globe hopping. Abraham Lincoln might have said of her accomplishments, “they were about as thin as the broth made from the shadow of a starving crow.”

So, whether the incident in Vegas was staged or real – it makes no difference. The media will always spin it positively . Of course when the Iraqi journalist tossed a shoe at George W. Bush it was deemed a great disrespect. For Madam Hillary it was just another day on a lucrative promotional speech tour.

The Czarina Michelle and Mom

When reports surfaced about the shabby treatment of hotel workers at the Beijing Westin Hotel by members of Barack Obama’s family  and their omnipresent hangers-on entourage I wasn’t surprised.

Those of the left-leaning persuasion always seem to be above the rhetoric they spew for the benefit  of the rest of us. The $8350 a night suite the first lady and her mother luxuriated in was paid by the Obamas we are told. The concomitant security -- probably ten times the cost of the opulent digs -- was borne by U.S. taxpayers. Of course this is a hallmark of the profligate Obamas. They love a free ride.

They talk incessantly about everyone doing their fair share and  leveling the playing field. Then they vacation, it seems ad infinitum, at the tonier places in the world. Where they expect to be treated like royalty.

It was no surprise to hear that the staff at their hotel  in China complained of being mistreated by the czarina’s mother as was reported in the foreign press, which has become the go-to  source for any objective reporting (dare I say Fox News)  about the reign of the Obamas. I have often thought the adage that a person’s character is revealed by the way they treat people who cannot  offer them anything in return  is a true barometer of integrity. And integrity is a gift a person gives to his/her self.

The Obamas mirror the same “white trash” veneer, with the obvious difference, that marked the early Clinton era. While they are polar opposites to the Bush,Reagan and Carter eras where class and probity were palpable to the unbiased eye.

They're Always Fighting for the Middle Class

 

The next time you hear a politician say he or she needs to be elected so they can help the middle class, I’d recommend voting for their opponent. But most likely the opponent will be spewing the same schpiel. Because the only thing a politician can do, especially liberal Democrat politicians, is to deliver the middle class to the lower classes. In 2008 , presidential candidate Barack Obama chose Sen. Joe Biden for his running mate. Sen. Biden would be entrusted, we were told, with helping and sustaining the middle class. Six years later I have yet to hear of one initiative as the middle class continues to contract. I tend to agree with Clint Eastwood, who, when addressing the Republican Convention in 2012 described Vice President Biden as a “grin with a body behind it.”

Pithy platitudes aside, we have not seen any real economic progress. There is no recovery. Remember shovel-ready jobs? There are just talking head politicians and wannabe politicians skulking around promising a piece of the American Dream. Unfortunately, the American Dream is on life support.

It was predicated on the premise that if you worked hard you could succeed. All you had to do was take advantage of the cornucopia of opportunities available. A lot of those opportunities have packed up and left and they ain’t coming back.

One of the most often used lines by candidates is that they want to give everyone an opportunity to succeed – just as their immigrant families have.  They wheel out their time-honored family history. The patriarch or matriarch entered the country; penniless, of course. And worked their way out of the old neighborhood; saved some money, bought a house; sent their kids to college. Garnered for themselves a piece of the American Dream. And that’s what they want for everyone. And this time they’re going to fast track you to the American Dream. With short cuts so it won’t be so hard this time.

It won’t be a generational wait. It begins to happen as soon as you cast your vote. They’re promising away the very essence, the core value of the  middle class. That working hard is your ticket to the next rung on the ladder.

Every time I hear  about all these new, non-existent opportunities to help every one get to the  middle class, it has a strange similarity to the housing give-a-way disaster a few years back. We know where that left us. Unless people work for what they get they never appreciate it. And if you give them something for nothing, they’ll always abuse it.