A Nation in Crisis.

When did it get this bad?

Wait. Before I delve into this combination of nostalgia and recrimination, let's be clear. For the poorest of the poor, it's been really bad for at least a quarter century, ever since Reagan won the White House and began to slash housing assistance, job assistance, food assistance, urban aid, and just about every anti-poverty measure you could think of, and the CIA began pumping crack cocaine into blighted inner cities. And Clinton completed the circle by introducing his draconian crime bill and ending "welfare as we know it" in order to appease the right wing.

Now that we're clear on that....when did it get this bad?

Seriously, back in the 1990's, you had the GOP-controlled Congress going after Clinton for perjury in a case totally unrelated to the government, and he ended up impeached. Yet today, you've got a Senate Majority Leader under investigation for SERIOUS insider trading...a (now former) House Majority Leader indicted for criminal conspiracy in a money-laundering campaign finance scheme...and now you've got I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby releasing Judith Miller from confidentiality so she can spill the beans on the Valerie Plame case.

Um, can we pause for a minute? Scooter Libby is a convicted felon. And not on some robbery charge when he was 18. He was convicted of lying to Congress! And that's the type of person that (Vice) President Dick Cheney made his chief of staff! To me, that just shows the profound disdain this administration has for our government.

Back to the main topic. As far as anyone can discern from the response to Katrina and Rita, the under-reported delay in approving the Plan B contraception pill, and the exodus of skilled career professionals from the Treasury Department, the federal apparatus has been hollowed out, with ideologues, cronies, and crooks put in place to hand out patronage and play political games with our economy, our infrastructure, and people's lives. None of this is to say that things were perfect before. But today they are demonstrably worse.

What's worse is that, across party lines, there is no serious effort to address America's floundering economy, inept response to globalization, growing income inequality, technological backwardness, or broken educational system. It seems that, in the past five years, we have turned a corner as a nation. Current-account and structural deficits have been created that only the most optimistic or naïve are unconcerned about. Trickle-down economics, the mantra of the 1980's, have been reinstated -- only this time around, no one is pretending that the wealth is going to trickle down.

America has fallen sharply behind other industrialized nations in terms of connectivity and broadband access, partially because of FCC rulings that are set to wipe out competition in the provision of cable and internet service, and partly because it's simply not a priority of our national government as it is elsewhere.

And "No Child Left Behind" is a mockery of the motto of the Children's Defense Fund, an awful mismash that states are suing the federal government about, and that no teacher believes is improving the education of children. In what world is it education "reform" when schools get higher scores by sending letters home telling underperformers to take a day off during the test periods?

What's worse, now idiotic ideologues are taking their ill-considered crusade into the classrooms, to evict science and reason, and turn our public schools into some kind of Christian madrassas, where school officials make a false distinction between "theory" and "fact," students are discouraged from learning about their sexual health, and all learning becomes geared towards passing tests. College is becoming prohibitively expensive unless you're wealthy or super-smart, and there's no push to increase the number of American students in math and science fields which are crucial to America's future.

The Jenga™ structure is getting awfully wobbly here. And what is most galling is that there is no opposition party willing to step up and say, not only that all these things are faulty (and notice how I ain't even get to mention the war), but to present some serious programs for addressing these issues. With the ruling party showing itself to be rotten to the core, this would seem to be a prime moment for that. But since the minority party is compromised by the same corporate money and racist political imperatives that the majority party heartily embraces, sadly, we are likely to see little serious discussion of these issues.

The third most populous country in the world can't go this route. We've got to do better.

The Humbling Awesome Power of God

Every so often, God lets us know Who is really in charge.

This hurricane season is historic, and will be known as the one that destroyed the Gulf Coast as we know it.

First Katrina. That hurricane exposed the grinding, racialized poverty that is the seedy underbelly America tries to hide from the world. It also exposed the hideous contempt of this administration towards the American people in two ways: first, via the stunning lack of competence at the highest levels of one of the basic functions of government, and second via the overwhelming structural debt that they wish to incur in their attempt to build a new city not meant for all its old residents.

Now, Rita menaces one of the economic hearts of our country, the oil coast. We may see economic hardships from all of this, but the silver lining, as high prices prevail at the pump in the long-term, is that they are finally spurring changes in our car culture that have been needed for years. Out of this hit may come the boost to confront our destruction of the environment, America's dependence on foreign oil and the its concomitant control this country's psychotic foreign policy.

God doesn't do things for no reason. It would seem that all the God-speak in our federal government and by the religious right has brought God into the place. If you call on Him, he will answer you.

I hope the right is listening. I hope Bush Co. is listening. I hope we all are.

It's Official! Bush Kicked off a Civil War!

I started to write about Britney and Kevin's new baby.

Okay, no I didn't.

But though that may be the third big story behind Katrina and the blasts in Baghdad yesterday that killed thirty, I think this pronouncement has to be the most disturbing statement by any side since Bush flew onto an aircraft carrier to announce "Mission Accomplished" in May 2003.

Why? Because it sets into stark relief the tragic and misguided folly of the Bush administration in their Iraq adventure. A calcified cabal that could not conceive of an approach other than that of Cold War America towards the problem of stateless terrorism has finally created a war they can understand.

A war that France couldn't win 40 years ago, the USA couldn't win 30 years ago, and the USSR couldn't win 20 years ago. One where a committed band backed by the surrounding community wages a relentless guerrilla campaign. I think for many months, many in the US (myself included) were rather confused about who exactly the insurgency was, and what their aims were, other than to drive the Americans from the country. Zarqawi's announcement brings it all into stark relief. The fact that the connection between the men who were cast adrift when the Iraqi Army was disbanded, and when the government was purged of ex-Ba'athists, were overwhelmingly Sunni.

So in the final analysis, it makes sense that now the insurgency is officially cast as the Sunnis versus the Shi'ites. The only problem with that is, considering that only Iran and Iraq are Shia, and the rest of the Arab Muslim world is Sunni, Zarqawi's declaration has the distinct potential to destabilize the entire region, as the insurgency continues and grows. And instability like that will only draw America deeper into the mess that BushCo has created.

In any case, destabilizing the entire Middle East is what the true neo-cons have been after all along. Looks like they may just get their wish after all.

Tom Joyner vs. Kanye West.

I'm a radio listener, cuz my car is a 96 model and doesn't have a CD player. Normally, on my drive in to work, I listen to the local morning show, NPR, or to the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Usually, it's moderately informative, moderately funny, and pretty banal in content. Harmless BS when NPR bores me or they start playing the new Tyra single on the other station again.

However, Tom Joyner will no longer get my support.

Why?

I was startled to listen to his show on Tuesday morning, and hear him, during their discussion of news, bring up Kanye West's call for an end to homophobia in rap music. Now, first of all, that's old news, and I suspect that it was a proxy for addressing Kanye's criticism of the President, which Joyner refused to support or comment on when he appeared on CNN last week.

The exchange consisted of Joyner basically dismissing West and laughing at him; of his female co-host making ill-considered and ignorant remarks about West calling women "bitches and hoes" in his music, proof that she had really heard none of his songs; his male co-host sneering "shut up" every time West's name was said by Joyner; and finally, an uncontested statement by the male co-host that he "liked it better when rappers kept their mouths shut.'

Excuse me?

Why is it that, when a young black man -- a major media personality, to boot -- expresses some excellent viewpoints, that Joyner's instinct is not only to try to shut him down, but to attempt to ridicule, demonize, and marginalize him to his largely middle-aged, middle-class Black audience? In what way was what Joyner and his co-hosts did and said on their show constructive?

It makes me sick. Joyner may do a lot of things with his foundation with regards to education, but his political and social compass outside that narrow sphere seems to be VERY off. How can you not back another brother who is speaking the sentiments that millions of other African-Americans feel?

What is Joyner's agenda? Was he upset that "shine" was taken away from his own efforts when he was on CNN? Does he support homophobia in rap music? Does he support the federal response to the flooding of New Orleans?

It was completely inexplicable to me except as a powerful show of the disconnect between middle-aged, middle-class Black wannabe leaders and commentators, and the people on the street.

I hope that Tom Joyner clarified his comments later, but I doubt it. All I know is, I can't support someone who clearly has no respect for the ideas or commentary of my generation.

Katrina: The LA Diaspora, Reconstruction, and the Challenges Ahead

It's taken me a while to compose my thoughts from the optional disaster that occurred in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Page after page has been written on racist media portrayals and perceptions, racialized poverty, the systematic undermining of FEMA and Gulf Coast shore protection, and the indifference, incompetence, and malign neglect of state and federal officials, and many more pages will be written on the heavy economic impact, the profiteering of oil and gas companies, and other such things.

So, I realized there were basically two things that have received extremely short shrift in the media -- the destruction in Alabama, and the long-term socioeconomic repercussions of this disaster. Since I am not a reporter, and do not have staff in Alabama, I decided that I would focus on the repercussions. Specifically, I'd like to address the futures of the people displaced by the flooding, and the imperatives that will be faced if redevelopment is to be just.

By now, we are hearing reports that much of the French Quarter in New Orleans was relatively unscathed, compared to the rest of the city, which should be welcome news to some as they contemplate what the new New Orleans will look like. Naturally, some see the coming razing of 82% of New Orleans as an incredible opportunity to remake the city in the way that it should be. And it is. However, in whose interests will this redevelopment take place? In all likelihood, the tendency and desire will be to create a somewhat smaller, Disney-fied version of the city that people 'round the world love.

But where does that leave the former residents? Surely they won't be able to afford the condominiums and other types of premium housing that the coming resort town will be putting its heavy emphasis upon building. Will that 27% of New Orleans residents who lived below the poverty line have a place in the new New Orleans? Or will Louisiana and its Chamber of Commerce seize the opportunity of having benignly murdered thousands of poor black people and kicked out others, to turn the Big Easy into a citadel for the wealthy and privileged?

Over a quarter million refugees have flooded into Baton Rouge, and over 100,000 more are currently being spread across the 48 states from Massachusetts to Texas to California. What will be their fate?

Honestly, there are at least three types of evacuees. The first, college-educated, wealthy people with flood insurance, who escaped days before the disaster took hold, certainly have rough times ahead of them, but ultimately can temp in the places they are and return to the city to start anew. In the long term they will be OK.

Then you have a certain class of people, college or high-school educated, who have stable job histories but little money and no insurance, and may find it easier to start new lives where they have been relocated. In the short term, they will need assistance, but eventually they will get back on their feet. However, when the waters are gone, the decrepit structures bulldozed, and the plans for a new city begin to take shape, will their voice be heard? Surely many will desire to return. The leaders of their community, and national leaders, have to assure that they are not priced out of the new vision for the city.

Finally, there is the underclass. What becomes of people who have no safety net? How will they cope? Can the cities they have been evacuated to cope with their needs? Already Dallas and Houston are calling them a burden. To be sure, New Orleans had for years done a piss-poor job caring for this segment of the population -- bad schools, brutal police, scarce hospitals. The challenge as the city is rebuilt is how to build a community that is committed to the least of us. Rebuilding has to be just. It's not all right to consign the poor of New Orleans to permanent exile, which is undoubtedly a temptation of city planners, state officials, and, to be frank, racists who would rather be rid of the "problem."

When NOLA is rebuilt, who will it be rebuilt for? The rich? The upwardly mobile? Will there be affordable housing? The real concern for advocates as the aftermath of the Optional Disaster occurs is whether there will be a place for 100,000 people who will return to the Crescent City to bury their dead and rebuild their lives. Capitalists may see this as an opportunity to make quite a few dollars. But the progressives and socialists among us must articulate an alternative vision -- that the Paris of the South can be rebuilt not just as a resort, not just as a home for the rich, but as a place that casts off the entrenched poverty and misery of the old New Orleans, and builds a new New Orleans that cares for and provides opportunity for ALL the people who lived there before the flood.