Monroe Anderson

Racist quote, Clinton's quiets Reid's

 
 

   The blogosphere is all atwitter about Sen. Harry Reid's quote about presidential candidate Barack Obama. The then-Illinois senator was described, in private, by the Nevada senator as "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." 

Cries of racism have been seen and heard throughout the far reaches of Cyberspace. And I, for one, wonder why. 

Point one: Obama, whose mother was a white Kansan and whose father was a black Kenyan, is a light-skinned African American. The last time I checked, that observation was not filed in the racist category--not even in the racially insensitive one.

Point two: There is such a thing as a Negro--I prefer black--dialect. I hear it when I talk to my family and friends back in Gary, Indiana. I hear it when I go to the West or South sides of Chicago. I hear it come out of my mouth when I'm speaking my native tongue rather than the educated one I learned to affect long ago to assure that I could succeed as a professional journalist.

Our 44th president was raised by his white grandparents and mother. He grew up hearing white dialects not black ones. He enunciates like a Harvard-educated white man--until he wants to emulate those dialects he heard while working as a community organizer and worshiping at Trinity United Church of Christ.

So calling Senate Majority Leader Reid's off-the-cuff remarks racist is a bit of a stretch. But, no matter. Reid has already said he was sorry.

"I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments," Reid said in a statement released after the excerpts were first reported on the Web site of The Atlantic.

"I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda."

And, the President has already said, apology accepted.

"Harry Reid called me today and apologized for an unfortunate comment reported today," President Obama said in a released statement. "I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart.  As far as I am concerned, the book is closed." 

This tempest in a teapot was brewed up by a leaked excerpt from the book, Game Change, which was written by Time Magazine's Mark Halperin and New York magazine's John Heilemann, to the Associated Press. 

The book is set to be published Monday and this leak and others serve enticing publicity to pump up sales.

There is another leak that should hit the Internet big time in minute now. 

Under the heading, "Teddy's Anger," Blogger Ben Smith posted this less than an hour ago:

One of the enduring mysteries of the 2008 campaign was what got Ted Kennedy so mad at Bill Clinton. The former president's entreaties, at some point, backfired, and the explanation has never quite emerged.

I've finally gotten my hands on a copy of Game Change, in which Heliemann and Halperin report:

[A]s Hillary bungled Caroline, Bill’s handling of Ted was even worse. The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill then went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.

It will be a teachable moment as we see our nation's first black president apologize to our nation's other first black president.

This post has also been cross-published on the UK Progressive, Newsvine and Huffingtonpost.com websites.

In Search of Intelligence in the Multiverse--Not in the muddled mind of Alan Keyes

When it comes to the rabid right, perennial loser Alan Keyes comes off effortlessly as the big dog.

I witnessed him spouting his coo-coonalities while foaming at the mouth on a regular basis back in 2004 when Illinois Republicans, for want of ANYBODY to put up a pretend challenge to State Sen. Barack Obama for the U.S. senate seat, recruited Keyes from Maryland.

I immediately saw it as a cynical move by the state Republicans to pit their Black against the Black Democratic candidate, reasoning that one African-American was as good as the next. I would later come to that same conclusion when the Republican National Committee would con Sen. John McCain into partnering with Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin, figuring since the Democrats failed to put Hillary Clinton on the Obama ticket, their woman candidate was as good as the junior senator from New York would have been.

Both gambits proved to be the undoing of the Repubs. 

Obama went on to become the second Black U.S. senator from Illinois within a decade. Oh yeah, and with a big hand from the lipstick-wearing Pitbull, he's now the POTUS.

As Obama's challenger for the U.S. senate seat, carpetbagger Keyes came off as whacked out on peyote-laced Jesus juice. Keyes accused Obama's position on abortion as the "slaveholder's position." Keyes asserted that Obama's Lord and Savior wouldn't even vote for the Democrat. Before it was over, Keyes had throughly embarassed the Illinois Republicans, exposing how dim-witted their decision to draft Keyes had been. And when it was over, Keyes lost to Obama, 27 to 70 percent.

Now, he's back at it. In a video that surfaced yesterday, Keyes calls President Obama "a radical communist" and said he refused to acknowledge the validity of Obama's inauguration because the President is not a U.S. citizen. You've got to hear him to believe him before coming to the conclusion I came to long ago: Alan Keyes is all babble and all psycho too.

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Obama exposes poet Gil Scott-Heron's bad prediction

The revolution was the real must-see TV. Its opening salvo was aired on a sub-zero day on February 10, 2007 in Springfield, Illinois in the shadow of the old state capitol where Abraham Lincoln gave his house divided speech. That was when Sen. Barack Obama began the assault on the greatest whites only symbol in America: The White House.
    The strikes and counter-strikes were on television day in. day out, week in, week out for the next 21 months. We caught it all. We saw the talking heads on cable TV explain why Hillary Clinton was a cinch for the Democratic nomination. Then we saw the victory speech in Iowa, realizing that the junior senator from Illinois was a contender.
    One primary battles after the next played out on our TV screens, sometimes---like on Super Tuesday--a volley of them at once. And, as the battles waged on, we surveyed the maps on who had staked out which states and how many he needed if the revolution was going to be real.
    We witnessed, first Rev. Jeremiah Wright, then Father Michael Pfleger, as they were made into men for media destruction. Then we were on the lookout as Obama knocked down that subterfuge and cleared away those smoke screens.
    Armed with remote controls in the comfort of our homes, we were eye witnesses to the victory march. We beheld the victory celebrations in Denver's INVESCO Field and in Chicago's Grant Park.
    We saw history made. We saw it all. And yesterday, we saw the beginning of the real struggle on TV--the inauguration. Now that the revolution has been won, the real battle begins--righting so many wrongs.
    And, as I watched that play out from day-to-day, I'll keep recalling how wrong Gil Scott Heron was four decades ago when he wrote his poem: The Revolution Will Not be Televised.

Here's a YouTube video with Scott-Heron's poem.

Democrats on the love vote

   

       At least one of Chris Matthew's often repeated political quips is going to have to be changed.  It goes like this: Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line.

       Well, during the first three days of this four-day convention here, in Denver, I’ve watched Democrats in love, fall in line.
      It was some sight to behold. Michelle Obama was stunning in appearance and speech on Monday. The next night, Hillary Clinton strongly endorsed Obama and chiefly commanded her troops to not be the enemy within and prepare for the battle begun.         Tonight Bill Clinton seconded that emotion.
       And, just like that, all those worries about a floor fight or a brokered convention vanished. It was all verbal hugs and kisses. Goo-goo ayes and acclamations. Obama and Biden are a team and the Clintons have given their blessings.
       It looks like bad news for the Republicans. For the past week or so they’ve been courting Hillary’ disenchanted and disillusioned followers, hoping to woo them into a temporary political tryst. Republican operatives played on the tensions between the Obama and Clinton camps. They clucked about possible swipes Hillary had made and help spread rumors that Bill would be a party unfaithful.
    No such luck and the GOP’s sweet nothings, for the most part, seem to be falling on deaf ears.  And while there are still are a small percentage of Hillites ready for the taking, I don’t think there’s enough to spoil the Democrat’s new union. We'll see.
    But no doubt about it, this has been Obama’s night. Tomorrow will be his day. Ain’t love Grand, Old Party?

("A Love Puzzle" by Joyce Owens is shown above. (30" x 40" acrylic & collage on canvas.)

VEEP creep

    

    Barack Obama may name his running mate any day now. Yesterday his campaign launched an online "Barack's VP: Be the First to Know" initiative allowing supporters to sign up to get an email or text message as soon as the decision is made.
    Although conventional wisdom has the Obama and McCain campaigns waiting for a couple of weeks until the Olympics are over, that may or may not happen.
    The candidate of change, using his cyberspace army, may announce next week once he returns from his Hawaii vacation. The GOP's erstwhile maverick may pick an opportune time to derail the next surge of the Obama media juggernaut.  So, while we know the running mate choices are creeping up on us, we wait to see when they'll be sprung.
   Factoring in the guessing game, EbonyJet.com decided to run its Vice President Fantasy Draft today, featuring revised choices by some of us who had chosen earlier. My June 2 choice of Colin Powell has been jettisoned, reduced to a real world selection.     You can check out my choice, along with those of Eric Easter and Brian Gilmore, below or by going to Ebonyjet.com where there's are other opinions on other things.

RETHINK: The VP Fantasy Draft

August 12, 2008

Months ago when Monroe Anderson, Brian Gilmore and I did our Fantasy Cabinet Picks for Barack Obama, we always knew that we’d have to make an adjustment once the dust settled a bit. And then, maybe not.

Now that we’re only days away from a final decision of Obama’s choice for VP, we decided to see, knowing what we know now, how committed we are to the choices we made in May.

Eric Easter:
My initial pick was Virginia Senator Jim Webb, with the caveat that I actually preferred former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, but thought his current run for Senate might negate consideration.

Since then, Jim Webb has taken himself out of the running and the buzz has been around current Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.  So, right state but wrong choices? I’m not so sure.

I like Tim Kaine, he’s a nice, decent sort of fellow and a popular governor, but let’s get the story straight – Tim Kaine won largely on the coattails of Mark Warner. Prior to Warner’s win, Virgina was solidly Republican. The strategy and groundwork it took to turn a red state blue was done by Warner and it’s that kind of campaigning skill that Obama needs.

I still think Mark Warner is far and away the best partner for Obama, emphasis on “partner.” If Obama is going to win, he’s going to do it mostly on his own accord, though Warner brings a lock on Virginia and a spillover effect into West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and North Carolina. Certainly Obama has to win, but really it’s his race to lose. I’m much more concerned with who can help him govern. Again, Mark Warner is the best choice, having been a hands-on governor known for winning broad Republican support and balancing an extremely complicated state budget,

To make this happen, the Democratic Party will have to find a replacement for Warner in the Senate race, and Warner will have to make peace with the possibility that a loss as VP also loses him the opportunity to grab the almost guaranteed Senate seat he’s been coveting for a decade. On the other hand, the fact that Warner already has a campaign and fundraising organization makes him even more attractive.

I know, I know, what about Joe Biden? Call me crazy but two senators on one ticket just scares me. It’s too top-heavy and the job of senator is too far divorced from the people on the ground. Such a pick would only help the Republicans make the case that the Democrats are running an elitist campaign.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve both worked for and donated money to past Warner campaigns. But this is an objective pick, which is more than I can say for a lot of inside –the- Beltway types calling for Warner because they know they’ll have access to his inner circle.

VP Pick: Mark Warner

Monroe, Brian - your turn.

Brian Gilmore:
Okay, Richard Gephart was way off as VP. At the time, I was thinking Missouri, but that is overblown now because there are other states in play besides Missouri, and Missouri might have been in play even though Gephart is not on the ticket. Not to mention the fact that he has been way off the world stage for too long.

So here are a few theories I am stuck with on how Obama will pick his guy.

The Cokie Roberts Choice:

ABC News commentator Cokie Roberts says he has to pick a dull white guy. This might mean Tim Kaine. Kaine is not exactly exciting and he has another plus working for him – he’s from Virginia. Virginia is the slam dunk state for Barack Obama. If he wins, Virginia, McCain is likely in trouble.

The Kennedy Choice

Obama, of course, admires John F. Kennedy. JFK is famous for picking Lyndon Johnson who delivered Texas for Kennedy and the election. This again might point to people like Tim Kaine of Virginia or another high profile Virginia politician like Jim Webb. Webb’s military background makes him a great, though controversial choice. Ted Strickland of Ohio would fall into this category as would Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania.

The Godfather Choice

Don Corleone famously told his son, Michael in the film, “The Godfather,” to keep your friends close, your enemies, closer. It is great advice. Two words then: Hillary Clinton.

Who he will choose:

Barack Obama is a man of his word, most of the time. He says geography doesn’t matter; it is leadership. This eliminates the Kennedy choice. Tim Kaine is a dull white guy but probably too dull. Hillary Clinton is not a dull white guy; she is smart, clever, tough, but a sort of dull white woman despite her high profile and her skills as a politician. Ed Rendell could be the choice here but he is missing something that ties him to Washington, makes him look like an international player.

Thus, Obama will pick Joe Biden of Delaware because Biden is ready to lead, has excellent credentials and is dull enough that Obama won’t be overshadowed.

VP Pick: Joe Biden

Monroe Anderson:
A couple of months ago, when I picked my fantasy draft for President Obama, the operative word for me was, well, fantasy.  Keeping that in mind, my choice for vice president was Colin Powell.  I argued that the retired four-star general would cancel out John McCain’s military advantage. And that as a former presidential cabinet member for both Papa and Junior Bush, Powell was so popular among Republicans, independents and Reagan Democrats that many thought him a more viable candidate in 2000 than George W. I even offered an off-hand—but serious—that “for the nut jobs out there that might be planning an assassination attempt of the nation’s first African American Chief Executive, they’d be forced to think twice.”
 
But, I knew then as I know now that the regular Democrats aren’t about to let a Republican get that job in the name of change. And, of course, that regular white Americans, Democrat or Republican, weren’t about to vote for a black president and black vice-president—that would be way too much change.

So this time, I’m for real: It won’t be John Edwards.

Seriously, the current short list of names most mentioned for Obama’s running mate are Virginia’s Tim Kaine, Delaware’s Joe Biden and Indiana’s Evan Bayh.
   
Just two weeks ago, the Washington insiders’ whisper mill had Kaine as the one to beat. Minnesota-born, it was duly-noted that Kaine could help deliver red state Virginia, a feat that might make the difference between Obama being the nation’s first black president or the guy who did way better than the reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.  Kaine is said to be very compatible with Obama because they both have Kansas roots and they both have Harvard law degrees to decorate the appropriate wall. Kaine was also the first governor outside of Illinois to back Obama.
   
They aren’t whispering as much as they were last month. My suspicion is because Kaine may be too easy a target for the right-wing fear and smear machine. For one thing, the one-term governor hasn’t governed his state all that well. For another, it’s his name.
   
There’s a double-digit number of Americans who refuse to believe that Obama’s not a Muslim. An Obama-Kaine ticket would compound the problem with the wing-nut bloggers pointing out that Kaine is not able and that Barack Obama’s middle name is still Hussein.
 
Biden, on the other hand, shouldn’t be so easily dismissed.  He would instantaneously give the ticket foreign policy cred and deflect some of the greenhorn thrust the McCain camp is pushing out there. BUT, Biden, who has been in the senate longer than a bunch of Obama’s most ardent supporters have been alive, doesn’t exactly represent change. AND, Biden is known for sudden outbreaks of foot-in-mouth disease: Remember the Delaware senator’s quote earlier this year that in Obama as a presidential candidate “you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy”?
   
So Bayh is my choice.  A former governor, the two-term senator can help deliver his very red state because he’s popular with both Democrat and Republican Hoosiers. As a former Hillary Clinton supporter, he may also help pacify some of the New York senator’s still disaffected backers. And as a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, he brings something to the foreign affairs table.
   
Bayh’s drawback is that he is so milquetoast that few voters may notice he’s in the game and that he may be unwilling—or unable—to trash talk while throwing some elbows towards Team McCain.
   
That may be why Bodog, the online gambling site, has 3/2 odds for both Bayh and Kaine. The next closest choice is Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius whose odds are 8/1.

VP Pick: Evan Bayh

 

Can Kaine cover the spread for Veep nomination?

    

    Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has the inside track to become Barack Obama’s vice presidential choice, according to Washington insiders. But Bodog, the on-line sports gambling outfit, says the odds-on favorite is Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh.
    No matter what the Beltway pols and pundits think, the Minnesota-born Kaine right now places with 6-1 odds of landing in the VP circle.
    The Spread, Bodog's on-line website, favors Bayh because “Evan could help with those (white) working middle class voters that Obama has failed to bring into his camp as hoped.”

 "....just think how an Obama-Kaine ticket would sound to the holy rollers out there who refuse to believe that Barack’s a Christian. The evil right-wing mischief-makers will have all kinds of fun with that pairing."

    A former Hillary Clinton supporter, Bayh could also help put neighboring Indiana, a Red state, into the Illinois senator’s win column.  Of course, the Minnesota-born Kaine could help deliver Virginia, a southern state that has been trending blue. The insiders think Kaine may land the number two spot because he is thought to be very compatible with Obama. Both men are Harvard law alums and both have Kansas roots. Kaine was the first governor outside of Illinois to back Obama.
    But the senator from Indiana brings more to the table. Bayh, a politician who is beloved by both Democratic and Republican voters in the Hoosier State, is a two-term governor, two-term senator and member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees.
    Other Democrats in the running, who are now being vetted, have more of a handicap. While Joe Biden’s odds are identical to Kaine’s, Hillary Clinton is favored 7/1. Former contenders for the party’s presidential nomination, John Edwards and Bill Richardson, both come in with 12/1 odds.
    If I were a gambling man, I’d go with Bodog’s odds.
    Right after Super Tuesday, the political bettors there had Barack at 5/8 and Hillary at 21/20. And I’d definitely take my money off the table before going with the Washington insiders’ bet on Kaine.
    First of all, just think how an Obama-Kaine ticket would sound to the holy rollers out there who refuse to believe that Barack’s a Christian. The evil right-wing mischief-makers will have all kinds of fun with that pairing.
    Besides that, still in his first term, Kaine hasn’t won over a lot of Virginians in his governing of the state.
    In other words, Kaine’s not Abel.

Hillary for VEEP--or maybe not

    Hillary Clinton is done. How done she is was made evident yesterday when Patti Solis Doyle was hired as the chief of staff for Obama’s unnamed vice presidential running mate.
    In case you’ve forgotten, Doyle was fired as Hillary’s campaign manager earlier this year, blamed for strategic errors in the campaign during the early primaries. Some have attributed those blunders and loses to Mark Penn, Clinton's top political advisor.
    Whoever is to blame, Hillary was done long before earlier this month when she finally got around to publicly admitting as much. But even as the New York senator was finished, her Hillites kept trying to make her undone.
    The former First Lady’s speech backing Obama earlier this month was still in analysis when her supporters launched a draft Hillary for Veep campaign.
    "No one brings to a ticket what Hillary brings," California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on ABC's "This Week," the Sunday after Hillary’s concession.
    “For me and millions of other Democrats, I believe that the most important step that you can take now is to encourage the Congressional Black Caucus to urge Senator Obama to select Senator Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate," Billionaire Bob Johnson said in a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn, who heads the CBC.
    Listening to what these two have had to say at the time—and other Hillites, like hubby Bill, and Terry McAuliffe, Clinton campaign chair and chief cheerleader, I was of two minds on whether the second place winner in the party’s presidential sweeps ought to be placed in the number two spot on the ticket.
    Part of me said, “Let it be,” while the other part of me asked, “are you losing your ever-loving mind?”
    Depending on whose argument I heard or read last, I went back and forth for a while. Finally, I sat down and had a long talk with myself.
    Self: You learned your ABC’s before you went to kindergarten. Have you forgotten them in your advancing years? Anybody But Clinton.
    Other Self: Since you want to play with acronyms, how about DT or SFW or DH? Barack and Hillary would be the Democrats’ dream team. They would be sure-fire winners. They would be double-history, the first African American president and the first woman vice-president.
    Self: Not dream team, nightmare. It would be an unmitigated disaster. Did you listen to Jimmy Carter when he said that if Barack picked Hillary it "would be the worst mistake that could be made”? It would highlight the negatives from both candidates while their positives would suffer in the joining.
Other Self: Did you forget how good the Clintons were to black people? Why do you think so many black politicians backed them over Obama?
    Self: Don’t dare go there.
    Other Self: Well, what about those 18 million Americans who voted for Hillary? That’s no small number. She can deliver them to Obama in November, assuring him victory.
    Self: Hillary does have a hard-core following of older white women but their numbers aren’t as great as her vote tally suggests. Some of those 18 million were Republicans that right-wing mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh encouraged to vote for Hillary just to create chaos on the Democratic ticket. Some of the blue-collar vote, when forced to choose between a white woman and a black man, stayed in their comfort zone, so when it comes to president, John McCain’s their guy.
    Other Self: Skip the Republicans and the racists, what about all the feminists who have waited all their lives and are sorely disappointed because there won’t be a woman in the White House? What if they stay home or vote GOP.
Self: Wicked right-wing wordsmith Ann Coulter was going to vote for Hillary if McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee. She quickly talked herself out of that notion. When Hillary’s women stop to think about McCain’s positions on civil rights and women’s rights, they’ll be giving themselves a good talking to as well.
    Other Self: OK, let’s talk turkey: We had good times in the 1990s under President Clinton. Americans had extra cash in their pockets and a debt-free, peace-loving nation. Besides, with Hillary, you get a two-fer. You get her tenacity and true grit and you get Bill with all his contacts and REAL presidential experience.
    Self: We may get a two-fer but President Obama would be getting too much. He’d have to worry about the husband and wife tag-team backstabbing and undermining him every chance they got.  As former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski pointed out, the vice president’s office is not that far from the Oval Office and with Bhillary as his Veep, Obama would have a government-in-exile and a government-in-waiting right down the hall. And, what kind of signal do you think Patti Solis Doyle was to the Clinton cult?
    Other Self: Hmmmm, never mind.

Welcome back to Kansas, Hillary

   

    In this twisted tale of realpolitik, Hillary Clinton has been following a long and winding yellow brick road to nowhere for weeks now. She proved to be an odd mixture of Dorothy, trying to get back home to the White House, and the Wizard of Oz, standing behind a curtain of distortions, misrepresentations and racial coded pronouncements while distracting us with some dazzling smoke and mirror work.
    Her journey ended today.
    Hillary suspended her historic presidential bid to throw her unqualified endorsement behind Barack Obama’s historic presidential bid.
    "Today as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary campaign he has won. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him and I ask of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me," the former First Lady said in her gut-wrenching 28-minute speech.
    Just days ago, Hillary was still hiding behind the curtain, sending out smoking signals that insisted that she was the more qualified candidate. Meanwhile the Tin Man, aka Bill, was complaining about the msm giving her a raw deal.
    Well, now it’s a done deal—Obama’s the one. "The way to continue our fight now to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States."
    The senator from New York may never be able to go home again, but she’s finally left the Land of Oz, landing gracefully back on Terra firm. The Democratic Party will need her spirit, feistyness and   tenacity—a long, tough battle against its wounded and weary adversary is already underway.

June is now Black History Month

   

    History happened last night. Or as Sen. Barack Obama described it, it was an eventful evening as he became the first African American to win the Democratic nomination for president. A year and a half ago, Obama’s journey this far with nothing but a notion. Hillary Clinton had the name recognition, a leg up in the money chase and her hand on the party’s political machinery.
    Back then, I was soberly skeptical while secretly hoping the improbable would become the reality. Obama is now five months away from being the winner who takes all. 
    Still, yesterday was good. Let’s hope that tomorrow will be even better.   
    Here’s a column I wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times a year and a half ago, right before Obama officially announced his candidacy for the party nomination.

Can Obama prove me wrong again?

Chicago Sun-Times

January 21, 2007
BY MONROE ANDERSON

Not long after Barack Obama lost his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, I ran into him at a downtown restaurant. I stopped at his table for a quick hello before joining my lunch date. Before I could nod goodbye, Obama told me that he was going to run for the U.S. Senate. I was taken aback. ''From a state senator to a U.S. senator? That's too big a leap,'' I warned.

''It doesn't matter. It's all the same,'' Obama said, summarizing in the shorthand exchange of a chance restaurant encounter that either you're qualified and capable or you're not. Remembering that he'd expressed an interest in running for mayor during another lunch meeting years before, I think I shook my head in disbelief. Time, obviously, has proved Obama right and me wrong.

The short period it took him to go from a relatively unknown Illinois state senator to a relatively unknown political force with rock-star stature could have happened only in these modern times, where the currents of cable network news and the World Wide Web ebb and flow 24/7. In less than three weeks, we'll see if it's his time again as he launches his bid to become the next president of the United States. When Obama announces, he'll make history as the first black candidate whose presidential campaign goes well beyond symbolic protest or civil rights activism. As he announces, the time and place cannot be ignored: He'll do it in the midst of Black History Month, from Springfield, the center of the Land of Lincoln.

And this season we're in now may never be the same.

Almost as soon as the nation's holiday season ends, the black history season begins, starting with the Jan. 15 national holiday celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy of freedom and equality in modern American life. With the slain civil rights leader's ''I Have a Dream'' speech as its coda, the black history season lasts six weeks -- from King's birthday until the end of February. While that window of opportunity is open, African Americans of some note -- or those who have something to say -- become the perennial flavors of the month. It's a heyday. The chosen are sought out for speechmaking and interviews on network television. For those six weeks, the trials, tribulations and triumphs of great American blacks become our nation's wallpaper: always there but not always noticed. During the season, from morning to night, day in and day out, there are Black History Month exhibitions, concerts, programs, performances, galas and fund-raisers. The cable movie channels spotlight black film directors and black movies. Sponsored public service announcements are featured on network television. Public radio and television broadcast special features. Public school children are taught the heroism of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and George Washington Carver.

Then it's all over. We have to wait until next year.

Shoehorning centuries of conflict and contributions into six short weeks once a year always struck me as a peculiar practice. As slaves and as freedmen, from Reconstruction to Jim Crow to the civil rights movement and now, African Americans are tightly woven into all aspects of the American fabric. Our heritage is the back story in all American history and often a main plot.

To be sure, Obama won't be running on the African-American platform but, seek it or not, he'll be the African-American presidential candidate. That's fine with me. Every time this brilliant, compassionate man speaks to American citizens will be at once, a lesson in current events now and a history lesson for generations to come. And should he win, believe it or not, black history will become America's history 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days of the year. So I, like millions of other Americans of all races, creeds and national origins, would like to see him become the Jackie Robinson of major league politics in this nation.

Only time will tell if, exactly two years from yesterday, Obama will be front and center at the swearing-in ceremony on Pennsylvania Avenue. I honestly doubt it, but I sincerely hope the Illinois senator will prove me wrong again.

Talk about a dream team...how about an Obama-Powell dynamic duo?

    Ebonyjet.com has asked its political contributors to pick cabinet members in a fantasy draft for Barack Obama should he become president. Eric Easter, Johnson Publishing's chief of digital strategy, was the first to voice his choice.
    I thought about the challenge and decided to go out the box in choosing the Veep in my dream team:  Colin Powell.
    Putting the retired general in the number two slot on the Democratic ticket would be the ultimate cross-party gesture from the candidate of change. Over the past two or three decades, a gaggle of conservative Democrats have denounced their party affiliation to before becoming instant Republicans. Turn about would be fair play with Powell's public rejection of President Bush's Iraq war policies; his public explanation on how the Bush Administration hoodwinked him into making the WMD argument before the United Nations; and his public criticism of the Republican party's dreadful mishandling of national governance since it's introduction of the "Contract with America."
    Of course, the power players in Democratic Party would never allow a recently-converted Republican to land the much coveted second spot...but while I'm in a fantasy mode, I figured I'd make a quick case for something completely different. Here's my ebonyjet.com commentary posted earlier today.

Obama’s Cabinet: The Ebonyjet.com Fantasy Draft, Part II


June 2, 2008 

By Monroe Anderson

Monroe Anderson’s been busy over the last couple of days breaking news on our stalwart Democratic presidential candidate. Fortunately, we corralled him a bit earlier to share his picks for the Ebonyjet.com Fantasy Draft for an Obama White House cabinet. He has a few opinions...)

Before I name my fantasy cabinet, allow me to be for real. Cabinet members are not just selected for their administrative abilities; there are also political considerations and paybacks to be brokered. Some appointments will come out of the Washington bureaucracy. Others will be marquee name Democrats—and, most likely, a Republican or two. During the process of inclusion and elimination, Obama will get tons of suggestions. So, here’s two pounds worth.

Vice President— Colin Powell
Forget get about Hillary Clinton. She can’t be trusted to watch Obama’s back and besides—he’ll get two for the cost of one with hubby Bill attached to the deal.  John Edwards looks good on camera but demonstrated as Kerry’s Veep that he’s not good at playing bad cop to the party nominee’s good cop; neither is Bill Richardson. Powell will make an unmistakable change statement for presidential nominee Obama.  Selecting a Republican as his running mate would turn tradition on its head. The retired four-star general would cancel out John McCain’s military advantage. As a former presidential cabinet member for both Papa and Junior Bush, Powell was so popular among Republicans, independents and Reagan Democrats that many thought him a more viable candidate in 2000 than George W. I know this is out-of-the box thinking but Powell is basically a Republican by opportunity only and should be a welcomed addition to the other side of the aisle. Finally, for the nut jobs out there that might be planning an assassination attempt of the nation’s first African American Chief Executive, they’d be forced to think twice.

Chief of Staff—Gov. Bill Richardson
During the double-digit number of debates among the candidates for Democratic Party nomination for president, the governor of New Mexico demonstrated time and time again that he is both level-headed and a peace-maker.  Richardson, who was one of the highest-ranking Hispanic appointees in President Clinton’s administration, brings the right blend of experience and respect to keep Obama’s White House in order.

Secretary of State—Sen. Joe Biden
At the risk of upsetting the balance of power in the senate, Obama will have to be frugal when it comes to recruiting for his cabinet among Democrats in the upper chamber.  Fortunately, with the Republican brand in ruins, the Democrats should end up with enough new senate seats to offset Biden’s move into the inner-sanctum of the Oval Office. As the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the senior senator from Delaware has been a major proponent of a no-nonsense approach to bringing the troops home. Biden also commands respect on The Hill and in the Pentagon.

Attorney General—Lani Guinier
For the past seven years, justice has been denied to virtually any American whose net worth was seven digits or greater. Labeled by the right as “anti-Constitution” and “the quota queen” when Bill Clinton nominated her for assistant attorney general in 1993, the president caved, kicking his former Yale Law School classmate under the bus. Imminently qualified, Guiner will make sure that the poor and the wage earner gets their just due.

Secretary of Defense—Sam Nunn
As a member of the Obama administration, the four-term retired Georgia senator will have to tamp down his opposition to gays in the military if any change is gonna come. But, beyond that discriminatory instinct, the former chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services is ideal for Defense Secretary.  Right now, Nunn is the co-chairman—with Ted Turner--and Chief Executive Officer of the NTI (Nuclear Threat Initiative), a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

National Security Advisor—Susan Rice
Rice will have her hands full correcting the international miscalculations of President Bush’s Condoleezza Rice. Currently on leave from the Brookings Institute, Dr. Susan Rice served President Clinton as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.  She now serves as the Obama campaign’s senior foreign policy advisor.

Secretary of Veteran Affairs--John Murtha
The House already has a Democratic-margin safety net; therefore Obama can deftly move the Pennsylvania congressman into this important post. Like McCain, Murtha is a Vietnam War hero. Unlike McCain, three years ago Murtha called for a redeployment of American troops in Iraq. A Clinton supporter in the primary race, Murtha—along with Powell and Biden—would help the Obama administration consolidate support in military and veteran quarters.

Department of Energy—Gov. Christine Gregoire
With global warming threatening to end the world as we know it and oil prices at record highs and rising, Obama will need a director willing to steer our energy practices away from old fossil fuels and into alternative energy. As the governor of Washington, Gregoire is known for her green dedication. She made sure her state was the first in the nation to enact a mandate for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for public buildings.

Secretary of Commerce— Jeffrey Sachs
We’re going to need a heavy-hitter to undo all the damage to the economy Bush and his Republican majority perpetrated on us in this new millennium. Sachs is the solution. Currently a professor on the faculty at the School of International and Public Affairs and director of the Earth Institute, both at Columbia University, Sachs is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In his critically acclaimed book, “The End of Poverty,” Sachs asserts, "Extreme poverty can be ended, not in the time of our grandchildren, but our time."

Monroe Anderson is an award-winning journalist who penned op-ed columns for both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. Check out his blog at monroeanderson.typepad.com