There has been much talk throughout the City of Philadelphia about the upcoming race for State Representative of the 190th Legislative District. Freshman, incumbent Rep Vanessa Lowery Brown, has brought fresh, new, constituent-services-oriented flavor to this seat, one that constituents say has not existed for years.
Thomas Blackwell who held the house seat for one term prior to Brown being elected, was disqualified from the race for his re-election because of forged signatures on his petitions. Rep Brown went on to win that seat. Sharif Street, who lost a race for City Council at large a few years ago, recently moved into the district specifically to run for this house seat. Which raises the question, is he running because he wants to help the people in his community, or does he just want to get elected somewhere? As all 3 candidates hustle for petition signatures, the tensions rise on the streets as community leaders, business owners and other elected officials choose sides. But which candidate is actually worthy of representing their district in Harrisburg?
I remember walking down 125th street in Harlem back in April of 2008 when the announcement came down that the 3 cops who shot Sean Bell were acquitted. Instantly, you could almost feel the emotion sweep through the City like a dark plague. I saw Blacks and Latinos walking down the street with frustration and tears in their eyes; one elderly Black man walked straight up to a police officer and asked "is a Black man's life still worth nothing?!" I remember thinking to myself as a brand new lawyer at the time: "Wow. How in the hell do you beat a case like that? 50 bullets fired. 3 unarmed men shot. One man dead (on his wedding night to boot). And not even so much as a manslaughter charge? Wow." I got that feeling all over again when it was just recently announced that the same 3 cops who were acquitted back in '08 dodged yet another bullet. As it turns out, the Department of Justice has decided to drop the Federal Civil Rights charges against them. Again...wow.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| CPAC 2010 - Rage Within the Machine | ||||
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President Obama, you ran your dynamite campaign partly on the premise of Bi-Partisanship. After eight years of Republican tyranny, you knew that the people were tired of politics as usual and the party vendetta’s spilling out onto the House/Senate floor and being played out on the public stage. Your promises of a bi-partisan government were spoken under the context of what had occurred in politics over the previous eight years and the changing dynamic of the political landscape, sparked by the Reagan Administration. We were finally beginning to see that our country would fall apart unless we united and began to push the agenda’s that we could agree on, which for a time seemed to be increasingly abundant. We all agreed that bonuses given to the financial institution czars after being bailed out by Washington was wrong. We also agreed that the war in Iraq was bogus, the health care system was broken, and that our reputation around the world needed to be reinvented if this country would ever take back its place as the international super power that it is.
And here's another definition provided by the FBI:premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets (read the rest of the definition here)
Some people are arguing that he was not part of a larger plot or that he did not have the goal of terrorizing the populace. Um really? He flew an airplane into a government office building with people INSIDE OF IT. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as more than just committing suicide. By this logic, every suicide bomber is just a little disgruntled at the government. Please.Domestic terrorism is the unlawful use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual based and operating entirely within the United States or Puerto Rico without foreign direction committed against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives.
There is not a credible definition of terrorism that does not include the act of flying a plane into a building filled with civilians as a political statement. Stack is evidently not religiously motivated, but that does not change the definition at all. If he acted alone, then he’s what the Department of Homeland Security has recently taken to calling a lone-wolf extremist.
It's Black History Month Again!
1) Did you know that Black History Month originated in 1926 by Dr. Carter G Woodson, Author of "The Mis-Education of the Negro," originally as Negro History Week? The month of February was chosen in honor of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, who were both born in that month.
During last Wednesday's State of the Union Address, you might recall the military brass who respectfully yet firmly remained seated when President Obama announced his aim to eradicate the military's controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. If there was ever any doubt before, the moment provided a crystal clear contrast between the Gay Rights Movement and the leadership of the United States Military.
"The funny thing about this ad, aside from the clumsy over-the-top quality, is the metaphor... And what's the metaphor the ad uses? Sheep. But not in a disparaging way. The good politicians are sheep, doing what Grover Norquist tells them to do. Campbell, the ad tells us, is only pretending to be a sheep, but he's really a wolf. So vote for the sheep." --Jonathan Chait
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 marks the official one-year anniversary of Barack Obama's presidency. It's amazing how much has transpired in such a relatively short amount of time. When we think about where we were a year ago and where we are today, the thought conjures up much controversy and emotion, especially within the Black community. We've been no stranger to these debates here at The Urban Politico as of late, and therefore think it is only fitting that we pose the question: Considering EVERYTHING that has happened from the Inauguration until today, how would you grade Obama's first year as President?
