Democrats

Freedom Rider: Israel Reigns Supreme

Wed, 05/25/2011 - 02:21 — Margaret Kimberley

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

The corporate media pretend that President Obama is standing up to Israel, when in fact the rogue state remains the “third rail” of U.S. politics. “Israel’s untouchability has nothing to do with popularity amongst the masses, but everything to do with a well funded lobbying and propaganda machine.” Israel’s wars are America’s wars, fought with American weapons and financing. Obama is no “change agent,” and there has been no “reset” of the lop-sided U.S.-Israel arrangement.

What Has Obama Done for African Americans?

Wed, 05/25/2011 - 01:50 — Keeanga-Yamahtt...

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

President Obama’s campaign operatives claim they now have a message for Black America, after more than two years of “I got nothin’ for you, man.” Blacks have their own page on the White House blog, but filling it up with substantive news may prove difficult. “Far from ‘benefiting’ African American communities, Obama's policies--shaped largely by neoliberalism and the idea that privatization of public services is preferable to an expansion of the state, even in times of dire economic crisis--have been particularly harmful to Black communities that were already reeling from years of rotten conditions,

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The Black Civil Rights Movement And Zionism

Wed, 05/25/2011 - 01:45 — Lenni Brenner

by Lenni Brenner

The author explores Black America’s historical relationships with – and opposition to – Zionism, from W.E.B. DuBois to the demobilization of the Black Freedom Movement. “King’s April 4, 1968 assassination came at a crossroad in his relations with Washington and American Zionism. He was publicly pro-Israel but met with [Stokely] Carmichael against Johnson’s war and for King’s Poor Peoples Campaign.”

Harry Belafonte Explodes the Presidential "Make Me Do It" Myth

Tue, 05/17/2011 - 22:59 — Bruce A. Dixon

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

Does President Obama really want us to “make him do it,” to organize and agitate and create the conditions that will let him end the wars, cut the military budget, create jobs and address the hyper-incarceration of black and brown youth? Or is the “make me do it” president an urban legend who lives only inside our heads? A recent presidential encounter with Harry Belafonte tells more than some of us may want to know.

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U.S. Policy is Rooted in Lies, Injustice, and War

Tue, 05/17/2011 - 21:12 — Cynthia McKinney

by Cynthia McKinney

The former Georgia Congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate is “saddened that our first African-American President presents a false perception of the Black political consensus in the U.S.” She told the peace conference: “We cannot bring our country to peace and respect for human dignity without the solid foundation of the truth.”

Sharpton and Jackson Endorse War on Terror

Tue, 05/10/2011 - 21:43 — Glen Ford

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

The moral degradation of the Black misleadership class reveals itself in the celebration of Osama bin Laden’s demise. Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, eager to curry favor with the First Black President, wind up endorsing his and George Bush’s War on Terror. “Does Rev. Jackson think Obama deserves a ‘huge psychological boost’ for having killed almost one thousand innocent civilian men, women and children in Pakistan last year with his drones.”

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Osama, Obama and Bush: Apt Comparisons, Missed Opportunities

Wed, 05/04/2011 - 12:46 — Bruce A. Dixon

by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

Illustration by Leon Kuhn. More of his work at http://www.leonkuhn.org.uk/

This weekend the White House announced the extrajudicial killing of Osama Bin Laden, and the secret disposal of his body at sea. Are we any safer now? And would it be any different if George W. Bush were making the same announcement four years ago?

Freedom Rider: Don’t Vote for Democrats

Tue, 04/19/2011 - 22:45 — Margaret Kimberley

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

Every day it becomes clearer that Democrats and Republicans are united in resisting the will and material interests of the people. “The issue of real importance to them is maintaining the empire, and that means destroying what little is left of the rights of all citizens, and empowering corporations and wealthy individuals even more.” This is the real basis for Obama’s quest for “unity across the aisles” and “reforms” that amount to surrender. But, “Social Security and Medicare don’t need reform, they need to be defended.”

Black Caucus Overwhelmingly Supports “People’s Budget”

Tue, 04/19/2011 - 21:38 — Glen Ford

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

Barack Obama and Republican leaders act like a tag team, determined to pummel Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal into oblivion. Or, maybe we should call them a duo, singing the same song, with Obama attempting to sound slightly melancholy about the death of the social safety net. Seventy-seven Democrats, 34 of them Black, sang a different tune, in last week’s vote on the Congressional Progressive Caucus “People’s Budget.” Even in defeat, the budget shows that low taxes for the rich and insane expenditures on the military are what keep the federal budget in deficit. There is nothing inevitable about a return to the law of the economic jungle.

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Awakening From Obama's Seductive Spell

Tue, 04/12/2011 - 21:35 — Gary Olson

by Gary Olson

Barack Obama is no mystery to Paul Street. His new book “documents that Obama has been consistently to the right of center throughout his public career and is doing what he was groomed to do.” The same policies that were deemed so noxious under a white Texan, George W. Bush, “become perversely acceptable for many 'progressive' and other citizens when carried out by an eloquent and urban black Democrat from Chicago.”

The Black Wall Around Barack Obama: Who Does It Protect Him Against?

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 13:33 — Bruce A. Dixon

By BAR Managing Editor Bruce A. Dixon

The presumption that Barack Obama, no matter what he does or doesn't do, enjoys nearly unanimous black support is a veritable wall around the president. But who does it protect him against? Republicans? Banksters? Tea partyers, warmongers, torturers? Or black people and the left, his supposed base?

Freedom Rider: Attack of the Cruise Missile Liberals

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 08:48 — Margaret Kimberley

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

Americans are warlike – as long as they think they can be victorious. These nominal Democrats and Republicans “differ only on who they want to see doing the dominating.” Today, a Black Democrat is the head killer in charge, allowing the likes of Ed Schultz, Bill Maher and Juan Cole to endorse the criminal assault on Libya. When the chips are down, fraudulent anti-war liberals show their true racist, Manifest Destiny-loving colors. “The true anti-war movement must reawaken itself and hit the streets in the hundreds of thousands.”

Why Obama Attacked Libya

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 00:52 — Cynthia McKinney

by Cynthia McKinney

The former Georgia congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate has led delegations to Libya. She says, “Mr. Qaddafi to this day continues to assist Black political organizations in an effort to keep people of African descent able to exercise their right of self-determination.” Qaddafi should take the U.S. and its Europeans allies to the the International Court of Justice to obtain an injunction against this military action. “I know just the right team of unbought international lawyers to do it,” writes McKinney.

Georgia: The Next Show Me Your Papers State?

Wed, 03/16/2011 - 11:59 — Bruce A. Dixon

"Americard" illiustration by Ian Geldard

If some racist Georgia politicians have their way, Georgia will be the next “show me your papers” state. Legislation has already passed in the GA House that will criminalize the everyday activity of undocumented persons, further isolate and stigmatize them, and allow any yahoo with a computer and legal forms standing to sue police departments, judges, city and state officials and agencies who fail to enforce these laws with sufficient rigor and viciousness. Sign the petition demanding GA governor Nathan Deal veto Georgia's proposed Brown Codes, and your signature will be presented to the governor's office on March 24, Georgia's Day of Truth & Dignity.