The Casey Lartigue Show!

Roundtable: Sean Bell Protests & Presidential Politics

2008-05-12T10:26:00.003-04:00

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News & Notes , May 7, 2008 · On today's bloggers roundtable, Farai Chideya moderates a conversation about the latest string of protests over the shooting death of Sean Bell, last night's Democratic primary results, and the death of interracial marriage pioneer, Mildred Loving.

Joining in the conversation are bloggers Carmen Van Kerckhove of Racialicious; Baratunde Thurston of Jack & Jill Politics; and Casey Lartigue of The Casey Lartigue Show!

The Root

2008-05-12T09:51:00.002-04:00

I've got a piece on The Root this morning.

Empty Threats: A History

Still taking the black vote for granted after all these years.

TheRoot.com

Updated: 5:33 PM ET May 9, 2008

May 12, 2008--If Sen. Clinton somehow manages to wrest the nomination from Sen. Barack Obama, black voters, we are being told, are likely to sit at home or vote Republican.

But haven't we heard these types of threats before? Black Democrats have been warning for decades that their party will be in trouble if they keep taking the black vote for granted in the general election. Still others have warned that Republicans could steal a large number of black votes as a result. Based on recent history, Black Democrats will huff and puff, then... stand in line to vote for the Democrat presidential candidate, hustle around the country and exhort blacks to vote.

Let's take a trip down memory lane:

ELECTION, 1976

At a black political strategy meeting held in Charlotte, N.C., blacks lamented that Democrats take the black vote for granted while Republicans largely ignore it.

--The New York Times, May 8, 1976

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., criticized Democrats for taking the black vote for granted and Republicans for ignoring poor and black Americans.

--The New York Times, August 15, 1976

Final 1976 tally

Jimmy Carter, Democrat, 85 percent of the black vote (election winner)

Gerald Ford, Republican, 15 percent of the black vote.

ELECTION, 1980

[Rep. John] Conyers D-Mich. said it is obvious that [Sen. Edward ]Kennedy enjoys widespread support among rank-and-file black Democrats. "The defections in the Carter camp grow daily," he said, adding that it would be a mistake to take the black vote for granted.

Source: The Associated Press, Oct 31, 1979

Jesse Jackson said President Carter should not take the black vote for granted in the 1980 election and that the possibility of black support for GOP candidate Ronald Reagan should not be dismissed out of hand. "His bark is greater than his bite, judging from what he did in California," Jackson said of Reagan. "I do not want to reduce our options." He added that Reagan's choice of George Bush as his running mate shows some flexibility. "The idea that blacks won't vote for a Republican is inaccurate," Jackson said, citing black support of Sen. Charles Percy, R-Ill., and former Sen. Edward Brooke, R-Mass.

Source: The Associated Press, July 20, 1980

Maudine R. Cooper, the Urban League's vice president for Washington operations, echoed Jackson's warning: "We cannot be wed to any party or candidate."

Source: The Washington Post, August 9, 1980

Final 1980 tally:

Democrat Jimmy Carter—86 percent of the black vote

Republican Ronald Reagan—12 percent (election winner)

ELECTION 1984

"A further objective of Mr. Jackson's campaign was to serve notice that white Democrats should not take black votes for granted and that Republicans could not afford to write them off entirely."

Source: The New York Times, November 26, 1984

Final 1984 tally:

Democrat Walter Mondale—89 percent of the black vote

Republican Ronald Reagan—9 percent of the black vote(election winner)

ELECTION 1988

"[Evangelist and presidential candidate Pat] Robertson's campaign staff argued that he would let Democrats know they cannot take the black vote for granted. George Vinnett, his black national press secretary, insisted the white evangelist would get interracial support."

Source: United Press International, October 1, 1987

''The time has passed when Democrats can take the black vote for granted. The New Alliance Party gives voters an alternative to the two major parties,'' said Lenora B. Fulani, presidential candidate of the New Alliance Party

Source: Christian Science Monitor, July 7, 1988

Marva Gibbs, a program director for a health care agency in Summerville, S.C., said she would vote for Mr. Bush because "Democrats don't stand more for blacks than Republicans, so why be loyal to them?" "Democrats take black votes for granted and think they can do anything they want and because we're black we'll vote Democratic," she added.

The New York Times , October 27, 1988

Final 1988 tally:

Democrat Michael Dukakis—88 percent of the black vote

Republican George H.W. Bush—10 percent of the black vote (election winner)

ELECTION 1992

Jesse Jackson tells reporters: "Don't take the black vote for granted." Jackson hinted that he might bolt the party and take millions of black voters with him unless he gets more respect from his fellow Democrats and unless Congress passes the 1991 Civil Rights Act.

Source: SeattlePost-Intelligencer, May 24, 1991

"...although the Sister Souljah controversy may not have hurt him to any great degree among Black voters, Gov. Clinton would be wise to not assume that he can take the Black vote for granted, no matter what he does."

Source: Calvin W. Rolark, WashingtonInformer, June 24, 1992

"There's no question Mr. Clinton's strategy is to aim his message at the moderate, white Southerners and take the black vote for granted," [pollster Whit] Ayres said. "Not surprisingly, every indication I get is that black voters are quite ambivalent about Mr. Clinton's candidacy."

Source: OrlandoSentinel, October 26, 1992

Final 1992 tally:

Lawrence Lucier / Getty Images

Democrat Bill Clinton—82 percent of the black vote

Republican George H.W. Bush—11 percent of the black vote

ELECTION 1996

..Once again, civil rights leaders say they have no real choice but to help the Democrats retain control of Congress."This is not the first time we've had to save the captain from sinking the ship, especially when we are on the ship - and in the hull of it at that," said Jesse Jackson, who is campaigning for the Democratic National Committee to get out the black, urban and labor vote.

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 30, 1994.

Bernard Shaw, host: "[D]o the Democrats realize there's a firebell in the night, that blacks are beginning to look at the Republican Party very seriously and that there are viable candidates running?"

Source: CNN, Inside Politics, November 1, 1994

Final 1996 tally:

Democrat Bill Clinton—84 percent of the black vote

Republican Bob Dole—12 percent of the black vote

ELECTION 2000

The apparent ability of some Republican candidates to attract a significant minority of black voters can now work to the political advantage of African Americans. Facing new competition from the GOP, Democrats will no longer be able to take the black vote for granted. Increasingly, they will be forced to pay attention to black voter concerns in order to solidify their electoral base.

Source: Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, October 31, 1999

[NAACP president] Kweisi Mfume said that for too long, black America has been caught between the policies of Republicans who eschew minority issues and of Democrats who take the black vote for granted."That type of folly must end," Mfume said.

Source: The Associated Press, July 8, 2000

Final 2000 tally:

Democrat Al Gore: 90 percent of the black vote

Republican George W. Bush: 9 percent of the black vote

Pool / Getty Images

ELECTION 2004

"There are some clear warning signs that the Democrats should heed, and not assume rampant support from African-Americans in November based simply on traditional voting patterns," said Pamela Gentry, BET Nightly News Washington bureau chief and senior producer.

Source: HoustonChronicle, July 23, 2004

U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Detroit said Kerry is smart to not take black votes for granted. "Frequently we come to the black community too little and too late," said Conyers, who is black. "The biggest vote, by far, is in the African-American community where only half the people are voting, but those who vote vote 90 percent Democratic."

Source: Associated Press, July 15, 2004

Final 2004 tally:

Democrat John Kerry—88 percent of the black vote

Republican George W. Bush—11 percent of the black vote (election winner)

ELECTION 2008

A big sticking point for many panelists at the NAACP's Freedom Weekend Freedom Institute's forum was that the Democratic Party "takes the black vote for granted," said Bankole Thompson, Michigan Chronicle senior editor.

Source" Detroit Free Press April 27, 2008

"But before Democratic superdelegates get too itchy to snuff the Obama campaign, they should consider the new animal that move might spawn: the Obama Republican. I know: the notion of black folks and young folks and progressive white folks abandoning the Democrats en masse if the Wife of Bill is the nominee ain't exactly new; Right here on The Root, the writer William Jelani Cobb espoused a McCain protest vote in November, and has since accepted a ticket to Denver as a Democratic delegate in August. But that makes the threat no less real. Any Democratic honcho needing a lesson in the power of disaffected black voters need only Google "2002 and Clarence Mitchell IV."

Source: The RootApril 25, 2008.

"Let's be clear. When black folks switch parties, we do it decisively. After nearly a century of unwavering commitment to the party of Lincoln, it was Republican Barry Goldwater's presidential bid in 1964, designed to appeal to entrenched American racism, which led to an increase in black Democratic Party identifiers from 59 percent to 86 percent in a single election. Despite Obama's call for unity in his North Carolina victory speech last night, black Americans will not stand behind a candidate who deploys a Goldwater strategy within our own party. Our opposition to the war will not allow us to vote for McCain, but we can choose to exit the coalition, withhold our votes, to protest a Clinton candidacy. This is not a threat. It is an observation based on historical evidence."

Source: The Root, May 7, 2008

Final 2008 tally?

Win McNamee / Getty Images

YURI GRIPAS / AFP/Getty Images

Casey Lartigue, Jr. is an education consultant based in Virginia.

linked by Marc Lamont Hill,

Chaos continues at Radio One

2008-05-06T15:47:00.004-04:00

The only national black talk network has been having a lot of trouble. Of course, I point to the day they pulled my show off the air as the beginning of the end.

1) According to the Washington Post: Radio One's stock lost 17 percent of its value this week, closing yesterday at $1.06. Since last year, when the company's stock traded at a [sic: high] of $7.59, its value has declined 85 percent.

2) The son of the founder of the company has just received a generous pay raise and compensation package. According to the Washington Post: Liggins would receive $980,000 in salary, a 70 percent increase over the $575,370 he made in 2007, and have the opportunity to match that in an annual bonus, contingent in part on the company meeting certain performance goals. He would be paid a $1 million "signing bonus" because, the Radio One compensation committee said, he has been underpaid for the last three years. Liggins also would be paid $4.8 million to compensate him for losses he incurred when he was forced to repay a company loan to buy Radio One stock several years ago.

3) The ReidBlog reports that Lee Michaels, former national program director of Syndication One and XM 169 The Power, has just gotten fired. Michaels is the one who pulled my radio show off the air after we had a dispute over my show on urban legends. Reid also tells the following story: Apparently, the company finally managed to sell its L.A. station, (then called KKBT - 100.3 The Beat, now called V100, and the station that used to employ Steve Harvey, before the Radio One folks kicked him to the curb, allegedly over remarks he made about Cathy Hughes as she sat in the audience for the BET Comedy Awards, which he was hosting. The station, which with Harvey had the number one show in the market, promptly went in the tank after that, and in 2005, Harvey jumped to Clear Channel. The rest, as they say, is history...

CJL

AIDS and the government

2008-05-01T15:33:00.002-04:00

Rev. Jeremiah Wright has attracted a lot of attention with his theories about the federal government creating AIDS in a laboratory. Here's an excerpt excerpt from Talk Radio Can't Handle the Truth By Casey Lartigue Jr. and Eliot Morgan

Sunday, August 5, 2007; Page B03

Often, just one word can silence those who doubt the conspiracy theory of the day: COINTELPRO, the FBI's notorious anticommunist program that was used against groups such as the Southern Christian Leadership Council and the Ku Klux Klan. From the Scottsboro Boys to the Tuskegee syphilis study, our government has displayed a willingness to conspire against its citizens.

Likewise, truth-squadding becomes difficult when such theories are linked to hard data: Black Americans constitute about 12 percent of the U.S. population but about half of the nation's AIDS cases. That sets up the conditions in which, according to researchers Sheryl Thorburn Bird and Laura M. Bogart, more than 20 percent of black Americans think that HIV was created to restrict the black population.

A 1990 survey by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference found that one-third of black American churchgoers believed that AIDS was a form of genocide. One-third also believed that HIV was produced in a germ-warfare lab, and 40 percent of black college students in Washington, D.C., agreed. An even higher percentage of blacks polled said they thought that crack cocaine was custom-made to be planted in African American communities to keep them crime-ridden and poor and that the government deliberately targeted black elected officials to drive them from office.

These beliefs keep some black Americans from having their children vaccinated, from receiving AIDS tests and early medical treatment, and from practicing safe sex or using clean needles, as Patricia A. Turner and Gary Alan Fine note in their book, "Whispers on the Color Line." They also make seeking the truth an uphill battle.

Quote Of The Day

2008-04-29T16:24:00.000-04:00

Perhaps next year the Iraqis will get their act together and settle their internal differences. Perhaps next year Congress will balance the federal budget. Such developments are always possible. They are also highly unlikely.

Andrew J. Bacevich

Debate, at 20 paces

2008-04-26T19:18:00.003-04:00

Hillary Clinton has challenged Barack Obama to a non-moderator debate, a la Lincoln-Douglass. Obama should go back even farther in history and challenge her to a duel.

CJL

Firearm Weirdness

2008-04-25T14:56:00.002-04:00

We are constantly bombarded with propaganda that states that "assault weapons" have no other purpose in life besides killing as many people as quickly as possible. So I have to wonder what exactly New York City is thinking when it's giving them to police officers who will patrolling in a very closed environment. Setting aside the whole ignorance
displayed by describing something as a carbine rifle (a carbine being, by definition, a short rifle) it makes me wonder just what masses of people the NYPD is planning to quickly kill...and whether they've given any thought to possible injuries and death to innocent bystanders.

Nah. The NYPD doesn't have to worry about liability for killing innocents.

Quote Of The Day

2008-04-25T10:53:00.000-04:00

There's a lesson here for opponents of any law. The more people they can convince to join them in disobedience of the law, the more difficult it becomes to enforce the law. Eventually, the disagreeable regulation becomes nothing more than an annoying technicality to be ignored by opponents and enforcers alike.

J.D. Tuccille

Happy Arbor Day!

2008-04-25T09:39:00.001-04:00

I've got a piece on the National Center for Public Policy Research blog talking about Arbor Day.

Frugalistismo

2008-04-23T18:46:00.003-04:00

A big wave to Wendy McElroy and her Frugalista movement! Cutting back on what you owe cuts back on the ties that the State can have to you!

Quote Of The Day

2008-04-23T18:44:00.001-04:00

But there seems to be a popular delusion that transforming society is simply a matter of wanting hard enough and cleverly crafting legislation that everybody must follow as if it were a law of nature. As Jacobs puts it in the gun control context, "To a large extent, gun control is something that people believe in. It is embraced in principle without attention to practicalities, implementation and enforcement problems, and cost." Inevitably, the gun controllers, like all totalitarian "reformers," are disappointed when their neighbors prove resistant to social engineering.

J.D. Tuccille

Democrats For Democracy?

2008-04-23T16:53:00.001-04:00

Quoth the New York Times: "It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind when they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box."

In other words, skaaaaREW democracy and the will of the people. Fire up those smoke filled rooms, boys, the Good Times Are Back!

How very...conservative...of them.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy Meets Market Realities

2008-04-23T15:38:00.002-04:00

It is normal human nature, I believe, to want to get caught up in bubbles and panics. The thought of getting something for nothing or losing something for nothing is strong within the human psyche, and so it is no surprise that with spiraling inflation there are people buying into the current food panic. Bubbles and panics tend to go right past the (allegedly) thoughtful forebrain and hit right back into the lizard brain that we all still have. And if you're a person who's not particularly keen on understanding and controlling the lizard brain...bingo, you're in a bubble or a panic.

This is not to say that costs aren't up and shortages aren't real. Costs are traceable to both inflation and to the idiot food-into-fuel* panic that is currently in vogue.

So this will be another one of those interesting things to watch as it unfolds. Will the stampeding herd pull back in time? Will they overrun the pasture and wipe out the whole food chain? Stay tuned...and maybe pick up some tulips for a light snack in the meantime.

*I know - the link is to Australia, but it's current and well-written and doesn't lose anything in the translation to American.

Quote Of The Day

2008-04-22T17:08:00.000-04:00

There are few more reprehensible traits in American political culture than the constant exploitation of the glories of "sacrifice for freedom" by war cheerleaders like Kristol who ensure that only others sacrifice and neither they nor their families ever do. What "sacrifices for the sake of freedom" has Bill Kristol -- the prime poster child of nepotistic protection -- ever made in his entire life?

Glenn Greenwald

Just The Sort Of Army We Need

2008-04-22T12:55:00.003-04:00

Back when I was still wearing the Funny Green Tree Suit in the '80s, there was, as I recall, a certain amount of pride that the Army was finally meeting its recruiting needs without having to resort to CAT-IVs on the educational scale, nor any use for "moral waivers." Well, those days are past us and the numbers of poorly educated and downright felonious troops are rising.

What is particularly frightening about the increase in criminals is that they are quite likely to end
up preying not only on civilians in the war zones, thus blackening the National Eye even more (presuming that's possible) but may well prey on fellow soldiers, thus weakening morale (if that's possible, too) even more as well as wrecking unit cohesion. This will result in "good" soldiers leaving and a requirement for even more of the morally challenged types to fill out the ranks.

Eventually you end up with an entire military composed of Dirty Dozen types - but without the happy movie ending.

A big hat tip to David Codrea for first pointing out the Dirty Dozen analogy.

Irony Is Lost On These People

2008-04-22T12:44:00.002-04:00

One of the key skills a politician must master is an absolute immunity to any sense of irony in his public statements. Take for example the current suggestion by Condi Rice that Moqtada al-Sadr is a coward, because, "I know he's sitting in Iran," Miss Rice said dismissively, when asked about Sheik al-Sadr's latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. "I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him..."

You know, I have not seen many pictures of this particular chickenhawkette walking point in body armor, helmet, and M-16, nor are any of her flock showing that particular talent. She's not even close to the action in the form of having personally obtained the loyalty of a group of fighters involved in the current occupation. As such, it seems to me that she needs to sit down and keep quiet about characteristics that she's noticeably lacking - since it's hard to believe that she would even recognize them if she saw them.

Empire Then And Now

2008-04-22T12:25:00.002-04:00

On April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage, a general in the globe-spanning empire of the era, ordered in part:

Orders from General Thomas Gage
to Lieut. Colonel Smith, 10th Regiment 'Foot Boston, April 18, 1775
Lieut. Colonel Smith, 10th Regiment 'Foot,

Sir,

Having received intelligence, that a quantity of Ammunition, Provisions, Artillery, Tents and small Arms, have been collected at Concord, for the Avowed Purpose of raising and supporting a Rebellion against His Majesty, you will March with a Corps of Grenadiers and Light Infantry, put under your Command, with the utmost expedition and Secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and distroy all Artillery, Ammunition, Provisions, Tents, Small Arms, and all Military Stores whatever. But you will take care that the Soldiers do not plunder the Inhabitants, or hurt private property.

Emphasis added.

Compare and contrast that with the American Empire's treatment of, say, Fallujah.

So the American Rebels were justified in fighting to be free of an Empire that treated them with civilized courtesy, but the Iraqis are "dealt with as wolves are." Does anyone else see the hypocrisy there?

Hillary - Quiet And Loud

2008-04-22T10:40:00.004-04:00

Politicians are relatively privileged these days. When they don't want to talk about things, the mainstream media is generally willing to give them a pass on the topic, instead of boring in like sharks smelling blood. On the other hand, politicians could give sharks lessons in how to attack injured prey. So Hillary's relative silence in regard to Barack's pastoral issues is somewhat disturbing, until you read what Mother Jones has to say about why.

On the other hand, Hillary has made sure to make her loyalties to a Nation Other Than America very clear, putting American power into the service of a different state and subordinating American interests to those of another. Is there a connection between the reason for the silence and the saber rattling?

There was a time when Americans were incredibly suspicious of a possible Catholic president, concerned over the potential for divided loyalty. Shouldn't that same suspicion extend to any candidate who seems to have difficulty recognizing what America's actual interests are in the world?

As the wise man says, "A fish rots from the head down," so is it any surprise that we see followup stories like this?

Quote Of The Day

2008-04-21T19:55:00.000-04:00

In other words, elect McCain, my friends, and you are summoning the awful genie of another 9/11. I said it. I mean it. I'm not taking it back. That man's announced policies could well produce a blowback that will lead to the end of democracy in the United States. It is a momentous decision.

Juan Cole

Maybe They're Saving Themselves For Iran

2008-04-21T16:04:00.003-04:00

The Air Force is "not doing enough" in Iraq. I'd have thought that pulling the Iraqi army's bacon out of the fire, along with its general commitment to mayhem and civilian deaths, would have been more than sufficient. I shudder to think of what may actually be considered "enough."

Oil Goes Up - In Dollars

2008-04-21T15:57:00.002-04:00

That being said, it's interesting that oil is still holding at around a tenth of an ounce of gold per barrel. You don't tend to see too many stories, though they're known to crop up, as have analyses of the issue. But mostly the average person reading the paper is not clued in. That is, of course, because inflation is inherently a problem created by whoever is producing the money - and the mainstream media is hardly likely to bite the State that feeds it.

Context Is Everything When Beating Children

2008-04-21T15:52:00.003-04:00

One of my daily stops is Karen De Coster's blog and given much of her hard hitting discussion there, it's no surprise to find out that she also beats children. Quoting Karen, "...I have to decide whether to go mountain biking today or perhaps go look for some little kiddies to beat..."

Of course, it looks a little different when you read the whole story and not just my snippet.

Quote Of The Day

2008-04-17T12:13:00.001-04:00

In the world of right-wing Republicans, actual bravery, courage, and military service are irrelevant. What matters is a willingness to strike the pose of a warrior.

Glenn Greenwald

Weird Weather? Or Socialist "Success?"

2008-04-17T11:34:00.009-04:00

Today's quiz question will be "What's The Problem Here?" For reference purposes, I have placed a map of East Asia here, and would direct the reader's attention to the purple and
yellow colored Korean Peninsula, just west of Japan. Got it? Good.

So here's the lead in to the question. Once again, North Korea is going to be facing food shortages, allegedly as a result of "summer floods." On the other hand, South Korea is facing a rice glut,
and apparently has more rice than it knows what to do with. Given the proximity of these two countries, isn't the weather fairly similar, such that the "floods" in the North should have done equal damage to the South - if it truly was flooding?

Isn't it more likely that the problem is exactly what it always is in socialist countries - an insistence on top-down rigid control of people's lives and property that results in a society unable to produce adequate amounts of even its most basic needs? Of course, the elites in Pyongyang will not be going hungry or resorting to long pig dinners any time soon, but that's also the nature of socialism. Some animals are more equal than others. Odd, though, how those very same elites always complain about how businesses in more free market oriented countries live off the sweat of their employees and customers. Given that people - even here in the US - still flock to the Socialist Ideal, it just proves some of those good old adages, like how you can rob somebody blind if you yell loudly enough about how big a crook the other guy is...or how you can fool some of the people all of the time.

So. Two countries, one a fairly free market with a rice glut, and one rigidly socialist facing famine yet again. Similar climate and weather between the two. Thus the question: What's the problem here? Fickle weather gods? Or just crappy-as-usual Socialist "planning?"

The quiz will be graded on a curve, no points will be given for partial answers.

Mr. Chairman,

2008-04-16T18:21:00.002-04:00

Last September I was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association.

The latest news is that my colleagues chose me to chair the planning committee for the symposium that we are organizing for next year. My updates to follow, here and at the Website I just put together.

CJL