Week in review - round up of articles and video of note

The New Yorker endorsed Barack Obama in a beautifully written piece.

American Prayer - ode to unity, not to be missed.

Six Degrees of Desperation - Sarah Palin reads in the New York Times that Barack Obama is palling around with terrorists - analysis by Jon Stewart. (if link breaks, google title - "6 degrees of desperation"/Daily Show links are short-lived.)

For more serious analysis, consider this letter to the editor of the NY Times from the prosecutor in the 1970's case against Ayres. Or, the original article in the NYTimes.

The San Francisco Chronicle covered thinly veiled racism in the attacks on Obama and critics' concern that hostile McCain/Palin rallies could incite violence.

The real expose of the week came from the Obama campaign - If you missed it, watch KeatingEconomics. The Miami Herald covered the Keating 5 story and McCain's connection to Iran Contra. Mike Lux wrapped up a host of McCain "guilt by association" in his Huffington Post article - one stop shopping for a character indictment.

And a group called Velvet Revolution is airing their interview of Stephen Spoonamore, a Republican cyber security expert/whistle-blower who is convinced that the 2004 elections was stolen by a MIM, man in the middle. Further, they cover the little exposed subpoena of Michael Connell, the GOP’s top computer expert, to testify under oath in an Ohio federal lawsuit looking into allegations that Karl Rove has directed illegal manipulation of elections through the use of computer technology. Rather than cooperate in the investigation, Connell hired attorneys close to the Bush/Cheney Administration and refused to appear for the deposition arguing client (GOP) confidentiality.

McCain on War in Iraq - quote of note from Pat Buchanan - "He will make Cheney look like Gandhi".

McCain on War in Iraq 2 - if you can stand to punish yourself with two of these. Quote of note comes at the end of this one. "I disagree with what the majority of the American people want." John McCain.

Too serious to miss - AFL-CIO call to cross the color line

"When we have the good courage, the good sense, the trade union values to cross the color line and stand together, no one, no one has ever been able to keep us down." Ricard Trumka

Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO and former president of the United Mine Workers, is a third-generation coal miner who went to work in the mines at age 19. He attended Pennsylvania State University and received his law degree from Villanova University's law school.

According to Wikipedia; while president of the UMWA, Trumka led the successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Company that became a rallying symbol for the entire labor movement. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience to confront the company in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and relied on a sophisticated corporate campaign involving Wall Street investors.

Trumka also worked to raise U.S. mineworker solidarity with the mineworkers of South Africa while they were fighting racial apartheid and served as the U.S. Shell boycott chairman, which challenged the multinational Royal Dutch/Shell Group for its continued business dealings in South Africa.

In his AFL-CIO position, Trumka has focused on creating investment programs for labor pension and benefits funds, fighting Wall Street greed, and challenging politicians to create an equitable economy for working people.

The meaning of black

I would hope that Leonard Pitts' essay, that considers the meaning of black in American politics, won't get lost in the fray. Here's an excerpt;

So when we ask what black means, well, pollsters say it may mean as many as 6 percentage points in lost votes for Obama.

This is the tightrope African-American politicians have walked since Tom Bradley ran for mayor of Los Angeles if not before, trying to be black without being BLACK, as in that angry boogeyman that haunts white America's dreams.

Obama has walked this tightrope about as well as anyone could, has answered racial questions when they have been unavoidable, but has visibly striven not to be defined or confined by them, to make his candidacy about something other than his paint job and his culture. But race, the horror movie monster, is never quite slain, and I suspect that by this point, Obama realizes this...

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