The "Dean Metric": President Obama Exposes GOP; Gets Public Option

Throughout the mighty 2008 United States Presidential election, there was perhaps no one "analyst" that I listened to more carefully than former Vermont Governor and former DNC leader, Dr. Howard Dean. His insight into the eventual outcome of 2008 was sharp and always on point. And now, as the temperature on the health care/insurance reform debate has heated up, it is again Dr. Howard Dean who continues to make the most resonant observations. And the most revealing observation that Dean has made thus far deals with his speculation that Obama will ultimately push for and get the public option into whatever health care/insurance bill that comes out of Congress. More specifically, Dean has shed light on the likelihood that Obama's recent "soft" comments about the public option are really calculated statements designed to show that Republicans (by and large) are not up for any reasonable (good faith) compromises or negotiations, and that furthermore, they're actually opposed to any reform in health care and the health insurance industry. I have a feeling that this time Dr. Dean is right once again.

Check out: http://standwithdrdean.com/

-Amir Said

12-Step Redemption Program; Mainstream Media Gets 2nd Step Right

Ever sense the mainstream media fell asleep on the job six years ago, by not diligently scrutinizing the malarkey the Bush administration pushed about Iraq, Sadaam Hussein, and WMDs, they have been clamoring to "make it right." Well, having begun the a 12-step redemption program--the first step being their role in getting President Obama elected--they're seemingly focused (well, at least MSNBC is) on making sure that the health care debate not only gets a fair shake, but that serious wholesale health care and insurance reform actually gets done. To that I say: Kudos, mainstream media. Glad to see you're awake on the job again.

-Amir Said

"Lunatic Fringe": Danger in Small Numbers

Seven months after Obama's historical presidential election, it's clear that culture has taken on a new meaning. Whether because of mental, financial, and/or an emotional threat, there is a group of Americans who have found themselves on the other side of cultural progression and plain old common-sense reason. These "Americans" (in quotes because they believe that America is there's alone) are mostly middle and lower middle-class, middle-aged white males (and some females), who have increasingly become phobic of anyone's rights or progress but their own. There is no leader among them. Instead, their guidance is provided by double-talking lobbyists (ex-Congressmen) and corporate front-men who's only interest is to keep things as they were.

These "Americans," now collectively known as the "lunatic fringe," are increasingly using mob rhetoric, and are becoming more and more embolden by some notion that this is 1776, and they have the right to grab their muskets and blast away at the British. Only, their gun scopes and mental break-downs are not being directed at some Governor from the old empire across the pond. On the contrary, this lunatic fringe has its sights set on all reasonable Americans who are concerned with moving the United States forward rather than, well, no where.

But the problem with the notion that one can stop the charge of change is that is premise itself is entirely undermined by the limits of human biology. Yes, despite any effort to compromise the certainty of age, the truth is: we all get older. Likewise, change happens, with or without those who prescribe to its fundamental role in life. So here, it's not that I'm concerned with if change is going to happen. Indeed, it has: my 13 year old son knows more about the United States Constitution and "clash for clunkers" than he does about this year's NFL rookie class--and he studies the NFL draft like Mel Kiper's paying him a commission. What I'm concerned about. No, what we all must be concerned about is what price is this lunatic fringe going to make us pay? Will it be two U.S. Senators? Will it be a mom or a dad, a daughter or a son? Will it be another Security Guard? Another federal building? Another bombshell to the American pysche?

You see, when I think about the lunatic fringe's recent "disruption strategies," it alarms me far more than the "birther talk." These disruption strategies, that force innocent, information-seeking Americans into a sort of clash with the lunatic fringe, have gone dangerously too far. And that reminds of something that I learned a long time ago: one fool with a gun can mess it all up for everybody.

-Amir Said

Re: Slumdog Millionaire or Benjamin Button Best Pic Talk

Any Best Picture discussion regarding Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button must first to deal with the fact that both films are epic in proportion, yet extremely different... yet again very much the same, because at the core of each film is a love story that faces challenges throughout...

-Amir Said

Secretary of the Arts

The arts play a pivotal role in culture. Everyone wants to create something. Indeed, most people feel the need to create something. Yet the arts in America have consistently taken a hit, since the awakening of the arts in America at the turn of the twentieth century.

Quincy Jones, one of the greatest Artists ever produced from American soil, has been pushing for a cabinet level position that focuses squarely on the arts. I've long championed this position, and I do indeed believe that there is an immediate need for the "Secretary of the Arts" cabinet position. However, that being said, I'm still troubled.

Quincy Jones, who I admire and consider to be one of the greatest music producers in America, (along side of Gamble and Huff and Curtis Mayfield), has contributed so much to the American arts. And as such, he deserves not to have to take on this fight. Why aren't the most popular "artists" of the time calling for the Secretary of the Arts cabinet position?

-Amir Said

The Prisoner Poised for Remake

The Prisoner is one tv show that should be running on some sort of classic cable television channel. Well, either that or it deserves a full service remake! Having gone through the Bush administration 'Twilight Zone', many Americans got a dose of what it feels like to be trapped in some secret village, where pivotal decisions are made by a puppeteer and some obscure fraudulent leader.

Patrick McGoohan, who starred in, co-wrote, and co-produced The Prisoner, died this past Tuesday. Before McGoohan took the reigns of The Prisoner and became "6", he gained fame as "John Drake", the hero of the television show Secret Agent. (No doubt you've heard the Secret Agent theme song recorded by Johnny Rivers.) What made The Prisoner such a brilliant show was the fact that it channeled the angst of a world that for many, had become somewhat of a prison.

The jail analogy for everyday man was a new concept in the turbulent times of 1968. More importantly, the basic premise of The Prisoner helped to transform how stories could be shown and told on modern television. At a time where intriguing television dramas are being snuffed out by utterly thoughtless reality knock-offs and shameful remakes, (think Howie Mandels's Howie Do It or the "new" Knight Rider), a solid update of The Prisoner would sore big right now, if it were to be remade. Unfortunately, however, the major networks are shit out of cash, and they're not interested in running any programming that isn't cheap and damn-near guaranteed to keep the lights on. And the cable networks, who are now truly in the "prime time" driver's seat, are seemingly more concerned with "artsy" send-ups and/or story-lines tinged with supposedly taboo subject matter. Therefore, a remake of The Prisoner isn't likely, but if it were to ever capture a network green light, I'm ready with my storyline pitches.

-Amir Said

Segregated Enrollment Set to Go Back to Bull Connor Levels

By Amir Said

Colleges, Universities--Institutions of higher learning--have always existed in a segregated world. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, this segregation was primarily the result of volatile social and racial attitudes. But by the mid-1980s, this form of segregation had declined considerably. In fact, by the mid-1990s, segregated enrollment at American institutions of higher learning was caused more by economic realities than social and racial attitudes. Even still, public and private institutions cost less; moreover, there was more proportional government and institutional financial aid available to students who needed it. This made it possible for millions of lower-income Americans to attend college. But now, the plunging of the U.S. economy has threatened to push the levels of segregated enrollment back to the days of Bull Connor's Alabama.

Nearly one decade removed from the seemingly "easy times" of the 1990s, and most (if not all) American colleges and universities have significantly stepped up their tuition fees. In fact, the cost has increased so exponentially that it has effectively priced millions of Americans outside of the possibility of the formal higher educational experience. Now add this present economy into the mix. More specifically, consider the fact that many municipalities and colleges and universities have lost loads of money in the stock market's steady decline. The hemorrhaging of the stock market has prompted a massive cut in "non-essential" programs and services. And yep, that includes programs and services that previously helped people get into college.

Combine the rising cost of higher education with the increasing cuts in financial aid, and what do you get: disturbingly high segregated enrollment at colleges and universities. Private schools, which maintain strict enrollment capacity quotas, will now "price out" even more people than ever before now, leaving public schools to brunt the rejected private school applicants. But public schools will not possibly be able to handle this influx of new students, and thus, the cash-strapped states will inevitably hike up tuition rates. This means that U.S. institutions of higher learning will be even more strictly populated by those fortunate enough to afford it. The ripple effect of this of course is the fact that the poor will become poorer, the lower middle class will slip into poverty, the upper middle class will collapse into the new middle class, and the rich, well, the rich will becoming even more wealthy and powerful.

Can this impending doom be overturned? Not likely. It requires far too many pivotal pieces of a puzzle. Pieces I must add that are being hoarded and withheld from a number of prominent Americans. Yet, the combination of hope and execptional strategy is a tangible abstract, that if used appropriately, can wield amazing outcomes.

Say It Ain't So, Lynn Swann

By Amir Said

I had my share of fights when I was I kid. Most of them weren't over anything major. In fact, when I think about it, pretty much all of them were worthless. That is, all of them except for three. There are three fights in particular that resonate from my knuckle-game days. Two of which are not suitable for this topic, but one is: my fight over Lynn Swann.

In the late '70s, there was no other NFL wide receiver that football-lovin' kids like me wanted to be more than the Pittsburgh Steeler's Lynn Swann. "Double-8", (a name I had used for Lynn Swann, in homage to his jersey number, 88), was one of the first bona-fide NFL superstars to capitalize on the NFL's new found popularity, beginning in the late '70s/early '80s. Every kid in my neighborhood wanted to be Lynn Swann. More specifically, during our impromptu tackle football games (on grass, dirt, and/or concrete), some kids (like me) believed that they actually were Lynn Swann. If you were going long for the bomb, and the ball was high and off target, you needed only say aloud, "LYNN SWANN," and you would some how make an amazing acrobatic catch, just like Double-8 on Sundays.

Well, during one of those otherwise barbaric football scrimmages, I got into it with one of the other kids from around the block. As I think about it now, I guess he and I were heading towards a fight that year, anyway. However, at the time, I couldn't see the conflict bubbling. Sparing all the details of the fight itself, (although I should put out that it was unanimously considered that I won), I just wanna describe what the fight was about.

This cat and I came to the game, both with sweatshirts that were emblazoned with the #88. Anyway, the game's moving along, his team is scoring, we're scoring, it's a tight, hard fought game--as they usually were. Towards the end of the game, I'm streaking down the field, well, O.K., not exactly streaking, but I'm movin' pretty fast, (mind you, this was five years before I would be blessed with great speed)... So, down the side of the field I'm going. The other number #88 is running with me almost stride for stride. I look up and I see the ball in the air above us, then we both jump up for the ball at the highest point that each of us could, and both of us yell out, "LYNN SWANN." Don't know if I just plain dropped the ball, or if he interfered with me, or if he got his hands on the ball. But neither one of us caught it. And immediately upon this realization, I asked him the obvious, "How the fuck are you Lynn Swann, on defense?" Therein the fight ensued.

That's how I had a fight over Lynn Swann, the NFL star that I respected like no other, (that is until Walter Payton). To truly understand why I was willing to fight about Lynn Swann, you have to get a glimpse of my mind-state at the time. At that time, to me, Lynn Swann wasn't just a football star. He was one of the first black men that I was able to really look up to. By the time I was 11 years old, my father was gone. And Lynn Swann was there for me to look up to. Aside from his incredible football talents, Lynn Swann was an intelligent speaker. In fact, after he retired from the NFL, he soon landed a gig as a broadcaster for ABC Sports. Seeing Lynn Swann on ABC Sports-- then the "ESPN" of the '70s and '80s--made me feel happy and proud. I thought if anyone deserved that position, it was "Double-8."

But as I grew older and improved both athletically and scholastically, I started noticing something about Lynn Swann that disturbed me. Specifically, it was the way he talked and the way his voice sounded. Unlike Dr. J, my ultimate all-time sports hero, Lynn Swann sounded foreign to me. Let me make it plain, he didn't sound "black." Now, some "educated" and "informed" people might say that that's ignorant, or in the least not "politically correct." However, any "educated" and "informed" person who would say that knows damn well what I'm talkin' about and exactly what I mean...Needless to say my childhood allegiance to Lynn Swann quickly faded.

Fast forward to 2005, when Lynn Swann announced his candidacy for Governor of Pennsylvania, as a Republican. When I first heard this news, I was stunned. Listen, I don't align myself with one major political party or the other. But hey, the facts remain, the Republican mantra doesn't exactly seek to include blacks! And considering the turbulent era that Swann grew up in--an era of discrimination, volatile racial attitudes towards black Americans, and dramatic wealth disproportion--I was puzzled by his affiliation with the Republican party. However, I reasoned, for some people, money and class must trump all. Then I didn't have a single thought about Lynn Swann until now.

It's October 22, 2008, and I see Lynn Swann on the Rachel Maddow Show expressing his unflinching support for John McCain and the woefully unqualified Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin. After Lynn Swann was finished speaking, there were three thoughts that immediately entered my mind. First, I thought about the fight that I had over Lynn Swann when I was a kid. Second, I thought how incredibly out of touch Lynn Swann is with the true class and racial conditions that exist in America. But the third thing that I thought about, the thing that struck me the most, was the fact that Dr. J, my ultimate childhood sports hero, still sounds "black," and Lynn Swann still doesn't.

Lynn Swann, college days at USC. How soon we forget... From this, to...

This...

Lynn Swann, NFL days with the Pittsburgh Steelers. From this, to...

This...

Lynn Swann, Republican days with Mitt Romney.

And just for a little perspective...

Still think "Black Republicans" was just a song?

How soon we forget...

Another Stimulus Package?

By Amir Ali Said

Federal Reserve Chairman (Fed Chairman), Ben Bernanke, testified today that Congress should consider another stimulus plan to help boost the economy. Last time I checked, wasn't there a stimulus package that was suppose to boost the economy? Yes there was. And did that really work? No it didn't. Well, the last stimulus package helped a little bit, but only for a limited amount of time. Look at Oil, its at about $75. Apple, a stock that soared to $200 last year, is at about $100 today. In fact, most of the stocks have had sharp declines in the last couple of months. I don't think that another stimulus package should be approved. Unless of course, it helps boost the economy, and not only for a limited time, but at least for a year. The economy is struggling and our economy is effecting other countries. Which at the same time effects us even more.

Who is the Real John McCain?

By Amir Said

John McCain points to his military service, particularly his time as a POW, as evidence to his unquestionable character. Moreover, he uses his military record as a major reason for why he should be elected President of the United States. Fair enough. But since McCain, his campaign, and his supporters are so eager to draw a connection to William Ayers and a 8 year old Barack Obama, I wonder why NO one is drawing a connection between John McCain and his fellow POW Phillip Butler?

Phillip Butler lived across the hall from John McCain at the U.S. Naval Academy. But more importantly, Phillip Butler was a POW in Vietnam, along with John McCain. Yes, that is correct. In fact, Phillip Butler was a POW 2 years before John McCain. Now contrast the John McCain/Phillip Butler connection with the Barak Obama/William Ayers connection. Hmmm...

And why has the media not reported this storyline? Ponder on that for a moment. But know this, on at least one occasion, March 28th, Phillip Butler made an attempt at revealing his relationship to and opinion of John McCain. Yet there was NO widespread media coverage on ANY of the major three cable news networks! Furthermore, a taped interview of Phillip Butler detailing his relationship with John McCain first appeared online in August (perhaps even earlier than that). Yet again, NO widespread, NO short-spread, NO coverage at all. Yet clips of Rev. Wright were looped endlessly for weeks. Hmmm...

O.K. so I get the media's claim to "fair and balanced" journalism. But are you kidding me? Where is the serious coverage they so affectionately purport to achieve? John McCain and his supporters repeatedly conjure up his military service, in specific, his time as a POW in Vietnam. John McCain even closed his RNC speech with his most detailed account of his POW experience. Fair enough! But what about Phillip Butler? Here's someone who served along with John McCain, someone who knew McCain then (in his most challenging time) and now...someone who believes that John McCain should not be President of the United States, primarily because of his military record and POW experience. What's up with that? Oh, I forgot, the news media outlets are just doing their jobs, the same way they did when George Bush said that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction...

Take a look at the Phillip Butler interview.

Phillip Butler, fellow POW of John McCain