"The State of South Carolina: The State of the Union?"

It's time to Break It Down!

President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address tonight. That’s a pretty big deal. But you know about that, and you will get a chance to see it unfold in real time.

Until tonight, here is the CliffsNotes' version:

• Stimulus Bill: Over funded, under spent
• Health Care Reform: Over hyped; DOA w/o the Senate Super Majority
• Big Banks: Record Profits:John Q. Public: Record Unemployment
• Climate control: Left out in the cold
• War on Terror: Merry Christmas America
• Spending Freeze: Republicans hate it; Democrats…they hate it too

A recent Gallup Poll showed President Obama with an approval rating among Democrats of 88 percent. That rating dipped precipitously for Republicans; 23 percent. The difference, 65 points, is the largest gap ever recorded in the first year of a presidency.

In an interview Monday of this week with ABC News Anchor, Diane Sawyer, the President stated forthrightly, “I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.”

That is the approach that the increasingly embattled leader may need to brandish as he heads into year two. Forget about efforts to win friends and influence people, especially if those people happen to be Congressional Republicans; a majority of whom have made it clear they will oppose the President at every opportunity. And if an opportunity does not present itself, they have shown a relentless commitment to create one.

It is time to use his bully pulpit, and whatever residual capital he has accrued to foster change that the American people believe in, not the political Parties. Between the loyal opposition and a fractured Democratic Party, that will still be no small feat, and yet, it is his lot to “make it happen.

Of course, as you may have inferred from the Title, Mr. Obama, and his State of the Union Address is not the point of this post. I have caught a considerable amount of flak from a friend of mine because I have highlighted a number of South Carolinians who have, during the past year, attracted notoriety for themselves and their home State.

While most of these “media moments” have been less than positive, they have captured for the Palmetto residents involved what Andy Warhol referred to as, their “15 minutes of fame.”

Meet the latest addition, Andre Bauer, South Carolina’s Lieutenant Governor since 2003. Prior to his terms in South Carolina’s second highest elected office, Mr. Bauer spent two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives, and two terms in the State Senate. Translation; he is a veteran of South Carolina elective politics.

Last Friday, Mr. Bauer became the latest South Carolina elected leader to take up the mantel of controversial and inflammatory speech, when he used a metaphor to compare kids on free and reduced lunch to stray animals. He indicated that his grandmother, whom he said was not highly educated, taught him that the problem with feeding stray animals is…they breed. He then endeavored to make the case that providing children free and reduced lunch fuels the same kind of culture of dependency that feeding stray animals does.

This recent indulgence by the Lieutenant Governor poses an interesting quandary for the citizens of South Carolina. Occasionally, I hear folks ponder out loud, how does Mark Sanford remain Governor of the Palmetto State? How is that possible?

Well, after this up close and personal look, at the policy-making inclinations of the Man who would be Governor, we may have a clue about Mr. Sanford’s perceived viability.

In an interview, Mr. Bauer defended his position by noting that he had received numerous responses on his MySpace page from people who agreed with him. In a separate interview, he denied comparing kids to animals. He then proceeded to point out how the culture of dependency that resulted from providing kids free and reduced lunch was similar to the dependency that resulted from feeding stray animals. Huh?

I am not going back to recount the other stellar denizens and their “special comments.” If you’ve been following the Blog, you likely saw them. If you didn’t, you can sift back through the former issues. I am not making an effort to connect Mr. Bauer comments to those of others. Rather, I am offering one more not so subtle reminder that pernicious notions permeate our culture and society. They are held by people in some of the loftiest positions of power and influence. We have entrusted many of them to act in our best interest.

It is imperative that each of us vets those would lead us. Failure to do so may result in a compelling question, "The State of South Carolina: The State of the Union?"

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_State_of_the_Union_Address

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1246202/Obama-Id-good-term-president-mediocre-term-president-new-poll-shows-hes-divisive-president-yet.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Sawyer

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/state-of-the-union-addres_n_437181.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/25/barack-obama-usa

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/fort_hood_heroes_will_be_guest.html

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2010/01/26/natpkg.ireport.sotu.ireport.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/state-of-the-union-addres_n_437181.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/25/barack-obama-usa

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/fort_hood_heroes_will_be_guest.html

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2010/01/26/natpkg.ireport.sotu.ireport.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/us/politics/25obama.html

http://sc.gov/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sanford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Bauer

http://www.sphere.com/politics/article/south-carolina-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-to-stray-animals/19330996

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/01/lt_gov_andre_bauer_r-sc_breeds.html

http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/01/24/the-andre-bauer-solution-starve-the-poor-theyll-stop-breeding/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14272501

http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11879637

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lt_gov_don_t_help_the_poor

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/01/26/2010-01-26_sanfords_lieutenant_governor_andre_bauer_likens_government_assistance_to_feeding.html

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=andre+bauer+they+breed&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=mb1fS-KQKs6UtgfB4dzvCw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CBoQqwQwBA#

http://dunningrb.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/s-c-lt-governor-andre-bauer-stop-feeding-poor-people-they-breed/

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/25/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6139186.shtml

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11869649

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol

"Happy Anniversary Mr. President!"

It's time to Break It Down!

One year ago today, President Barack Obama was inaugurated. A day many thought would never arrive has not only come and gone, but has been augmented by a year’s worth of history. The media clamor made the First Hundred Days seem almost as ballyhooed at the election itself. In fact there was a surprising dose of heat and light accompanying the Second Hundred Days. However, as I prepared to compose this post, a quick Google search led me to only one source discussing the President’s Third Hundred Days. Perhaps that was because the focus had already shifted to his first year.

Reflecting upon the President’s first year in office, much of the discussion points to Election Day, 2008. But, while it is true, he was elected November 4th, metaphorically speaking, he did not close the deal, and get the keys to the (White) House until January 20, 2009. Hence, for the purposes of my record-keeping, though November 4th 2008 is indeed an historic day, and may even mark the advent of the Obama era, today, January 20th, marks the anniversary of Mr. Obama’s tenure as President.

In taking a look at the past year in the life and times of the Obama Presidency, what if anything stands out? The classic approach to such a question is simply to take a checklist and go down it to see whether promises forged during the campaign have been kept. Even reducing the evaluation of the President’s performance to such a simple and straight-forward platform format could be a huge undertaking, if done in an exhaustive manner. Since neither the medium, nor the subject is conducive to a longitudinal study, I will select a number of items that have attracted significant media scrutiny over the past year, and make an assessment regarding “How Did the President Do?”

Well, for starters, I wrote about the First One Hundred Days April 29, 2009. At that time, POTUS’ poll numbers were still relatively high. He orchestrated the successful, if controversial, rollout of the stimulus package, he shepherded a fair number of his appointments through the confirmation process, and right around the 100th day, Senator Arlen Specter, PA, switched his Party affiliation to Democrat. All in all, it was a robust First One Hundred Days.

Similarly, I wrote about President Obama’s Second Hundred Days August 5, 2009. The Second Hundred Days was where the zeal and precocious enthusiasm of candidate Obama came squarely face to face with the fractious issues and relentless opponents that President Obama encountered on a daily basis. The most interesting and I imagine frustrating; aspect of this reality was that his opponents were as likely to be Democrats as Republicans. I noted in August, that quite possibly, the biggest impediment to President Obama ushering the Change We Can Believe In is a fractured Democratic Party. Specifically, I framed it this way:

• “If there is any one matter that warrants consideration as the
pivotal game-changer in terms of things the President needs to
address and Change before he can have any Hope of salvaging his
political ideals, uniting the Democratic Party screams for
attention. Call it the uppermost challenge of the Third Hundred
Days. Absent this critical shift in intraparty dynamics, major
legislative victories, within clear reach, will be impossible to
achieve; merely lost opportunities continuing to increase in
number.”

So we enter today knowing that the Senate Seat held forty-seven by the late Senator Edward Kennedy changed Parties last night, as Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in a Special Election. Mr. Brown’s victory spelled a double-jeopardy defeat for Democrats. Not only did it wrest a Senate seat away in a state where Democrats had not lost a Senate election since 1972, but it also served to deprive Democrats of the 60-seat Super Majority in the Senate. The latter ensures that what already boded as a challenging road for Health Care Reform just became even more tortuous.

In an odd sort of way, the December 24th Senate vote to pass the upper chamber’s version of Health Care legislation, a vote which gave the President a win on his top domestic agenda item, seems increasingly like a Pyrrhic victory; symbolic, and far too costly. By all accounts now, it appears to have elicited a feel good moment that is likely unsustainable as the Senate is set to move forward with 59 Democrats, and one Massachusetts’ Republican who ran the latter stages of his campaign proffering the slogan, “Make me the 41st Senator!” The meaning was ever so clear. Mr. Brown aspired to be the one who would break the Democrat’s already tenuous hold on a Senate Super Majority.

It has been an quite a year; one filled with economic distress at home, multiple wars, and threats of wars abroad, dizzying unemployment rates, shrinking numbers of jobs, spiraling foreclosures, numerous bank bailouts and failures, a collapsing domestic auto industry, exorbitant interest rates on credit cards, and alternately, enormous financial industry bonuses, and profits.

When such a litany of destabilizing forces occurs, literally all at once, is it any wonder many people feel President Obama is the “New President George W. Bush?” In reality, the elements that caused those forces were already in place; no one could have turned them around in a year.

Perhaps, but it is clear that candidate Obama was more polished and effective at marketing his ideas and ideals than President Obama has been at executing them. Clearly some of the reason for the delivery gap lies with the wholesale uber partisanship maintained by the opposition Party. But let us be perfectly clear, the fly in this President’s ointment is his inability to galvanize his own Party into a cohesive and collaborative unit. Admitting this may be akin to screaming the Emperor is wearing nothing at all, but it is still inescapably true; just as much so as it was in the Second Hundred Days.

Congratulations and “Happy Anniversary Mr. President!” I hope you leverage the experience you gained in 2009, and chart a course for a more robust 2010; a gift from which all Americans would benefit. I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/obama-inauguration

http://wbztv.com/politics/obama.inauguration.threat.2.1405203.html

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=262052851561&ref=share

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/05/tea-party-activists-planning-strike-on-inauguration-anniversar/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/obama-one-year-later-the_b_343209.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2010/01/17/assessing_obama_one_year_later_227868.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-01-18-obama-one-year-later_N.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/02/juan-williams-obama-year-smart-ass/

http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/11/03/barack-obama-one-year-later-off-to-a-good-start/

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091116/oneyearlater_video

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/us/politics/04obama.html

http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2010/01/04/obama-one-year-later/

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/11/obama_one_year_later_a_little.html

http://www.sphere.com/article/the-point-1-year-later-hows-obama-doing/19260468

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2010806657_pitts17.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-10-27-obama-year_N.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/18/AR2010011803594.html

http://www.reappropriate.com/2009/11/04/obama-one-year-later/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-obama_day_in_lifenov04,0,212895.story

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/one-year-later-grading-president-obama/

http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2009/08/first-300-days-assessment-of-obamas.html

http://vimeo.com/8024818

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/19/massachusetts.senate/index.html?hpt=T1

“La Dessalinienne (The Dessalines Song)!”

It's time to Break It Down!

I had no idea what I would write about in the second week of the second decade of the 21st Century. I thought, however, it would be like most other weeks and I would have a plethora of topics from which to choose. Alas, I could not have been more erroneous in my assessment. While technically, any number of story lines could have risen to the top for today’s post, the stark reality is, yesterday’s earthquake in Haiti muted the would be contenders. “La Dessalinienne (The Dessalines Song),” is the national anthem of Haiti. The song honors Jean-Jacques Dessalines; written by Justin Lhérisson; composed by Nicolas Geffrard, and adopted in 1904.

Often the first name thought of in connection with the Haitian revolution is Toussaint Louverture. And indeed, L’ouverture was one of the Revolution’s first leaders. Between 1797 and 1802, he led enslaved Africans to victory over Europeans, abolished slavery, and reestablished commercial contacts with the United States. In 1802, Toussaint was captured by Napoleon Bonaparte’s men and deported to France, where he died in prison.

After Toussaint Louverture's deportation, his Chief Lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who had risen to the rank of brigadier general, assumed command of the Revolution. He defeated the French troops sent by Napoleon in 1803, and in 1804 declared Haiti an independent nation. He went on to become Haiti’s first ruler; Dessalines was assassinated in 1806.

Haiti maintains unique places, in both history and in ethnolinguistics:

• First independent nation in Latin America
• First post-
colonial independent Black-led nation in the world
• The only nation to gain independence via a successful slave
rebellion
• The only predominantly Francophone
independent nation in the Americas
• One of only two nations in the Americas to designate French an
official language

While all that is interesting, it is yesterday’s earthquake that makes Haiti a pressing news story today. The quake measured 7.0 on the Richter magnitude scale, and is reported to have as many as 10 aftershocks, measuring as much a 5.0 on the Scale, according to the Associated Press, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years. Centered about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, the seismic response was so pronounced it could be felt in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and among the poorest in the world. Eighty percent of the Country’s nine million people live in poverty, according to the CIA Factbook. This latest in a long line of disasters has caused immense physical damage, and massive human suffering; many deaths are expected to follow. The quake adds to a list of disasters that since just 1994 includes:

• Hurricane Gordon killed more than 1,000 people in 1994
• Hurricane Georges killed more than 400 and destroyed the majority of the
country's crops in 1998
• Hurricane Jeanne killed more than 3,000 people as it passed north of
Haiti, with most of the deaths in the northwestern city of Gonaives, in 2004

• Gonaives was hit heavily again when four tropical storms passed through
in 2008
• In addition, a Haitian school collapsed, killing more than 90 people and
injuring 150, also in 2008

Crushing poverty, failing infrastructure, rampant deforestation, and a history of political instability conspire to make rebounding from this latest natural disaster a most challenging undertaking. Assistance will be required from aid agencies around the world. Still, it will be a slow process.

We have become are accustomed to watching corners of the world unravel in front of us. So much so until if we are not careful, we may become almost anesthetized to the next tsunami, war, tornado, terrorist attack, typhoon, homicide, flood, hurricane, or…the next earthquake. Hold up; take a step back, and a deep breath. Before turning on (your iPod), and tuning out (some disaster or tragedy), remember…the human in humanity. That’s you (and me)!

To take one small step in that direction, I am elevating the Haitian National Anthem to the top of today’s page; “La Dessalinienne (The Dessalines Song)!” May it serve as a symbol of my personal empathy with the people of Haiti during this trying time…a virtual written “moment of silence.”. If you are interested in providing help immediately, click on: www.redcross.org/en/. If the link does not work, please cut and paste.

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking or cutting and pasting the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com . A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult (cut and paste) the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Dessalinienne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Dessalines

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Lh%C3%A9risson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Geffrard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_L%27Ouverture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Francis_Richter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/12/haiti.earthquake/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/haiti.quake/

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/major-earthquake-hits-haiti-tsunami-watch-issued/story?id=9544984

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/12/eveningnews/main6089110.shtml?tag=stack

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34829978/ns/world_news-americas/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100113/ts_nm/us_quake_haiti

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/01/12/12441801.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/americas/13haiti.html

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/12/Clinton-Haiti-quake-catastrophic/UPI-32161263336383/

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B5IZ20100113

"This Man Of Steele: More Clark Kent Than Superman!"

It's time to Break It Down!

Michael Steele, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman, has zigged once again, while his Party zagged. Steele who ascended to the top position in the RNC just a few days after President Obama was inaugurated, has treaded lightly along a fine line almost from the outset.

In what was one of his first public comments, Chairman Steele placed himself squarely in the cross-hairs of Rush Limbaugh by labeling the conservative talk show host, "just an entertainer; not a Party leader." Almost immediately Mr. Limbaugh chided the new Chairman, and a host of GOP Party regulars followed suit. Having been sufficiently sanctioned, Steele apologized and re-tooled his rhetoric to align with Mr. Limbaugh and the apparent GOP heavy-weights.

In a subsequent brush with clear thinking, Mr. Steele recently suggested to Tea Party members, “Can’t We Just Get Along,” in an effort to heal the division in the Republican Party; a schism he characterizes as overrated. In summary Mr. Steele contends that Republicans across the spectrum have more in common than differences.

It sounds good. The problem, apparently, is whenever the Chairman appears to make an effort to moderate the tenor of the clamor, those with bona fide Party religion pounce on him for his heretical views. Not surprisingly, the source of the most recent deepening of the chasm between Mr. Steele and his Party is a book, and related book tour. Yes, you guessed it; Mr. Steele is promoting a new book, Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda. I guess it is also not surprising that the President’s name is prominently featured in the book’s title.

As I noted back in January, in a sense, President Obama reinvented both Parties. In what was an unintended, unpredicted, but clearly related consequence of the President’s election, Mr. Steele saw his chances for catapulting to RNC Chairmanship spike. Before one could say, “Change We Believe In," The President and Mr. Steele were joined at the historical hip; Mr. President and Mr. Chairman.

There is no doubt we have not heard the last of this book. The current media news cycle SNAFU associated with Mr. Steele has to do with his prediction that the GOP would not regain the House in the 2010 Mid-term election, and his further suggestion the (GOP) Party may not be ready. The National Congressional Campaign Committee (the campaign arm of the House Republican Conference) slammed Mr. Steele for his less than rosy prediction. This all started on Monday night’s Sean Hannity radio show. In responding to questions from Mr. Hannity, Mr. Steele said:

• I can’t give a number (of seats the GOP will win) yet, because like I
said,
we’re just now beginning to look at races, Steele said. Asked if
Republicans will take back the House, he confessed: “Not this year”
• "I don't know all the candidates yet," Steele added. "We still have some
vacancies that need to get filled, but then the question we need to ask
ourselves is: 'If we do that, are we ready?”

Steele seemed to imply is that there is a necessary vetting process to discover potential candidates that meet the Litmus Test for genuine Republican canon. In other words, his reluctance is based on trying to facilitate alignment of acceptable candidates and GOP Party values. By embracing this view, he is saying it is more important to identify and select the “right” (no pun intended) candidate, and in the process, eradicate the ideological schism that has plagued the Party.

Interestingly, Mr. Steele’s detractors, who frequently reflect the group most interested in “Party Purity” seem to be willing to overlook the subtlety of that finer point. As we have come to expect, Mr. Steele amended his position to fall in line with, or at least be less antagonistic to the individuals and groups who lambasted him for his prediction. Yesterday he told CNN’s Wolfe Blitzer, he is simply not ready to make a prediction, and that the GOP is putting in place good candidates to win “as if we will take the House in the fall.”

In the event that currently pressing matter is resolved, there are sure to be other nuggets of wisdom that will inspire the ire of the “Real Republicans,” guardians of Party integrity. For example, in explaining why the GOP frequently lost touch with typical Americans since the Reagan era, Mr. Steele admits, “We screwed up.”

He goes on to add that, "we" is inclusive of, "the last two Republican presidents and the most recent Republican candidate for president.”

So what have we learned? First, it is clear, “This Man of Steele: More Clark Kent Than Superman!” Second, look for more recants and retractions. I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/05/us/politics/AP-US-Steele-Book.html

http://biggovernment.com/2010/01/04/exclusive-book-excerpt-right-now-a-twelve-step-program-to-defeating-the-obama-agenda/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/05/nrcc-pushes-back-against_n_411624.html

http://www.bing.com/videos/?FORM=MFEVID&publ=2BE19A43-506C-4905-B386-894988BC18EB&crea=STND_MFEVID_core_HuffPo_CustomVidLink_1x1&q=Steele+2010&docid=1603785982500#

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31163.html

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.rush-limbaugh/browse_thread/thread/ce46685b317daefd/079c2ec3912e5aee?lnk=raot&fwc=1

http://www.politico.com/arena/

http://theundergroundconservative.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/a-weak-man-of-steele/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_protests