Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Spoiler Alert: He Ain't Goin' to Jail

It's time to Break It Down!

 

Let me begin by stipulating, this will be as short as it is unpopular among persons who generally oppose Donald Trump. As I’ve noted previously, many of my close friends and family members are underwhelmed when I write about politics, and not surprisingly, they are maximally underwhelmed when I write about Donald Trump. For those folks, consider this. In 2024, the following have passed:

 

1.    New Year’s Day

2.    Imani (the last day of Kwanzaa

3.    Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

4.    Black History Month

5.    Groundhog Day

6.    Super Bowl

7.    Lincoln’s Birthday

8.    Ash Wednesday

9.    Valentine’s Day

10. Washington’s Birthday

11. Presidents Day 

12. Women’s History Month

13. Daylight Saving Time

14. NCAA Basketball Tournament(s)

15. Ramadan

16. St. Patrick’s Day

17. Spring

18. Palm Sunday

19. Good Friday

20. Easter 

21. Tax Freedom Day (North Carolina)

22. Tax Day

23. Boston Marathon

24. First Day of Passover

25. Earth Day

 

In other words, here we are at the 115th day of the year, more that two dozen notable yearly events have occurred, and I have not written a single story singularly focused on Donald Trump. Well, I’m here to tell you, that changes today.

 

The first of four Trump trials, “Falsifying Records, aka Hush Money, commenced with jury selection last week. It resumed Monday, kicking off with testimony from David Pecker, CEO of American Publishing until August 2020. He was the publisher of several magazines, most notably, for the purposes of this post, National Enquirer, where he was alleged to have executed a strategy known as Catch and Kill, to prevent negative stories from being published about Trump. The basic concept entailed buying exclusive rights to stories (negative to Trump) and not publishing them; simultaneously ensuring no other outlet could publish the stories. There are plenty of sordid details…and you can read about them elsewhere. I do not have a lot to say. In fact, the Title says it all“Spoiler Alert: He Ain’t Goin’ to Jail!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the linkhttp://thesphinxofcharlotte.comFind a new post each Wednesday.

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Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Deja Vu All Over Again: The Mike Johnson Edition

It's time to Break It Down!

 

In January 2023, after an historic 15 ballots, Kevin McCarthy ascended to the Speakership of the United States House of Representatives. For the duration of McCarthy’s 9-month long tenure, he and the Biden Administration were at loggerheads. For the GOP’s part, the standoff culminated with McCarthy negotiating a debt-ceiling deal with the Biden administration.

 

One of the key provisions of the deal that allowed McCarthy to become Speaker was agreeing that a single GOP House member could call for the speakership to be vacated. The GOP started with a razor-thin majority that has only gotten progressively smaller. By Friday of this week, the Republican Conference will have devolved to a one-member majority. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back.

 

After reaching the Debt-ceiling agreement in September 2023, The GOP Caucus led by a host of ultra-right-wing conservatives, including Jim Jordan called for vacating the Speaker’s position. The vote passed, and the Party required several votes, before finally landing on the little-known Mike Johnson as McCarthy’s successor.

 

October was also the month Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing over 1,200, and taking over 200 hostages. Since that time, Biden and Democrats have been attempting to secure funding for Israel and Ukraine. GOP House members have been reticent to agree. Also, Democrats in conjunction with GOP Senator James Langford negotiated an agreement on policy to address the Southern Border. However, Donald Trump advised Republicans not to accept the agreement, because he wanted to run on the migrant issue. Subsequently, the House refused to consider the matter.

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a self-proclaimed Trump protégé is now engaged in a pressure campaign to remove Johnson from the Speaker’s post. She was animated by Johnson opting to work with Democrats to pass significant pieces of appropriations bills opposed by conservative members of the Republican conference. Despite her biting rhetoric, including, basically calling Johnson a Democrat, she has yet to bring a motion to vacate. Greene, from Georgia, has succeeded in enlisting the support of another member, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie. In announcing his support for Greene, he predicted Johnson would lose by more votes than McCarthy.

 

That brings me back to the House GOP working margin; soon to be one vote. It’s clear, ennui has set in among members of the House GOP Conference. Several have gone on record suggesting it would be a bad idea to revisit vacating the Chair. A few have express doubts that the matter will come to a vote. Given the razor thin GOP majority, Democrats may have an outsized roll in any such effort. In fact, as the conversation has unfolded, at least a couple of Democrats have indicated they would consider voting to retain Johnson. That may or may not come to pass. But what we know at the moment is, we are staring down the barrel of “Déjà Vu All Over Again: The Mike Johnson Edition!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the linkhttp://thesphinxofcharlotte.comFind a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribeclick on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the link below:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/politics/mike-johnson-revolt-house-gop-leadership/index.html

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2024/04/deja-vu-all-over-again-mike-johnson.html




Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Don't Get It Twisted: It's Just Business

It's time to Break It Down!

 

Exhale! The past three weeks, culminating with the Women’s and Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship Games, on Sunday afternoon, and Monday evening, respectively, were a whirlwind of mostly exciting, frequently surprising outcomes, that at the end of the day wound up with the chalkiest of conclusions. The top two number one seeds faced each other in the Finals of both the Men’s and Women’s Tournaments, with the overall number seed prevailing by double digits in their respective Tournament. South Carolina beat Iowa 87-75, and Connecticut, which won all six of its Tournament Games by double digits, eclipsed (see what I did there…the Solar Eclipse was earlier Monday…Purdue 75-60.

 

Throughout the course of the Tournament, I heard and saw much more chatter and coverage of the Women’s Tournament than in previous years. Much if not most the feedback emanating about the Women’s Tournament dealt, directly or indirectly, with Caitlin Clark.

 

For a segment of the viewing public, this was problematic. For many, it took on an almost sinister nature. It seemed that quite a few people, a lot, but not all of them, genuine sports fans, believed there was a media conspiracy to hype Ms. Clark, to the detriment of Black women athletes. And to be clear, while this was principally a Black thing, it was (and still is, I’m sure), not relegated to women. Part of this may be due to the fact that for years, sports were deemed to be the sole province of men. First of all, if that were ever the case, it is not that way today. In fact, there have been female athletes for eons, so, while the breakdown may be more balanced today, men have never ‘owned’ sports.

 

In the minds of a lot of Black folks, Basketball belongs to “us;” it’s ‘our’ game. It’s not, of course. Even though we account for a majority of player in the NBA, and on a good many college basketball teams, the game has always been comprised of players of other persuasions. For heaven’s sake, the NBA logo captures the likeness of Jerry West (that may change one day), along with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird was one of the players instrumental in saving the NBA from a spiraling decline in the 70’s and early 80’s. When Magic Johnson won the MVP of the 1980 NBA Finals, the League was so unpopular that the NBA Finals were not shown on live television. The games were shown as tape-delayed telecasts. A year earlier, Johnson and his Michigan State team has met, ad defeated Larry Bird and his up to that point undefeated Indiana State team in the 1979 NCAA Title Game. Afterward, Johnson was drafted by the Lakers, and Bird was drafted by the Celtics. The rest is history.

 

I say all that to say, there really is no mystery, or conspiracy tied to why Caitlin Clark gets the treatment from the media. There is little more mystery tied to why even some White (Black one too, I’m sure) WNBA are taking exception to her. Caitlin has an element of style and flair that draws attention to herself. That can easily be off-putting to players and fans alike. More often than not, however, she backs it up…on the court, where it matters most.

 

As a sports fan, and avid observer of sports, especially basketball, what I see, when I watch CC, is the player whom the WNBA, and its television partners envision as the next Box Office mega-star. Is it possible they could be wrong? Of course it is. The NBA, which has considerably more experience and cachet than the W, they’ve had several Number 1 Draft Picks who were flat-out busts, including Pervis Ellison, Kwame Brown, Greg Oden, and Anthony Bennett. So, yes, it could happen. But I don’t expect it to.

 

Clark is projected to be the WNBA’s Number 1 Draft Pick. If she can avoid injury, she’s likely to live up to the hype. She’s known for her prolific shooting. This year, according to the NCAA, more than 60 of her 3-point shots made were taken from beyond 26 feet. Just to be clear, the NBA 3-point Line is 23.75 feet, at it’s farthest. She pulls up from distance with impunity and made 38.5. of her 3-point attempts this year as a senior. But she’s not just a gunner. She has stout handles and passes willingly. She holds the NCAA D-1 Tournament all-time women’s records for points, assists, and 3-pointers.

 

The fascination with Caitlin, the NCAA’s, the media, and the fans (those who like her, and those who don’t), is tied to the fact that she shows up. Her Iowa team lost in the Title Game to a dominant, undefeated Dawn Staley coached South Carolina team. After giving up 18 first quarter points to Clark, South Carolina made adjustments, and she scored only 12 points the rest of the game. Still, that’s 30 for the game. Two of her most notable adversaries, Angel Reese, a player from LSU, and Coach Staley, complimented her for helping lift the profile of Women’s basketball. The Title game on Sunday was viewed by an average 18.9 million people, and by as many as 24 million, making it the most watched college basketball game. Ever. 

 

At the end of the day, that translates to green, and that is the color that motivates the NCAA, its media partners, and product sponsors. “Don’t Get It Twisted: It’s Just Business!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the linkhttp://thesphinxofcharlotte.comFind a new post each Wednesday.

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For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the link below:

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Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Relentlessly Assailing, Denouncing, & Disassembling DEI: A Primer on Turning Back the Clock

It's time to Break It Down!

 

Attacking, rolling back, or otherwise eliminating DEI initiatives is becoming a favorite current-day White empowerment strategy; a proverbial go-to move of choice, for those determined to cast White people as the preeminent victims of race-based discrimination in America. While this faux issue is flatly ridiculous on its face, the segment of the populace that has popularized such pithy, but absurd catchphrases as, “Jews will not replace us,” and “There are good people on both sides,” has effectively embedded this narrative into the psyche of countless self-identifying Republicans and conservatives. The practice has become, sort of a starter kit, if you will, for launching a broadscale initiative to turn back the clock on racial progress. Such measures comprise the bulwark action item for the contemporary zealous opposition to CRT.

 

It’s utterly amazing how much the majority, or in some cases, the plurality now, wants to institutionalize a variety of methodologies to prevent the transfer of knowledge about ways in which Black people, and other People of Color, have been historically marginalized, discriminated against, and in too many instances, straight up murdered, under the color and/or, protection of the law. We know such measures were codified in legal and legislative actions from the nascent days of the Republic. But if one believes in the premise of an on-going effort to perfect the Union, it seems taking on the truth in a direct manner, rather than resorting to deflecting, dissembling, denying, and ultimately, destroying mechanisms that would enlighten the masses, would be the prudent, if not the only course of action for our great American Experiment.

 

This List of States Trying to Stop DEI is Terrifying:

 

Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Utah, Arizona, Kansas, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia, two dozen, or nearly half of the 50 states have all adopted, or have pending legislation, to put the brakes on racial uplift.

 

It is well-documented that the history of enslaved people in America extended literally, for centuries. How can one sensibly, reasonably, or effectively argue that in a span of 60 years or less (the civil rights act was passed in 1965/the voting rights act was passed in 1965), the playing field has been leveled, and all the legal and extra-legal methods used to stymie Black progress have been excised, repudiated, or rectified? Moreover, even if they were, and they certainly aren’t, where are the reparations, the recompense, the payment for the blood, sweat, and tears, for the lives needlessly and ruthlessly taken, for the men and women who built the foundations of this country from the ground up…for free?

 

What is the current GOP/conservative design to deal with this heinous treatment? Eliminate affirmative action, discontinue minority scholarships, and abrogate voting rights, especially in minority voting districts. In other words, “Relentlessly Assailing, Denouncing, & Disassembling DEI: A Primer on Turning Back the Clock!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the linkhttp://thesphinxofcharlotte.comFind a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribeclick on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:     

https://www.theroot.com/a-list-of-states-that-have-banned-limited-and-attacked-1851360019


http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2024/04/relentlessly-assailing-denouncing.html