The Paper Boy

WHO ARE THE PREZ CONTENDORS? The first installment of an ongoing series looking at the field of 2008 Presidential Contendors.

NEW YORK. Barack Hussein Obama was first elected to public office in 1996 as a State Senator in Illinois. He challenged ex-Black Panther Bobby Rush for a congressional seat in Chicago in 2000, but lost. In 2004, he defeated last-minute GOP Senate candidate Alan Keyes in a whopping landslide. Keyes capped a long list of failed Republicans in the 2004 Illinois Senate race. Obama began his rise to star power before even being elected in November 2004, when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. While he has denied attending a “madrassa,” he did in fact attend a Muslim day school for two years in Southeast Asia, when he lived there with his white Kansan mother and Malaysian step-father. CNN “debunked” this story, visiting the school and receiving assurances from its administrators that it is a harmless religious day school, not a breeding ground for Islamic extremism. It should be noted, however, that it is difficult to ascertain the nature of an institution as it was 40 years ago half a world away from the focal point of Western media and institutional history. Only Senator Obama himself will be able to tell us what he learned at that school, certainly not a school administrator not familiar with the school of the 60s that Barack attended.

While Bobby Rush has endorsed Barack Obama, many other African-American leaders have not been so quick to jump on the bandwagon. Local South Carolina leaders are beginning to endorse Senator Hillary Clinton, who also secured the endorsement of House Ways & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, Harlem’s Congressman, as well as Robert Johnson, founder of BET. Of course, Senator Obama has snagged the highest prize for now, Jesse Jackson’s endorsement.

Criticism of Obama from the African-American community and leadership ranges from his lack of electability to his non-traditional background to his disturbingly high support among whitey. You can use a free pass to read Debra Dickerson’s stinging criticism and racial polemic on Obama at Salon.com.

LAW (BLURBS)

NEW YORK. According to the FBI posting, "Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world." Curiously missing is any reference to that crime that most Americans know Usama for; the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Department of State is offering $25 million for information that leads to Ben Laden’s apprehension or conviction. The Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association are offering a further $2 million.

The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden. An additional $2 million is being offered through a program developed and funded by the Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association. While this is the obvious "9/11 connection" on the posting, the lack of direct refences to the terrorist attacks uncover our government’s lack of initiative in investigating and prosecuting the crimes surrounding the terrorist attacks of 9/11, opting instead to prosecute the war on terror at home and abroad as an adequate response. We’re on nearly 5 1/2 years and counting, with no domestic repeats.

Check out the FBI’s Most Wanted post for Usama.

MAINTENANCE NOTE

NEW YORK. Back from an eight-month hiatus in which I’ve graduated from Journalism School and placed myself somewhere in the Manhattan media matrix. Settled as I am, this blog will not be updated on a more regular basis than ever before.

POLITICS / COMMUNITY (COMMENT)

NEWARK. A development company run by Shaquille O’Neal is trying to buy property from the city of Newark on which Science High School, the city’s top magnet school, stands. Science High School is scheduled to move to a new location soon, and O’Neal would like to build a 30-storey condominium and retail complex there. The school superintendent would like to keep leasing the building from the city for $1 a month and house a new high school, for history, there. The building, an art deco classic, is one of Newark’s architectural jewels, and sits in the heart of Newark’s historical military district. While approval of the sale was scheduled for a vote this week, no one has yet petitioned the state for permission to demolish the building, which is required since it is a historical site.

Read the article in the Star-Ledger here.

POLITICS / COMMUNITY (BLURB)

NEWARK. The BBC reports of a new video that challenges the U.S. military version of the operation. They suggested that there were four casualties, but Iraqi police allege that 11 civilians, including three children, were killed by American soldiers, who subsequently burned the building down. This follows revelations that several Marines were involved in an earlier, similar incident, which has prompted the Pentagon to provide ethics training for military personnel. Mum’s the word in the American press.

More from the Beeb.

BLURB

NEWARK. I’m graduating Wednesday, then going to D.C. and later to upstate New York to shoot a documentary. In the meantime, there will be plenty of baseball to keep you busy during the summer, and of course, I will be back! For now…

Can Valentin make something for the Mets in the top of the second against the Brewers with Nady and Wright walked on and two men out? With only 2 wins in the last 6 games, the Mets are playing the rubber game after snapping another two-loss streak. But these are the 2006 Mets, who are known for last minute surprises and pushing forward even with the momentum dropping and the injuries piling.

And he has! A double to make it a 2 run game!

 Check out the old blog at The Paper Boy.

SPORTS (BLURB)

FLUSHING MEADOWS — A few days ago my friend mentioned that by his calculations, if the Mets were at 5-1, they would end with 135 wins. They’re now at 7-1, which means 141 wins. More importantly, all we need is to stay at the top of the NL East standings, and that could take a lot less than 140 wins to assure. Pedro Martinez hit Jose Guillen twice and when he came to pitch in D.C. Wednesday, he saved the Mets from a bases loaded one-out position when Guillen grounded a double play. With a strong closer like Billy Wagner, the 2006 Mets can go where last year’s Mets could have without Branden Looper.

Check out the latest MLB standings at FoxSports.

POLITICS / COMMUNITY (COMMENT)

NEW YORK — The immigration debate has divided the country on one issue in a way not seen since the Gun Rights debate in 1994. As usual, partisanship and demagoguery has won out over pragmatism and policy. Neither side has got it right. The Senate is trying to create a bill that offers a form of amnesty to many illegal but otherwise law-abiding immigrants, but the opposition is doing its best to stop the best parts of the bill to move into Conference with the draconian House bill.

Meanwhile, pro-immigration forces are taking it to the streets in the largest protests this country has seen since the Vietnam War, and yet for some reason there are Mexican and Guatemalan and God knows what other country flags flying other than American. This has whittled away some of the credibility of the pro-immigration side. After all, immigrant or not (and we’re all immigrants unless we’re Indians), this debate is about the make-up of America, not about Mexican representation in America or Mexicans’ rights in this country. It is about America and who can be an American. Foreign flags have no place here.

Visit the New American Opportunity Campaign, which is spearheading much of the pro-immigration direct action campaigns.

SPORTS (BLURB)

FLUSHING MEADOWS — The stadiumwas packed today. At 54,371, the attendance was the best ever at a Mets game at Shea. And the Mets didn’t disappoint. The 3-2 win wasn’t the blow out the Yankees got as their season opener, but it was a solid win. Tom Glavine pitched solid for six innings, outpitching the DC Nationals’ Livian Hernandez, both previously World Series MVPs with other teams. Aaron Heilman bumbled through two innings, giving up a run, but Billy Wagner, the ten million dollar man, showed what’s going to be different about this team this year; reliable closings. Wagner allowed a hit, but he didn’t allow a run, and that’s a lot more than Brandon Looper could say last season. Hopefully this year is that next year we’ve been waiting for for years.

Read more about the Mets on the official website.

OPINION / COMMENT (ARTICLE)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Looking through old editorials of mine, here’s an oldie on the recently renewed Patriot Act that appeared in my undergrad paper in 2001. There I was "The Thinker," because "The Paper Boy" (my other position at the newspaper!)was inappopriate:

In addition to recently placing Tom Ridge as the first Director of the Office of Homeland Security, early next week, Congress is set to pass the "Patriot Act", a comprehensive anti-terrorist act. Not only does this enhance law enforcement’s capability of responding to and preventing terrorism, it also brings on the façade that before September 11, law enforcement didn’t have enough power to prevent terrorism, and now, with these new powers, it will.

Read the rest of the article in The Setonian archives.