We have a long weekend because of Memorial Day.
Please remember to support our brave fighting men and women this weekend. There are so many things you can do to really support the troops. A good list of ideas can be found here.
Thank you Vets!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Part II: The Crenshaw Conference Call Chronicles
--Masterful GOP Camouflage
As I listened in on a live telephone “town hall meeting” with Congressman Ander Crenshaw on May 21, 2007, it became apparent he was testing the waters in Jacksonville on a new line of spin the nervous Republican Party has crafted to deflect blame for the catastrophes Republicans created during nearly 12 years controlling Congress, a Republican president occupying the White House six of those years.
Crenshaw was the logical choice for the task. After all, he has been a faithful errand boy for the GOP since he took office in 2001, tapped quickly for the prestigious post of Deputy Majority Whip—the person responsible for disseminating the official Republican spin to his House colleagues and for arm-twisting to deliver votes. Those Republican votes gave us the Iraq war, record national debt and trade deficits, and porous, unprotected borders that have allowed for a flood of illegal immigrants into our country.
Immigration policy was clearly the hot button issue for the 25 to 30 voters who were allowed to comment. I say “allowed” based on what I have since learned about “Tele-town Hall” meetings being used by many Republicans at taxpayer expense ($2,500 per 20,000 calls, I am told by a reliable source), which I suspect is the system Crenshaw employed here, or one very similar.
A former FBI agent, Coleen Rowley, who was also a former candidate for Congress in 2006 and who is familiar with the technology, provided this explanation, paraphrased from information put out by a company that provides such services,
It was obvious Irene Racine, who said she worked on Crenshaw’s campaign six years ago, did not know about Crenshaw’s vote against reporting illegals who get hospital care. She complained that Americans are not getting the medical care they need yet a large number of immigrants come to the United States and use our resources and our schools without paying.
While Crenshaw has backed the Bush administration in its contention that illegal aliens are needed to take jobs Americans won’t do, he sang a different tune to Grace. He said “You’re Right, Grace,” after she commented that everyone claims immigrants are not costing American jobs because they do work Americans won’t, but she knows of 5 or 6 lawn services that have been put out of business because illegal labor undercut prices of American workers.
Yet, in light of those comments, Crenshaw claimed when he took a poll of his teleconference participants, that 58 percent were FOR a guest worker program that would provide temporary guest worker status and 42 percent were opposed.
He repeatedly referred to the controversial Immigration Reform law before Congress as the Ted Kennedy Immigration Law, when in fact the controversial bill is co-sponsored byRepublican Sen. John McCain. But Crenshaw never mentioned McCain. He repeatedly made it sound like Republicans had no power against the Democrats now in control who were responsible for the whole immigration mess.
Malcom A. Carlyle, who claimed to be a former border patrol agent, asked Crenshaw if he supported sending the National Guard to the borders, to which Crenshaw replied “We have to make sure the National Guard is not spread too thin.”
No participant followed up to point out the strain the Iraq war has put on the National Guard, which is being redeployed repeatedly to fight the war Crenshaw has supported.
No one pointed out that Crenshaw has failed to raise questions about the integrity of the body armor supplied to those guardsmen and other military involved in foreign wars, or that Crenshaw receives sizable political donations from the maker of the body armor in question.
Nor did Crenshaw mention his trip to Iraq in August 2003 with Tom DeLay, the indicted former Republican House Majority Leader, and the op-ed piece they wrote for the Washington Times painting an optimistic picture of progress there on three fronts: the democracy, the economy and security.
Crenshaw was masterful in deflecting attention away from failed Republican policy, in camouflaging GOP disasters, in whitewashing GOP leadership—and extraordinarily lucky (or something else) that none of the 25 to 30 constituents that got to speak had harsh comments or tough questions.
Billee Bussard
As I listened in on a live telephone “town hall meeting” with Congressman Ander Crenshaw on May 21, 2007, it became apparent he was testing the waters in Jacksonville on a new line of spin the nervous Republican Party has crafted to deflect blame for the catastrophes Republicans created during nearly 12 years controlling Congress, a Republican president occupying the White House six of those years.
Crenshaw was the logical choice for the task. After all, he has been a faithful errand boy for the GOP since he took office in 2001, tapped quickly for the prestigious post of Deputy Majority Whip—the person responsible for disseminating the official Republican spin to his House colleagues and for arm-twisting to deliver votes. Those Republican votes gave us the Iraq war, record national debt and trade deficits, and porous, unprotected borders that have allowed for a flood of illegal immigrants into our country.
Immigration policy was clearly the hot button issue for the 25 to 30 voters who were allowed to comment. I say “allowed” based on what I have since learned about “Tele-town Hall” meetings being used by many Republicans at taxpayer expense ($2,500 per 20,000 calls, I am told by a reliable source), which I suspect is the system Crenshaw employed here, or one very similar.
A former FBI agent, Coleen Rowley, who was also a former candidate for Congress in 2006 and who is familiar with the technology, provided this explanation, paraphrased from information put out by a company that provides such services,
“A Web-based control screen enables the elected official to see the name and location of every person they are speaking with, and to invite each person to ask their questions. Elected officials can also pose questions to the entire group, and tally the answers that constituents make via their phone’s keypad…”
Rowley added: “This stinks to high heaven because mechanisms could easily be built in to control and manipulate the listeners, for instance when taking a poll on the line. The congressman also gets to preview who he’s accepting to talk with and collects data about each listener. So the congressman could choose to talk to ‘plants’ only and almost no one would catch on. It’s so Karl Rovianly wonderfully manipulative, that I fear no challenger will have a chance.”
What concerns Rowley and other critics of these telephone tactics is the potential the whole thing is rigged with friendly folks who are planted there so that the other 20,000 or so listeners are left with the impression their congressman is a forthright fellow.
Rowley, by the way, is no fool. She is the one and the same FBI agent who testified before the U.S. Senate and the 9/11 Commission about the mishandling of information related to the World Trade Towers terrorist attack. For her heroic whistleblowing, she was named a Time magazine person of the year in 2002. (Checking Rowley’s references, I found out that one of the developers of telephone town hall technology is Rodney A. Smith, the former National Finance Director for the National Republican Congressional Committee who claims to have raised a billion dollars for GOP candidates over 30 years. He has written a book opposing, to no one’s surprise, all campaign finance reform.)
Indeed, the comments and questions fielded by Crenshaw on this telephone town hall meeting, especially on the hot-button issue of immigration, were polite and tame compared to those from C-Span and other talk show callers. I suspect the participants, if they weren’t plants, felt an obligation to temper their remarks since they were “invited guests” into Crenshaw’s fireside chat-type forum.
Apparently, many of the tele-town hall meeting participants were unaware of Crenshaw’s voting record on immigration issues, or I suspect their questions would have been posed a lot differently, assuming these folks weren’t plants. Crenshaw’s voting record favors loosening immigration laws. In short:
He received a big ZERO from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a not-for-profit group formed to “improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest—more traditional rates of about 300,000 a year.”
He voted against reporting illegal aliens who get hospital care.
He voted for extending immigrant residency rules
Crenshaw took office the same time George W. Bush became president. At the end of their fourth year in office NO fines were levied on employers who hired illegal aliens, according to FAIR. Additionally, “audits of employers suspected of utilizing labor . . . dropped from a peak of 8,000 per year under President Clinton to less than 2,200 in fiscal year 2003 under President Bush. The number of cases resulting in fines . . . declined from a peak of 900 under President Clinton to a total of 124 in fiscal year 2003,” a U.S. Senator reported.
Jack Pace asked Crenshaw why there are not enough provisions to penalize employers who hire illegals when he should have asked why the drastic drop in the cases resulting in fines for employers. Crenshaw replied, as he did to many queries, “You’re right,” and then cleverly deflected the real issue here: Employers who wear blinders on the status of their workers so they can exploit cheap labor. Crenshaw made the employers appear to be the victims of the 600,000 to 700,000 who come across the boarders each year, saying the illegals use false documents and false Social Security numbers.
Rowley added: “This stinks to high heaven because mechanisms could easily be built in to control and manipulate the listeners, for instance when taking a poll on the line. The congressman also gets to preview who he’s accepting to talk with and collects data about each listener. So the congressman could choose to talk to ‘plants’ only and almost no one would catch on. It’s so Karl Rovianly wonderfully manipulative, that I fear no challenger will have a chance.”
What concerns Rowley and other critics of these telephone tactics is the potential the whole thing is rigged with friendly folks who are planted there so that the other 20,000 or so listeners are left with the impression their congressman is a forthright fellow.
Rowley, by the way, is no fool. She is the one and the same FBI agent who testified before the U.S. Senate and the 9/11 Commission about the mishandling of information related to the World Trade Towers terrorist attack. For her heroic whistleblowing, she was named a Time magazine person of the year in 2002. (Checking Rowley’s references, I found out that one of the developers of telephone town hall technology is Rodney A. Smith, the former National Finance Director for the National Republican Congressional Committee who claims to have raised a billion dollars for GOP candidates over 30 years. He has written a book opposing, to no one’s surprise, all campaign finance reform.)
Indeed, the comments and questions fielded by Crenshaw on this telephone town hall meeting, especially on the hot-button issue of immigration, were polite and tame compared to those from C-Span and other talk show callers. I suspect the participants, if they weren’t plants, felt an obligation to temper their remarks since they were “invited guests” into Crenshaw’s fireside chat-type forum.
Apparently, many of the tele-town hall meeting participants were unaware of Crenshaw’s voting record on immigration issues, or I suspect their questions would have been posed a lot differently, assuming these folks weren’t plants. Crenshaw’s voting record favors loosening immigration laws. In short:
He received a big ZERO from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a not-for-profit group formed to “improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest—more traditional rates of about 300,000 a year.”
He voted against reporting illegal aliens who get hospital care.
He voted for extending immigrant residency rules
Crenshaw took office the same time George W. Bush became president. At the end of their fourth year in office NO fines were levied on employers who hired illegal aliens, according to FAIR. Additionally, “audits of employers suspected of utilizing labor . . . dropped from a peak of 8,000 per year under President Clinton to less than 2,200 in fiscal year 2003 under President Bush. The number of cases resulting in fines . . . declined from a peak of 900 under President Clinton to a total of 124 in fiscal year 2003,” a U.S. Senator reported.
Jack Pace asked Crenshaw why there are not enough provisions to penalize employers who hire illegals when he should have asked why the drastic drop in the cases resulting in fines for employers. Crenshaw replied, as he did to many queries, “You’re right,” and then cleverly deflected the real issue here: Employers who wear blinders on the status of their workers so they can exploit cheap labor. Crenshaw made the employers appear to be the victims of the 600,000 to 700,000 who come across the boarders each year, saying the illegals use false documents and false Social Security numbers.
It was obvious Irene Racine, who said she worked on Crenshaw’s campaign six years ago, did not know about Crenshaw’s vote against reporting illegals who get hospital care. She complained that Americans are not getting the medical care they need yet a large number of immigrants come to the United States and use our resources and our schools without paying.
While Crenshaw has backed the Bush administration in its contention that illegal aliens are needed to take jobs Americans won’t do, he sang a different tune to Grace. He said “You’re Right, Grace,” after she commented that everyone claims immigrants are not costing American jobs because they do work Americans won’t, but she knows of 5 or 6 lawn services that have been put out of business because illegal labor undercut prices of American workers.
Yet, in light of those comments, Crenshaw claimed when he took a poll of his teleconference participants, that 58 percent were FOR a guest worker program that would provide temporary guest worker status and 42 percent were opposed.
He repeatedly referred to the controversial Immigration Reform law before Congress as the Ted Kennedy Immigration Law, when in fact the controversial bill is co-sponsored byRepublican Sen. John McCain. But Crenshaw never mentioned McCain. He repeatedly made it sound like Republicans had no power against the Democrats now in control who were responsible for the whole immigration mess.
Malcom A. Carlyle, who claimed to be a former border patrol agent, asked Crenshaw if he supported sending the National Guard to the borders, to which Crenshaw replied “We have to make sure the National Guard is not spread too thin.”
No participant followed up to point out the strain the Iraq war has put on the National Guard, which is being redeployed repeatedly to fight the war Crenshaw has supported.
No one pointed out that Crenshaw has failed to raise questions about the integrity of the body armor supplied to those guardsmen and other military involved in foreign wars, or that Crenshaw receives sizable political donations from the maker of the body armor in question.
Nor did Crenshaw mention his trip to Iraq in August 2003 with Tom DeLay, the indicted former Republican House Majority Leader, and the op-ed piece they wrote for the Washington Times painting an optimistic picture of progress there on three fronts: the democracy, the economy and security.
Crenshaw was masterful in deflecting attention away from failed Republican policy, in camouflaging GOP disasters, in whitewashing GOP leadership—and extraordinarily lucky (or something else) that none of the 25 to 30 constituents that got to speak had harsh comments or tough questions.
Billee Bussard
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Part I: The Crenshaw Conference Call Chronicles
A Witness to Republican Spin on Illegal Aliens
I was witness Monday night, May 21, 2007, to what appears to be the Republican strategy to vilify Democrats in coming months and in the 2008 presidential election. It was a practice run for the Republican propaganda campaign, with Congressman Ander Crenshaw serving as quarterback, lobbing questions and taking others from invited participants in a live telephone conference call that I assume used some kind of automation to randomly select the participants.
I happened to be one of the invitees—me, the one and the same person who helped a little-known Jacksonville Democrat take on this Republican Goliath who felt compelled to spend some $750,000 of his $1 million war chest against his opponent’s $42,000 to assure his return for a third term. One can only wonder what forces or what Gods conspired to grant such an entertaining and informative experience to one of Crenshaw’s biggest adversaries. Not only am I the former campaign manager for Crenshaw’s Democratic opponent in the 2006 election, but I now also happen to be the communications director for the Duval County Democratic Executive Committee.
I have to admit I was a little guilt-stricken for a fleeting moment when I contemplated whether I would be eavesdropping by joining in the conference call. After all, it was only last week that I, and most of the nation, was reviled about the depths to which Republicans will go to eavesdrop, as revealed in congressional testimony about Bush aids attempting to do an end-run around an unfavorable justice department opinion on eavesdropping when they visited the hospital bedside of a gravely ill U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
I was about to take a bite of my leftover barbecue sandwich when I accepted the call out of curiosity. After 2 minutes, I noticed that anyone on the call could ask questions and choked back my desire to fire one off. After 4 or 5 minutes, I put down the bun to grab a pen and the nearest paper item within reach to take notes. I realized I was witnessing a practice run of the Republican obfuscation that will be used in the 2008 elections. (The nearest paper item, by the way, happened to be the cover of the April 24 issue of Folio Weekly, the one with a lot of clear writing space around the picture of a doughnut topped with colorful sprinkles. Folio did a comprehensive story on Crenshaw during the congressional campaign, pointing out his record as one of the most traveled lawmakers, some of the trips arranged by or tied to indicted lobbyists and congressional leaders.)
The hot topic of the Crenshaw conference call was illegal immigration. If Crenshaw's responses to his constituents' questions are any indication, Republicans will attempt to blame Democrats for the entire immigration mess, even though Republicans have largely worn blinders to the problems of broken borders, employers exploiting the low-wage labor of illegals, and the costs incurred by local governments for health care and schooling children of illegals during the 12 years through 2006 Republicans mostly controlled Congress--completely in control 10 of the 12 years.
Crenshaw continuously referred to the immigration bill before Congress as the Ted Kennedy bill, even though the co-sponsor is a Republican, John McCain, and though the Bush administration approves of the provisions in the bill that creates steps to allow some 12 million illegals to become citizens—what critics say amounts to an amnesty bill for breaking U.S. immigration law.
The 20 or so conference call participants ignored the fact that Crenshaw has been part of the inner circle of Republican leadership that has failed to address illegal immigration.
One, however, who identified himself as John Robbins, protested: “Immigration passed in the present form will destroy the Republican Party. There seems to be no leadership in the GOP. No one is saying what needs to be said."
Crenshaw whined “It’s hard to get our voices heard,” since the Democrats have been in control (only four months). But Crenshaw had plenty of time to speak out and be heard during the six years he has served in Congress as part of the majority party. He failed to mention his close association with the powerful Tom DeLay, the indicted former House Majority Leader who served in that capacity for three years, during which time Crenshaw served in the powerful position as DeLay’s arm-twisting, vote persuading House Deputy Majority Whip.
You won't want to miss subsequent posts in coming days on a series I call "The Crenshaw Conference Call Chronicles." Warning: the Republican spin on immigration, the war, the budget, the economy and national security issues, among others, is apt to leave you more than a bit nauseous.
Billee Bussard
Duval County Democratic Executive Committee, communications director,
and
Former campaign manager for Bob Harms, Democratic Party Candidate, U.S. Congress, District 4.
I was witness Monday night, May 21, 2007, to what appears to be the Republican strategy to vilify Democrats in coming months and in the 2008 presidential election. It was a practice run for the Republican propaganda campaign, with Congressman Ander Crenshaw serving as quarterback, lobbing questions and taking others from invited participants in a live telephone conference call that I assume used some kind of automation to randomly select the participants.
I happened to be one of the invitees—me, the one and the same person who helped a little-known Jacksonville Democrat take on this Republican Goliath who felt compelled to spend some $750,000 of his $1 million war chest against his opponent’s $42,000 to assure his return for a third term. One can only wonder what forces or what Gods conspired to grant such an entertaining and informative experience to one of Crenshaw’s biggest adversaries. Not only am I the former campaign manager for Crenshaw’s Democratic opponent in the 2006 election, but I now also happen to be the communications director for the Duval County Democratic Executive Committee.
I have to admit I was a little guilt-stricken for a fleeting moment when I contemplated whether I would be eavesdropping by joining in the conference call. After all, it was only last week that I, and most of the nation, was reviled about the depths to which Republicans will go to eavesdrop, as revealed in congressional testimony about Bush aids attempting to do an end-run around an unfavorable justice department opinion on eavesdropping when they visited the hospital bedside of a gravely ill U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
I was about to take a bite of my leftover barbecue sandwich when I accepted the call out of curiosity. After 2 minutes, I noticed that anyone on the call could ask questions and choked back my desire to fire one off. After 4 or 5 minutes, I put down the bun to grab a pen and the nearest paper item within reach to take notes. I realized I was witnessing a practice run of the Republican obfuscation that will be used in the 2008 elections. (The nearest paper item, by the way, happened to be the cover of the April 24 issue of Folio Weekly, the one with a lot of clear writing space around the picture of a doughnut topped with colorful sprinkles. Folio did a comprehensive story on Crenshaw during the congressional campaign, pointing out his record as one of the most traveled lawmakers, some of the trips arranged by or tied to indicted lobbyists and congressional leaders.)
The hot topic of the Crenshaw conference call was illegal immigration. If Crenshaw's responses to his constituents' questions are any indication, Republicans will attempt to blame Democrats for the entire immigration mess, even though Republicans have largely worn blinders to the problems of broken borders, employers exploiting the low-wage labor of illegals, and the costs incurred by local governments for health care and schooling children of illegals during the 12 years through 2006 Republicans mostly controlled Congress--completely in control 10 of the 12 years.
Crenshaw continuously referred to the immigration bill before Congress as the Ted Kennedy bill, even though the co-sponsor is a Republican, John McCain, and though the Bush administration approves of the provisions in the bill that creates steps to allow some 12 million illegals to become citizens—what critics say amounts to an amnesty bill for breaking U.S. immigration law.
The 20 or so conference call participants ignored the fact that Crenshaw has been part of the inner circle of Republican leadership that has failed to address illegal immigration.
One, however, who identified himself as John Robbins, protested: “Immigration passed in the present form will destroy the Republican Party. There seems to be no leadership in the GOP. No one is saying what needs to be said."
Crenshaw whined “It’s hard to get our voices heard,” since the Democrats have been in control (only four months). But Crenshaw had plenty of time to speak out and be heard during the six years he has served in Congress as part of the majority party. He failed to mention his close association with the powerful Tom DeLay, the indicted former House Majority Leader who served in that capacity for three years, during which time Crenshaw served in the powerful position as DeLay’s arm-twisting, vote persuading House Deputy Majority Whip.
You won't want to miss subsequent posts in coming days on a series I call "The Crenshaw Conference Call Chronicles." Warning: the Republican spin on immigration, the war, the budget, the economy and national security issues, among others, is apt to leave you more than a bit nauseous.
Billee Bussard
Duval County Democratic Executive Committee, communications director,
and
Former campaign manager for Bob Harms, Democratic Party Candidate, U.S. Congress, District 4.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Hightower Resigning from DCREC?
Rumor has it that Mike Hightower is resigning as chair of the Duval County Republican Executive Committee. At this point, it's only a rumor from several sources. They had a meeting tonight so we should soon find out if there is any truth to it.
BUSH PUNISHES OUR TROOPS & VETS’ FAMILIES AGAIN
SAYS CONGRESS PAY HIKES FOR MILITARY “UNNECESSARY”;
DENIES PRICE CONTROLS FOR VETERANS' MEDICAL CARE
DENIES PRICE CONTROLS FOR VETERANS' MEDICAL CARE
By Eugene V. Armao
Recently, the House passed a comprehensive $646 billion defense spending Bill by an overwhelming vote of 397-27. The bill includes money to buy new protective vehicles and body armor for troops, items which Bush failed to provide our military when he launched his unprovoked and unilateral attack on Iraq.
Recently, the House passed a comprehensive $646 billion defense spending Bill by an overwhelming vote of 397-27. The bill includes money to buy new protective vehicles and body armor for troops, items which Bush failed to provide our military when he launched his unprovoked and unilateral attack on Iraq.
BUSH INCOMPETENCE
The GOP’s failure to provide adequate body armor for both individuals and personnel carriers at the beginning of Bush’s Oil War resulted in thousands of unnecessary casualties in dead and wounded (the latter, a deadly statistic in the thousands of the mentally and physically crippled which the Media rarely publicize).
The incompetence of the Bush administration in Iraq (not to mention VP Cheney and Halliburton’s war-profiteering) mirrors again the criminal failures of Bush during the Hurricane Katrina fiasco. The second major catastrophe to a U. S. that occurred on his watch.
ANTI-TROOP PAY HIKE
Bush also continues to employ his veto as a weapon of GOP arrogance by opposing a 3,.5 percent pay raise for our military men and women. (So much for the Republicans’ flag waving, hypocritical support for our troops. They don’t mind illegally extending our soldiers’ tours of duty but they don’t want to pay them. The increases sponsored by the Democratic Congress are "intended to reduce the gap between military and civilian pay that stands at about 3.9 percent today."
ANTI-TROOP PAY HIKE
Bush also continues to employ his veto as a weapon of GOP arrogance by opposing a 3,.5 percent pay raise for our military men and women. (So much for the Republicans’ flag waving, hypocritical support for our troops. They don’t mind illegally extending our soldiers’ tours of duty but they don’t want to pay them. The increases sponsored by the Democratic Congress are "intended to reduce the gap between military and civilian pay that stands at about 3.9 percent today."
The Army’s recruiting motto should be “Join The Service & Take A Pay Cut“.
FAMILY MEMBERS DISSED
Even after the proposed increases, the gap between military and civilian wages will still remain at 1.4 percent. Bush "strongly opposes" the pay raise provision because, his budget boobacrats say the pay increases are "unnecessary."
FAMILY MEMBERS DISSED
Even after the proposed increases, the gap between military and civilian wages will still remain at 1.4 percent. Bush "strongly opposes" the pay raise provision because, his budget boobacrats say the pay increases are "unnecessary."
The White House is also objecting to a $40 monthly allowance for military survivors, additional benefits for surviving family members as well as price controls on sky-rocketing prescription drugs under Tricare, the military's health care plan for military personnel and their dependents.
Bush's continued veto threats continue to hold captive efforts of the Democratic Congress to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
School Board Tables Forrest Name Decision
By: Eugene Armao
While the Mayor and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce publicized their Blueprint for Prosperity in which they said the elimination of racial prejudice and the establishment of racial harmony was, and is vital to the future progress of the city, the School Board by tabling the decision to rename Forrest High School until July not only has demonstrated its unwillingness to support racial justice in Jacksonville but actually enflames the racial controversy over a school that celebrates and memorializes a founder of the abhorrent terrorist organization, the Ku Kluix Klan.
The Duval County Board of Education has totally ignored the work of the Forrest School Advisory Council Survey which found that a majority of citizens of Jacksonville interviewed supported a name change. By refusing to act and by delaying a decision , the Board stands in violation of their own published rules.
Obviously, the Board --- by tabling and failing to vote on a name change in May and by postponing a vote until July--- hope that the issue will go away or that sufficient members can be pressured to keep the name of a Grand Wizard of the KKK on the school.
Unfortunately, the controversy is not going away. It will only become exacerbated by continual foot dragging. This is not 1958 or 1959. Desegregation is here to stay. It is time for Jacksonville to redeem the racial mistakes it has made in the past and cease to honor a White Supremicist like Nathan Bedford Forrest who bought and sold human flesh while supporting terrorism.
To those who serve as apologists for Forrest and claim that he suffered a change of heart as he approached the Pearly Gates, we applaud his personal redemption. But that does not alter the fact that his name will be forever linked with the KKK. And no member of that vicious and bloody organization, that as late as the fifties was involved in blowing up young Black children, should have his name on one of our High Schools financed by tax-paying African American citizens.
It also raises the questuion: Is Jacksonville so bereft of outstanding home grown citizens that they have to name one of their High Schools after a Racist and Slave Trader who never once set foot in Duval County?
Today we are in a world-wide war against Terrorism. How can we honor our African American troops who are fighting that war when our own City and School Board supports and honors the continued use of a terrorist's name on one of our City's High Schools?
Does this do honor to our African American troops? Does it do honor to the present leaders of Jacksonville? Does it do honor to the decent African American citizens among us?
What will our City Fathers say to the assembled national Print and TV Media reporters on the day Forrest High School becomes a national headline? Say on some future run-up to a Super Bowl? Is that the kind of national publicity Jacksonville is looking for in its future?
There will be no tabling the issue on that day!
While the Mayor and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce publicized their Blueprint for Prosperity in which they said the elimination of racial prejudice and the establishment of racial harmony was, and is vital to the future progress of the city, the School Board by tabling the decision to rename Forrest High School until July not only has demonstrated its unwillingness to support racial justice in Jacksonville but actually enflames the racial controversy over a school that celebrates and memorializes a founder of the abhorrent terrorist organization, the Ku Kluix Klan.
The Duval County Board of Education has totally ignored the work of the Forrest School Advisory Council Survey which found that a majority of citizens of Jacksonville interviewed supported a name change. By refusing to act and by delaying a decision , the Board stands in violation of their own published rules.
Obviously, the Board --- by tabling and failing to vote on a name change in May and by postponing a vote until July--- hope that the issue will go away or that sufficient members can be pressured to keep the name of a Grand Wizard of the KKK on the school.
Unfortunately, the controversy is not going away. It will only become exacerbated by continual foot dragging. This is not 1958 or 1959. Desegregation is here to stay. It is time for Jacksonville to redeem the racial mistakes it has made in the past and cease to honor a White Supremicist like Nathan Bedford Forrest who bought and sold human flesh while supporting terrorism.
To those who serve as apologists for Forrest and claim that he suffered a change of heart as he approached the Pearly Gates, we applaud his personal redemption. But that does not alter the fact that his name will be forever linked with the KKK. And no member of that vicious and bloody organization, that as late as the fifties was involved in blowing up young Black children, should have his name on one of our High Schools financed by tax-paying African American citizens.
It also raises the questuion: Is Jacksonville so bereft of outstanding home grown citizens that they have to name one of their High Schools after a Racist and Slave Trader who never once set foot in Duval County?
Today we are in a world-wide war against Terrorism. How can we honor our African American troops who are fighting that war when our own City and School Board supports and honors the continued use of a terrorist's name on one of our City's High Schools?
Does this do honor to our African American troops? Does it do honor to the present leaders of Jacksonville? Does it do honor to the decent African American citizens among us?
What will our City Fathers say to the assembled national Print and TV Media reporters on the day Forrest High School becomes a national headline? Say on some future run-up to a Super Bowl? Is that the kind of national publicity Jacksonville is looking for in its future?
There will be no tabling the issue on that day!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Broken Pocketbook Promises
The May 15 Times-Union story "Peyton Hunts for Money" on city spending since Mayor John Peyton took office makes voters like me ask: What has happened to the Republican’s campaign promises of fiscal responsibility?
We learn from the story that the mayor’s fifth budget is expected to have a $25 million shortfall; that he used $120 million in reserve funds in his first three years to cover recurring expenses compared to $131 million over eight years of his predecessor; that an investment and borrowing plan to raise revenue required a $5 million taxpayer bailout; and that the city budget has grown 13 percent or $104 million in four years.
This fiscal dilemma can be attributed in part to corporate welfare and tax breaks for special interests and the rich, which are mentioned from time to time in individual stories. A sizable chunk of this city shortfall is due to shifting of infrastructure costs for new suburban subdivisions from developers to Duval taxpayers.
So where will the money come from? Not from rolling back the financial breaks for special interests. Instead, the budget will be balanced on the backs of average and low income citizens through increases in city fees and fines and cuts in services and safety net programs.
Unfortunately, similar fiscal quandaries now face the state of Florida, and the nation, a result of the decisions by the majority Republican leadership which obviously has been in power too long.
We learn from the story that the mayor’s fifth budget is expected to have a $25 million shortfall; that he used $120 million in reserve funds in his first three years to cover recurring expenses compared to $131 million over eight years of his predecessor; that an investment and borrowing plan to raise revenue required a $5 million taxpayer bailout; and that the city budget has grown 13 percent or $104 million in four years.
This fiscal dilemma can be attributed in part to corporate welfare and tax breaks for special interests and the rich, which are mentioned from time to time in individual stories. A sizable chunk of this city shortfall is due to shifting of infrastructure costs for new suburban subdivisions from developers to Duval taxpayers.
So where will the money come from? Not from rolling back the financial breaks for special interests. Instead, the budget will be balanced on the backs of average and low income citizens through increases in city fees and fines and cuts in services and safety net programs.
Unfortunately, similar fiscal quandaries now face the state of Florida, and the nation, a result of the decisions by the majority Republican leadership which obviously has been in power too long.
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