Blues Talkin Commentary Moves to DistortedSoul.com

But the man say:
Ain't nothin' but the blues doin' the talkin', baby.
Conspiracy's all up inside your mind.
But I find it don't get better for my people.
It's just a theory, but conspiracy
Keeps f^ck!n' with me all the time.

After many years maintaining a music website and a separate blog, I've decided to merge the political commentary from BluesTalkin.com into my music site at DistortedSoul.com.

When I first decided to build a website to publicize and distribute news about my musical endeavors, I knew there would have to be a section devoted to news and political commentary. Part of the function of art is to reflect the world around us. I wanted to have a place to share and discuss information that isn't readily available in the mainstream media.

The idea for Blues Talkin' has taken many forms over the years. First it was just me emailing found news items to my friends several times a day. Later there was an extensive forum with hundreds of posts with dozens of different categories. Finally, in 2005 I started the blog which I've updated regularly (more or less) ever since.

In addition to my musical projects, over the last three years I've been getting more work as a writer and journalist at publications like The Michigan Citizen, LastChocolateCity.com, Detroit Fashion Pages, and finally as a member of MTV's Street Team '08 covering election issues in Michigan. Most of those articles, reports and posts were also published at BluesTalkin.com along side my personal rants and raves about politics, culture and life. Along the way, Blues Talkin' was nominated for best political blog.

But it's become too time consuming to maintain all these schizophrenic sides of my personality. Since - as my wife, Akanke says - all the songs I write are either about women or politics (What else is there to write about?), it only makes since to merge the two sites. The Blues Talkin section has always been one of the most popular portion of the Distorted Soul Newsletter. It just makes sense to bring it all together.

In a few weeks, BluesTalkin.com will go away, but BluesTalkin will live on at DistortedSoul.com. The Blues Talkin' archives have already been moved, so feel free to stroll down memory lane with me. There is some interesting stuff over there. The newly renovated DistortedSoul.com becomes a more well rounded site with music, news, video, politics, sports, women... whatever interesting items we find to share that day.

If you're currently subscribing to the RSS feed at BluesTalkin.com, please click the headline animator below to subscribe to DistortedSoul.com. You can also CLICK HERE to receive DistortedSoul.com updates as an email message. We hope you'll join us there.



As always we welcome your comments and input, but you'll have to register at DistortedSoul.com to comment. Registration is free, of course. Please let us know how you like these changes and what we can do to improve your total funk experience!

Thanks for hanging out with us!

Nadir Covers RNC for MTV

While the media's attention is focused on Denver this week and the Democratic National Convention, I'm packing my bags and gearing up for next week.

I will be covering the Republican National Convention for MTV/Knight's Street Team '08.

That's right. MTV is sending me to St. Paul to hang out with my good friends John McCain, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and of course, GDub.

I will blog and Twitter all day every day, and I'll submit video at the end of each night. You will be able to catch my Twitter updates at DistortedSoul.com and on MTV's www.chooseorlose.com.

Look for video on my profile at Think.MTV.com/Nadir.

I'll also keep a close eye on the protests that will occur throughout the Twin Cities, and I've got plans to slip over to Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic on Tuesday.

It should be an exciting week! I'm looking forward to it!

VIDEO: John Sinclair: 21st Century Man

Originally Published at Think.MTV.com

For young people in Michigan looking to engage their community and make a difference, there are some perfect home grown examples to follow.

Take John Sinclair for instance. As a young man in his twenties, John Sinclair changed the world as the state's most outspoken leader of the 60s counter culture movement.

Nadir spoke with Sinclair recently about activism in the 21st Century.

Politics vs. Public Service

Originally Published at Think.MTV.com

Why in the world would anyone want to run for public office? For some young Michiganders, the reason is simple: Someone has to do it. It might as well be a person who cares and has a sincere desire to serve the community.

----------------------------

It’s 10pm, and Rashida Tlaib (pronounced tah-LIB, as in Kweli) is just getting back to her campaign office after a long day of door knocking. Her voice rings with a tone of self satisfaction. The candidate for state representative in Michigan’s 12th district proudly proclaims that just today she finished visiting every street in her district for the second time. Tlaib has knocked on 7600 doors in the last ten weeks, introducing herself to residents, speaking with them about their concerns and asking for their votes.

“Every time I knocked a door, and I talked to a person,” says Tlaib, “I was completely reminded – and I know this sounds corny, but it’s so true – I was reminded every single time I talked to a resident, why I’m doing this.”

This is the first time Tlaib has run for office. The eldest of 14 children born to immigrant parents, Tlaib was raised to understand the importance of hard work, honesty and commitment to community.

After graduating from Wayne State University in 1998 with a degree in political science, the Detroit native began a career of public service in the non-profit sector providing social and advocacy services to families in the Southwest Detroit neighborhood where she grew up. Work in agencies like Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development (LASED) and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS).

She earned her law degree on the weekends while working fulltime. This later led to a job in the office of Michigan State Representative Steve Tobocman. With Tobocman leaving office this year because of term limits, Tlaib decided to run for his seat.

“I’m more of a social worker than a career politician,” Tlaib explains. “I’m a person that is a true believer helping people through every day kinds of issues needs to go hand in hand with legislation or it doesn’t work at all.”

The corruption in U.S. government is noxious. Its stench hangs over the nation like a dark cloud rising from municipalities to state legislatures all the way to Congress and the White House. What young candidates like Tlaib seem to have in common is a sincere desire to help her community and to change the way government is run.

35 year-old Todd Lajoy is running for State Rep in Michigan’s 21st district just as he is completing his first term as a Trustee in Canton Township. Lajoy believes the skills that he has acquired connecting workers with employers in the staffing company that he and his brother founded will be useful to the state that leads the nation in unemployment.

“I really felt that my personal professional background and my community service and experience really could significantly help in one of the major critical areas in Michigan, which is jobs - job creation, retaining jobs, attracting jobs, growing businesses.”

Lajoy continues, “I’m running because the state is struggling, and I really believe that we have to have the right people in place to help turn the state around.”

The 21st district covers the communities of Canton, Canton Township, Belleville and Van Buren Township, a suburban and rural area nestled about 30 miles west of Detroit, and just east of Ann Arbor. As Lajoy knocks on doors in his district, the number one issue is the economy.

“We had one of the largest foreclosure rates in Wayne County, and it’s one of the highest in the nation also.” When Lajoy asks the residents why they are moving away he finds most often that it is work related.

In Detroit the high number of foreclosures creates other problems. The vacant homes in rich and poor neighborhoods alike have become a magnet for rodents and for rats of another kind – thieves. While jobs may be the top priority in Lajoy’s suburban district, in Detroit, public safety and problems with city services are the major concern.

“The neighborhoods have been decimated by the subprime lending scandal”, Lee Gaddies, a State Rep candidate in Michigan’s 7th District which encompasses several northern Detroit communities. “People are getting put out of their houses, crime is being left unchecked, the police are unresponsive, and people want their politicians to do something about it. They want to know that their cries have not gone unheard.”

Leslie Love, a first-time candidate for State Rep in the 8th District (West Detroit), has experienced these problems first hand. Her home was burglarized in February, and the thieves cleaned her out. Then on July 21st, burglars attempted to enter her home when she was there, but she scared them away.

“Now I have a big dog that I didn’t plan to have in my life at this time,” she laughs. “So I know it’s happening to me. I know it’s happening to my neighbors. There are a lot of foreclosed homes in my community, and people are going in taking copper, taking door knobs, taking chandeliers and fixtures. Their taking everything but the paint off the wall, so safety is very much an issue.”

This prompted Love to go to her Western District community/police relations meeting to discuss the issue with the commander there, and she reports that the police response has improved.

Public service at its core is about becoming involved in the community and helping your neighbors. The reason many young people shy away from politics is because of the corruption that abounds.

For Tlaib an older community activist inspired her to run when she said, “It’s people like us that never consider running for office, and that’s what’s wrong with [the state government in] Lansing. We don’t have enough people like us down there.”

“I’m gonna be painfully honest with you,” Gaddies confides. “Politics is dirty. That’s why we need regular, ordinary people to hold office. You don’t need a bunch of letters after your name to vote for what’s right for your people. You just need a little bit of common sense.”

Partisan Politics Trump the Constitution?

I was just checking out Dave Lindorff's report from the House Judiciary hearing on impeachment. Two items stood out to me immediately.

First:

As Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the committee, made clear more than once during the six-hour session, this was “not an impeachment hearing, however much many in the audience might wish it to be” He might well have added that he himself was not the fierce defender of the Constitution and of the authority of Congress that he once was before gaining control of the Judiciary Committee, however much his constituents, his wife, and Americans across the country might wish him to be.

Yep. Conyers is bowing down to Pelosi's pressure on this one. He is more interested in keeping his job as judiciary chair than in defending the Constitution. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Second:

The basic point, made by Holtzman, by Fein and by many others, including this writer, is that worrying about the political opposition to impeachment, both in the House, and in the Senate, not to mention among the broader public, is completely wrongheaded. Even when impeachment articles were first filed against Nixon, the public and the bulk of the Congress were solidly against the idea (unlike Bush, who has a 19% approval rating, Nixon had just won an epic landslide re-election victory in 1972 against George McGovern). It was during the hearings that the tide turned, as evidence of malfeasance, criminality and abuse of power became evident through hearing testimony.

The same would certainly happen in the case of President Bush and/or Vice President Cheney. Most Americans don’t even know that the president made up evidence to justify the war against Iraq out of whole cloth. They don’t know what the Geneva Conventions are with regard to torture. They don’t know why Congress passed the FISA act, which Bush has been feloniously violating to spy on them (it was passed because Nixon was using the National Security Agency to spy on Americans without judicial warrants--exactly what Bush is now doing!). They don’t know that Bush has been refusing to enact laws passed by the Congress. Public hearings by an impeachment panel would make all these high crimes and misdemeanors clear on national TV to all sentient Americans.

Moreover, as Holtzman pointed out, the president would not be able to use the claim of “executive privilege” to withhold testimony from aides in an impeachment inquiry, the way he has done when they have been subpoenaed by other House and Senate committees. Impeachment would be about violations of the very executive actions he would be claiming privilege on. As well, an impeachment committee, unlike any other committee of the Congress, is specifically sanctioned and empowered in the Constitution, meaning that even strict “constructionist” Federalists on the bench would have a hard time backing presidential obstruction.

As Holtzman noted, “There is no executive privilege in impeachment, because refusing to testify is itself an impeachable offense.”

So what do the punk Democrats (including Barack Obama) have to fear from an impeachment hearing?

According to the Associated Press, "Barack Obama told House Democrats on Tuesday that as president he would order his attorney general to scour White House executive orders and expunge any that 'trample on liberty,' several lawmakers said."

Why wait? What are his Senate staffers doing while the Senator is off jet-setting around the world? Of course,

Obama did not mention executive orders when he addressed reporters who waited for him outside the closed-door meeting. He said only that he would be campaigning alongside members to win the presidency and help expand Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

"I am looking forward to collaborating with everyone here to win the election, but more importantly to collaborate with everybody here and also some like-minded Republicans to actually govern and to deliver on behalf of the American people," Obama said.

Obama and Democrats are following the conventional wisdom that they need to play to conservatives in order to win the White House and maintain their slim majority in Congress. They are ignoring their base which is ready for the war to end and ready for Bush and Cheney to be held accountable for their crimes.

Since when do partisan politics trump the U.S. Constitution? Is this what our troops are fighting and dying for?

Click below to read Dave Lindorff's report:
ThisCantBeHappening.net - Friday's House Judiciary Hearing on Impeachment: A Victory and a Challenge

The Green Party's Hip Hop Power Move: An AUDIO Interview with Green Party Vice-Presidential Nominee Rosa Clemente

Part 1 - Nadir's Audio Interview with Rosa Clemente
(13 mins 25 secs; 12.3 MB)
Part 2 - Nadir's Audio Interview with Rosa Clemente
(15 mins 23secs; 14.1 MB)

Rosa Clemente is a community organizer, journalist and co-founder of the National Hip Hop Political Convention. In July 2008 she makes history again as the vice-presidential nominee for the Green Party of the United States. Clemente joins Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney to become the first US presidential ticket led by two women of color.

I am an independent voter who has been sympathetic to the Green Party since Ralph Nader's presidential run in 2000, but I've never become a member. Where the party has fallen short, in my estimation, has been in its inability to organize among young people, the working class and the people of color who might embrace the party's progressive agenda. By nominating McKinney and Clemente, the Greens seek to erase that perception, and to change the face of the organization from its current image of older white hippies and tree huggers to a young, vibrant multicultual political party with fresh ideas and hip hop swagger.

During our 30 minute interview Mrs. Clemente discusses the difficult obstacles that the Green Party faces in its campaign to secure 5 percent of the vote this November. The hip hop activist also confirms the Green Party's commitment to the progressive values that young people and the hip hop community list as their most important issues - eliminating police brutality, reforming the prison industrial complex and ending the corporate domination of the US political landscape.

Clemente balks at the notion that any political candidate can "transcend race" in America. She offers some frank criticism of Barack Obama for signing the FISA bill, for pushing to transfer troops from Iraq to Afghanistan and for "running his campaign to the right".

Click below to listen, save and share.

Part 1 - Nadir's Audio Interview with Rosa Clemente
(13 mins 25 secs; 12.3 MB)
Part 2 - Nadir's Audio Interview with Rosa Clemente
(15 mins 23secs; 14.1 MB)

AUDIO: Another Seat at the Table

Originally Published at Think.MTV.com

The Green Party's presidential and vice-presidential nominees Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente are the first presidential ticket led by two women of color. But this is no symbolic or token campaign by a minor party.

The Democrats and Republicans have allowed corporate interests to dominate public policy making, and the interests of the people have been ignored.

The Green Party nominees say their bid to gain five percent of the vote this November isn't an alternative. It's imperative.

Click HERE to listen to the 4 min 5 second audio report

VIDEO: McCain's Straight Talk Economics

Originally Published at Think.MTV.com

Nadir's Note: Yes, that's a photo of Barack Obama. Yes, this is a video about John McCain. However, this isn't an example of what McCain calls the media's "Obama Love Fest".

Like other video upload sites, Think.MTV.com's system automatically chooses the photo it will add to the story. The website's bots grab a random frame and drops it into the description. The photo of Obama challenging McCain on economic policy just happens to be the random frame that the program chose, and after much back and forth, Think's webmasters tell me they can't change it.

So this is not an example of McCain falling victim to liberal ObamaMania. Unless the Viacom automatons love Obama more than they love McCain...

John McCain is trying to pick up his game on the Economy.

It's tough enough that the Republican nominee is saddled with the failures of "Bushonomics". McCain has also been forced to distance himself from one of his own advisers, a man who says Americans are "whining" about the economy. But at a recent town hall meeting with small business owners in Belleville, Michigan, the Straight Talk Maverick was up for the challenge, telling voters he has a plan too "fix" the economy.

Nader, Obama and 'White Guilt'

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit that I was a staunch supporter of Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential campaign. In fact a pro-Nader piece I wrote called, "The Lesser of Two Evils or The Greatest Common Good" found its way onto listservs and blogs across the Internet in October of that year.

However, I have become disappointed in Ralph Nader, his decision to abandon the Green Party, and the fight to create a viable option to the nation's oppressive two party system. His actions since 2003 seem self-serving and divisive to me.

So I had to weigh in when I saw that Nader is catching flack for some comments he made to Colorado's Rocky Mountain News recently:

"There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He's half African-American," Nader said.

"Whether that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards."

And...

"I mean, first of all, the number one thing that a Black American politician aspiring to the presidency should be is to candidly describe the plight of the poor, especially in the inner cities and the rural areas, and have a very detailed platform about how the poor is going to be defended by the law, is going to be protected by the law, and is going to be liberated by the law," Nader said. "Haven't heard a thing."

Barack Obama's response to this statement was:

"What's clear is, Ralph Nader hasn't been paying attention to my speeches," he said. "Ralph Nader's trying to get attention. He's become a perennial political candidate. I think it's a shame, because if you look at his legacy ... it's an extraordinary one. ... At this point, he's somebody who's trying to get attention, whose campaign hasn't gotten any traction."

Well, I have two comments to make about that. First of all, I've been to three Obama events in the past six weeks covering election issues for MTV's Street Team '08, and I can say, I haven't heard him talk about these issues either. With the exception of criticizing John McCain's economic stance and his pretty general talking points about improving education for everyone, Obama doesn't say a lot about the conditions of Black folks. If anything, it is most evident that he DOESN'T talk about Blacks much at all. More on that in a minute.

My second comment to Obama's reaction is that he is right. Nader talking about criticizing Obama and the Democrats will get him more press than he'll receive talking about his stance on the issues. The same was true in 2000 when he outlined the differences between him and Al Gore stating that Gore was no different than Bush. This attitude has proven to be horribly false, but the point remains... no one is listening to Ralph Nader's good ideas. They only listen to his controversial statements

Nader said he is not impressed with Obama and that he does not see him campaigning often enough in low-income, predominantly minority communities where there is a "shocking" amount of economic exploitation.

He pointed to issues like predatory lending, shortages of health care and municipal resources, environmental issues and others.

"He wants to show that he is not a threatening . . . another politically threatening African-American politician," Nader said. "He wants to appeal to white guilt. You appeal to white guilt not by coming on as Black is beautiful, Black is powerful. Basically he's coming on as someone who is not going to threaten the white power structure, whether it's corporate or whether it's simply oligarchic. And they love it. Whites just eat it up."

This may be true, but I've talked to several of my Black friends who like the fact that Obama doesn't speak like a Black politician. He speaks like a winning politician. The absence of race in his rhetoric is calculated, and it is working.

Nader's comments are also calculated. He will raise questions about Obama in an attempt to get some of those votes to swing his way.

What Nader doesn't have this year as he did in 2000 is a national party that is standing behind him. In fact, Cynthia McKinney, a Black woman, is the likely Green Party nominee. McKinney doesn't shy away from discussions of race, and that has gotten her into trouble in the past.

Lebanese-American Nader, on the other hand, was accused of avoiding the issue of race by his supporters during his own 2000 campaign, ignoring racial disparities and couching the debate in terms of class. He hasn't discussed the plight of Arab Americans, and he hasn't talked about the problem of Islamophobia. This is a problem Obama will be forced to address in 2008. What about Nader?

So while I don't agree with the substance of Nader's criticisms, I do disagree with his own hypocrisy. Frankly, this a case of the pot calling the kettle Black?

AUDIO: Putting Impeachment Back On The Table

Originally Published at Think.MTV.com

Click HERE to listen to the 3 min 59 second audio report.

Former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich defied Democratic Party leaders when he filed 35 Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush on June 10. A day later members of Veterans for Peace visited the office of Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers (D-MI) asking him to hold an inquiry.

The Dems say impeachment would be a distraction from the upcoming election, but thousands of Americans believe the Bush Administration should be held accountable for its crimes against humanity.

What do you think?

IMPEACH BUSH: Kucinich Files Articles

Former presidential candidate Congressman Dennis Kucinich defied Democratic Party leadership by filing Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush on June 9. Despite arguments from constitutional scholars and activists that Bush should be charged with many crimes, the Democrats have consistently ruled that impeachment is "off the table".

View the 48 minute video of the proceedings here.


In November, House leaders killed Kucinich's resolution to impeach Vice-President Dick Cheney. Now Kucinich returns with 35 articles that outline the litany of crimes committed by the Bush/Cheney administration. They are expected to do the same this time.

Failure to hold Bush and Cheney accountable for their many crimes is a HUGE mistake, by both the Democrats and the Republicans. It demonstrates to the world that there is no respect for the rule of law in the United States. It demonstrates the Democratic Party's complicity in government policies that have brought the world to the brink of financial chaos and endless war. It sets a dangerous precedent and leaves any new president with the dictatorial powers that Bush and Cheney now possess.

During his campaign this year Barack Obama will tie John McCain to "the failed policies of George W. Bush". If Bush is so bad, why won't Obama put his support behind impeachment when the crimes of the president are so egregious?

In fact, many of the same propaganda tactics that were used to start the Iraq war are being used by Democrats, Republicans and the media to incite a war against Iran, another nation that has not attacked anyone. There is no evidence that Iran's nuclear program is being used for weapons, and there is no evidence that Iran is supplying insurgents in Iraq. Still Obama says Iran is "a threat to us all." John McCain has consistently attempted to tie Iran to Al-Qaeda even though the Shiite Iran and Sunni Al-Qaeda would never work together.

We're being set up again. If the Democrats allow Bush and Cheney to get away with the many crimes listed below they are guilty of aiding and abetting the criminal regime. They will push forward with their plans for war against Iran.

Congressman Kucinich has laid out an extensive indictment of the president. Here is the index of article titles:

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq

Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of
Aggression

Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War

Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States

Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression

Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114

Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter

Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources

Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX
Imprisoning Children

Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

Bush and Cheney should be impeached, indicted, tried and convicted for high crimes and misdemeanors. If the Democrats refuse to defend the Constitution and do their duty by following through with impeachment, the entire lot should be tarred and feathered.

VIDEO: Young Detroit for State Rep

Change is a key buzzword in national politics these days, and young people in Michigan are taking that message to heart. At a time when state politics are in turmoil, several young Detroit natives are proactively taking steps necessary to politically engage and take control of their communities by running for the Michigan state legislature. 23 year-old Coleman Young II is running for his second term in the legislature. Leslie Love and Lee Gaddies are also heeding the call of public service.

VIDEO: Michigan Dems Elect Delegates

Originally published at Think.MTV.com

Although there is still no plan to seat their delegates at the Democratic National Convention, Democrats across the state of Michigan convened on April 19 to elect their delegates. The uncertainty of their status created some dramatic moments at Michigan's 14th Congressional District Convention in Detroit. Nadir was there to catch the action.

‘Riot at the Click of a Mouse’: Cedarfest 2008 Behind the Tear Gas

Originally Published at Think.MTV.com

“In retrospect, this entire thing seems like a bizarre sociological experiment.” That’s what Michigan State University (MSU) student Robert Frisk wrote on the Facebook group he founded called I Got Gassed At Cedarfest 2008.

Frisk was referring to the “riot” that developed in East Lansing, Michigan on April 6, when he and 3000 to 4000 of his fellow students gathered for a block party at Cedar Village Apartments. What began as good natured fun on the first warm night of the year, ended with a few bad apples ripping up street signs and throwing beer bottles at East Lansing Police Department (ELPD) officers.

The ELPD responded with tear gas canisters, and 52 arrests, including 28 MSU students. The University has suspended six students so far. MSU officials and the police suggest that more punishments may be doled out as authorities review video of the incident.

The police have the luxury of reviewing their own footage as well as the evidence collected by dozens of partygoers with camera phones who have preserved the event by posting video online. YouTube videos show students anticipating, even provoking the inevitable as they taunted the police with cries of “We want tear gas! We want tear gas!”

East Lansing has endured a series of alcohol induced civil disturbances since the late 1980s, and according to Frisk, the legend of campus riots past fueled the frenzy this time. The Michigamme, Michigan native and I discussed the events during an online chat.

Click HERE to Read The Interview

VIDEO: The Silenced Strike - American Axle Strike Injures U.S. Economy

Originally Published at Think.MTV.Com

UAW workers have been on strike at American Axle plants in Michigan and New York since February 25. The work stoppage has forced General Motors to stop or slow production at 30 North American factories, and an estimated 40,000 people have been laid off.

We talked to striking workers about why they walked off the job.

Detroit Public Schools Earn an F Minus

Originally Published at Think.MTV.Com

More bad news from Michigan this week, and this is probably the worst in a recent streak of negative press. Detroit’s high school graduation rate is dead last among the 50 largest U.S. cities at 24.9 percent.

The findings of the report, issued by a group called America’s Promise Alliance, weren’t particularly surprising to me. I still can’t forget the Detroit Public School (DPS) billboard that shocked my wife, Akanke, and I when we first moved to Michigan from Nashville in 1999.

The billboard said: “‘C’ IT NOW, OR WE’LL SEE YOU THIS SUMMER – Sponsored by Detroit Public Schools.”

Click HERE to Read the Story

FLASHBACK: The Cancer Called Imperialism

Written March 19, 2003

As I begin this writing, the United States government and its allies are beginning a new phase in the 12-year war against the people of Iraq. This is not a new conflict, for U.S. and British warplanes have been patrolling and bombing that nation for over a decade. The first assault in 1991 severely weakened the Iraqi military. 12-years of sanctions have all but crippled the Iraqi people, and now the second Bush regime is going in for the kill. The goal -- to create another colony in Southwest Asia which will provide both an important economic jewel and a crucial strategic outpost for the continued growth of the American empire.

I am deeply saddened by the escalation of this conflict, but I am not surprised. This is merely the growth of the parasitic cancer called Western Imperialism that has been running rampant on this planet for over 600 years. The four nations who lead this fight -- Portugal, Spain, Britain and the United States -- are the most successful Imperialist powers of the last millennium. This Transatlantic Alliance, as they have dubbed themselves, were not only key figures in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, but between them they have attempted to colonize nearly every corner of every continent. Indigenous people all over the globe have been at war with these empires off and on for nearly 1000 years. Read more »

Falling Star? The Trials of Kwame Kilpatrick

Originally published at Think.MTV.com

What happened? Just four years ago, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick addressed the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston – the same convention that served as the nation’s first real introduction to Barack Obama.

The so-called “Hip Hop Mayor” is an attorney, a former state legislator and is currently Vice President of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. His mom, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick, is Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He is a super delegate in this year’s Democratic presidential nomination process. With this kind of resume, titles like “Senator” and “Governor” were thought to be well within Kilpatrick’s grasp.

Barack and Kwame should have been on similar career paths. Instead, the world watches the meteoric rise of presidential candidate Obama, while Kilpatrick’s political career is in freefall.

The chorus of criticism that confronts Kwame Kilpatrick gets louder every day. On March 5, the Wayne County Election Commission ruled that a proposed recall effort can move forward. If 57,328 registered signatures are collected in the next 90 days, Detroiters may be voting to elect a president, and voting on whether to remove their mayor from office on the same ballot.

A day earlier the Detroit City Council decided to postpone a vote on a non-binding resolution that would have demanded the mayor’s resignation. Council members expressed concern about the timing of the measure. They want to investigate the situation further, but some were ready to pull the trigger.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Mayor Kilpatrick’s office sited logistical concerns when it asked the National Conference of Black Mayors to move its annual convention from Detroit. The 1,100 hotel rooms that were booked at the city’s new MGM Grand Hotel have been cancelled. Detroit’s loss is New Orleans’ gain. We can only speculate that the mayor didn’t think he needed the extra media attention right now.

Controversy and crisis have dogged the mayor since his first few months on the job. During his first term, Kilpatrick was criticized for having his family chauffeured around in a red Lincoln Navigator that was leased using city money. The mayor would later repay $9,000 of a reported $210,000 in credit card charges that were used to purchase expensive dinners, massages and bottles of Moet champagne.

The most consistent and most damaging controversy, however, is the now infamous “party” and the death of “Strawberry”.

“Rumor” has it that a “wild party” was held at the mayor’s official residence, The Manoogian Mansion, on Labor Day weekend in 2002. “Rumor” because the mayor says the party “never happened”, the Michigan State Police say it “never happened” and after a five-week investigation, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said, “the party has all the earmarks of an urban legend and should be treated as such.”

This urban legend lingers because Tamara Greene, an exotic dancer who performed under the name “Strawberry”, was shot and killed in April 2003. “Legend” has it that the mayor’s wife, Carlita, came home unexpectedly. Upon discovering the party and the strippers, Mrs. Kilpatrick allegedly attacked and assaulted Greene. Word on the street is that a proper investigation would reveal the Kilpatricks’ involvement in Greene’s death. Tamara Greene was shot 18 times with the same .40 caliber bullets that are used in Detroit Police Department issue handguns. The shooter also wounded her boyfriend, but he wasn’t shot at, so it is believed he was not a target. Only Tamara was.

Former Detroit police Lieutenant Alvin Bowman stated in a sworn affidavit, filed on March 1, 2008, that he believes a Detroit police officer killed Tamara Greene. Bowman claims his investigation of Greene’s murder was derailed, and he was transferred out of the homicide division.

The mayor’s troubles came to a head most recently when he asked the city to pay an out of court settlement to former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown and Kilpatrick’s ex-bodyguard Harold Nelthorpe both of whom claimed they were fired for investigating the mayor’s personal actions. During the trial, evidence surfaced that Kilpatrick had a sexual relationship with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Both Kilpatrick and Beatty denied the affair during the trial, but The Detroit Free Press obtained text messages that indicated otherwise. This has exposed the mayor and his former chief to possible felony perjury charges. Beatty has since resigned.

Since 2004 city attorneys have been able to keep secret an $8.4 million deal that prevented records of the text messages from becoming public. The release of those documents prompted the city council’s discussion of a resolution asking for Kilpatrick’s resignation.

Is it all over for Kwame Kilpatrick? Don’t count him out just yet. Pundits sounded the death knell for Kilpatrick’s political career when he became the first incumbent mayor to finish second in a primary ballot. Kwame went on to win a close general election and gain a second term.

Only time will tell whether Mayor Kilpatrick will reverse trajectory, and return to his rising star status. Right now, his chances look bleak. But then, just a few short months ago, there weren’t many people who believed America had a realistic chance of electing an African-American president.

Time will tell.

FLASHBACK! The Black JFK: Republican Support for Obama Raises Red Flags

This blog from May 2007 reposted in light of increasing reports of Republican support for Obama. Not a hater. Just making an observaton. - Nadir

The Barack Obama bandwagon is picking up steam. In many circles, the junior senator from Illinois is being compared to John Kennedy. He is young, good looking, charismatic and yes, articulate, providing a resounding echo of the JFK experience.

However, when NeoConservatives start issuing accolades for a Democratic candidate, it's time to take a closer look.

From London, England's TimesOnline:

But last week a surprising new name joined the chorus of praise for the antiwar Obama – that of Robert Kagan, a leading neoconservative and co-founder of the Project for the New American Century in the late 1990s, which called for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Kagan is an informal foreign policy adviser to the Republican senator John McCain, who remains the favoured neoconservative choice for the White House because of his backing for the troops in Iraq.

But in an article in the Washington Post, Kagan wrote approvingly that a keynote speech by Obama at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs was “pure John Kennedy”, a neocon hero of the cold war.

So warmongering neocons dig Obama? The presidential candidate has expressed his opposition to the Iraq War, and says he was against it from the beginning, but his own words show that he is not an advocate of peace.

Let's get the straight dope from Barack's campaign website.

On the Occupation of Iraq:

Senator Obama introduced legislation in January 2007 to offer a responsible alternative to President Bush's failed escalation policy. The legislation commences redeployment of U.S. forces no later than May 1, 2007 with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008 -- a date consistent with the bipartisan Iraq Study Group's expectations. The plan allows for a limited number of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq as basic force protection, to engage in counter-terrorism and to continue the training of Iraqi security forces. If the Iraqis are successful in meeting the 13 benchmarks for progress laid out by the Bush Administration, this plan also allows for the temporary suspension of the redeployment, provided Congress agrees that the benchmarks have been met.

My reading of this is that Obama would allow the US occupation to continue perhaps with a smaller force, or with current troop levels if Iraq meets Bush's benchmarks. This doesn't sound like an end to the occupation to me.

And that speech that Kagan found to be pure JFK? More from TimesOnline:

In his speech, Obama called for an increase in defence spending and an extra 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 marines to “stay on the offense” against terrorism and ensure America had “the strongest, best-equipped military in the world”. He talked about building democracies, stopping weapons of mass destruction and the right to take unilateral action to protect US “vital interests” if necessary, as well as the importance of building alliances.

An INCREASE in defense spending? The US already spends more on the military than the rest of the world combined. The US already has the strongest, best-equipped fighting force in the world. "Building democracies?" Isn't that what the Iraqi invasion was supposed to be about?

Obama has also told the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC that Iran "is a threat to us all." His website says that, if elected, Obama "will bring a responsible end to the war in Iraq and refocus on the critical challenges in the broader region." Does that mean he plans to redeploy US military forces from Iraq to Iran?

This sounds like Obama is pushing for a continuation of American imperialism.

Those comparisons to JFK ring true. Let's not forget that JFK escalated US miliatary involvement in Vietnam, ordered the Bay of Pigs invasion and brought the world to the brink of destruction during the Cuban Missle Crisis. JFK was a hawk who increased military spending and upped the ante in the cold war. Obama's military policies show that he is cut of the same cloth.

Republicans who are defecting to the Obama camp believe that Barack offers a message that can unite the nation. That unification could be achieved by converting the so-called "War on Terror" from a GOP-led initiative to a bipartisan enterprise. This means more American aggression and more war.

Perhaps most terrifying of all, is this final quote from the Timesonline article: "For his optimism about the future, Obama has been dubbed the 'black Ronald Reagan'."

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.

Can Michigan Get a 'Do-Over'?

Originally published at Think.MTV.com

Michigan voters are literally out in the cold when the subject of the state’s confused Democratic primary comes up.

A dozen or so dedicated supporters of presidential candidate Barack Obama alternately marched and huddled outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in downtown Detroit on a freezing 12 degree February afternoon. The group shivered defiantly as they rallied for the state’s Democratic Party to establish a caucus that would settle the fate of Michigan’s 156 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

“We’re pretty upset about the way the primary election was conducted, and the fact that [Obama] wasn’t on the ticket,” said Lawrence Garcia, explaining why he and other members of the grassroots political organizing group Obama Democratic Future were willing to endure these frigid conditions on a Friday afternoon. “Now folks are talking about making those votes count, even though that was not a valid election.”

The decision to stay on the Michigan ballot has turned into something of an ace in the hole for Clinton. Supporters of Obama and former Senator John Edwards encouraged Michiganders to vote “Uncommitted”, but in the resulting confusion, Clinton walked away with 55% of the primary vote.

Garcia and his group are asking for a new caucus in Michigan. If they can’t get one, they don’t want any of Michigan’s delegates to count.

“It wasn’t a fair race,” Garcia contends. “Common folks like us didn’t have any say in moving that primary to January 15^th.”

[To learn more about Michigan’s January 15 Democratic Primary check out “Uncommitted: Michigan’s Democratic Primary Fiasco”.]

Though Obama supporters want a ‘do-over’, the prospects aren’t likely. Michigan’s Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm, has said there isn’t enough time and it isn’t practical to pull a caucus together.

“So far I haven’t heard any meaningful or trustworthy plan that would indicate to me that we’re going to have a ‘makeover’ or ‘do-over’ caucus,” Jeff Souza, chairman of the Washtenaw County, Michigan Democratic Party says. Souza suspects that Michigan and Florida may be out of it until the last minute.

“I believe that when a clear leader is established, the Michigan and Florida delegates may be seated just as a formality, as a gesture to the people of those two states so that they do have a voice of some sort,” Souza says.

“But the damage has been done. If [the race for the nomination] is tight, it’s going to be very contentious, and you’re going to see a lot of fireworks and it’s going to become extremely unstable,” Souza fears. “It’s going to be a free for all,”

Indeed, after eleven straight primary victories, Senator Barack Obama has taken a commanding 1371 to 1274 lead in the delegate count and the hunt for the nomination. That’s if Michigan and Florida votes are not counted. If the two prodigal states are included, Clinton moves ahead with 1466 to Obama’s 1443 declared delegates, making for a much tighter race.

All discussion about what to do with Michigan’s delegation has been biased, with each side working to gain an advantage for their chosen candidate.

“The Clinton supporters believe they have a built-in advantage,” Souza explains, “and so I don’t think they really want to have a do-over caucus, especially with the congressional districts’ conventions [on March 29] determining the allocation of [delegates].” There’s a strong possibility that uncommitted delegates who are actually Clinton supporters could be elected, and presumably they would vote for Hillary Clinton at the convention.

Conversely, Obama supporters believe a ‘do-over’ caucus would eliminate the confusion by allowing the rank and file of Michigan’s Democratic Party to determine the state’s choice once and for all. “They feel that they need to make it official and take away the wiggle room or the ability of Clinton supporters to get those uncommitted delegates and make sure that Obama supporters are officially elected by the people,” Souza observes.

Michigan state representative Coleman Young II is an Obama supporter who helped organize the February 22 rally outside the building that bears his father’s name. “At first I wanted to move the primary up,” Young admits, “because I wanted the presidential candidates to come here and tell us what their plan was to stimulate the economy, especially here in Michigan with all that we’re going through. There are a lot of different issues that we have that need to be addressed and should be addressed.”

“Our most valuable asset that we have in this country is our democracy, and our right to vote,” Young exclaims. “I think we’re being disenfranchised, and I think one person being disenfranchised is one too many. That’s why I personally believe that we need to have a redo. The citizens of Michigan were robbed horribly in this process.”

“My vote should count,” marcher Cassie Williams says. “For me to be told that my vote doesn’t count, or that the delegates from Michigan won’t be seated, that’s not okay. That’s not the American way. That’s not what democracy is about.”

“For all of our lives we’ve been told, ‘get out and vote, your vote counts, you matter, you have a voice’,” William continues. “Then to be rendered voiceless, that’s a problem. That’s a serious problem.”

Currently Michigan Democrats are in political purgatory. The state’s delegates have become a pawn in this game but they may never be played. Because state party leadership chose to cut line, Michigan Democrats are forced to watch from the sidelines as the most exciting race for the nomination in fifty years has played out everywhere else around the country.

If the state’s party favors one candidate over another and holds a do-over caucus, it could create even more disention in the Democratic Party ranks. If it fails to act, or it seats the delegates in a close race, which could effectively hand the nomination to the other candidate, full-scale riots could break out at the convention. Come November, frustrated Michigan Democrats in this traditional battleground state may turn to presumptive Republican nominee John McCain who has been accused by conservatives of being too liberal.

“It’s quite a mess,” Souza sighs. “It’s almost like Iraq. There’s no good solution at this point.”