Just as aside...there is a mention to an interview with Cynthia McKinney on Nightline.  I haven't watched Nightline since Ted Koppel's interview with Nelson Mandela.  I can't recall the exact context, but I believe Koppel was suggesting that Mandela's incarceration was really his own fault since he refused to renounce violence as a tactic of the ANC in combatting the combined forces of white re-located Euros (Boers), Israelis and Americans.

Mandela said something quite brilliant and Koppel sat stunned and silent for what seemed like an eternity.  Mandela followed up his devastating comments with a deft recognition, "Mr. Koppel, I hope I have not paralyzed you."  It was the single most eloquent moment I've been able to recall from political television.  I haven't seen that show since.  I never felt there was much of a need after that.

I see that since they've seen fit to dedicate so much time to Ms. McKinney's Doo (likely with nary a mention of Madam CJ Walker), I've missed precious little in the past fifteen years.  Nightline stills sux - after all these years?  It seems as though not much has changed - you could say they're paralyzed.

He's fuming.  But that's a good thing.  I've always liked Barbara Reynolds...she's like that mad cool grandma type that was still working hard and kicking much tail - but could still cook and tell stories and listen to your stories and be advisor without being an executioner.  More to the point, her writing cut to the chase; she tackled tough issues and defended black folk - and usually not the ones that didn't need defending.  Thanks for the link.

"She said that she was fired from USA Today because she didn't appeal to the demographic group from which the paper gets its sales: Angry White Men. Those black syndicated columnists who have remained must fit the bill. They have become the go-fers for backlash journalism, all of them competing with each other to blame the country's social problems on black behavior."

Well, OK then. I always wondered where all the conservative black columnists came from.

Now I know.

Black Journalists Push Back At Ishmael Reed's Criticism


"If an African American attains public office he or she is immune from criticism? That would be news to Condi Rice. But even assuming Reed really means that no black officials of the left are ever to be criticized, it is still a standard that does not bear scrutiny, which does not serve the interests of the community, and which I very much doubt Reed has ever observed himself. By that standard we have no right, as voters, as citizens, as taxpayers, to determine if these individuals are serving the interests of the people who elected and support them."

Thanks for spotting the reaction, PT. That gets promoted to a post.