The real issue is: Why is same-sex marriage being identified as a top priority topic for discussion in the black community less than 45 days prior to the presidential election?

Do the black pastors who are so aggressively promoting their anti-Obama agenda in prime time venues such as the National Press Club or on CNN really believe the gay controversy that has been a religious and political hot potato for so many decades would become less relevant on November 7th?

Perhaps a civics refresher lesson on the president’s key constitutional duties would remind the misguided black clergy that many of the issues thrust into the presidential campaign dialogue have no direct relationship to these duties but are used as emotional foils to divide and conquer.

First, the president is obligated to protect the nation from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Those that would deliberately do harm to America must be neutralized and dealt with decisively. No American can achieve their fullest potential while cowering in a state of fear; either real or perceived.

Second, Americans expect the president to use the prestige and power of his office to create and stimulate a dynamic economic environment where business is thriving and jobs are plentiful. It is impossible for Americans to purposefully pursue their right to life, liberty and happiness without a sense of predictable economic stability.

Finally, the president must exhibit a strong resolve for fiscal restraint and the efficient management of the federal treasury. Budgetary discipline must be a high priority and closely correlated to the nation’s overall wellbeing. A solid national fiscal foundation is needed if America is to afford its citizens the essential enhancements for a quality life such as education, healthcare, and a livable retirement.

There is a well-known cliché that timing is everything. For those black clergy to aid and abet the radical conservatives opposing the president with non-relevant wedge issues such as same-sex marriage is making a high stakes wager for the black community with everything to lose and nothing to gain.

Space limitations do not permit providing extensive detail on why an Obama presidency is preferable to a Romney presidency. The reader is referred to former President Bill Clinton’s September 5th DNC speech for a fact filled compelling argument explaining why President Obama should be re-elected.

If President Clinton’s definitive chronicling of the president’s significant accomplishments during the past four years along with the meticulous discrediting of the Republican attacks against the president is not sufficient to convince the black clergy that their immediate priority should be the re-election of the president then the following observations should tip the scales.

For almost 250 years the White House has been the exclusive domain for America’s white males. In 2008 Barack Obama won what many believe is the most prestigious title in the world – President of the United States of America. For four years he has guided the country with dignity and courage while stabilizing the horrific economy he inherited, reforming a healthcare system that had been in crises for over 40 years, ending the war in Iraq, bringing closure to Osama Bin Laden, and saving America’s auto industry. All this was accomplished in spite of the unprecedented predisposed non-support of the republican opposition.

Even if none of these successes had been achieved the outstanding skill, extra ordinary tenacity, and unbelievable fortitude exhibited in convincing the American people (not just Blacks) to elect him to the highest office in the land is sufficient to give him a second term. His actions during the past four years have demonstrated to the world that American values, honesty and integrity are real and not just some glorified rhetoric used deceptively by the previous administration.

Is there any way to measure the pride that black men, women, and children feel when they watch their black president appear at the door way of Air Force One after landing in some foreign country and he jaunts down those steps to be greeted by royalty or heads of state and welcomed with an overwhelming display of ceremonial pageantry?

Even foreign countries recognize the importance of keeping President Obama in office. Recently the deputy prime minister of Australia made the unprecedented remark that the greatest threat to the U.S. economy is the “cranks and crazies” in the Republican Party. His comments were later validated by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as an appropriate common sense observation on American politics.

Black clergy, you have complained for years about the despicable portrayal of blacks by the media. Now you have something tangible that you have never had before; a black man that no matter how badly he is castigated or disparaged by the radical fringe you can make the prideful response, “Yes, but he is still the President of The United States of America.

Several of the black clergy vilifying President Obama because of his position on gay marriage have described him as a ‘Judas’ or an embarrassment to black culture. However, when the accusations are evaluated under the microscope of objective analysis the accusers are exposed as nothing more than ravenous wolves bought to parade in sheep’s clothing.

Black Clergy, I beg you. Don’t sell your people out for a few pieces of silver.

James W. Breedlove
Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: www.jaydubub@swbell.net

It is time for the President of the United States of America to stand up before the American people as a bold leader dedicated to giving them back the confidence they have lost in a government perceived to be incapable of serving the needs of the people.

It is time, Mr. President, to let ‘we the people’ know that the harsh lessons learned from dealing with the snowballing fiscal crisis that has confounded America will be used to provide effective new solutions instead of retreading old ones.

It is time to reveal a new vision for America, Mr. President.  It is time to differentiate the reality of your presidency from the smoke and mirror fluff of your challenger.

The voters do not want to hear more glowing speeches prepared by skilled speech writers using coined poll tested phrases designed to tell the people what they want to hear.  Instead, what they are looking for are plain spoken simple words that tell the people what they need to hear, the pathway they must follow to reclaim their freedom, and the specific actions that will be taken.

A recent Pew Institute report says, “the middle class has shrunk in size, fallen backward in income and wealth, and shed some—but by no means all—of its characteristic faith in the future.”  The report provides statistics showing that middle class earnings and net worth have plummeted since the mid-2000s and that about 85% of the middle class say it is harder to maintain their standard of living than it was 10 years ago.

Mr. President, because the misery and concern detailed in the Pew Study is not uniquely democrat or republican you have the opportunity to offer your vision of substance to both.

It is possible to do this in the short time remaining before the November 6 elections in a manner that will transform the campaign from a finger pointing, tear down the opponent, mud-slinging spectacle to a constructive template that future campaigners will emulate.

First, use your acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., to present a comprehensive roadmap for America’s recovery and growth using the “no fluff-real stuff” differentiation guidelines previously mentioned.

Second, a few days prior to the October 3 debate in Denver announce a new jobs stimulus initiative and your intention to replace Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and  Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner.

These are bold moves to accomplish a specific goal.  They illustrate to the American people that you are serious about attacking the economic crisis based on lessons learned.  The Federal Reserve Chairman and the Secretary of the Treasury are intimately connected with the highly controversial TARP, Qualitative Easing and other stimulus measures.  New leadership of the economic team verifies and validates that new economic initiatives will be the bedrock of the economic recovery game plan.

The significant difference between this new stimulus and previous initiatives is the money goes directly to the consumer instead of to corporations. One of the reasons previous stimulus initiatives did not jump start the economy is the corporations sat on the stimulus money and refused to increase production because consumers did not have money to purchase their products.

Third, shortly before the October 16 debate in Hempstead, New York announce your support of initiatives to legalize and regulate marijuana. The war on drugs continues to waste billions of tax dollars each year while drug usage increases.  A test program to legalize and regulate marijuana will determine if the taxes raised, jobs created and reduced strain on the overwhelmed justice system outweigh the negatives.  We must be willing to try new solutions when old measures are proven ineffective.

Fourth, as a lead up to the October 22 debate in Boca Raton, Florida announce the date for bringing the troops out of Afghanistan.

Mr. President with these initial steps you will have demonstrated several definitive and confidence building realisms to the American people:

You understand the role of the President and the power of the presidency.

You will not let greed and corruption continue to undermine the integrity of the government.  Government greed and corruption has been the single most effective element destroying America’s middle-class values of thrift, industriousness, and self-reliance.

You understand that the government should work to enhance the people instead of the people working to enhance the government.

As a politician you are a realist and not simply an intellectual theorist.

Mr. President, now is the time with these simple but powerful initiatives to prove to the American people that their government is in the best hands with you remaining at the helm.

James W. Breedlove

Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: www.jaydubub@swbell.net

I have been grappling with this conundrum for some time and concluded that the reason America has not been able to resolve its race issue, even though it has been dialogued ad-infinitum, is that the NIGGER thorn has never been removed from America’s paw.

Americans are frightened to death of the word NIGGER. They avoid it like the plague and if forced to confront it, either overtly or accidently, they do so in hesitant voices using substitute codes such as N-Word.  I call this ingrained fear the Niggeritus Virus.

In “Let’s Call Them Nigger and Other Controversial Commentary on Black America” I address this and assert that if we cannot deal with the word NIGGER we will never be able to heal the destructive division that the word induces.

But the Nigger paralysis that is gripping America goes deeper than periodic racial conflict.  The Nigger issue is at the core of the racism divide that prevents America from achieving its fullest potential.  Until we can deal objectively and constructively with the Nigger issue, starting with neutralizing the word NIGGER, America’s racism cancer will remain unchecked.

What, you ask??  Why would you use the dreaded NIGGER word in the title of your book?  Don’t you know it’s the equivalent of shouting FIRE in a crowed auditorium?

The simple answer is, I wanted the title to be shocking to attract attention!!!.

I realize the book’s title will ruffle some feathers, but our mutual economic, political, social, and civic interests demand that the national regression resulting from being infected with the NIggeritus Virus be addressed now, before it become incurable.

Too many of us have been lulled into a sense of complacency, accepting recurring racism as the norm in American society.  Others seem to wear rose-colored glasses insisting that we live in a post-racial America in which racism has been subdued compared to past eras.

Yes, we have come a long way during the past 50 years.  We repealed Jim Crow laws and enacted the Equal Rights Amendment and other anti-discrimination laws.  We even elected a black president.   Yet, I submit to you that racism and the continued irrational fear of the Niggeritis Virus impedes America’s domestic and global progress.

“Let’s Call Them Nigger” challenges what I believe are two of the most destructive mindsets that impede constructive dialogue:

(1)  The idea that one person or group has the power to define another group by calling them names such as nigger, white trash, fatty, nerd, queer or other demeaning words.

(2)  The idea that one person or group has the power to create an illusion or false reality, and thereby negatively influence the thoughts and behavior of others.

The critical question for our society is can humans feel good about themselves without demeaning others?

I caution Americans of all races to not let the book’s title fool you into thinking this is a pity-party for Black Americans.  It is a polemic on how racism is undermining America’s position as a global dominator.

Racism is pervasive.  Improving race relations is consistently part of the national dialogue but racism still remains a virulent virus apparently immune from any social, moral or religious antidote. 

 We do not seem to understand that our destinies are inextricably intertwined.  The emotionally charged dialogue stimulated by Niggeritis reinforced by selfish classism where people are talking at each other and not constructively with each other is not only meaningless and counter-productive but also destructive.

Blacks and Whites need to become informed about the NIGGER Virus so that the word Nigger is demystified, detoxified and neutralized of its power to encourage fear based irrational behavior that keeps Americans divided.

Our goal should be to diffuse the negative energy and power associated with the word NIGGER and other demeaning words so that all Americans can come together in mutual understanding.

James W. Breedlove

Comments or Opinions may be sent to the writer at: jaydubub@swbell.net

Nigger, Nigger Nigger

Does The Word Make You Angry?

(Then Read Below)

Author James Breedlove is putting America on notice with his new book “Let’s Call Them Nigger and Other Controversial Commentary on Black America”.

Racism is undermining America’s global leadership position and an objective dialogue is urgently needed, to “stop America’s self-destructive slide into Third World status”.

Breedlove, a retired missile systems engineer and former Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, says he realizes the book title is shocking and will ruffle some feathers, but our mutual economic, political, social, and civic interests demand that the national regression resulting from the status quo be addressed.

Too many Americans have been lulled into a sense of complacency, accepting racism and sexism as the norm in American society.  Others seem to wear rose-colored glasses insisting that we live in a post-racial, post-sexist America, and therefore the victory has already been won; the playing field has been leveled.

Yes, we have come a long way during the past 50 years.  We repealed Jim Crow laws and enacted the Equal Rights Amendment and other anti-discrimination laws.  We even elected a black president.   Yet, I submit to you that racism, sexism, and an irrational fear of “a misconceived unknown” constrains America’s domestic and global progress.

Breedlove cautions Americans of all races to not let the title fool you into thinking this is a pity-party for Black Americans.  “It is a polemic on how racism is undermining America’s position as a global dominator.”

Racism is pervasive.  Its effects are devastating both to the individual and also the nation.  The battle to eliminate racism and the resultant discord injected into our society poses one of the biggest challenges America faces.

Improving race relations is consistently part of the national dialogue but racism still remains a virulent virus apparently immune from any social, moral or religious antidote. While racism exacerbates the deep divide that is sinking the American ship of state, greed and corruption is perpetuating the divide by adding burdensome classism to racism.

Breedlove invites people of good will to join in an objective conversation about the power of words.  The goal is to diffuse the negative energy associated with the word Nigger and other demeaning words and relegate these tools of division to simply words in the lexicon where their context is fully understood and not just perceived.

Books may be purchased at Jokae’s African American Books, 3223 Camp Wisdom Road, Dallas, TX (214-331-8100) or online at www.taylorgroupbooks.com (888-914-9943) or download the digital version at www.Amazon.com/dp/B00716PESO.

Call 888-914-9943 for more information

As a nation we look to our leaders to create and implement new ideas to guide us through these confused and conflicted times.  But the ideas must be based on sound moral principles and our means of implementing them must be moral as well.  Instead our nation seems to be mired in a quagmire of increasing moral deficiency that is in direct conflict with God’s law.  God has never been pleased with or continued to bless a disobedient nation.

When the Israelites entered The Promised Land under Joshua, they were undefeatable.  They were a superpower of their day.  The Lord was with them, because they were an obedient people.  However, over time prosperous decadence overcame the land.  Israel had made a god of itself and rationalized it as being right even though they were living in crass idolatry, paganism and immorality.

Israel’s strict obedience to God waned as wickedness and sinful living prevailed.  As a result of their rebellion the Lord left them to the mercy of their neighboring enemies.

Hosea had warned Israel, “Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.  By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood” (Hosea 4:1-2).  His admonition to Israel is a warning to all who pervert God’s Law – “they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”

Israel’s decline into corruption and sin was not because of a lack of awareness of the right way.  They knew the Truth but defied it by choosing to define how they would obey the Lord in a manner consistent with their chosen lifestyle.

There are disturbing parallels between the secular focus of God’s people in ancient times and modern day Christians.  Ancient Israel was identical to the Christian nations of today who have transformed from godliness to living in a state of semi-godless perversion.

Consider this prophecy from Timothy:

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.  Avoid such men as these.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

The Whirlwind for Israel came in the form of their neighbor Assyria who conquered the nation and placed the people into captivity similar to that from which they had been delivered.  The same consequence of choosing to sow the wind of disobedience currently plagues Christian nations including America.

You don’t have to look far to see that America is reaping the whirlwind of moral decay, the whirlwind of financial collapse, the whirlwind of spiritual decline, the whirlwind of broken families, the whirlwind of teen pregnancy, drugs, and crime, the whirlwind of broken marriage covenants, demonic cults, discord, gossip, backbiting, criticism, deception, conflict, no school prayer, and the whirlwind of irresponsible leaders who continue to bring dishonor to the high offices that they have sworn- in the name of God- to uphold.  “In God We Trust” is pure tokenism.

Today, hundreds of millions of people in the world identify themselves as Christian.  Seventy two percent of Americans claim they are Christians.  But 66 percent have no affiliation with any church.

The statistics are wonderful but, considering how divided these Christian-professing people are in their beliefs, and at times their very unchristian attitude toward one another begs the question; what manner of Christians are these?

The confusion arises because people tend to believe what they want to believe and will rationalize and interpret God’s word to make it conform to their beliefs rather than adapting beliefs to the Word.  Note what the scripture in Mark says about this convoluted Christianity.

“These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.  You leave the Commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:6-8)

Denying the Lord is bad enough but even worse is treating His sacred name with contempt, denying it a rightful place in our lives and using it to move non-righteous agendas.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.   For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.   And let us not be weary in doing good: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:7-9).

Americans from every walk of life need to be steadfast in sowing God’s seeds for a better America.  By doing so we will reap a whirlwind of His blessings instead of reaping a whirlwind of destruction.

James W. Breedlove

Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: www.truthclinic.com

The Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) was the latest black organization to exhibit its conference/convention credentials when it convened a four day version of saving Black America at the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York and the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers from April 14-17, 2010.

The highlight of the convention was the leadership forum convened on the final day where black leaders representing a diverse range of constituencies pledged a plan of action to mitigate over a 12-month period many of the issues such as education reform, unemployment, and health care that impact people of color.

Rev. Sharpton in stressing the importance of the Measuring the Movement: Black Leadership’s 12-Month Action Plan special forum focused on the measurable action that can be taken to improve the quality of life for African-Americans.  He emphasized that, “everybody needs to make a commitment. Let’s hold everyone accountable.”

The real question is: How can everyone be held accountable when no one has been assigned or accepted responsibility for the actions needed?  This is the type of misdirected mindset that results from emotional conference rhetoric.

Is there anything substantially new to be learned about being Black In America or the host of issues that confront Black America that hasn’t already been sliced, diced and dissected over the years by think tanks, civil rights organizations, activist groups, news organizations, historians, and TV specials?

Are these convention and conference organizers and attendees not aware of the annual definitive reports on blacks published by organizations such as the National Urban League, the Pew Charitable Trust, United For A Fair Economy, and the U.S. Census Bureau?  Have they completely overlooked the well documented books that included The Hidden Cost of Being African American by Thomas Shapiro, Dr. Claud Anderson’s Black Labor/White Wealth or the multitude of black  historical perspectives from intellectuals such as Eric Foner, John Hope Franklin, W. E. B. DuBois, Freederick Douglas, and Booker T. Washington?

These resources paint a vivid portrait of the black condition in America.  They documented and validated how the enormous racial wealth gap that perpetuates racial inequality in America and the methods of intergenerational transfer of wealth used to advantage by Whites appear to make racial inequality a permanent American fixture.

The Census Bureau tells us each year that more black men are dropping out of high school and being jailed at disproportionately high rates.  Black poverty rates seem to be fixed at three times the white rate.

Black Americans have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and that disparity is growing larger each year.  Black women, the cornerstone of the black family, now are approximately 70 percent of all new HIV diagnoses.

These and the other issues that are constantly being discussed at black conventions and conferences are important but the successful implementation of any change strategy depends on less talking and assuming total responsibility for remedial action.

Who knows the problems of the Black community better than someone who has lived the problem and, therefore, is in a better position to create real solutions instead of perpetual studies?

Too often the cornerstone of proposals to correct black issues is a local, state or federal program.  However, it will be a sad mistake if Blacks embrace government intervention as the only way to mitigate the inequality burden Blacks confront in America.  The same government mindset that meticulously, deliberately and callously imposed the discriminatory practices detailed by Dr. Claud Anderson in his book Black Labor/White Wealth and now confirmed by Shapiro is the same government mindset operating today to maintain the large black/white wealth disparity that undergirds racial inequality.

United For A Fair Economy estimates it would take 1,600 years to close the wealth gap at the rates of progress made since 1970.  Without a quantified self-directed strategy Blacks will continue to be bought off with underfunded politicized programs that do nothing more than maintain the status quo.

There is no valid reason for Black leaders to continue to hold conventions and conferences to discuss the black problem in America.  The problems are not only well known but well documented.  What is needed are working meetings that assign responsibility to black leaders to quantify a specific problem, initiate specific actions to fix the specific problem and to keep the effort funded and active until the problem is fixed.

Structured thinking and dedicated implementation is the basis for a united strategy for dealing with Black problems discussed by activists such as Rev. Al Sharpton and Tavis Smiley.  If a national program is too difficult then start at the state level, or county level, or city level.

It is possible to quantify definitive action plans for individual areas of housing, schools, crime prevention, transportation, infrastructure development and any other element needed to make our communities the quality places we dream about.  Blacks have got to assume the ultimate responsibility for their own destiny to stop the give-today, take-back-tomorrow cycle of perpetual stagnation that results from the majority establishment controlling the black agenda.

James W. Breedlove

Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: www.truthclinic.com

As in previous years, the fifteenth anniversary memorial service began at 09:02 a.m., marking the moment the bomb went off.  The somber service included speeches by local, state and federal dignitaries.

Perhaps the most touching and poignant part of the service was the roll call reading by relatives of the names of each person who died in the blast.

Following the ceremony, many of the family members passed in a solemn procession by the memorial’s 168 empty memorial chairs.  They paused near a large American elm dubbed “The Survivor Tree” because it withstood the blast 15 years ago. Under a state law signed this month, the bombing and its aftermath will become a regular part of history classes in Oklahoma’s schools.  Most of the media reported the Oklahoma City bombing as the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil at that time.

However, another terrorist attack goes virtually unnoticed and unmemorialized.  Approximately 106 miles northeast of Oklahoma City during the course of some 18 hours on May 31-June 1, 1921, the city of Tulsa erupted, fueled by a firestorm of terrorism and violence perpetrated by a white mob hell bent on ethnic cleansing.  Entire Black neighborhoods were destroyed; an estimated 300 blacks were killed, more than one thousand homes were burned to the ground, leaving over 9,000 people homeless.

In all, some 40 square blocks were laid to waste including the city’s thriving Black commercial Greenwood district.  Dubbed the “Negro Wall Street,” Greenwood was an economic powerhouse.

The rigid segregation of the time forced Tulsa’s Blacks to create their own business district.  However, the white Tulsa business owners began to feel resentment.  White residents of Tulsa referred to the area north of the Frisco railroad tracks as “Little Africa” and other derogatory names. They were threatened by the success of the African American community and worried that the community might continue to grow.

The thriving “Negro Wall Street” that was giving blacks a sense of independence and self-determination was a festering keg of dynamite.  The match that ignited the riot was an alleged assault of a white woman by an African American man that was published in the Tulsa Tribune.

The Greenwood businesses destroyed were some of the finest in the country;  21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores, 21 churches, two theaters, banquet halls, recreation facilities, a hospital, two newspapers, a black bus line, schools, libraries, hotels, and professional buildings that housed doctors, lawyers, dentists and realtors.  Over 600 businesses destroyed making a surreal wasteland.  The total property loss was estimated at 1.5 million dollars; a staggering amount in 1921.

One observer who visited Tulsa following the conflagration wrote, “in terms of sheer brutality and willful destruction of life and property, this orgy of mayhem and murder stands without parallel in America.” Not one white person was ever arrested or charged for the Tulsa Massacre.

The president of the Tulsa chamber of commerce furnished news associations across the country with a press release stating, “…as quickly as possible rehabilitation will take place and reparations made.”

But the reality of rehabilitation and restitution never materialized.  Tulsa’s white leaders secretly plotted to do precisely the opposite of their promises. A conspiracy of silence evolved, key documents disappeared, and white business and political leaders at the state and federal levels worked feverishly to sweep the massacre beneath the carpet of history.

The Black community of Tulsa attempted to revive Greenwood during the ‘30s and ‘40s without the promised help.  They were partially successful, but, less than a decade later, dissected by highways, emptied by suburban drift, and rebuffed by officials at every turn, the revival efforts finally succumbed.

All that remains of the magnificent vision and entrepreneurial determination that created “the Negro Wall Street” is a single gentrified block of Greenwood Avenue, surrounded by new urban-renewal projects, a new university complex, and a new cultural center that houses a jazz museum.

As an historical foot note, some historians feel that Adolf Hitler and the Germans based their plan for their “final solution” to the Jewish problem on America’s treatment of Blacks between 1914 and 1935.

A fitting monument to honor Black America and its heroic Black martyrs would be to create working replicas of Tulsa’s “Black Wall Street” in urban communities across the nation.  These dynamic memorials, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, would be a living testament to the African-American men and women who in spite of the blatant inequalities of a separate but equal nation accomplished the unimaginable; transforming their dreams into reality.

Black America it is time to do it again.  In fact, it is past time.

James W. Breedlove

Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: www.truthclinic.com

The chairman said that the world’s best golfer disappointed everyone with his sex scandal and didn’t live up to expectations as a role model.

“As he now says himself, he forgot in the process to remember that with fame and fortune comes responsibility, not invisibility. It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here. It is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids.  Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children.”

“We at Augusta hope and pray that our great champion will begin his new life here tomorrow in a positive, hopeful and constructive manner, but this time, with a significant difference from the past, This year, it will not be just for him, but for all of us who believe in second chances.”

“Is there a way forward? I hope yes. I think yes. But certainly his future will never again be measured only by his performance against par, but measured by the sincerity of his efforts to change.”

The moral hypocrisy of Billy Payne bears examination.  Apparently, he has conveniently forgotten the egregious, racial and sexist history and continued discriminatory practices of the world renowned Augusta National Golf Club.

A brief look at the background of the club gives some insight into the mindset of Chairman Payne.

Founded in the early 1930s, it has long been an exclusive haven for the wealthiest Americans to retreat from the public.  Its 300 members are among the wealthiest and most powerful men in American industrial, legal, business, and political life. The early history of Augusta National included a persistent practice of racial and gender discrimination.

The controversy over the male-only membership policy of the Augusta National Golf Club, host of the Masters Tournament each year, is often associated with the disputes over the racial integration of golf in which Augusta National played a prominent role.

The club has long been one of the nation’s most visible bastions of all-white golf. The Masters is an independently run event that does not fall under the control of the PGA Tour and no black player played in the tournament until Lee Elder in 1975.

The racial restriction on players was also applied to memberships.  It wasn’t until the Shoal Creek Golf Club/PGA Championship controversy in the early 1990s that Augusta National decided to invite, Ron Townsend, president of Gannett Television Group as its first token black member. Bill Simms became a member in the mid-1990s, but resigned under fire in 1997.  Kenneth Chennault (American Express) became a member starting with the 1998-99 season and Lloyd Ward (Maytag) became a member during the 1999-2000 season.

Why does Chairman Payne feel it necessary to stick his nose in the private affairs of Tiger Woods?  It surely wasn’t done for Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo the Brit who spent a total of 98 weeks as the world’s number one golfer before Tiger Woods dominated the sport.

Faldo left his first wife after it was discovered that he was having an affair with his manager’s secretary.  He married the women and had three children then started a relationship with a 20-year-old American golfing student.  However, his infamous three- year affair with the American student ended when his affections were directed at another young woman.  The spurned American student battered Sir Faldo’s Porsche 959 with a golf club, 

From this perch, Chairman Payne, you do not get to lecture about who has and hasn’t let America’s children down.  Augusta National with its blighted history has forfeited that right. 

While Tiger Woods’ behavior was shameful and harmful to him, his family and others he has acknowledged it repeatedly.  It’s equally immoral and despicable for others to use Tiger’s failings as an opportunity to project a level of morality and righteousness they clearly don’t have.

Billy Payne is a hypocrite and the other Augusta Golf Course members should call him on it.  But they won’t because structurally, Atlanta National still stands as a premier example of America’s white male supremacy tied to a binding policy that the chairman alone controls every aspect of the Club’s operations.

Tiger’s return to competitive golf after a five month absence had all the hoopla of a circus event: the chastisement by the host chairman, flyover airplanes towing taunting banners, global media coverage, supersized galleries, and the suspense of how Tiger would handle the stress.  In the final analysis Tiger should follow the advice that former golf icon Nick Faldo gave Greg Norman after his colossal collapse at the 1996 Masters. 

“Don’t let the bastards get you down”, referring to the hounding Faldo assumed Norman would face for blowing a six stroke lead in the final round.

James W. Breedlove

Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: www.truthclinic.com

The Catholic sex abuse crisis, so prevalent in the United States some eight years ago, is now garnering headlines in Europe and a number of other countries.

The latest abuse allegations include charges that the current Pope (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) failed to act against a US priest accused of abusing up to 200 deaf boys at St John’s School for the Deaf in St Francis, Wisconsin, between 1950 and 1974.  According to Church documents, an archbishop wrote in 1996 to the Vatican office in charge of abuse cases led by the future Pope to complain about the abuses of Fr Lawrence Murphy.  A canonical trial was authorized but was later halted.

As the scope and magnitude of these sex abuse allegations grows it is the casual and secretive response of the Catholic hierarchy who often did not report abuse crimes to civil authorities, and in many cases reassigned the offenders to other locations where they continued to have contact with minors that is causing both Catholic and non-Catholics to question the sincerity of the Church in dealing with abuse cases.

In the latest cases that directly accuse the Pope of being involved in cover-ups the Vatican has attacked the media saying there was a conspiracy against the church.  The church may very well have enemies, and if it does, the church’s misguided approach to undermine the abuse scandals has provided them a mother lode of weapons to continue their conspiracies.

Church officials seem to be more concerned with protecting the Church from scandal and limiting legal liability for the harm done to victims.  Using slow and defensive practices similar to those reported by Laurie Goodstein, a columnist for the New York Times, reporting on the Boston clergy abuse scandal in January 2002, the bishops “behaved more like Senators or CEOs engaged in damage control than as moral teachers engaged in the gospel.”

To avoid accountability, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church shifts blame for the child sexual abuse crisis to other issues. Church officials have argued that media coverage of the issue has been excessive given that abuse occurs much more frequently in other institutions.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s in his Palm Sunday homily said the Pope was suffering some of the same unjust accusations once faced by Jesus.

He added: “What deepens the sadness now is the unrelenting insinuations against the Holy Father himself, as certain sources seem almost frenzied to implicate the man.”

And a homily by the papal household preacher, Raniero Cantalamessa, said the words from the Book of Lamentations and Jeremiah take on “particular significance if they are read in reference to the present moment of serious hardship we priests of the Catholic Church are experiencing.” He also likened the flood of allegations that the pontiff has covered up sex abuse cases to the “more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism.

The perverse defenses offered by the Vatican, after decades of sexual abuse and rape of children, are only making matters worse for the Catholic Church. The failure of Church leadership to directly address the abuse problem and to make policy changes to prevent future occurrences only makes the responsible hierarchy look guilty.

It is clear the Vatican does not understand that this scandal could well destroy the credibility of the Roman Catholic hierarchy.  If the pope expects his subordinate managers to take and accept responsibility for what happens in their organizations, then he has to do the same. That is true of any leader.

The strategy of denying everything, admitting nothing, and making counter-accusations is a losing game.  While addressing a crisis of this magnitude is painful, considering the complexity of the Catholic Church’s organizational structure, it must start with the pope admitting mistakes the Vatican has made, including his own and flow downward.

The pope has been forced into a difficult situation.  He is the supreme pontiff revered as infallible on matters of faith and morality and direct heir of apostolic succession.  However, the average parishioner is not versed in the nuances of impeccability, infallibility, Sacred Magisterium, or the legality of the hierarchy.  They are overwhelmed over the $3 billion that has been spent on settlements in the United States causing many dioceses to file bankruptcy and the confusion that is undermining the church.  To them the Pope is the undisputed leader.

During a recent visit to the United States Pope Benedict admitted that he is “deeply ashamed” of the clergy sex abuse scandal that has devastated the American church.  He pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Roman Catholic Church. Yet the scandal has become a global crisis that is being totally mismanaged with legal maneuvering and obstruction of the truth.

The only way to get to the bottom of this issue is for the Pope to come clean, repent, speak directly to the people about what he knows, open the records to the justice system, get rid of the perpetrators, and introduce a level of transparency in the Vatican to prevent cover ups in the future.

James W. Breedlove

Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: www.truthclinic.com

He said he would do it and he did it.  With a steadfast tenacity and an eye on the prize President Barack Obama has subdued the vaunted GOP dragon after some 15 months of battle.

In Christian symbolism, the dragon has often been associated with the serpent also known as Satan.  Cast out of heaven by St. Michael and his angels, the enraged dragon consumed by selfish desire, blindly strikes out against the vulnerable innocents in an effort to satiate these desires.  In reality, the dragon’s efforts to deceive and devour tend to feed its hunger rather than allay it; the more he gets the more he wants.  Because of the resultant chaos and its destructive power the dragon has increasingly represented the evil inherent in the world and the perpetual conflict between good and evil.

It was onto this age old battlefield of conflict and controversy, where the GOP consistently bedeviled Democrats, that Barack Obama became President of the United States of America.  Several generations of democratic presidents and presidential contenders have been smeared, slandered, and attacked with insidious innuendo and outright lies.  Their response was to take the high road without fighting back.  The result has usually been that the scurrilous underhanded tactics used by the GOP dragon have made them victorious on critical issues even when they were not the voting majority.

For over a year it seemed that the historical tactics of the GOP dragon were working as the relatively inexperienced but calm, cool and collected Barack Obama took over the White House.  Certainly the total shock of a black man vanquishing the GOP presidential candidate by an electoral margin of 365 to 173 was the last straw.  The coordinated muckraking campaign the GOP dragon unleashed was only exceeded by the breadth of change that Obama undertook.

In his speech accepting the Democratic nomination Obama meticulously outlined the critical problems facing Americans with the war, the economy and the inability to enjoy the American promise because of the total failure of Washington’s broken politics.

Obama’s specifics for addressing the American Promise was to: cut taxes for working families, end America’s dependence on foreign oil, provide every child with a world-class education, guarantee affordable healthcare, reform bankruptcy laws, protect social security, and provide equal pay for an equal day of work.

President Obama did not get the usual time to transition into the presidency.  His administration had to immediately deal with the relentless decline in the economy that began in late 2008 and whether or not to bail out the financial institutions.  Getting the $787 billion dollar stimulus package through congress presaged the partisan rancor that followed.

Not a single Republican in the House voted for the package, and it took the votes of three Republican senators to avert a filibuster fight.

Partisan hell broke loose when health care reform was introduced.  As various bills made their way through Congress over the summer and fall of 2009, there was practically no bipartisan support.  Congressional Republicans were in lock-step agreement to stop any health care measure that Obama backed.

Buoyed by the special election win of Scott Brown to the senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy the GOP dragon went into overdrive mode to derail healthcare reform.  The party of NO had dedicated itself to prevent Black President Obama from achieving success where no other (White) president had succeeded in over 45 years.

But they underestimated the resolve of a determined Obama.

He rolled up his sleeves and went back into campaign mode to talk directly to the people about the failed status quo and the need to look to the future.  After the bitterest of debates, the House passed the health care legislation late Sunday night on March 21, 2010 ensuring that whatever any adverse political price, history will show President Obama as one of the few presidents who found a way to reshape the nation’s social system.

Mr. Obama proved to the skeptics in his own party and to the GOP dragon that he is willing to fight for something that he believes in no matter the potential political consequences.

And if winning the healthcare battle over the GOP dragon was not enough five days latter Obama concluded a new strategic arms treaty agreement with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.  Two huge wins for Barack Obama at home and abroad in a span of six days.

President Obama, you have taken the best hits the GOP dragon could muster and prevailed. You have shown that you are a domestic and international leader but most importantly you have proven that you can deliver on what you promise and that you will stick with a task, no matter how treacherous the obstructing dragon, until it is finished.

But the GOP dragon shall rise again. They will be forever dogging your footsteps, looking for an opening to launch another attack.

James W. Breedlove

Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: www.truthclinic.com