March 12. 2008 Page A4 O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer VfÎHG- T o l W oURKl'DS ÏUU? ÇMHoU F o N> er , OHTHt HiOHlY REÇOWÆHPED: War Leaves America Behind Time for a shift of priorities Ji dge G reg M athis Iraq needs to be re built. T h a t's the m essage the su p p o rters o f the w ar rep eated ly use to su p port our c o u n try 's c o n tinuing presen ce in the m iddle eastern nation. T o be fair, it is u n eth i cal for one co u n try to invade an o th e r and then ex it, leaving a n a tion, and its peo p le, rav ag ed by w ar, forced to pick up the pieces on th eir ow n. H ow ever, the U.S. has no real plan for ex itin g Iraq. T he w ar, and the reb u ild in g p ro cess, will likely continue for som e time. M eanw hile, A m erican cities are cru m b lin g . A nd o u r g overnm ent by Talk Radio Needs to Clean Up Act We cannot stand aside H. M orial A lm ost one year after radio shock jo ck Don Imus sent shockw aves th ro u g h the A fric an - A m erican com m unity with his of fensive and inflam m atory remarks regarding the Rutgers University ladies basketball team, it’s as if a repeat o f history is upon us, in an election year in which an African- A m erican candidate has a serious c h a n c e o f w in n in g the W hite House. Back in January, G olf C hannel’s Kelly Tilghm an seriously botched an attem pt at hum or when she sug gested that younger go lf players m ight want to lynch T iger W oods in a back alley in hopes o f spicing up the tour. The comment drew I i ttle i 11 wi 11, at least publicly, from W oods, who reportedly considers the broad caster a friend, but it prom pted her em ployer to go into full dam age control m ode and suspend her for a few weeks. The controversy precipitated yet another numbskull decision in the m edia, the display o f a noose on the cover o f G olfw eek. There again, quick action rightly resulted - the sacking of the editor responsible. But, believe it or not, it seems that the world o f sports journalism seem s to be aspiring to a higher standard in its response to em bar by M arc rassin g and o ffe n siv e gaffes on air than the world of talk radio. Earlier in February, ra dio com m entator Laura Ingraham put her foot fully in her mouth and down her throat in her criticism o f P resident G eorge W. Bush’s invitation o f the Rev. Al Sharpton to the W hite H o u se's rec en t B lack H isto ry M onth event. On her national syn dicated radio program on Talk Ra dio N etw ork, she said she had Michelle Obama," he said. "It's - I'm speechless." As President Bush pointed out soeloquently during the Black His tory Month event, the noose repre sents "more than a tool o f m urder but a tool o f intim idation" to gen eratio n s o f A frican-A m ericans. Nooses no, only robbed some of their lives but many o f their peace o f mind. "As a civil society, we must un derstand that noose displays and lynching jokes are deeply offen sive. They are wrong. And they Our nation's media outlets should not provide a platform for racial hostility and hateful speech now or in the future. hoped that "they nailed down all the valuables." Then, Fox News personality and radio talk show host Bill O' Reilly ju s t had to inv o k e the p h rase "lynching mob" in reference to M ichelle O bam a's com m ents re garding the United States on his syndicated radio show. On M SN B C 's "C ountdow n," W ashington Post colum nist E u gene Robinson expressed disgust over O 'R eilly's com m ent. "There's certainly nothing at all funny or rem otely appropriate about the use o f a lynching referen c e about have no place in A m erica today." he said. N either O'Reilly nor Ingraham has been reprim anded by their re spective em ployers even though the Fox News personality did offer a half-hearted apology. At least Ingraham didn't drop the l-word but her suggestion that Sharpton, a former presidential can didate and respected m em ber o f the A frican-A m erican com m unity and beyond, is a petty thief reeks of race-baiting and negative stereo typing o f A frican-A m ericans and black men in particular. But it's hardly the first tim e eith er has v entured into q u e s tio n ab le and o ffen siv e territory. How can w e forget O 'R eilly 's le ss-th a n -in fo rm e d c o m m en ts reg ard ing a d in n er he shared last y ear w ith S harp to n at S y lv ia's in H arlem ? O 'R eilly expressed su r prise o v er how sim ilar S ylvia's w as to o th e r restau ran ts in New Y ork restau ran ts. "T here w asn't one person in S y lv ia's w ho was scream in g , M -Fer, I w ant m ore iced tea," he said. A s th e W a sh in g to n P o st's R o b in so n sa d ly o b se rv e d on M S N B C ," All you can goby is his w ords and his actions. And he keeps saying these things that sound pretty darn racist to m e.” Has talk radio learned anything from Imus' decline and fall? O f course not, because it didn't take Imus too terribly long to get a new gig- O u r n atio n 's m ed ia o u tle ts should not p rovide a platform fo r racial h o stility and hateful speech now or in the future. W hat kind o f m essage are we se n d in g to o u r c h ild re n , o u r nation and o u r w orld? In such an historic election year, we cannot stand aside and allow individuals use the airw aves as an outlet for insensitive and m is guided com m entary. If you hear som ething that offends you, speak up. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League. It is incomprehensible for the U.S. to spend an estimated $275 million per day in Iraq when America is literally falling apart. d o e s n 't have the funds, o r a stra t egy, for rep airin g them . It is tim e fo r the U .S. to pull o ut o f Iraq, re s p o n s ib ly b u t q u ic k ly . T h e m oney we are sp en d in g on this p o in tle ss, u n -w in n a b le w ar is w asting m oney th at can be used to reb u ild o u r ow n co u n try . O ur n a tio n ’s roads, b ridges, sew ers and w ater sy stem s are in need o f a m ajo r ov erh au l. A n u n d erg ro u n d steam pipe bu rsts in N ew Y ork, a brid g e co llap ses in M in n e a p o lis...a c ro ss the c o u n try, w e are seeing ex am p les o f an in frastru ctu re that is aging faster than we can atten d to it. A federal co m m issio n recently calcu lated w hat it w ill cost to re pair and u p d g rad e the n a tio n 's roads and highw ays: $225 billion a y ear for the next 50 years. Add sew ers and w ater sy stem s to the mix and that n u m b er increases trem en d o u sly . M A R K E T ’V'W bI°rners ;re®cnption <s y Qlft 1 c a rd y&f/ UJe are a regular pharmacy! \Ne fill p r e s c r ip tio n s — in c lu d in g a n tib io tic s , h ig h b lo o d p r e s s u r e m e d ic a tio n s , a n ti- d e p re s s a n ts , b irth c o n tr o l, a n d m o re . | r W e h a v e k n o w le d g e a b le , frie n d ly p h a r m a c is ts w h o h a v e th e tim e to s h a r e in fo r m a tio n . | r O u r p r ic e s a re c o m p e titiv e We a cce p t m o s t in s u r a n c e p la n s a n d a re a d d in g o th e r s a s re q u e s te d . | r W e s p e c ia liz e in c u s t o m c o m p o u n d in g youK P h a r m a c is t M e l n d a B u tle r Y O U R L O C A L L Y O W N E D , N E IG H B O R H O O D P H A R M A C Y A T A R B O R L O D G E N IN T E R S T A T E A V E N U E & P O R T L A N D B L V D • 5 0 3 .4 6 7 .4 8 4 8 w w w .n e w s e a s o n s m a r k e t.c o m • M O N -F R I 9 a m - 7 p m • S A T 9 a m - 6 p m • S U N 1 O a m -4 p m 1 so lu tio n is needed. T he federal co m m issio n suggests som e o f the needed funds com e from an in crease in the federal gas tax. A m erica is preparing h erself to soon w elcom e a new president and, h o p efu lly , a shift in g o v ern m ental funding prio rities. W ith this shift in p rio rities, should also com e a viable plan for reb u ild in g o u r nation. T h e p re sid e n tia l ca n d id a te s should be asked to o u tlin e a clear strateg y for fixing our roads and w ater sy stem s and, if elected , should be held acco u n tab le. For too long, w e 'v e let elected o fficials break th eir p ro m ises to voters. A nd w e 'v e su ffered as a resu lt. Judge Greg Mathis is national vice president o f Rainbow PUSH and a national board member of the Southern Christian Leader ship Conference. Can We Talk About Gun Violence? We owe our children a solution S andy S orensen My o ld e r b ro th er w as a stu dent at N orthern Illin o is U n iv er sity m any y ears ago. W hen I heard the new s about the tragic sh o o tin g at an NIU lectu re h all, I could not help but think, “ w hat if....” W hat if my b ro th er had been in that lectu re hall w hen som eone burst o nto the stage w ith a cach e o f w eap o n s and began firing at students? How many family m em bers and frien d s have had to ask not ju s t “ w hat i f but "w h y ? " W hy w as my loved one in the path o f a b u llet? W hy is gun v iolence ju st an o th er accep ted d an g er in o u r d aily liv es? How can it be p o ssib le that gun v io lence is an ev e r-p rese n t reality for our ch ild ren ? It is no easy task to try to talk about p rev en tin g gun vio len ce on C apitol Hill. Indeed, it is no easy task to talk about p rev e n t ing gun v io len ce in city co u n cils and stateh o u ses acro ss the c o u n try. P o w erfu l and w ell-fin a n ce d voices op p o se m easures to re duce the level o f gun vio len ce and accid en tal d eath s from guns. D espite the su ccessio n o f high- profile tragedies, and the chronic. by |NEW S E A S O N S It is in c o m p reh en sible for the U.S. to sp e n d an e s tim a te d $275 m illion per day in Iraq w hen A m erica is literally fallin g apart. W hen asked, none o f the D em ocratic po liti cal ca n d id a tes can re ally ex p lain how th e y 'll find the m oney to reb u ild A m erica. Sen. O b am a says h e 'll end the w ar in Iraq; the m oney saved can be used on in frastru ctu re repairs and upgrades. Sen. C lin to n says sh e 'll save m oney by running a m ore efficien t g o v ern m en t; the sav in g s will be d iv erted to a n a tional reb u ild in g project. N eith er an sw er is exactly on point: a real less v isible, but no less d e v a sta t ing ep id em ic o f gun v iolence in our hom es and co m m u n ities, the U .S. C o n g ress has essen tially voted “ab sen t" on com m on sense m e asu res to ad d re ss gun v io lence. L eg islatio n to clo se the gun show loophole that allow s people to buy w eapons from unlicensed sellers w ith no q u estio n s asked co n tin u es to lan g u ish in C o n g ress. L e g isla tiv e p ro v isio n s ad d re ssin g the im p o rta tio n o f h ig h -cap acity firearm s am m u n i tions clip s, ju v e n ile p o ssession o f sem i-au to m atic w eapons and child safety locks have m ade little headw ay in the halls o f C ongress and state leg islatu res. W hat leads us as a society to opt for p o w erlessn ess in the face o f gun v io len ce? E very year. 3 0 ,0 0 0 A m ericans are k illed w ith firearm s and m ore than 70 .0 0 0 are treated for fire arm s injuries. C ertain ly it will take far more than legislation alone to end the terrib le toll o f gun vio len ce. S urely we ow e o u r ch ild ren m ore than b u sin ess as usual. Sandy Sorensen is a team leader with Justice Ministries in the United Church of Christ.