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
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h ig h b lo o d p r e s s u r e m e d ic a tio n s ,
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w h o h a v e th e tim e to s h a r e in fo r m a tio n .
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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 .
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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
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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.