Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle November 14, 2018
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Challenging People to Shape
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Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
The President and the Press: Unhinged Attacks Are Repulsive
A
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2017
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Opinion
cursory look at the
win-loss column after
last week’s mid-term
elections suggests that
nobody left the table emp-
ty-handed. Democrats gained
control of the House of Rep-
resentatives,
Republican’s
expanded their control of
the Senate, hundreds of state
legislative seats flipped from
Democratic to Republican,
and Democrats gained guber-
natorial, Attorney General,
and other key positions.
But both democracy and
the truth took a hit during
the midterms, when the Pres-
ident of the United States ob-
fuscated, prevaricated, and
just plain lied every chance
he got. And then he had the
nerve to say he tells the truth
“when he can,” which really
means he tells the truth only
when it serves him. During
the midterm campaign, 45
notably attacked Democratic
opponents any way he could,
often with the vilest of lies.
African American political
candidates, and especially
Stacey Abrams (Georgia) and
Andrew Gillum (Florida)
were the focus of his ire.
While 45 counts the mid-
term election as a victory, he
was so testily obnoxious in the
press conference the day after
the election that it is clear that
Julianne
Malveaux
NNPA
Columnist
he felt the loss. And when a
bully is beaten, he lashes out.
CNN’s Jim Acosta was the vic-
tim of his ire. Because he was
persistent in asking a ques-
tion, he was falsely accused
of putting his hands on some-
one, and his White House
“
en in the press. He told CNN’s
Abby Phillips that she “always
asks stupid questions” when
she asked him whether he el-
evated Matt Whitaker to act-
ing Attorney General because
he will impede the Mueller in-
vestigation. Stupid is the per-
fect way to describe a presi-
dent who does not even know
how to use Google search to
figure out that his pick to re-
place Jeff Sessions is biased
against an investigation he is
now charged with supervis-
ing. Phillips, a consummate
and smooth professional,
The President’s hostility toward
the press is bad enough. His par-
ticular antipathy toward African
Americans is even worse
press pass was revoked. At
the same press conference,
the so-called leader of the free
world was rudely dismissive
to American Urban Radio’s
star reporter, April Ryan,
repeatedly telling her to “sit
down.” Then, on November 9,
he attacked Ryan, calling her
a “loser” and saying that she
“doesn’t know what the hell
she is doing.” He said he might
consider yanking her press
credentials.
The president is on a roll
when it comes to Black wom-
surely understands that she
is in good company. Trump
loves to attack Black women,
especially those who oppose
him (like Maxine Waters) for
their intellectual acuity.
At the same press confer-
ence where he melted down on
Jim Acosta, the president also
attacked PBS White House
correspondent Yamiche Al-
cindor, describing a question
she asked him about the term
“nationalist” as a “racist ques-
tion.” Alcindor, who says she
has interviewed several white
supremacists that are “excit-
ed” by their leader, asked a
perfectly legitimate question
of the president who has been
stoking racial fires since he
announced his candidacy. In
attacking both the question-
er and the question, 45 again
showed his biases and his hos-
tility both to the press and to
some of the individuals who
cover him.
No president enjoys intense
press scrutiny, especially
when things are not going
his way. But no president
has been more rude, dismis-
sive and offensive toward
the press. No press secretary
has been more rude and ob-
noxious than Sarah Hucka-
bee Sanders. And none has
attempted to curtail press
freedoms with the vitriol that
Trump has.
Mr. Trump says he will pull
the press credential of any
member of the press who is
not “respectful” to him. In his
tiny mind, disrespect is the
same as merely asking diffi-
cult or uncomfortable ques-
tions. He and Sanders would
undoubtedly feel better if
there were no press ques-
tions, just syncopated fawn-
ing.
Read more of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Our Vote: More Than A Desire for History, The Very Strides to Make It
T
he midterm election was
nothing short of historic
and yet again, our com-
munity is leading the
United States of America to-
wards progress.
According to a CNN exit
poll, 90% of African Ameri-
cans voted for a Democrat in
Congressional races across
the country last Tuesday,
propelling the Democratic
party to our first majority in
the House of Representatives
since 2009. In Georgia, 97%
of Black women who voted,
voted for Stacey Abrams to
become the state’s first Black
female governor.
It wasn’t just our desire to
make history in Georgia that
drew us to Stacey’s campaign.
It was our collective under-
standing that a vote for Stacey
Abrams was a vote to raise the
voices of Georgians that have
been suppressed for far too
long. It was a vote for a new
Georgia, and in turn, a new
America.
But all progress is fought
for. Like Stacey said on elec-
tion night, there are people
that tried very hard to keep
certain voices quiet. I firmly
believe that if this election
had happened in a country
with a developing democra-
cy and there existed a simi-
lar scenario – one in which
one of the candidates was
in charge of overseeing the
very election he was running
Rep. Karen
Bass
Senator
(D-Calif.)
in – the United States would
rush to monitor the election
to shine a light on this obvi-
ous conflict of interest. Such
a contradiction by itself is
worthy of scrutiny, especially
if that scenario is playing out
“
at all, announced that Dem-
ocrats were under investiga-
tion for attempting to hack
Georgia’s voter registration
files.
Just over a week ago, a fed-
eral judge ruled that Georgia
would be forced to change
parts of its “exact match” pro-
tocol, a voting requirement
that came under scrutiny
leading up to the election
when it was revealed that
more than 65 percent of the
voter registrants whose appli-
cations were rendered “pend-
This was about the misinforma-
tion that Stacey’s opponent ped-
dled throughout the campaign and
how he took advantage of his tax-
payer-funded position to help run
his campaign
in a country, or a state, with a
rich history of voter suppres-
sion on the basis of race.
But what happened in Geor-
gia wasn’t just about job titles.
This was about the misinfor-
mation that Stacey’s oppo-
nent peddled throughout the
campaign and how he took ad-
vantage of his taxpayer-fund-
ed position to help run his
campaign.
On the Sunday before the
election, Stacey’s opponent,
equipped with no evidence
ing” as a result of the law were
African American.
This coupled with remarks
from Trump threatening that
any “illegal voting” would be
met with “maximum criminal
penalties” less than 24 hours
before the first polls opened
only further revealed a coher-
ent strategy of voter intimida-
tion.
But what’s redeeming about
the democratic process is
that voices will be heard one
way or another. Once again,
our community led the way
towards progressive change
in Florida and Louisiana, re-
buking Jim Crow-era laws
designed to strip our consti-
tutional right to vote.
In Florida, we voted to re-
store the voting eligibility of
millions of Floridians with
past felony convictions. As
a result, more than 1.4 mil-
lion Floridians who were not
allowed to vote in this past
election will be able to in the
next one. As of 2016, there
were more than 400,000 Black
people unable to vote due to
felonies. Imagine the impact
these voters will have in 2020.
In Louisiana, we passed a
proposition eliminating an-
other Jim-Crow-era law that
allowed juries to convict
someone without a unani-
mous decision. Researchers
claim this is a back door cre-
ated to make it easier to put
Black folks in jail in the South.
That law is no more. This is
the change we bring when we
vote.
Taking back control of the
House of Representatives is
one thing but making history
while doing it is another. The
United States House of Rep-
resentatives will have more
than 100 women Members
of Congress for the first time
ever.
Read more of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
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