A few days after Al Gore issued his challenge to America to end the use of carbon fuels, I accidentally hit the “Rush Limbaugh button” on my car radio. While I am not one of Limbaugh’s “Ditto Heads” I do listen occasionally in order to understand some of the arguments of people on the far right”. On this day Rush was waxing eloquently on the outrageousness of Gore’s challenge.

Rush Challenges Gore

One of Limbaugh’s allegations against the Gore challenge is that the Chinese government will not curb their use of fossil fuels. Limbaugh’s suggests that economic growth is much more important to the Chinese than any imperative to halt environmental degradation.

Rush argues that since the Chinese will not end their carbon use, it is folly for the United States and other industrial nations to sacrifice their economies to preserve the planet for future generations. On top of that, Limbaugh says Gore’s science is “bunk”.

Foul Beijing Air

When the news came on at the top of the hour on the station, which carries Limbaugh, one of the lead stories concerned the bad air quality in Beijing just weeks before the Olympic Games begin. The Chinese government is taking drastic action to try to clear the air so that the fouled air will not harm athletes and spectators. The government has ordered the closing of construction sites and millions of Beijing drivers are being restricted to using their cars every other day.

The air is often thick with pollution in Beijing, a city of 11 million. When there is no rain or wind, ozone and fine dust accumulate, often to a rate that is two or three times the maximum levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The fine dust stems mainly from coal power plants and factories, while vehicle exhaust gases are responsible for the ozone. The city’s constant traffic jams have reduced the average speed of the cars on its streets from 45 kilometers per hour (28 miles per hour) in the past to only 12 today. Adding to the problem, more than 1,000 new cars are registered each day. ( Der Spiegel International)

Life vs. Economic Growth

Despite efforts to reduce pollution, the air quality in Beijing is still very poor. Questions are being raised about the impact of pollution on athletic performance. More importantly, there is concern regarding the long-term health consequences for both athletes and spectators. The Chinese government has virtually shut down much of the industrial, commercial, and transportation activities in Beijing. Despite these efforts the air quality is still poor.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that three quarters of a million Chinese die each year because of conditions resulting from polluted air. Despite this, the Chinese are adding more and more coal fired power plants. The Olympics however are raising the “bamboo curtain” on the Chinese government’s sacrifice of its own people for the sake of economic growth.

Gore is Right- Rush is Wrong

The Chinese believed that hosting the Olympics would be a way to highlight the significant economic growth and physical development it has achieved. Rather the fouled air in Beijing may cause nations of the world to insist that the Chinese take dramatic steps to reduce its carbon addiction.

Sustainable economic growth is much more likely to come from Gore’s challenge than Rush’s harangues.

When Rev. Jesse Jackson said on a Fox News set that Obama was talking down to Black America and he wanted to “cut his nuts off”, it became clear that it is time for Jackson to leave the American political scene. A “hot microphone” picked up Jackson’s comments during a break in the show.

Jackson apologized profusely to Obama but at the same time tried to emphasize that Obama’s achievements are the culmination of the work of a variety of heroes who have made it possible for an African American to be a serious candidate for President of the United States of America. Jackson pointed to the efforts of leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, and of course himself.

Willie Mays Messed Up Also

My son reminded me that Jackson was not the first to “stay to long at the fair”. He reminded me that one of my childhood heroes, Willie Mays continued to play baseball long after his skills had declined. I followed Mays’ career for more than 30 years. As a small child, I saw him play for the New York Giants in the Polo Grounds and later as part of the San Francisco Giants in Candlestick Park.

Mays was one of the greatest baseball players of all times. He could do everything. He could run, hit, hit for power, catch, and throw. At the tail end of his career, Mays left the San Francisco Giants and joined the New York Mets .But as a Met, Mays was a shadow of his former self and he embarrassed himself on a number of occasions by his inability to play the outfield. Rather than praise him for his illustrious career, fans and commentators began to laugh at his present failures.

Jackson Should Have Learned From Mays

Like Mays, Rev. Jackson does not know when to quit. In making his vulgar statement about Obama, Jackson is now the subject of ridicule. He is being psycho analyzed by journalists, bloggers, and pundits. Many say his egomania has gotten the best of him and that he is in a struggle to try to assert his continued relevancy. Others say that Jackson is suffering from “Obama Envy”. Added to his earlier anti-Semitic remarks, Jackson has now alienated another major segment of American progressives.

Obama Strikes Fear in Many African American Leaders

As we have written here before the Obama campaign strikes fear in many traditional African American leaders. Like Jackson , people like Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Andrew Young, and BET founder Bob Johnson will find it difficult to be significant players in “Obama World” should he win the presidency. In addition, a number of elected officials who supported Sen. Hillary Clinton and attacked Sen. Obama will probably not be the high on the White House invitation list.

Remember Willie Mays!

David Stern

Watching NBA Commissioner David Stern respond to the latest salvos from felonious referee Tim Donaghy, I think it is clear that Stern needs to move on. Most fans believe that Donaghy is telling the truth when he says that referees made calls that favored one team over another.

Donaghy Says the Fix Was In

The motive Donaghy says was to extend playoff series in order to generate more revenue or to make sure that large market teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers advanced. Specifically the former referee who was convicted for gambling on NBA games points to a 2002 playoff game between the Lakers and Sacramento Kings. In that game, there were a number of non-calls and phantom calls that helped the Lakers win. Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon among others was highly critical of the referees at the time of the game.

Stern the Lawyer is not Believed

Commissioner Stern is struggling to get fans to believe that NBA referees are not conspiring to fix the outcome of basketball games. I think Sterns problem is he sounds too much like a lawyer defending his client. In fact, Stern is a lawyer and cannot shake off his advocacy training to convince non-lawyers that Donaghy is the only rogue among NBA officials. Lawyer talk does not make the average fan feel comfortable that bad calls by referees are not deliberate attempts to fix the game.

Stern Knows Diversity

The overwhelming majority of players in the National Basketball Association are African American. There is a growing presence of players from countries around the world. Today’s NBA has players from Europe, Asia, and North, South and Central America. Stern has also presided over the birth of the WNBA, a major professional sports league for women. One test of Stern’s success with diversity is, when African American coaches and executives are hired and later fired, race is usually not mentioned.

Stern the Businessman is First Rate

Stern took over an NBA that was struggling financially. NBA championship games were often shown on tape delay on network television. NBA arenas often had many fans cleverly disguised as empty seats. Today the NBA is a major professional sport and business. It still has challenges, but Stern has made professional basketball relevant again. Not only is the NBA Championship series on primetime television, but the NBA is everywhere on cable and satellite television in the United States and around the world.

Stern Knows Globalization

Stern has transformed the NBA into an international phenomenon. Players from around the world are joining NBA teams. More than 200 million people in China watched a game this year between the Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks. The game featured two Chinese players Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian. Stern has internationalized basketball in a way that few other businesses in America have been able to do. I have personally seen youngsters in Morocco, Spain, France and Israel in recent years playing soccer (football) wearing NBA jerseys.

Stern for Vice President

Whatever you might think about Stern, he is a very smart man. He is a strategic thinker who has made the NBA successful. He understands globalization better than most of America’s corporate executives. Stern is a tough businessperson who knows transformational economics. This is just what the United States needs today. Finally, Stern knows diversity and in the United States today, that is valuable.

Ralph Nader for NBA Commissioner

I heard Ralph Nader on the Dan Patrick Show the other day, complaining about NBA referees. Nader says he wrote Stern a letter after the 2002 playoff game that Donaghy says the referees fixed. Nader said that because NBA fans are consumers they have the right to expect that NBA referees would be like “Caesar’s wife”, completely above reproach.

Ralph Nader

Like Stern, I believe Nader also needs a new job. Becoming NBA commissioner, he would be a strong consumer advocate. The NBA position would also keep Nader from destroying his legacy by putting an end to his “Quixotic” run for President of the United States.

Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro, a former Democratic Party nominee for Vice President of the United States, says that if Barack Obama is her party’s nominee for President she might not vote for him. Ferraro believes that Obama has run a sexist and unfair campaign. She believes that Obama played the “race card “against her when she made a statement, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

Will Clinton Supporters Vote for McCain?

Ferraro is not alone among avid female supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton. Ben Smith in the Politico reports ,an Ohio-based group of Democratic Hillary Clinton supporters say they’ll work actively against Sen. Barack Obama if he becomes the nominee, arguing that Clinton has been the subject of “intense sexism” by party leaders and the media. “

Taylor Marsh a talk show host and avid Clinton supporter says that the anti-Obama sentiment among women who support Clinton has hardened to the point that these women will not vote for Obama under any circumstances The anger at the way some women believe that Senator Clinton has been treated in the campaign is extremely intense. There are active campaigns that call for boycotts of television networks and their sponsors because of the perceived basis against the New York senator.

McCain is Committed to Overturning Roe v. Wade

Traditionally, for most feminists the “litmus test” for candidates they will support concerns the candidate’s commitment to support the principles of the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade. This decision affirmed the right of women to terminate pregnancies without government prohibitions. Republican presidential candidate,
Senator John McCain, has made clear that he not only opposes Roe v. Wade but that he will appoint Justices to United States Supreme Court who will overturn the 1973 Court’s decision. In addition, Senator McCain opposes equal pay for equal work legislation, legislation to allow victims of gender discrimination to have more time to legally protest their situation, and the extension of family leave. For many of the issues that feminists say they are committed to, McCain opposes including ending the war in Iraq, providing universal health care, and helping people facing home foreclosures.

Will Feminists Vote for Senator McCain?

With Senator McCain at odds with most issues that feminists have held dear for so many years, will women support McCain to spite Obama? Will this be the time when women’s issues take a backseat to the anger generated by the rough and tumble primary campaign between Senators Clinton and Obama?

Al Davis and John McCain

In the 1970,’s I lived in Northern California and owned one-half of a season ticket for the Oakland Raider football games. The Raiders were an exciting team and the atmosphere at the games was exciting. On Sundays when my turn came to use the tickets, we would assemble at a neighborhood restaurant have brunch board a bus and begin a Sunday morning rolling cocktail party. By the time the bus reached the stadium, many on our bus were “well oiled.”

The Raiders’ Black Hole

Raider games in those days and in many ways today, were parties as much as football games. The story that was spread then was that the Raiders built their fan base by selling tickets to bars and restaurants that like us traveled to the game in large groups. While I had been to N.F.L. games in other cities, none compared to the energy and excitement of a Raider game. A major characteristic of Raider games was the racial diversity of the fans in the stadium. Again, the story was that the Raider fan base was built from the black, white, and Hispanic neighborhood bars.

The Raider teams were always different from most other teams. Al Davis the managing partner was devoted to wide-open football that emphasized the long passes. Darryl Lamonica, the “mad bomber, “might connect for seventy yards with the likes of Warren Wells on any given play. Kenny Stabler who succeeded Lamonica as quarterback, had Cliff Branch and Fred Biletnikoff to grab his throws.

Al Davis created a team filled with sometimes wild and crazy personalities. He had, for example, the “Mad Stork”, Ted Hendricks. The Raiders had Otis Sistrunk, an alumnus of the “University of Mars”, George Blanda, a quarterback who played well into his 40’s, and Warren Wells, a man troubled with a variety of legal and personal issues. The Raiders were the last refuge for talented players who had troubles in college or with other N.F.L. teams.

Just Win Baby

The Raiders’ motto was and is, Commitment to Excellence. Al Davis’ personal mantra was and is, “Just Win Baby”. Moreover, Davis and his Raiders have been winners for many years. The Raiders throughout their history have been one of the most successful teams in the National Football League. The Raiders have also been Super Bowl winners.

In addition, Al Davis has been in the forefront of important changes in professional sports. Davis hired the first African American head coach and the first Hispanic head coach in the N.F.L. Davis , is the man who elevated a young assistant coach named John Madden to head coach. Madden is now and more known for his television work and video games than his stint as Super Bowl champion coach. Davis involved himself in on-going disputes with N.F.L. commissioner Pete Rozelle and several of his fellow team owners. Davis won court decisions that in part changed the way the N.F.L. does business to this day. It is important to remember, that Davis was once an assistant football coach in the old American Football League who rose to become commissioner of that League and through his shrewd moves became the managing partner of an N.F.L. Many sources report that Davis’ net worth now exceeds 100 million dollars.

Tony Dungy’s Tampa Two

In recent years, however, the Raiders have fallen on hard times. They have been perennial losers. They have had a revolving door of coaches and have selected a number of players who have not succeeded in the N.F.L. The Raiders, who were once at the top of professional football, are now the subject of ridicule and scorn.

As great as Al Davis has been in the past, he is now and aging, disabled man who has let the game pass him by. Tony Dungy’s, “Tampa Two”, defense that has been adopted by many N.F.L. teams, has neutralized the long pass. Defensive players in the league are so big and fast that many of the plays that once worked do not work as well today. The so-called “west coast offense” perfected by the late Bill Walsh which emphasizes short passes is the predominate offense in today’s N.F.L.

Despite the changes in present day football, Davis continues to build his teams the same way he did in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He has let go two of the league’s best head coaches, Mike Shanahan and John Gruden and now has a 33 year old, former college assistant coach, Lane Kiffen who he wanted to get rid of after one season. Another thing that has changed in today’s N.F.L. is the salaries paid to players. In Davis’ heyday, players’ salaries were modest compared to day. The world has changed and Al Davis has not.

A Cautionary Tale for McCain

John McCain needs to look carefully at Al Davis’s current situation. Although McCain has had a reputation as independent and a maverick Republican member of the U.S. Senate in his run for president, he has adopted the standard Republican Party orthodoxy. McCain thinks the solution to the nation’s current economic woes rests on the continuation of the tax cuts that President Bush has touted as producing prosperity. The credit crisis, the growing wave of house foreclosures, the skyrocketing price of gasoline, the falling U.S. dollar are just some of the challenges that McCain needs to address. McCain wants to see the Iraq War through to a successful completion. The people of America want a swift end to the war. Similarly, most Americans want the nation to regain its role as a leader of the world but McCain argues to continue the unsuccessful international policies of the current administration.

Can old warriors change? Al Davis has not. Will John McCain change?

Since her blowout loss in North Carolina and a razor thin win in Indiana, there are increasing demands for Senator Clinton to drop her campaign.In response to these demands, the New York senator says that, she plans to continue her campaign until a nominee is chosen. NBC’s Meet the Press host Tim Russert ,has declared that we now know who the nominee is and it is Obama.

The Two Georges, Will and McGovern Urge Clinton to Quit

Former Democratic Party presidential candidate George McGovern has joined a growing number of political leaders urging Clinton to quit the race. Newspapers and the “blogosphere “ , cable news, and radio talk shows are jammed with articles and commentaries pointing out the futility of Clinton continuing her efforts to secure the nomination. The arithmetic is certainly against Clinton since she cannot win more states, get more votes, nor win more delegates than Obama. Even conservative columnist George Will has joined the cause urging Clinton to quit in a column, Yankee Fan Go Home.

Remember the Wisdom of Mrs. Loman

In a moving scene in Arthur Miller’s classic play Death of a Salesman, Mrs. Loman tells her son who is deeply disappointed with his father that “attention must be paid to such a person”. Mrs. Loman’s wisdom now should apply to Senator Clinton’s current situation. Clinton started this race as the odds on favorite to win the nomination. She has won a number of large states including New York, California, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Senator Clinton has a passionate following of older women. For many women Clinton symbolizes the same world-changing phenomenon as Obama represents for African Americans. The Clinton brand in the Democratic party is powerful. The Clinton presidency with all its foibles was a time of peace and prosperity in the nation. It is important to remember that less than a year ago, Clinton seemed to be the almost certain nominee.

Nevertheless, after raising over 100 million dollars and making personal loans of more than 11 million dollars to her campaign, Clinton has apparently lost the nomination. Not only has she lost but also she lost to a first term senator with little experience at the national level but who can give a good speech. She has lost to an African American when just a few months ago African Americans revered the Clintons. In addition, young women and well-educated women have turned against Clinton. The world of politics, the Clinton’s have known has changed dramatically. I am sure the Clintons are asking themselves how could this happen?

Older White Women Are People Too

I believe it is not appropriate to demand that Senator Clinton quit the race. She is the only one who can decide when and how to end her campaign. Democrats owe the Clintons the opportunity to exit the stage with dignity. Passionate Clinton supporters will be sensitive to the way she leaves the race. Will Obama treat Clinton as a loser or as a powerful former opponent?

The Obama campaign needs to treat the New York Senator respectfully. The Obamas will need the Clintons to help them connect to the various components of the Clinton constituencies. In football terms, it is time for the Obama team to just run the ball up the middle and not try any long passes. Obama must save the long passes and the “razzle dazzle” for John McCain. The clock is running out on the Clintons.

Roger Clemens

Rev. Jeremiah Wright

With apologies to Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens is probably the greatest pitcher in the last twenty plus years of baseball history. Clemens has won 354 games and lost 184 in his 24-year career. He won the Cy Young award seven times. The Cy Young award signifies that during that season, Clemens was the best pitcher in his league. Clemens has won three games and lost none in his World Series appearances with the New York Yankees.

Clemens has always presented himself as a “real man’s man.” He is an articulate, college-educated athlete and appeared to represent the best, baseball had to offer. During his career, Clemens made more than $100 million dollars in salary from his teams. He has also been very successful in endorsing products and services of corporate America. He has been in demand for speaking at events and memorabilia and card shows.

The Mitchell Report Changes Lives

Clemens’ life and reputation changed dramatically on December 13, 2007. On that day, the Mitchell Report was made public. In the report, Roger Clemens was identified as a player who had used performance-enhancing drugs. Brian McNamee, a former trainer, said Clemens used performance enhancers on several occasions. McNamee also identified Andy Pettitte, as another of his clients who used banned substances. While Clemens denied McNamee’s claims, Pettitte admitted to using performance enhancers.

Clemens and McNamee went “toe to toe” before a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. McNamee forcefully repeated his accusations. Clemens vehemently denied that he ever used banned substances. Republicans on the committee seemed to believe Clemens while Democrats on the committee seemed to support McNamee. In the end, the committee voted to ask the Justice Department to investigate both Clemens and McNamee to determine which one had committed perjury. Clemens compounded his problems by appearing on the CBS television program “60 Minutes“. In his “60 Minutes” interview , Clemens suggested that everyone is lying but him.

Making the Beast with Two Backs

Clemens reputation took another hit when the New York Daily News reported that Clemens had a number of extra marital affairs with a variety of women. The first woman identified as “making the beast with two backs” with Clemens, was Mindy McCready a troubled, country singer whom Clemens first met and invited to his hotel room when she was fifteen years old. Clemens denies having an “inappropriate relationship” with McCready.On the other hand McCready, seems to suggest that her sexual relationship with Clemens did not occur until after she turned eighteen. The Daily News has identified several other women, including one of golfer John Daly’s ex-wives, who were intimately, involved with Clemens. For Clemens who often declared that his wife and family were the most important parts of his life, these revelations are particularly damaging.

Jeremiah Wright - Another Successful Career

Like, Roger Clemens the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has had an outstanding career. Wright a decorated member of the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Navy was riding high .In Chicago, as pastor, preacher, teacher, scholar, and community activist Wright was one of the best. He helped build the ministries of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago to the point where this church became one of the most important and vital churches in the city. Oprah Winfrey and other local movers and shakers were often members and visitors in Wright’s congregation. For African Americans visiting Chicago, Trinity was a must stop in the same way that Rev.T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House is in Dallas.

In 2007, Jeremiah Wright was about to retire from the active pastorate. A successor was in place and Wright was about to be honored and recognized by churches, seminaries, and civic organizations across the nation. Wright was being honored for his outstanding body of work. On top of these accolades, one of Wright’s congregants, Barack Obama, was becoming the first African American with a serious opportunity to become the nominee of his party for President of the United States.

YouTube Changes Lives

For Jeremiah Wright, YouTube changed his life. Snippets of Wright’s sermons form several different dates appeared on YouTube. In those snippets, Wright blasts America for its treatment of African Americans. In one clip he suggests that the American government may be responsible for the spread of AIDS among African Americans. For many the most disturbing clip involved Wright saying,”Not God Bless America but God Damn America.”

Wright the decorated former Marine was now seen as “unpatriotic”. The pastor who helped develop a dynamic program to address the issues of HIV/AIDS in the African American community was now called a “nut case.” The spiritual adviser to a potential U.S. President was now being called “a dangerous old man”. The national media descended on Wright’s church and congregants looking for more examples of Wright’s “inappropriate words and deeds.”

Wright compounded his problems with speeches he made before the Detroit NAACP and the National Press Club. These were nationally televised speeches and Wright seemed intoxicated by the presence of the television cameras. Following these speeches, Barack Obama felt it necessary to totally repudiate Wright’s words and to some degree distance himself from Wright the man. Obama said that Wright was now a caricature of a once talented and distinguished pastor.

The Tragic Flaw in Clemens and Wright

To see two men who have had such successful careers fall so far in the estimation of the public is deeply disturbing. Roger Clemens the great pitcher and competitor is now the butt of jokes about sex and drugs. Jeremiah Wright the great preacher and pastor is now a racist “madman” in the eyes of many Americans. For many African Americans the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is now a “dream killer”.

In both cases, the body of work that was celebrated not long ago will be forever tarnished and in some cases dismissed. Both these men are exceptionally talented but their flaws have brought them to this difficult time in their lives. In the Greek tragedies, it was hubris that brought great men down to their knees. In today’s world, it is the television camera and hubris, that can bring great men down to their knees.

“The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves…..”

Danica Patrick won her first Indy car race in Japan. While this did get significant media attention, I wonder if it got the attention, it deserves. Patrick is the first woman to win an Indy car event. Until this win, most pundits believed she was “just a pretty face” and not a capable professional race car driver. Patrick has been a better promoter than driver until this win. Patrick has made millions from endorsements but she is often criticized not for her racing but for her racy photographs.

Danica’s Winning Strategy

While Indy car racing has lost a lot of its luster in recent years, this is still a major victory for Patrick and women generally. Patrick won against an all male field. The “playing field” was the same. The challenge to control an open wheel car going at outrageous speeds was the same for all competitors. In winning, Patrick’s strategy as well as her driving skill helped her win. She conserved fuel so that near the end of the race she would not need to make a pit stop. While other drivers had to stop for fuel, Patrick was able to continue on to the finish line for her first victory.

A few days after Patrick’s win, Senator Hillary Clinton won the Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary. For Clinton, the first woman to be a serious contender for the U.S. presidency, this was a vital win. Had she lost,the Clinton campaign would have ended in failure. While the New York senator won the primary convincingly, her path to the presidential nomination is still very difficult.

Hillary’s Failed Strategy

Senator Clinton trails Senator Obama in the number of delegates won, the popular votes cast and the number of states won. The Clinton campaign must either “help” Senator Obama unravel as a viable candidate or create great momentum by winning all the remaining primaries. She must become the inevitable choice of the party’s “super delegates”. This is indeed an almost impossible task at this stage of the campaign.

It is hard to imagine how Senator Clinton got to the point in this campaign where her chances of winning the nomination are so slim. When the Democratic race for the presidential nomination began, almost everyone believed that Hillary Clinton would win in a “cakewalk”. Polls of probable Democratic voters showed that Clinton enjoyed overwhelming support. In the national November3 2007 Gallup Poll, Senator Clinton led the race with 50%, Senator Obama had 22%, former Senator Edwards had 15%, and New Mexico Governor Richardson had 4%.

A Marathon Not a Sprint

In the April 23, 2008 Gallup Poll Senator Clinton trails Senator Obama 42% to 50% nationally . The Clinton campaign has made many mistakes since November of 2007. The Clinton’s have alienated African American voters. They have failed to address the negative perceptions of the New York senator’s honesty and trustworthiness. The campaign has not been able to control former President Clinton’s rants and ravings on the campaign trail.

However, most of all the Clinton campaign began this race as if were a sprint. They believed that the Senator was the inevitable choice of the nation’s democrats. The campaign’s brain trust assumed that by the February 5, 2008, Super Tuesday primaries ,Clinton would have the nomination locked up. Because they believed in her inevitability, the campaign did not aggressively compete in many of the states that held caucuses instead of primaries. So nearing the end of the race the Clinton campaign is behind and running out of fuel. If only they had talked to Danica about how to win at the end of the race.

Still Stuck on Stupid

Bob Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) is at it again. In a story posted in the Charlotte Observer on April 15, 2008, Johnson said Senator Barack Obama would not be his party’s leading candidate if he were white. Johnson’s words echoed those of former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro.

Ferraro resigned, as a fundraiser for Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign for what many felt was her effort to inject race in the quest for Democratic presidential nomination. Johnson himself, apologized to Senator Obama in January when he made a sarcastic reference to Obama’s admitted experimentation with illegal drugs as a youth.

Johnson Profits from Misogyny and Thug Life

Bob Johnson made his fortune by creating B.E.T. and selling the cable network years later for several billion dollars. B.E.T. programming centered on misogynistic music videos. Urban “thug life was also glorified as part of the B.E.T. brand. Johnson was severely criticized for his network’s programming which degraded women. It is ironic that Johnson is such a strong supporter of America’s first possible female candidate for President of the United States.

Johnson Fails as an N.B.A. Owner

After selling B.E.T. Johnson competed for and won the franchise rights for the expansion team in Charlotte, NC of the National Basketball Association (N.B.A.) Johnson is currently, the only African American who owns a major sports team in America. Most analysts agree that Johnson’s race was a major factor in his selection as the owner of the Charlotte team. Bob Johnson named his team the “Bobcats” and has fielded one of the worst teams in the N.B.A. during his four years as owner His team is losing millions of dollars each year due to poor attendance and weak corporate support.

Based on his previous media experience Johnson started his own regional sports television network in North Carolina to be the flagship station for his NBA team. C-SET, as his network was called failed after one year in business. Johnson is currently complaining that the Charlotte business community has not supported him and his team as much as they should. For Tom Sorensen, a major sports columnist in Charlotte the only solution to the mess surrounding Charlotte’s N.B.A. team is for Johnson to sell the team.

Get This Man Some Help

Bob Johnson is a vivid example that being wealthy does not guarantee wisdom. While he has every right to support any candidate, it seems to me that he needs to first apologize for his history of demeaning women. Supporting Senator Clinton is not enough. I think it is time for Bob Johnson to apologize to women generally and Senator Obama.