Democrats on the Way to Blowing Another Election By A. Peter Bailey After closely monitoring presidential campaigns since 1968, I am now convinced more than ever that though the Democrats are usually masterful in the congressional politics arena, when it comes to presidential politics, they are just slightly above being amateurs. In campaign after campaign, except the two handled and won by Bill Clinton, the Democrats lose to Republicans who are not exactly rocket scientists. Their problems begin with the scheduling of their national convention. For some inexplicable reason, the Democrats always hold their convention first, thus providing the Republicans with the decided advantage of closely monitoring the Democratic convention and then adjusting their convention accordingly. The 2008 convention provides a classic example of why convening last is a plus. Read More...

The Jackal of Capitalism By Sid Davis The fight between Congress and George W. Bush over the 700 billion dollar Wall Street bailout package hinged on the question of oversight. Democrats wanted a legislative or judicial body to oversee the process of ladling out our wealth in the corporate soup kitchen, while Bush loathed the idea of judicial or civilian bodies interfering in governance, though the U.S. Constitution says they are supposed to do exactly that. The spectacle of this battle should have awakened Americans at long last from the greatest mass hallucination in human historynamely that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. Every culture has its fairy talesAmericas beloved myth of freemarket capitalism as a democratic force is so deeply seeded that people across a broad political spectrum believe it, or at least behave as if they do. Republicans have spent thirty years screaming that capitalism equals democracy. But even a cursory glance at history shows that capitalism and democracy are fire and tinder. They dont coexistone consumes the other. Chile 1973 CIAbacked rebels deposed democratically elected Salvador Allende and his bloodied corpse was dragged from the presidential palace. In his place the U.S. installed Augusto Pinochet, who killed 30,000 while imposing freemarket capitalism on the populace. Read More...

Words that Describe Ourselves By Lache Bailey In an undergrad course at Berkeley one of my professors walked into a mid-sized lecture hall three minutes late and demanded that each student pull out a piece of paper and pen. On this paper we were to use single words that described ourselves. My list read Black, female, athlete, student, adopted and so on, As class discussion began and we were to share our list with our classmates, it was soon revealed that every Black student in the room had identified themselves as Black first, where our white peers initiated their list with traits such as smart, tall, ambidextrous, etc. What did this mean? As Blacks, were we actually more color conscious than whites? Did we sum ourselves up as a race and gender while white students recognized their individuality in unique characteristics and personality traits? I didn't believe so. I thought the exercise clearly illustrated how we have all learned to identify ourselves through the lenses of society. Even the white student who identified as smart probably came to that conclusion after years of his parents and teachers referring to him as "the smart one", just as often I have been "the black one." Read More...

The New Yankee Stadium The Inconvenience of Progression By Danielle Ramos With all the hoopla surrounding the new Yankee stadium you would think it was being built in the heart of the city, namely Manhattan. Instead this new remarkable stadium is being built right across the street from the old one, on top of one of the few well maintained public parks/playgrounds in the city, in what happens to be the poorest congressional district in the United States. You dont have progress unless you inconvenience a few people. That was what New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had to say when he was asked to comment about the replacement parks promised by both the city of NewYork and Yankee organization. He was asked to comment due to the fact that some of the parks will not be finished until 2011, while the new stadium opens before the start of the next baseball season. Distance is also an issue with many of the new parks with some being quite a distance away, and New York City Mayor Micheal Bloomberg - The New Yankee Stadium: The Inconvenience of Progressionrequiring children or anyone looking to use the facilities a significant amount of travel. A trip to the park for these children will require them to traverse busy streets and an over pass for the Major Deegan Expressway. Now is it justifiable to wonder if Mayor Bloomberg is under a belief that only the poor need to be inconvenienced Read More...

Almost There: Election Day 2008 By Tiffani Bowen Election Day is approaching. As the nation prepares for this momentous day, and the Democratic and Republican campaigns ratchet up their rhetoric in order to sway undecided voters, there is a sense of nervousness in the nation as America awaits the final results. This election is the first in American history to have an African American on the Presidential ticket and the first in decades to garner so much attention from the American public. There is a lot of tension in the nation, and Americans are weighing out their own personal beliefs and investments in order to ensure that the right individual is elected. America is desperate for a solution the problems which are deteriorating the economy. A lot of trickery is being used in this election in order to gain control of the White House, yet many Americans are steadfast in their electoral decisions. Hopefully, race and gender are no longer a factor, and the best man or woman selected for the job will do all that is necessary to rebuild this failing democracy. Read More...

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