Community Checkup

Might this become the only black news channel?

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts is developing a cable news network focusing on a black audience.
Black Television News Channel, scheduled to launch in 2009, will provide “original news programming with a distinctly African-American perspective,” according to a news release. It recently announced [...]

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How backwards is this?
Some Katrina survivors are being asked to pay back government grant money that was in excess of what they were supposed to have received. The contractor for managing the grants is looking to hire companies to get the loot:
The contractor, ICF International of Fairfax, Va., revealed the extent of the overpayments [...]

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A mini “TechCheck”…
A frequent commenter on this site, JJ, recently wrote me asking if there was any data to show how much blacks agree with some of the frequently mentioned views of Reverend Wright. I thought it was a pretty interesting question given the back-and-forth in the press and blogosphere lately about how how [...]

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Pat Buchanan has some issues with Obama’s race speech which he expresses in a piece titled, “A Brief for Whitey.” Apparently he feels like the discussion on race has been too one-sided and he wants black people to begin to listen to the white perspective (a group that he refers to as the “Silent Majority,” [...]

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Halfway through, I already knew that this was the greatest speech on race that I had ever heard a politician deliver. Truly historic. The way he placed the issues in historical, individual, and universal contexts was really unprecedented in the world of politics. He used an issue which marred his reputation (his [...]

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When Keith Olbermann is on point he offers some of the best commentary around. Last night, he nailed it with his comments on the pattern of the Clinton campaign to use subtle race and religious-based tactics to smear Obama. It’s 10 minutes long but worth watching in its entirety.
You need to a [...]

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Many people have commented over the past few days about Obama being darkened in Clinton’s ad. Although I do take strong objection to the other tactics by the Clinton campaign to “blacken” Obama and make him appear like an outsider, I don’t necessarily place this ad in the same category. As FactCheck concluded, the [...]

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The week was full of foolishness. Here’s two moments that stood out as the absolute worst for me.
#1: Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones responding to the picture put out of Obama in an African garb where she says that we shouldn’t feel shame about Obama wearing “his native clothing–the clothing of his country.”
You [...]

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Nader has experienced a lot of hate in his day. Now that he’s running again there will be much more coming at him. The hate carried over towards him from 2000 is captured perfectly in Melissa Harris-Lacewell’s argument:
Ralph Nader… has some evil lying on his doorstep. The arrogant, destructive, self-aggrandizing hubris that marks [...]

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Whether you support Obama or Clinton, it’s always good to be up on the spin and inaccuracies coming from both of them. Here’s some facts from FactCheck.org on Thursday’s debate.
Summary from FactCheck.org (click here for full analysis)
The most recent Obama-Clinton debate drew little blood, but we noted a few factual claims that could use [...]

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