BIG IDEAS

Now comes the documentary film New World Order, and just in time. It’s likely this film has been in the can for a bit so it probably stops in the Bush era, but I have been wondering what the response from the conspiracy theorist fringe would be to a victory by Barack Obama.

It always seemed to me that part and parcel of the conceit of a “New World Order” was that it was led by a (white) elite that has passed on power from generation to generation, wreaking havoc for centuries for their own ultimate wealth. And certainly I’ve fallen for a couple of the urban legends myself over the years.

But how does all that square with a Black man as the current center of power in the contemporary world? Is there some cabal of staff people in the White House holding information from the Prez on behalf of the Illuminati? Can a Black man be part of the world ruling class in the eyes of the theorists? And if Obama is the kind of man who would be a party to all that, what does that say about our collective role in getting him elected? Are we all pawns in some elaborate Masonic chess game?

From my point of view, a Black President tends to negate all of those theories, but what say you theorists?

Chris Rock pretty much said it the other day: After about 4 minutes into an interview you start to feel sorry for Sarah Palin. She’s so incredibly out of her league.

Since we’ve been on the subject of music for the last few posts, it occurs to me that Sarah Palin reminds me of musicians who only play by ear but are suddenly asked to audition with a band that reads music.

People who play by ear can often be incredible musicians. Michael Jackson does not read music. Darryl Jones from the Sting Blue Turtles Band and Rolling Stones - does not read music.  And that ’s a good thing. Their natural instincts as musicians serve them well. What they don’t know, they create - and it comes off as innovation as opposed to the kind of rote imitation and blind faithfulness to the established order that you might get from, say, a classical orchestra player who can play Beethoven but couldn’t improvise a jazz tune if you paid them.

That’s Sarah Palin. Unprepared or not, she was great when she was playing politics by ear, making it up as she went along. Her improvisation was good simply because it was improvisation. She did not know enough to try to stick to a particular way of doing things and it worked for her.

But now that they’ve tried to wash all that political know-how into her brain, she’s useless. She’s lost all her powers of improvisation and she’s looking down at her instrument trying to find the notes. She’s been educated out of her best gifts. It’s a shame, and yes, I do feel sorry for her.

But then she’s the one who agreed to do this.

Ron Reagan from a video on washingtonpost.com

There’s something I’ve always liked about Ron Reagan, probably that healthy skepticism he always seem to have about the public image of his Mom and Dad as well as their politics. Even when I’ve disagreed with him, the guy’s always carried a sense of decency and fairness.

In the pretty amazing video where he comments on McCain’s VP choice, his Mom’s opinion about Obama and his general feelings about Republican shenanigans, he proves my theory correct.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Georgia Rep. John Lewis did a brave and noble thing by throwing his support to Barack Obama. It’s certainly not something that he had to do, at least in theory. Lewis has the gravitas at this point to make unpopular choices and claim a moral higher ground.

But that’s not to say this decision wasn’t just as much a push as it was a jump. Across the nation right now in the districts of Black elected officials who are superdelegates, there is a vocal underground of insurgents organizing to field candidates against those who have expressed allegiance to Hillary Clinton. And the venerable John Lewis was not immune to that trend. Similar efforts in Charles Rangel’s district and Stephanie Tubbs Jones’ district have been reported.

Now, realistically, late in the season opposing campaigns likely have very little chance. But that doesn’t seem to be the point of the efforts, which seem to be much more of an active physical reminder of the will of the people.

And give it to John Lewis. Tough as it was for him to make the decision, he ultimately followed the will of his people. Something he has always done.

A caution to his opponents: Those blows he took are the reason why you can do what you do today. Tread lightly folks, or at least respectfully.

If you missed our contributor Mark Sawyer’s piece on Bush and Cuba
, you missed an insightful look at how the Bush Administration “No Engagement/Wait and See” attitude toward Cuba has lost the U.S. all kinds of opportunities to have a leading role in the future of the island that’s only 90 miles from our border.

Now, even in the face of 50 years of policy that is proven as a failure- assassination attempts, embargoes, isolation - what did Clinton propose during the Obama/Clinton debate in Texas? What else? A wait and see posture.

What exactly is she waiting to see? As we wait for Cuba to drop 50 years of thought and work to do American-style democracy at the drop of a hat, Raul Castro is spending his time studying the integration of capitalism into Communist China and thinking that’s definitely the way to go. So while we sit around and don’t engage, China, the new superpower, gets to be the role model and not us. That’s a ridiculous and indefensible position.

Unfortunately, Barack Obama is not that much better on the issue. He would engage, but then wait for change as well. It’s a step above the Clinton position, but only a soft and shaky step.

I can only make this observation because I’m from Baltimore too, and I love Rep. Elijah Cummings. He’s a great guy and a fine congressman. But it was hard not to laugh out loud watching the Congressional hearing on steroids when Rep. Cummings kept loudly reminding Roger Clemens that he was testifying under “oaf.”  Yikes!

That was, of course, right after I stopped laughing out loud about the fact that Congress is spending our tax money giving a rat’s ass about baseball or steroids.

Best line from Obama: “Sometimes I don’t know who I’m running against.” 

Aside from what some consider to be racial overtones, here’s the most troubling issue about Bill Clinton’s strong “Stand back, Baby, I’ll take him” approach to support for his wife:My buddy Jelani Cobb and I have been talking about this race a lot lately and one small point keeps coming up.

Should Hillary Clinton win both the Democratic nomination and then the race and then (like most modern presidents) serve two terms, that would mean at the end of her service America will have been run for 28 years by members of the same two families - Bush or Clinton.