The Week That Was
What else happened in the world
2009-07-08
By DeAngelo Starnes

Been a turbulent couple of weeks, hasn’t it?  Appropriately perhaps, the passing of Michael Jackson has been the universe of all that is called “news.”  The world kept spinning though, and if the SyFy channel’s Twilight Zone marathon wasn’t enough, how about a cosmic Twilight Zone that we collectively experienced?

1) Celebrity deaths: Why do we have a morbid fascination with celebrity deaths?  How many times over the last couple of weeks have we exclaimed “What?”   Then texted, emailed, or called someone saying “Guess who just died?”  I think the reminder of our mortality causes us to turn to people we hold dear and allow the words “I love and appreciate you and all that you’ve done to impact my life” before it’s too late. 

2) Steve McNair: Lotta gossip about the manner of demise. My opinion and admiration for McNair is not affected by the manner of death.  You can name on one hand the number of players from an HBCU drafted in the first round at quarterback.  He was the third pick at that.  Second of such a class to lead his team to the Super Bowl.  Played heroically in that Bowl.  Scared the hell outta me a couple of years later when the Titans met my Raiders in the AFC championship.  Was just as angry at the Titans for the way they dumped him as happy I was they drafted him.  Which harkens back to the point about appreciation when the person is still here.  McNair is huge in that he beat down the Black quarterback taboo in the same manner Barack is going to change the Black person as president taboo.  Bill Walsh tried to diss him and say he would not be a “classic quarterback.”  I really hate this notion that “pocket quarterback” means a brotha can’t drop back and run around in order to find an open receiver.  Ain’t that street ball?  So some blond hair tall white cat who’s strong is the classic qb but a do-what-it-takes- to-win QB like Steve McNair isn’t on the same level?  McNair gave the Titans their identity as a tough team.  Let’s not forget that as the gossip pours in.

3) Mark Sanford: Deserves the ridicule because he’s a hypocrite.   South Carolina’s citizens, many of whom are Black, needed that stimulus money.  But he not only declined the money, he spent the citizens’ tax money on a side fling.  More than once. More important, if we didn’t have Farrah, Michael, and McNair dying, would this guy still be in office?  A more people-noble governor, Eliot Spitzer, resigned under the weight of an affair. Sanford’ even took the opportunity to admit other affairs. But truly he should be tossed for refusing the stimulus cash alone anyway. 

4) The Williams Sisters at Wimbledon: Rumor is they take turns beating each other.  I don’t buy it.  What bothers me though is why they are not mentioned in the same breath as Chris Evert, Martina Navritilova, and Steffi Graf.   Martina is the only one that might’ve dealt with the Williams’ sista’s power and court sense.  But because folks want to talk about Steve McNair’s affair, we don’t put this last victory in perspective. 

5) Sarah Palin:  Somebody told her she can win the presidency.  Somebody told her the reason the GOP lost was because of John McCain.  Somebody told her she can get the woman vote.  Somebody lied to her. 

If she is the best the GOP has to throw at Barack, the GOP is in trouble. Once we reject their stale party line consistently, we move forward as a nation. “Conservative” shouldn’t mean “let’s kill those who don’t agree with us” but Dubya made that the line.  Palin is Dubya with a bra.  If we can’t see that, we deserve the consequences.  For my vote, she deserved to be out of office.

6) Health Care Reform: We talked about this last week.  But we got hung up on Mike.  The insurance companies haven’t gotten distracted by this week’s tragedies.  And you shouldn’t either.   Cuz Michael, Farrah, and McNair are gone now.  Cry and then call your Congressperson to make sure this thing goes the way that’s best for the common person.   Harry Reid and Max Baucus are playing the campaign bribe game.  Politicians like them have to go.  They don’t listen to the tenor of the voter.  They talk to us like we’re uninformed children.  But then they want our votes,  only to steal our votes to get in office and then take the money of the corporations.   There are more individual voters than corporations.   Our representatives need to represent us and not the money-changers.  And we need to make them realize that.  If there is no public option in health care reform, that’s our fault. 

Michael Jackson impacted many of us, yet the world keeps spinning and we have to spin with it.

DeAngelo Starnes is a writer and attorney living in Denver with his wife and son.