Author: Rock Hackshaw

Here we go again; here we go again; is there an end in sight? Maybe the fact that I support Barack Obama is the reason why some of you out there in blogland refuse to admit my truths; so I will plod through this one, and maybe then you tell me where I am wrong.

In this presidential campaign cycle, we have now seen on many occasions supporters of Hillary Clinton making disparaging statements about Barack Obama. It happened again last night. On cable television station New York One. Congressman Charlie Rangel-a rabid Hilary Clinton supporter- displayed signs of his rapidly encroaching senility, when he called Barack Obama a fool. The program was “Inside City Hall”, and the host was Dominic Carter. He further said that some of Barack’s statements (supposed) on the MLK, JFK and LBJ issue were stupid and dumb. And I am now told that he even went on CNN to say that Obama was an “absolute idiot”; is this true?

I don’t know where Rangel heard these things, thus I could only assume that he is losing it-his mind,that is. Barack Obama has never uttered a negative word against Hillary’s remarks, beyond saying that they were “ill-advised”. That’s it. Period. He never called her names or even suggested racism from her remarks; in fact he went public to say she works in the area of civil rights.

Tim Russert is an exceptionally good broadcast journalist. I say this with no ambiguity. However, like every one of us, sometimes you just have a bad day. Tim Russert had a bad day at the office yesterday. Regularly on a Sunday morning, political junkies all over the world, tune in to NBC to watch his “Meet the Press” program. He generally brings in elected officials and prominent political people, to answer tough questions about contemporary issues. He is quite good at what he does. Yesterday he brought in Hillary Rodham Clinton.

If someone was to ask me to use one word in summing up yesterday’s performance by Tim Russert, it would be: pusillanimous. From jump-street, he seemed ruffled by Hillary Clinton’s brashness and recalcitrance. He dropped the ball many times. In this column I will give you six areas of questioning that Russert should have asked-or followed up on- to answers HRC gave. These questions relate to just on one issue alone: the controversy swirling around her Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Barack Obama remarks. When you are through reading them, then imagine what would have happened if I had delved into other issues. Enjoy.

In January of 1980, I started attending Columbia University in New York; it was a presidential election year. Ted Kennedy was reluctantly challenging President Jimmy Carter for the Democrat’s nomination. With freshman excitement I followed the on-campus involvement in the race between these two. Then one day Ted Kennedy came to our uptown campus, bringing media, cameras and controversy. You see, some imaginative white kid (and believe me when I say that at Obama’s alma-mater Columbia U, kids of all races and ethnicities were very very imaginative in my day there) stole the show.

This youngster stole the headlines in the newspapers- and the highlights on television- when he placed a large colorful cardboard placard behind Ted Kennedy’s head. It said: “Will You Test Drive a Used Car With This Man?”

This is what I have never mentioned before: that when I made my historic call of Obama’s Iowa primary win exactly six weeks before the caucus (first published 11/23/07); I had gotten some high powered info from impeccably credible sources. The info was in essence that Obama’s campaign had put together a ground organization that was superior to every other candidate (Republican or Democrat); far superior than even Mitt Romney’s. Exactly two months before primary day, Obama had already opened up vibrant campaign offices in near every county and was going to be competitive in near every precinct; my info also showed that the organization would be even further tightened up, tweaked and expanded. Plus, Obama was turning out record crowds to his events; had loads of energized volunteers (mainly white youngsters who were fired up like the mini-rockets); and was identifying new voters and first time caucus goers- supportive of his candidacy- like nobody’s business.

I am convinced that many in media just don’t get it; just like many of our elected officials in this country. They wouldn’t recognize a meteorite even if it was hurling straight toward them at one mile per day. They see what they want to see only, and they don’t think deeply. Their visions are usually clouded by their special interests, corporate owners, myopia, greed and/or ego-needs.

Last winter, I told the world that the only thing stopping Barack Hussein (Barry) Obama from being the next president of the USA, is an assassination; either a political or physical one. I also said that if he was fully white (and not just half-white), this race would be a wrap. This bad boy is special with a capital “s”.

The late Rodney Dangerfield was a great comedian. His bread and butter line was: “I tell you, I get no respect”. It was from that set up that he then proceeded to self-deprecate; much to the audience’s enjoyment. I am going to steal Rodney’s line; but I won’t self-deprecate.

Given that blogging-as journalism goes- is a relatively novel methodology, I guess we cannot take ourselves too seriously at this point in time; despite the significant contributions that bloggers have made to news breaking. Remember the Monica Lewinsky/ President Bill Clinton story: that was broken on the blogs; not in mainstream media. There are countless others. Yet I can’t help but proffer that some of us (if not most) who do this, are serious about what we do: inform the political discourse, on local, regional, national and international levels. Thus there is a responsibility to the readers that we be credible, accurate, authentic and genuine.

Almost two months ago, I predicted-ahead of everyone else on the blogs or anywhere in media in the world- that Barack Obama will win the Iowa caucus. Most people thought I was kidding; especially since my prediction was made before the polls started coming in, showing that he was consistently doing well in them. I am not going into why I pulled this off; sometimes you just have hold on to your trade secrets. Yet, any one who has followed my writings on Obama since January last year, knows that I have been consistent in my analysis and fears. Tonight my prediction came through and true; Barack Obama won in Iowa. This is one of the biggest political stories in the history of the USA. Ever.

The first time I met NYC councilman David Yassky it was at a candidate’s forum at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. This was back in 2001; he was running against a quality field of democrats in a primary. He was quite impressive with his knowledge of political issues and public policy; but then, after all, he did work once with Senator Charles Schumer; just as Anthony Weiner-the current congressman and mayoral candidate- did at one time. These are two bright individuals folks; albeit, little cocky and arrogant at times (both of them). Yassky is much humbler than Weiner though, but they are both: smart, talented, educated and articulate.

I don’t profess to know the man or woman who invented the phrase: “the large elephant sitting at the back of the room”; even though I believe that whoever did it is a member of my generation. You see, I never saw the term used in any of the many old English Literature books I have studied. I do think that the inventor of this term deserves the Nobel Prize for English; the term is that good. It refers to the tacit presence of something or someone that causes pain, displeasure, angst, discomfort and/or such, to some, most, or all of those present (wherever). So; taking my cue from the inventor (s), I am now suggesting a spin-off term: the ten zillion ton gorilla sitting at the back of the room. In this case: I am referring to “race”.

This column is ironic in some ways, given that my last “Vines” column dealt with Brooklyn political activist/operative Taharka Robinson, in quite a positive way; here I am dealing with his mother (New York State Assemblywoman: Annette Robinson of Brooklyn’s 56^th AD) but it isn’t positive at all. After I wrote that she was going to resign- which would then create an opportunity for her son to become the next assembly member of that district- I got a few calls on the matter. It appears that I had it partially wrong.

Last week, I was informed by very reliable sources from the New York State Legislature, that it was true that Annette Robinson would soon be leaving that body; but I was also informed that she intends to run for Brooklyn’s 36^th city council district in 2009. Now many of you readers will ask: so what? Well let me tell you what: she will be cynically trying to get around the term limits laws and violate the spirit of the term limits referendum (again).