Thursday, June 4, 2009

GODSPEED OFFICER EDWARDS, GODSPEED













(June 4, Brooklyn, NY) Every funeral service for a fallen member of the New York City Police Department is an extremely profound and solemn event. Some are moved by the haunting tones of the bagpipes playing ‘Amazing Grace’. Others tear up when the lone bugler fills the air with the sacred sounds of ‘Taps’.


Thousands of white gloved officers lined the streets of Brooklyn today as Officer Omar Edwards was honored and transported to his final resting place. During this time every Member of Service that stood at attention as the hearse crawled by did not think of themselves as white cops, black, brown, Chinese, Jewish, italian or Irish cops. They thought of themselves as brothers.

Every cop that goes to work, kisses his wife, husband, children or other on the cheek is fully aware that he or she may not return home after their tour. One’s own mortality is a constant companion; not necessarily always in the forefront but, certainly registered on some level. Cops deal with violence and death; cops understand the proximity in which they cohabit space with death.

Officer Omar Edwards did not make it home to his wife and two young children last week. He knew the risks and the complication of the tragic circumstances of his death make the entire saga that much more raw and painful.

The details of those seconds, of those nanoseconds will be recreated by NYPD units who investigate such happenings. their results may not be made public for weeks or months.

In the mean time every NYPD Officer mourns Omar’s death and gets that much closer to their own frailties, weaknesses and fears. They draw closer to their own mortality as the hearse slowly sails down these Brooklyn streets.

The overcast skies were intermittently pierced by bright sunlight. Some would interpret these atmospheric variations as a sign that the Good Lord was awaiting Omar’s arrival. He had probably arrived there last week, shortly after the doctors at Harlem Medical Center pronounced him dead.

We pray for our fallen brother, for a young man who gave his all for his job and for those heavily laden souls who survive him.

Rest easy Officer Edwards, rest easy.



Links:



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/06/04/2009-06-04_slain_police_officer_omar_edwards_remembered_at_funeral_as_team_player.html

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/slain-officer-is-mourned-in-brooklyn/?scp=2&sq=omar%20edwards&st=cse

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/nyregion/03shoot.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=omar%20edwards&st=cse


Copyright TBC 2009 © All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND FUGITIVE OSAMA COMPETE FOR MUSLIM WORLD’S ATTENTION
























President Obama with Saudi King Abdullah (top)
last known image of Osama bin Laden (bottom)


(June 3, Riyahd, Saudi Arabia) Within hours of the most powerful man on earth, the United States President, Barak Obama, landed in Saudi Arabia to begin his five day Mid East trip, the most wanted fugitive on the planet, Osama bin Laden, released a video tape to Al Jezeera. Obviously Obama and Osama are each determined to make their mark, send very specific and disparate messages to the vast Muslim world. The stark difference between the American President visiting the Mid East for “talks” and bin Laden’s tape calling for “Jihad” against America and our allies is essentially: who has more influence, who does the Muslim world respect more.

The scrutiny on President Obama is as intense as could be given the host of issues he faces in this part of the world. Having taken office with two on going wars in largely Muslim nations, as well as the general instability among countries in the region stretching from Lebanon to Pakistan, significant challenges face the Obama Administration.

Of course, as has been true for decades, the apparently intractable conflict between Israelis and Palestinians remains the 800 pound gorilla in every room the President will interact with other leaders and talk diplomacy. Our staunch support for Israel since its birth as a nation has the entire Arab and Muslim world questioning, if not doubting, our credibility and the United States can actually be an honest broker involving any issue related to Israel. Israeli president Netanyahu just last week demonstrated his disdain for the “peace process” and the particularly sensitive matter of the expansion of Jewish settlements within the pre-1967 borders.

How the United States and its “allies” in the region will manage the “Iran Nuclear Issue” remains to be seen. There are divisions among Iran’s neighbors as well as the US as to how to have any meaningful sway with Iran. The mutual distrust between Iran, the US and our allies is deep and profound. Again this is a situation that will remain unresolved as long as the Palestinians are held in what amounts to criminal captivity.

President Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia in and of itself speaks to the seriousness of the rising tensions in that region. Obama had not originally been scheduled to visit the oil rich, desert Kingdom, but altered his itinerary to allow for a brief stop here. It may have been mere symbolism but it seems to be a sincere overture towards establishing more cooperation between the House of Saud and the White House.

Trying to repair or rejuvenate strained, damaged and, in some cases, broken relationships with the Muslim world after the eight disastrous years of Dick Cheney and his sidekick george W. Bush, is a monumental challenge for President Obama. Hopefully his address planned to be delivered in Egypt tomorrow will set the proper tone and tenor for improved paths of communication, diplomacy and compromise between us and the rest of the world.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/03/AR2009060300943.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31078074/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8069334.stm

http://www.bet.com/NR/exeres/B89E3519-CA5A-4223-8D34-66DF531BB21C.htm?Referrer={0471DDF0-D0D8-48A8-9E30-ADD40CBE0269}


Copyright TBC 2009 © All Rights Reserved

Monday, June 1, 2009

FROM THE BRONX TO THE BENCH:

SOTOMAYOR SHOULD BE CONFIRMED
WITHOUT GOP PROCEDURAL ANTICS












Supreme Court nominee is eminently qualified.


( June 1, The Bronx, NYC) Growing up in the multiethnic neighborhoods that define The Bronx, there are many lessons to be learned. Those who have come of age on these streets acquire ‘street smarts’ that transcend anything that could be taught in a classroom. Aside from the perspective and perceptions gained by growing up and living into adulthood here in these crowded neighborhoods, not many elementary and high school students envision a way out or up from the hard scrabble living their parents, often working two and three jobs, do their best to provide.

It is easy and convenient for outsiders to stereotype a place and its people: certainly The Bronx and particularly, The South Bronx, have been easy prey for critics and biased, narrow minded know nothings for decades. Most outsiders experiences in the Bronx consist of quick subway rides in from the suburbs to watch a Yankee game. They’d dare not venture beyond the 161st Street Subway Station and, once back on street level virtually to the “safe haven” of the Stadium. An unusually heavy uniformed police presence assures the baseball fans; provides them a sense of safety and security that they feel is required for them to be in The Bronx.

The roster of people from The Bronx that have gained fame and / or fortune; notoriety of some sort is long and diverse. From the brilliant eradicator of the blight of polio, Dr. Jonas Salk through the former Secretary of State Colin Powell, The Bronx has produced an impressive list of common people, of meager means, who have made contributions to our country and society that very few other communities can boast.

The most recent is, of course, the young Puerto Rican - American , Sonia Sotomayor who has just been nominated by President Obama for a seat on the highest court of the land - The Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor should be Supreme Court Justice very soon for a host of reasons.

For the moment, disregard the facts of her early years; forget she was raised by a single mother who spoke little English in some of the toughest neighborhoods and housing projects in New York City, if not the country. Begin examining her life from her freshman year at Princeton University. After a remarkable High School experience at the famous Cardinal Spellman High School, she was excepted at one of the most elite universities in the country and graduated number one in her class. That fact alone is evidence of a stellar intellect. From there, on to Yale Law School on an academic scholarship, not to fulfill some racial, ethnic or gender quota, but because she had earned her place based on her ambition and superior intellectual gifts. She, like Barak Obama during his years at Yale Law, was chosen to edit the prestigious Yale Law Review, an accomplishment that very few can claim.

After Yale her career progressed not because, as some would maliciously suggest, based upon affirmative action initiatives, but rather based solely on her mind, talent, determination and abilities. Her ascent in the legal community was not “meteoric”; not at all. It was the product of her record first as an Assistant District Attorney in NYC, then as a Federal Judge for the Southern District of New York. She has punched more tickets of accomplishment along the way than most of the sitting Supreme Court Justices. Federal District Judge, Federal Circuit Judge, and Federal Appellate Judge; none of which are small or irrelevant positions nor earned lightly. President George H. W. Bush appointed her to the Federal bench and then President Bill Clinton named her to the Federal Circuit Court.

Meanwhile, back in The Bronx, Sotomayor’s blue collar, hard working, mother, who never remarried after the death of her husband when Sonia was just 9 years old, raised her son who went on to become a highly respected physician. Clearly, this was a family that valued education saw it as a way to be propelled from the mean streets of The Bronx.

The hearings to confirm a Supreme Court Justice are always hard fought, mostly political battles; adversarial, rancorous, partisan and just plain nasty. Sotomayor will certainly have to survive the Senate Judiciary Committee gauntlet comprised of politicians who are of dramatically inferior intellect and character. Sadly, this is the way it works. Corrupt, moronic, self-serving politicians will be allowed their moments on their Committee soapbox to attack Sotomayor, to toss out incendiary questions and challenge her “Judicial Approach”. The entire process is, in essence, a charade of fools; career politicos who could never match her legal experience or intelligence will have their moments in the sun on C-SPAN playing their own arrogant game of “gotcha politics”.

The rabid partisan criticism is already in full swing. Republicans, who are about as relevant as the DVD player, are posturing, sniping and spewing their normal brand of deceitful filth and bile. Determined as ever since they have been in exile to oppose anything worthwhile, they glom for the omnipresent TV cameras and threaten filibusters, rigorous reviews of all her previous rulings and “to not rubber stamp” our President’s choice. Shame on them but, they seem immune to any form or measure of shame; they are political hacks, angry, bitter and petulant.

Any Jurist who has spend appreciable time on the bench has a long “paper trial.” Every ruling and opinion, being consent of dissent from the majority opinion, does, in a way, paint a picture of one’s “judicial temperament.” rest assured, currently, an untold number of Senatorial and Congressional flunkies are scouring each and every word ever written or uttered by Judge Sotomayor. They hope to find the fodder for the ultimate “gotcha” question or a ruling that does not comport with their white southern male sensibilities. No doubt the GOP will “play to the base” and do their best to somehow tarnish the reputation of a Supreme Court nominee who, by the vast majority of opinions of those most familiar with her Judicial history, is beyond partisan reproach.

The primary issue every time their is a Supreme Court nominee is; are they a “strict constitutionalist” or “an activist judge who legislates from the bench.” Fair questions if not asked within the narrow confines of partisan rabble-rousers. Our greatest document, The Constitution, not ratified until several years after our Declaration of Independence, hs stood the test of time. Many rulings that have proven to be egregiously wrong, have had there basis validated from the Constitution.

Our Constitution found justification for slavery, for the women's denial of the vote, for the “separate but equal”, education's between Blacks and Whites, for Blacks excluded from voting as well as, for the extreme right, no legal footing to legalize abortion. Our Constitution has served us well for over 226 years. Our Supreme Court has made their share of horrid interpretations of that document yet, as a people and society, it has stood the tests of time. It may be a bit torn and tattered, its edges a little wrinkled, but, it defines who we are and who we have been. Born from the centuries old British document, The Magna Carta, our Constitution must remain a “living” document. Granted, there are a limited number of modern day issues that our Constitution speaks to. However, the basic rights of due process, equal rights, Habeus corpus, fair but equal and the other essentials from our Bill of Rights through every Amendment to that noble, inspired document, remains as it was written. It survived our Civil War and has a number of landmark rulings that have blossomed from its simple yet so profound language.

Our Supreme Court should be as representative of the composition of our society as should be our Legislative branch. The cases that the Court hears now days are more complex and often require more subtlety during contemplation, than anything our brilliant, inspired fore fathers could have imagined.

The Bronx is a sprawling, densely populated Borough, one of five that comprise The City of New York. It is the largest Borough; the only one of the five to be on the actual continental United States. The other four are islands or, like Brooklyn and Queens, located on an island. Arguably The Bronx is the most diverse, the most disparate and defined , in some ways, by its disparity. Sonia Sotomayor's earliest journeys took her from Soundview to Co-Op City, from one poor neighborhood to the next. her inherent abilities and courage showed her the path out as much as did the encouragement of her immigrant mother. It has been a long road. Not many form the Bronx ever get to venture down the Cross Bronx Expressway to the George washington Bridge and into the alien landscape of New Jersey. Most never get out across the Triborough Bridge or the magnificent Throgs Neck Bridge to dip their toes in the Atlantic Ocean from Rockaway beach.

Judge Sotomayor has navigated valiantly a journey so impressive, so filled with accomplishment that, to deny the American people a mind and perspective such as hers would be a travesty, a tragedy in many ways, and indicative of the fact that we, as a people, have not moved beyond all the barriers that Barak Obama’s election indicated.

From The Bronx and every other inner city and rough rural community we await the day that the little Puerto Rican girl from The Bronx sits on The Highest Court in Our Land. It is an “American dream” story writ large; to deny her appointment would be a pox on all the houses of those in the position to make it happen.


Links:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/supreme.court/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Sotomayor


Copyright TBC 2009 © All Rights Reserved