A couple of folks have asked me what I think of the Shirley Sherrod situation. The former USDA employee was fired for making what seemed to be racist statements in an old speech captured on videotape. As it turned out, the comments appear to have been taken out of context and Sherrod has since received apologies from almost everyone involved in the rush-to-judgment, including President Obama. The USDA is even offering to rehire Sherrod.
A lot of things about this story don't surprise me, which is part of the reason why I haven't felt compelled to comment on it until now. Journalistic standards, which played a role in this debacle, have been declining for years and are currently hitting what I hope is rock bottom. Misinterpreting comments/data is one of the pitfalls of today's reporting. As the online rush and economic climate have created less experienced newsrooms, quality control has nosedived. The gatekeepers in many newsrooms have gone extinct. It is also obvious that certain media outlets have an agenda and have lost the ability to be objective and thorough, particularly when it concerns race and politics. I haven't heard any apologies from Fox News regarding how some of their commentators prematurely spun the condensed Sherrod video.
Beyond the media's role in fueling the fire in this case, there is another problem. It has become so common for employees to be unfairly fired or laid off that I am not sure what all the hoopla is about in the Sherrod incident, especially considering all the other important news that should take precedence over this story. To my way of thinking, the bigger story goes beyond Sherrod. The story should be about the American workplace and the relationships between employers and employees, covering the full spectrum of why and how so many people were laid off in the recession, why jobs aren't coming back and the trends that are eroding basic trust and productivity.
Employees have been fired and laid off for unjust reasons for a long time. Some can't even find work or get promoted for reasons such as race or age discrimination. Depending on where you work or want to work, you can either be too young, too old, too white or too black. The recession has led some companies to get rid of workers based on "last hired, first fired" or other seemingly random criteria or false perceptions. From all the media coverage over this one unfair workplace dismal, you would think the Sherrod firing is a new phenomenon.
So the Sherrod story in and of itself doesn't motivate me that much to watch 24-hour coverage of it on CNN, MSNBC or Fox. If it shines light on what should be obvious to everyone by now, then fine.
The only unusual aspect of the Sherrod case is that she was actually offered an apology and a new job. Most people who are let go from jobs because they were misunderstood, didn't smile enough, or simply spoke their minds too often aren't given apologies, let alone hired back. Sherrod will prosper from being victimized. She will land on her feet in better shape, which is more than can be said for others who have faced similar situations but received no media coverage.
I am starting off today's post with a video from Woodstock. This performance of Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane raises two questions in my mind.
First, what happened to being cool? I don't mean pretending to be cool by buying pre-torn jeans at the mall or obsessing over a costly hairstyle that is meant to look messy but really isn't. I mean making due with what you have to form your own individual style. Everything, including music, is so packaged and overproduced these days that nothing feels authentic or original.
Of course, if you didn't live in non-conformist times, you probably don't realize what is missing in today's culture. Heck, even many of the people who are now in their 50s and 60s have forgotten what it means to be cool, to not accept certain societal norms, to speak up when blatant wrongs arise. Maybe that's just a result of getting older. One gets tired fighting the man. Conformity and acceptance become the easier path, I suppose.
Additionally, where have all the protest songs gone? If there was ever a time for musicians to rally around big causes, it's now. We have two wars that have lasted longer and cost more than any war in our history. Even proponents of the war can't define victory.
So why aren't today's musicians writing songs that address wars, oil spills, corporate greed, political corruption and so forth? I don't have an answer, I just know that creative people jumped all over stuff like this in the 1960s and 70s, and it led to some of the best songs ever written. Songs with something important to say that changed America for the better.
Maybe the Vietnam War hit closer to home because we had a military draft. Perhaps if kids today were forced to fight in ill-conceived wars more people would pay attention to what is going on in the news. Maybe a draft, in an odd sense, was a good thing. As the war in southeast Asia dragged on, parents of sons reaching draft age began to question why we were in Vietnam. I can recall my father suggesting that I bolt for Canada if I was drafted. My father was not a liberal-minded person, so this was an interesting stance for him to take. Luckily, the war ended long before I turned 18.
Yes, groups like Jefferson Airplane probably did too many drugs and Woodstock wasn't quite as peaceful or productive as some like to remember. I am not glorifying everything from that era. But at least there was some awareness of issues like pollution, war and discrimination that felt more embedded into the culture than they do now. It was as if everyone had a stake in what was happening in the world, not just in their little corner of it, but across the country and even the globe. Sometimes that led to conflicts and rioting, but it also meant people were engaged. They read newspapers and watched the evening news. They were armed with righteous opinions and music that backed them up. Politicians in Washington had to respect that. Eventually, that cultural movement ended a war.
It took the newest and youngest member of the U.S. Senate to tip the scales in favor of sanity and compassion in Washington today.
Sen. Carte Goodwin (D) of West Virginia cast a key vote in favor of unemployment-extension funding within minutes of being sworn in. The 36-year-old succeeded the late Sen. Robert Byrd. His vote was met with applause.
While the state will hold a special election in November to fill the Byrd spot, Goodwin's interim appointment by the governor of West Virginia means that millions of Americans who are still looking for work will receive some financial assistance from a benefit program they helped fund while they were employed. As a result, the economy should see modest improvements. I should add that contrary to Republican propaganda, one actually has to be able to prove they are seeking work to qualify for benefits. They have to do so on a weekly basis. This is not welfare. It is a benefit acquired while working. Extensions have been routinely funded by both parties in hard times until current Republicans began suspiciously blocking the latest measure several weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh went on the radio today once again misrepresenting the unemployment debate. He called the extension another "welfare" program and failed to recognize that well-intentioned Americans are facing unprecedented obstacles in finding work.
I predict that the more Limbaugh portrays unemployed Americans as enemies of the state, the more backlash the GOP will feel in November. He may even lose some of his audience. Too many people are out of work or know people who lost their jobs for voters not to realize that Limbaugh and the right wing are on the absolute wrong side of this issue. They want the economy to fail in order to win seats in Congress in November. And if that means more jobless Americans on the street, that seems to be fine with the Grand Old Party for now, particularly if it creates more voter discontent.
Of course, it's hard for people like Limbaugh, broadcasting from his waterfront mansion/compound in Florida, to relate to the hardships that have fallen upon average Americans. People who are learning the facts tend to believe that the Republicans tried to the block the unemployment extension for their own gain. This was a cold and calculated political stance. A selfish, manipulative position that had little to do with the deficit.
Democrats need to remind voters in the fall who stood for average Americans down on their luck and who tried to halt unemployment benefits while continuing to be advocate spending billions on wars that can't be won and tax cuts for the wealthy -- wealthy like Limbaugh.
During his monologue last night, Tonight Show host Jay Leno joked that jobless Americans should move to Pakistan, where the U.S. just pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid.
I will be the first to admit that my global perspectives are limited at best. I wouldn't make a good replacement for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
With that said, how is it that the U.S. is giving financial aid to any country? Aren't we presently arguing over providing assistance to our own people, like those who are unemployed? Aren't schools cutting teachers right here in America because of the bad economy? What about that biggest deficit in our country's history? Is that even a consideration when funding foreign governments? American cities are crumbling. Homes are in foreclosure at record rates. Businesses are struggling. And we're sending cash overseas?
Hillary came to Pakistan yesterday with an olive branch. Attached to it was $500 million. It is not clear to me why this was necessary or how a country with massive debt can give that kind of money to other countries. But what is crystal clear is that we have no interest in altering how we do business globally. This is not some Leno joke.
It looks like we are going to continue funding foreign countries indefinitely through writing checks and providing military assistance despite our overwhelming economic woes at home. In the current economic climate, where millions of Americans are suffering and there is no end in sight, it was frustrating to see Hillary Clinton handing over cash to Pakistan just so that people there will hate us a little less.
Do the three people flanking President Obama in this photograph look like bums, hobos or drug addicts? Those are some of the labels attached to jobless Americans by some Republicans in recent months.
Certain politicians have no clue as to how difficult it is to find work in America in 2010. Talk about an out-of-touch political party. Whether you're 55 and looking to resume your career, or 25 and hoping to get a foot in the door with a good company, your odds are far worse than they have ever been in most of our lifetimes. It doesn't matter how many college degrees you have or how skilled you might be. There simply aren't enough jobs to go around. That is a fact.
As a result, the economy continues to stumble. Therefore, unemployment benefits must be extended for the people like the folks in this picture who have been trying to find work and who don't use unemployment benefits for illegal drugs. Instead, they use the money to feed the economy, to keep their homes, to pay their bills. That is all good for all of America -- those who are searching for jobs and those who are employed. Cutting the jobless off will only slow down the recovery, cause home values to crash even further and lead to a new class of homeless people. What's the Republican plan to deal with that?
Instead of longing for a 1950s world where everything and everyone was easily categorized, modern-day Republicans need to face some facts about the current economy and the people who are suffering the most. I believe if they continue to take out their frustrations on honest citizens looking for work, they will lose whatever momentum they had prior to their attacks on the unemployed. We all know the unemployed. They are our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. They aren't shadowy people standing on sketchy street corners. It is bad political policy to paint them as such.
I was glad to see Obama speaking on behalf of the unemployed and calling out those who want to halt benefits to the jobless while decreasing taxes on the wealthy. His speech in the Rose Garden today helped renew my faith that he hasn't forgotten about millions of honest, hard-working Americans who were cast out of the workplace during the recession and can't find their way back into suitable jobs, or the college graduates who are losing hope by the day that they will be able to put their education to good use.
Republicans in 2010 have a tendency to not acknowledge people who aren't doing well. They bend over backwards for those still on the top but rarely form policies to assist people who don't have a pipeline to the corner offices. They put up fences along the Mexican border without regard for how that may impact wildlife that needs to migrate in order to survive. They say "drill baby drill" even as the oil in the Gulf of Mexico is ruining life in that part of the country. We have a governor in Virginia who still thinks it's a good idea to set up hundreds of rigs off the Mid-Atlantic coast. Their arrogance is now off the charts with thinking that they can save a nickel on the backs of the unemployed. This is a party in need of a makeover, a soul. They can't just keep appealing to people's lowest instincts and fears and continue to win elections that way. Americans are getting smarter as more news and opinions are available. Facts can be easily checked. We don't have to accept anything that any politician claims as true anymore.
Despite the rhetoric coming from Republicans, most Americans still believe that those folks who are having trouble finding work should not have their benefits cut off. Most Americans know that the trouble that is facing some of their friends and neighbors could easily happen to them in this shaky economy. And if it does, they wouldn't want to be without benefits that they helped pay into while working for their entire adult lives.
As I have said many times, the GOP argument against extending benefits doesn't hold water in any regard. I never stopped looking for work while I was collecting. Never lost motivation to find a job just because I was getting a small sum deposited in my checking account. Getting an unemployment check for most people is just a way to buy some time until they can land a job. A way to save their homes and feed themselves. I have no love for those who use their unemployment checks to take a vacation or to lounge around, not looking for work. But that isn't the majority of people. Not anymore. Not in this economy. So Republicans stereotyping the unemployed is not only rubbing salt into some serious wounds, but it is also an indication of how they don't even know what the problem is. How can they fix something they fail to even acknowledge?
Fortunately, it appears the U.S. Senate might now be able to approve funding for an overdue unemployment benefits package. As West Virginia's Carte Goodwin is sworn into office this week, it looks like the Democrats will have the votes to overcome Republican hardliners who still think it's a good fiscal policy to screw average people. Their masking their hatred of Obama (and thereby, unemployed folks) by pretending to be concerned about the deficit is a joke.
ngs about this story don't surprise me, which is part of the reason why I haven't felt compelled to comment on it until now. Journalistic standards, which played a role in this debacle, have been declining for years and are currently hitting what I hope is rock bottom. Misinterpreting comments/data is one of the pitfalls of today's reporting. As the online rush and economic climate have created less experienced newsrooms, quality control has nosedived. The gatekeepers in many newsrooms have gone extinct. It is also obvious that certain media outlets have an agenda and have lost the ability to be objective and thorough, particularly when it concerns race and politics. I haven't heard any apologies from Fox News regarding how some of their commentators prematurely spun the condensed Sherrod video.
