In an Op-Ed published March 19th on his Congressional web site, entitled “Keeping the Promise“, Peter Roskam blasts his colleagues in the House for having “incomprehensibly cut funding for Helmets to Hardhats by 80 percent, from $5.4 million to $990,000 last year – exemplifying the misplaced priorities for which Washington is infamous.”.

Helmets to Hardhats is a program that attempts to place National Guard, Reserve, and returning active-duty military personnel in union apprenticeships in the construction industry. A needed and useful program it would seem. And I’m sure Roskam is keen on it because it’s cost is negligible and it is liked by his contributors from the construction industry.

I can’t for the life of me find a record of how the funding came to be cut, but I’m sure there is more to the story than Roskam is telling.

In attacking the supposed funding cut, Roskam cites the high unemployment rate for returning vets and preaches that “our nation cannot look the other way while our veterans are in need.”

But Roskam did look the other way, just last fall, and, aligned with George Bush, refused to help veterans in need - twice! Democrats in Congress had proposed a package of aid for returning vets to the tune of several billion dollars. The money would have gone to programs for job training, employment programs, unemployment compensation, mental healthcare, and services for homeless veterans. Roskam voted against the package labeling it as pork. He then voted again to uphold George Bush’s veto of the package. This took place right around Veterans Day.

Roskam complains about his colleagues misplaced priorities but Illinois veterans must understand that they do not number among this man’s priorities. Peter Roskam has demonstrated again and again by his voting record that his only priority is reducing taxes for the wealthiest Americans and serving the interests of a corporate elite. Roskam has quietly supported the efforts of the Bush administration to prolong the military occupation of Iraq at the cost of the lives of thousands of military personnel and he has then refused to fund badly needed programs to help the veterans of that conflict on their return home after honorable service to their country. Peter Roskam is not a friend to veterans.

I’m a little bit behind the rest of the country in considering the sermon by Barack Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright that some are using in an attempt to brand Obama himself as racist and in considering “The Speech” in which Obama responded to these critics and engage in a broader discussion about race in America.

Thanks to Austin Mayor for drawing my attention to the The Truth About Trinity United Church of Christ where I was able to hear the words of Pastor Wright in their true context. After listening to him at length today, I don’t find anything objectionable about his words at all. I’d have to say he was spot-on accurate. I am not a church-goer but listening to him made me kind of wish I’d been going to his. This man doesn’t pull any punches but he is by no means a racist. He simply speaks the truth about the injustice that persists in our society and our world and for that he gets branded as racist and anti-American by those with a vested interest in preserving the status quo.

After listening to Pastor Wright, I listened to Obama’s speech in its entirety. Though not particularly energizing, it was eloquent, and I thought he did a good job. I do have qualms though about the Obama wanting to distance himself from Wright and his sermon. I have been frustrated with Obama for not having taken on the Bush administration more vigorously since his election to the Senate. I feel the same frustration when I hear him reject Wright’s words, which were angry but true.

But perhaps this reticence of Obama to speak the unvarnished truth to power that frustrates me so much is what, in the end, may make him a great President. I favor Rev. Wright’s approach but a leader like Wright can never be President. We need men like Dr. Wright out there to challenge us, to tug at our collective conscience. But we need a President who will be President to all people, who will actually work to heal the division in this country and help us move forward, someone who actually IS “a uniter and not a divider”. I don’t how know anyone can listen to Barack Obama and not believe that he has that potential.

This kind of bullshit really pisses me off. Illinois Review has no shame, propagating this stuff the way they do.

They are trumpeting some supposed connection, which they never describe, between Barack Obama and Rashid Khalidi, an AMERICAN CITIZEN of Palestinian descent and the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University.

Khalidi is an opponent of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and has defended the right of the Palestinian people to resist Israeli Occupation.

Well last time I checked, the Constitution of the United States permitted Americans to express ideas contrary to government policy and the Republican Party platform. Mr. Kkalidi’s ideas do not make him a terrorist nor do they make Obama one by some hypothetical association. And furthermore, I happen to agree with Khalidi on those points and that doesn’t make me a terrorist either.

This is modern-day McCarthyism and it is reprehensible. It also makes IR look totally ridiculous.