Barbara Lee
On Barbara Lee, Afghanistan and Covid Scapegoating
All ye news consumers are probably thinking more about Afghanistan in these last two weeks than at any point in the last 20 years.
All ye news consumers are probably thinking more about Afghanistan in these last two weeks than at any point in the last 20 years.
But if you live in Alameda County, thank goodness you have a representative who showed some backbone against the jingoistic rhetoric from the very beginning.
That would be Rep. Barbara Lee, who after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, stood up to other members of Congress and just said no to retaliating against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
On Sept. 14, 2001, 420 members in Congress said yes to military force. 98 Senators went along with them.
Your congress member was alone in speaking the truth for peace.
Lee warned of “perpetual war,” and she said, “However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Some of us must say, ‘Let’s step back for a moment, let’s just pause, just for a minute, and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.’”
It was a call for a mindful moment. Politicians typically show no skill at that.
Want to see the cost of being less than mindful in politics? The U.S. has spent by some estimates close to $2 trillion in Afghanistan since 2001. We’ve lost more than 2,400 military lives, tens of thousands of injured sons and daughters.
And now we are in a “smoldering” situation. It’s like extracting yourself from a bungled divorce. The Trump administration began negotiating with the Taliban and presented artificial deadlines. That was the chaotic plan President Biden inherited. It was really negotiating a surrender rather than a withdrawal. But it means the Taliban is dictating everything. The U.S. wants to extend beyond Aug. 31? Taliban says, no and has “red-lined” the date.
The group that had offered to surrender to the U.S. 20 years ago, is now making a mockery of the U.S.
Surely, the Afghanistan situation wouldn’t be quite this way if we had more leaders like Barbara Lee who dared to be mindful when it mattered. The situation remains smoldering.
African Americans Scapegoated
Donald Trump called the Coronavirus the ”China Virus,” and “The Kung-Flu” for laughs. That kind of talk scapegoated Asian Americans and made them targets of the Trump hoard. More than 9,000 instances of anti-Asian hate have been recorded since the pandemic began by the group #StopAsianHate, based at San Francisco State University.
Scapegoating on the virus is dangerous and racist.
Now African Americans are getting a taste after Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick went on Fox News saying that unvaccinated African Americans in Texas are the cause of the virus spread in Texas.
It’s just wrong. Compared with Texas’ Black residents, nearly four million more white Texans are unvaccinated, said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. He even points out that four million fewer Hispanics are vaccinated compared to Blacks. The stats don’t justify blaming African Americans in Texas for the spread of Covid.
But what did we expect to hear from Patrick, a former broadcaster and talk host. He knows how to incite an audience and “make the phones ring.” As Trump did, the TV showman. As does Larry Elder, the African American Republican talk host atop the polls of people who want to be governor if Gov. Gavin Newsom is recalled.
Lesson. Don’t listen to nor elect talk hosts. At least the irresponsible ones.
Need a model for public servant in elective office? We have one in Alameda County in Congress.
It’s Rep. Barbara Lee.
Try putting Elder next to Lee. He wouldn’t stand a chance.
