“Hello dad,” a Black girl in Houston, Texas, says to her father, “Are we going back to Jim Crow?”
Dad bows his head, struggling to come up with an answer.
“I’ll tell you this child,” he continued. “I think as Black people, we need to look out for each other. We must learn what it is that has made the Jews a high achieving race. Every Black family needs to reevaluate their goals — their pursuit of education, their financial priorities, and their marriages. We have far too many broken marriages in the Black community. Trump’s four years will come, and go, but his ideas are gonna be with us for a long time to come. Many more like him will come. We must be an adaptable species.”
She looked up at dad. “Wow,” she said. “That’s deep, long term thinking.”
As people panic about Trump, the acquiescence of the Republican Party, the assault on guardrails of democracy, one must ask the question—how did we get here?
Have you tried to watch any movie lately? It’s hard to see a movie of any kind now that does not promote LGBTQXYZ ideas. Essentially, the Left had pushed too far to the left, thus, squeezing out other ideas, and basically driving people into their cocoons. This was why the polls got it so wrong. People are upset about the excesses of the left. They got so upset that they were willing to trade some of their freedoms for a little whiff of morality, even if it was an illusion. To their minds, the messenger, Trump, may be flawed, but his message hits home. And so, let’s fold our hands, hunker down, plan for the long term as a race—-and wait.
Assault on Free Speech.
Still on the curious case of the America we will be seeing in the next four years is how much of the Free Press will remain standing after it’s all said and done. The President does not like it when a reporter asks hard questions. He also does not like it when they write something critical, but at the same time, he did sign an Executive Order to promote the Freedom of the Press, and to protect Free Speech. This conflicted dance should be one to watch. A prominent writer from the Washington Post recently wrote an article critical of what’s going on, and the President has called for him to be fired. Can we begin to cherry pick what constitutes free speech, and what does not? I guess the American Press practitioners, and ownership structure versus Government officials will be dancing some form of Salsa, and Tango that will only intensify as the Administration continues its march at redefining America.
The big question here is this: As the Executive tries to overreach, and the courts react with temporary blocks and pronouncements, who will enforce the will of the courts when the heads of the institutions have sworn loyalty to the King rather than to the constitution?
We may therefore be circling all the way back to 1832 as in the case of Worcester versus the State of Georgia. The Supreme Court gave its ruling in favor of the Cherokee Indian tribes. See the reaction of President Andrew Jackson: “John Marshall has made his decision. Now, let him enforce it.”
The Middle East.
It’s good to finally hear some good news out of Gaza. The pause in hostilities, for all it’s worth, has saved a few hundred lives. Gaza may have been turned into dust, but it seems like Hamas is still alive, and kicking. Was it an illusion in the first place to think Hamas could be eradicated without giving the people of Palestine Justice? Does anyone in their right thinking minds actually believe that there can be peace without justice? Israel must talk with itself after over one year of raining bombs on a hapless people, and basically achieving nothing but destruction. Could it be that Netanyahu is just as bad for Israel as Hamas is for Gaza? Let’s remember. Without a Reagan, there would be no Gorbachev, no Glasnost, no Perestroika, and no freedom for Poland, East Germany, Ukraine and others. Without a De Klerk, there would be no Mandela, and no end to Apartheid. The world needs leaders, and builders. While it does not take much brilliance to destroy anything, some focus, and dedication is required to build something.
From Egogonews, it’s Thumbs down for leadership in Israel, and Gaza, but for those families whose lives have been taken away on both sides, may their deaths not be in vain.
Armageddon in California.
Those yearly fires in California need new thinking, and new management. I was at a friend’s pad to play my favorite game of Scrabble when the conversation about the California fires came up. He said something profound which I’d like to share thusly: “Does anyone typically allow petrol to float around on the ground in their neighborhood?” He continued. “All the dry grass, and dry trees in California are just like petrol waiting to be ignited every year. Maybe the people need to come up with some grass, and forest management ideas.”
To all those who have lost their fortunes to those fires, our thoughts, and prayers go out to you, and your families.
News from Nigeria.
Edo State is at Sea. It is fascinating to see how both sides spin events after each day at the Election Tribunal which has now been shifted to Abuja. At the end of the day, only one thing would matter, and it will not be the weight of the evidence presented at the courts but more the weight of the personal integrity and ethics of the Justices.
Lagos State is in a flux as the long reigning King of the House of Assembly has been sent on a journey to nowhere. Haba!! Was everyone else supposed to just be a spectator to his overlordship? It can only be hoped that the Iron Lady who led the coup to upstage the King Speaker would learn from the mistakes of her predecessor, and lead the House aright. Go Lagos!!!
This Present Darkness.
If you live in Nigeria, by now, you should really be exasperated at the way NEPA spreads darkness. When we were young, its predecessor, ECN, also served us darkness. We had kerosene lanterns growing up. Every evening, the young ones had a duty to make sure the lamps were charged with kerosene to allow us navigate the evening in the house. I remember breaking one of those lantern glasses by mistake in 1975. A few months later, as I was going to school for Advanced Levels, my father deducted the cost of the broken lamp from my pocket money of Six Naira monthly. I was livid. I made my case for a restoration of my full allowance. He backed down. I got my full Six Naira. Thank you, Papa.
It’s been 50 years since I broke a lantern, but darkness still envelopes the land, and hope is dimming for tomorrow. Children born today will learn how to speak by shouting “Up NEPA.” Their own children will probably do the same thing in another 25 years. Is it really that hard to fix our country?
There are solutions if those in power have ears to hear.
I say it again, and again. There’s enough money to fix our country, but there will never be enough to satisfy the greed of the insatiable few.
Mr. President, it’s “your turn” to fix our country. May God give you the wisdom to move it up one notch. Just one notch is all we ask. Is that too much to ask?
O’meekey O. Ovienmhada
I love the mix of your write up. But can the political class deliver? The trajectory isn’t encouraging at all. Nigeria needs a savior.
Thanks O’Meeky for this! It is indeed strange that keeping a distance to fire has remained something of rocket science! Even if it is America surely must possess the knowledge & skill to keep the fire ravaged to the barest! Is it impossible to launch a satellite whose sole business is to identity fire outbreaks in the California area & send coordinates to firefighters who will put out the fire within an hr or so? And If we can’t get this done what the hell are doing on the moon & reaching for Mars, bla bla bla…..? Someone is benefiting from this fire disasters it would seem!!