The Times' Bill Maxwell on "ideologically black"

Regular reader (sic) may have noticed the special disdain I hold for the opinions of editorial columnist Robyn Blumner of the St. Petersburg Times.

Another columnist I've read for years in that newspaper is Bill Maxwell. Some of Bill's opinions are pretty good. Sometimes not. He's not as consistent as Blumner, in other words.

This week's column by Maxwell touched on a sore point regarding race. The column talked about Barack Obama and how race plays in his political ascendancy, comparing Obama to Colin Powell in some ways.

Blacks such as Powell and Obama defy all of the negative black stereotypes. Powell is the child of Caribbean immigrants, and Obama is the child of a white Kansan and a black Kenyan. Neither has the tragic baggage of American slavery in their pedigree. Both are light-skinned and have what we blacks refer to as "good hair." They are physically pleasing to most whites.

Both succeeded in bastions of white power. Obama earned degrees from Ivy League universities and serves in the U.S. Senate, a white man's club. Powell rose to the highest position for a commissioned officer in the U.S. military.

And, for sure, neither Powell nor Obama is ideologically black.

(The St. Petersburg Times)

Ideologically black. How's that for being whacked on the head with the iron skillet of identity politics?

It never ceases to amaze me how some activists have apparently completely abandoned the colorblind dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in favor of identifying specific types of thinking as racial. How will the nation ever realize Dr. King's dream if an ideology is identified with a specific race?

Maxwell ends his column with a call for honesty regarding the role of race in politics. OK, then, here's some honesty about the role of race in politics. President Johnson risked the ire of Southern Democrats by pushing civil rights legislation, necessarily getting it passed using a coalition of Northern Democrats and Republicans--most blacks had been politically Republican up through that time, it being the party of Lincoln and the party of emancipation.

LBJ's move paid huge dividends politically. Blacks repaid LBJ by almost monolithically supporting the Democratic Party ever since. It apparently didn't matter that they were supporting the party whose tent included Democrats who had fought hard to maintain racial segregation.

LBJ's "Great Society" set up entitlement programs for the poor, including public housing projects--policies that probably sped the disintegration of black social culture (breaking down family structure and eroding the work ethic), though that effect certainly wasn't limited only to blacks.

The type of opinion Maxwell expressed in effect forbids a black person from disagreeing with "Great Society"-type policies. Regardless of how sincerely one may think the policies are bad for blacks, demagogues like Maxwell would apparently have you believe that that a certain public policy (the one to which Maxwell subscribes, perhaps?) is authentically black. Dissent from that apparently makes blacks traitors to their race to one degree or another.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

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Another study on war-related deaths in Iraq

This one puts the number far lower than the Johns Hopkins study published in Lancet. The studies, according to the linked story, used similar methodology though this study by the World Health Organization in conjunction with the government of Iraq consciously tried to correct the problems for which the earlier studies were criticized.

The three-year toll of violent deaths calculated in the survey is one-quarter the size of that found in a smaller survey by Iraqi and Johns Hopkins University researchers published in the journal Lancet in 2006.

Both teams used the same method -- a random sample of houses throughout the country. For the new study, however, surveyors visited 23 times as many places and interviewed five times as many households. Surveyors also got more outside supervision in the recent study; that wasn't possible in the spring of 2006 when the Johns Hopkins survey was conducted.

(The Washington Post)

Hat tip to Power Line.

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"EE-9 Cascavel" for Iraqi Army (Updated)

While looking up MRAP news I found this little story about Iraq obtaining the EE-9 "Cascavel" armored vehicle. First I've heard of this one (following military hardware is a relatively recent and part-time hobby for me).

clipped from www.blackanthem.com

The Cascavel ("Rattlesnake") is manufactured by Engesa, a Brazilian firm from what I can tell.

clipped from www.armyrecognition.com

Update:

How about a little YouTube video of the Cascavel in action?

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Another JLTV partnership: Oshkosh teams with Northrop Grumman

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. and Oshkosh Truck Corp. on Tuesday said they are partnering to compete for a multibillion-dollar contract to build the Pentagon's next-generation of lightweight vehicles.

If selected for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, which is designed to replace the current fleet of Humvees used by the Army and Marine Corps, Northrop Grumman will be the prime contractor and systems integrator while Oshkosh Truck's defense group will design and manufacture the vehicles.

(AP, via Businessweek)

The new partnership will compete against Boeing/Textron, Lockheed Martin/Armor Holdings (BAE) and General Dynamics/AM General.

Force Protection appears to see its Cheetah vehicle, submitted for MRAP II, as a potential replacement for the Humvee. Struggling manufacturer PVI has a somewhat similar vehicle, the Protector.

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Giants step on Bucs, 24-14

The visiting Giants played close to mistake-free football and ended the Buccaneers' season with a 24-14 victory at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Offense:
Earnest Graham ran well, but the Bucs' young offensive line failed to adequately protect quarterback Jeff Garcia, which led to offensive inconsistency. Though Garcia was only sacked once, he rarely had the luxury of throwing from a set position, even when the Bucs were moving the ball successfully. Joey Galloway, playing with an injured shoulder, wasn't much of a factor. Indeed, it could be said that the Bucs gave themselves a liability by throwing deep as it led to either incompletions or interceptions (2).

Defense:
The defense stuffed the Giants early, but once New York mixed in short and intermediate passes into its playcalling the Giants put together some good scoring drives. The loss of safety Tanard Jackson may have also played a role. No other safety on the Bucs' roster has his coverage ability.

The Giants got their lead with a couple of plays where the defense wasn't fooled but failed to make the play. On one, Ronde Barber showed blitz then dropped into coverage but failed to make the play on a hard-thrown pass by Eli Manning. On another, Derrick Brooks sniffed out a screen pass to Brandon Jacobs and tried to bat the pass away by reaching around Jacobs instead of tackling him as the ball arrived. Brooks whiffed on defensing the pass and Jacobs scored on the play. The television announcers made much of the Giants' playcalling keeping the Bucs off-balance. That may be, but those two plays were not good examples of it. In those two cases the Giants simply made the play despite not fooling the defense. That's one way to play winning football, of course.

Special Teams:
Unfortunately, the special teams continued their trend of at least one problem play per game in the latter half of the season. Though Josh Bidwell had a subpar day punting, the big breakdown was Michael Spurlock's fumble of the opening kickoff of the second half. The Giants recovered the ball and scored a field goal, going up 17-7.

Up Next:
Well, I'd like to say the Cowboys in Dallas but that task now falls to the New York Giants. For the Bucs, it's time to think of the 2008 draft and next year's season.

Summary:
This team outplayed the predictions of most (my friends say I predicted a 9-7 regular season; I honestly can't remember but I like to think I predicted 10 wins even though that would have been wrong). The team made some strides with its biggest weaknesses, those being the offensive and defensive lines. It looks like the Bucs made the right call in drafting Gaines Adams, who turned in a pretty good second half of the season, including a playoff sack of Eli Manning. The Bucs are missing one thing on defense: a defensive tackle who disrupts the offense 80% as well as Warren Sapp did it. Unknown Jovan Haye turned in a pretty good season, ending up near the top of the league in the number of tackles for a defensive tackle.

The team is in nice shape at linebacker and defensive back, but has a decision to make about Brian Kelly. Kelly might be the Bucs best cornerback when healthy, but he has had trouble staying healthy for the past three years.

Needs heading into the offseason:
1) disruptive defensive tackle
2) center to match the rest of the offensive line
3) game-breaking wideout to complement/replace Galloway
4) a quality cornerback (moves to #2 depending on what happens with Kelly)
5) a kick/punt returner

The Buccaneers have a nice amount of cap space to play with, so I expect at least one of the above needs to be addressed through free agency--though you never can tell how a free agent will work out. Gruden's success with Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell, Joe Jurevicius and Ike Hilliard make it a good bet that at least one free agent wide receiver will challenge for a starting role next season.

The Bucs may rely on draft picks to try to address the other needs.

As for coach Gruden, I think he established that this team is headed in the right direction. His hire in 2002 was intended to get the Bucs a Super Bowl win before the window of opportunity closed for a team on the path to salary cap trouble. He accomplished that.

After the Super Bowl win, the goal was to get the most out of the team during its transition. The results there were mixed, as the team was forced fill needs through free agency because of lost draft picks spent to secure Gruden. The few remaining draft picks were not used wisely, if retrospect is any indication. Fifth-round pick Jermaine Phillips in 2002 was a notable exception during those first three years.

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I want that

Pretty much the ideal support for house plants. Or your collection of Godzilla action figures.

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Iraq casualties for December '07 stay near November levels

What does it mean?

Some believe that data such as that reflected above has no value at all because the "documented" deaths are simply those the governments wants the public to know about. They believe that the press is controlled tightly enough to allow the government to more-or-less spin the data as it pleases. And there is probably some element of truth to that. Assuming any significant number of "undocumented" deaths, the actual number of deaths cannot help but exceed the number of documented deaths.

It isn't quite possible to entirely hide information under a rock these days, however. People in Iraq have cell phones and computers. Not in the numbers that the Japanese have them, but they're there. Information will get out one way or another. The people who go to Iraq lately (without any exception of which I am aware) have noted that Iraq seems more peaceful than it did before the surge strategy had time to effect change. Markets have reopened, and the daily routines of life have been largely reestablished.

In short, there's no denying that the the path toward sectarian civil war has been stalled if not entirely thwarted.

Now the opportunity exists for Iraq to establish the first Arab democracy and spread that model to its neighbors. In the global war on Islamic terrorism this is a key move. The United States should not shy from coaxing Iraq along the path toward good governance.

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Force Protection's making Cheetahs

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Force Protection Inc., the largest supplier of blast-resistant trucks to the U.S. Marine Corps, plans to limit production of its new Cheetah vehicle because the model has yet to win a contract.

Force Protection plans to start production this quarter at a new plant that will reach monthly capacity of 200 Cheetahs by year end, Michael Aldrich, vice president for government relations, said in an interview today. That's a ``much longer ramp-up'' than originally planned, he said.

(Bloomberg)

Gutsy move by Force Protection. The story includes a number of interviews that compare the company's strategy to the "Field of Dreams" or the way Detroit builds cars. Make the car and worry about selling it later.

Is the Cheetah good enough right now to forestall competition and get Force Protection's foot in the door on the coveted JLTV program?

Force Protection obviously hopes so, but judging from the last two big rounds of MRAP orders the military likes what its getting from BAE Systems (the RG-33 and the Caiman) as well as Navistar (the MaxxPro).

The military's interest in the (Ceradyne) Bull may represent the military's intention to use that vehicle for specialized purposes.

The Cheetah may represent Force Protection's last-ditch effort to make itself a major player in military vehicle production over the long haul.

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U.S. poised to ally with Libya

WASHINGTON - Libya's remarkable transformation from U.S. foe to friend is almost complete.

Despite unresolved terrorism and human rights concerns, the United States took another step toward ending decades of hostility with the North African nation on Thursday as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the Libyan foreign minister in the highest-level contact between the two countries in Washington in 35 years.

(AP, via The St. Petersburg Times)

Bush is so incompetent that his cowboy diplomacy is failing to make Libya hate us enough to forgo new political ties.

Or ...

The U.S. is so hated internationally that Bush is forced to make friends with nations nobody likes?


Give it time. If the next administration doesn't fumble the ball with Libya perhaps this will figure in as part of Bush's positive legacy.

As for being hated abroad, the United States is a bit like the New York Yankees. They have that incredible payroll, so few other than Yankee fans want them to win. I know I like the Yankees much better when they lose.

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Leaving Iowa

Democratic Party:

It's only Iowa, but I'm slightly surprised at the Obama win (as well as the showing by Edwards). Clinton is the only real candidate among those three (as inexperienced as she is, she still has more than the other two).

Would Democrats really offer up a national candidate as green as either Edwards or Obama?

Republican Party:

Again, it's only Iowa, but Mike Huckabee's shift in status from als0-ran to the top tier of GOP candidates certainly changes the landscape. Early on, I had hoped that either Huckabee or Duncan Hunter would start gaining some traction. After learning more about Huckabee's record, I wish that it had been Hunter instead of Huckabee.

Huckabee strikes me as more moderate and smooth-talking version of George W. Bush. I have doubts about the viability of his campaign, as with Romney.

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