Is Massachusetts Ready To Steal The Stimulus Money?

AAPP: In my home town, of Boston, Massachusetts, the crooks and liars are ready to steal the stimulus money. As reported by The Boston Globe, The real estate developer chosen by Governor Deval Patrick to distribute billions of dollars in federal stimulus money has been receiving a state pension ever since he was fired from his job at a state development agency in 1995, according to state records.

Jeffrey A. Simon, 58, was tapped by the governor on Wednesday to the newly created job of director of infrastructure investment, which will pay him $150,000 a year. The governor promptly posted a summary of Simon's résumé on his website after the appointment, listing a distinguished career as a real estate specialist in government and the private sector, with expertise in redeveloping military bases.

But what the résumé posting did not say was that Simon was terminated in 1995 from his state job overseeing the redevelopment of Fort Devens.

The governor and his staff also did not disclose that, under a Massachusetts pension law intended to protect patronage hires from retribution, his firing entitled him to begin collecting an enhanced state pension while he was in his mid-40s.

Simon could not be reached for comment. His retirement records do not include a reason for his dismissal from the agency where he worked in the mid-1990s, the Massachusetts Government Land Bank. His official résumé suggests he left the Land Bank because he was recruited for a similar job by the government of Bermuda.

A spokesman for Patrick, Joe Landolfi, provided a statement last night that said the administration knew Simon had departed state government. The statement did not address the questions of Simon's pension or his dismissal from the agency, however.

"Mr. Simon was fully vetted prior to being offered the position of director of infrastructure investment. He disclosed that he retired from state service more than a decade ago," Landolfi said. "He is eminently qualified to serve in this critical role, and we are confident he will successfully ensure federal stimulus funds are invested responsibly and transparently."

State retirement records show that Simon has been paid $29,000 to $32,000 a year since December 1995 with his enhanced, early pension. He has collected $403,751.84 in all, according to state records.

Simon will forgo the pension payments while he serves in his new state job, according to administration officials. More HERE

I guess Black Agenda Report was right. Black Folks will get the short end regarding the Stimulus Package. As The Black Agenda Report noted, Obama's economic stimulus plan is built around "shovel-ready" projects already vetted by the states. That means "Mississippi will be enabled to do more of what Mississippi always does." More HERE

Note: Let's include northern Mississippi in the equation, Massachusetts.

More political report and discussion at: African American Political Pundit.com

Who will hold Governor Deval Patrick accountable?

Welcome to Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment

Here you will find information about the pending American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and can learn about Governor Patrick's plan for investing the federal stimulus funds in the Commonwealth's roads and bridges, schools, housing, rail and other transportation needs, clean and efficient energy, information technology,broadband access and more. This central website will serve as the primary communication and reporting tool for the Commonwealth's implementation of the economic recovery infrastructure program. In the future, this site will allow you to track our performance in implementing projects and the success of the projects themselves.

Meet the Director of Infrastructure Investment Jeffrey A. Simon

Governor Deval Patrick has selected senior real estate professional Jeffrey A. Simon to lead the Administration's economic recovery infrastructure program to maximize the Commonwealth's ability to create new jobs and lay a foundation for long-term economic growth. MORE HERE

Are We Closer To A Post Racial America?

H/T to the new blog, The Post Racial Blog for the link.

According to The washington POst: As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office, far fewer black and white Americans say they view racism as "a big problem" in American society than said so in mid-1996, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

With the nation poised to inaugurate its first African American president, the survey found that just over a quarter of all Americans said they see racism as a large societal problem, less than half of the 54 percent who said so about a dozen years ago. Americans also have high hopes that Obama -- who is of mixed-race parentage but refers to himself as African American -- will inspire an improvement in race relations.

But even as declining numbers of Americans see racism as a big problem for the country, there has been little change in the amount of racism people perceive in their local communities. The survey also found that there has been little change over the past six years in the proportion of African Americans who said they have experienced racial bias in housing, employment and other areas. More HERE and more HERE.

Are we there yet!

US Senate Once Again Rejects A Black U.S. Senator

It's truly a helluva way to run a democracy. The All White Club of the U.S. Senate told the Black man today: Your papers are not in order! U.S. Senator (appointed) Burris entered the Capitol peacefully and was denied his Senate seat in dramatic fashion. This spectacle edging on bigotry, was a live showdown that sounds in many ways like the politics, before and after the U.S. Civil War. When in 1870, the state of Mississippi was rejoining the union. Its two senate seats had been empty for nine years. Hiram R. Revels was elected to fill the seat left vacant by Jefferson Davis, who had left the United States senate to serve as president of the Confederacy. When Revels entered the Senate chamber for the first time on February 23, 1870, he met with opposition from Democrat senators, who argued that Revels had not been a citizen for nine years. Although Revels had been born free to free parents in North Carolina on September 27, 1822, the Democrats argued their points from the Constitution and the Dred Scott Case. Yes, race or color shouldn't matter in the Burris case the reality is... it does.The argument by the Senate regarding no certification by the Secretary of state is bogus and disrespectful. This will truly be federalism’s latest test case. Even though Burris has legal backing a historically bigoted and segregated United States Senate once again denied a black man his rightful seat after being appointed to the United States Senate. CNN is covering the story on how U.S. Senator (appointed) Roland Burris was denied entry to the Senate chambers. BET, Black websites and bloggers are covering the story of Burris, including, political bloggers and social bloggers, Politopics, plezWorld, Skeptical Brotha, Black Politics On The Web, Field Negro, Dallas South, Sugar N Spice, Jack and Jill Politics and Pam's House Blend and many others. Check out CNN coverage HERE. MSNBC and Associated Press (AP) report: The secretary of the Senate on Tuesday turned Roland Burris away from taking the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Burris left the Capitol offices of the secretary, Nancy Erickson, after a meeting of about 20 minutes. In a bizarre rainy-day scene on the Capitol grounds as lawmakers awaited the gaveling of the 111th Congress into session, Burris stood amid a huge throng of reporters and television cameras and declared that he had been informed that "my credentials are not in order and will not be accepted." He said he was "not seeking to have any type of confrontation" over taking the seat that he was appointed to by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But Burris also said he was looking at options for taking the seat. But Democratic leaders were determined to keep him out of the exclusive club. The immediate reason is that his letter of appointment has not been signed by the Illinois secretary of state. AAPP: It's in many ways like the case of the first Black U.S. Senator Revels who arrived in Washington at the end of January 1870, but could not present his credentials until Mississippi was readmitted to the United States on February 23. Senate Republicans sought to swear in Revels immediately afterwards, but Senate Democrats were determined to block the effort. Led by Senator Garrett Davis of Kentucky and Senator Willard Saulsbury of Delaware, the Democrats claimed Revels’s election was null and void, arguing that Mississippi was under military rule and lacked a civil government to confirm his election. More HERE Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration In 1870, when Revels entered the Senate chamber for the first time on February 23, 1870, he met with opposition from Democrat senators, who argued that Revels had not been a citizen for nine years. Although Revels had been born free to free parents in North Carolina on September 27, 1822, the Democrats argued their points from the Constitution and the Dred Scott Case. Read More HERE

Burris Should Be Seated!

The NY Times is reporting, U.S. Senator Roland Burris (appointed) will arrive today at the door of what many African Americans call, "The All White Club" of The U.S. Senate for a showdown that a growing number of Democratic members would prefer not to have.

As reported by By Karen Ann Cullotta and Monica Davey at the NY Times: In a news conference at Midway airport in Chicago before his scheduled 2:20 p.m. flight to Baltimore, a defiant Mr. Burris told reporters that he was not concerned about the fact that the Illinois secretary of state, Jesse White, has rejected the paperwork that would officially send Mr. Burris to the Senate. “Why don’t you all understand that what has been done here is legal?” he said. “I am the junior senator from Illinois, and I wish my colleagues in the press would recognize that.” He later added, “This is all politics and theater, but I am the junior senator according to every law book in the nation.” As NPR reports, supporters have rallied around Roland Burris.

AAPP: I first thought that Senate Democratic leaders wanted to avoid a spectacle that would pit a black man pegging to gain access to the Senate floor to be sworn in as Barack Obama’s replacement. As I noted in a previous post now that Blagojevich has snubbed everyone in his state the U.S. Senate leadership has developed an elaborate set of contingency plans to keep this black man Roland Burris from taking over Barack Obama's seat. But check this out, The NY times and CNN reported Monday that an aide to Nancy Erickson, the secretary of the United States Senate, said that Ms. Erickson had rejected Mr. Burris’s certificate of appointment because, though it was signed by Mr. Blagojevich, it was not cosigned by Mr. White, as the Senate’s rules require.

As reported by enotes, perhaps. The United States Senate has the right to expel a member of the Senate but whether they can refuse to seat a legally appointed new member is open to question. The argument rests on two parts of the Constitution.

Article One, Section 5 of the United States Constitution states that "Each house [Senate or House of Representatives] shall be the judge of elections, returns and qualifications of its own members . . ." In addition, "Each house may expel a member." During its entire history, the Senate has expelled 15 members. But these were members who were already part of the Senate.

The 17th amendment to the Constitution states :"When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies." In other words, the governor shall appoint a successor when a vacancy occurs.

Refusing to seat a new, duly appointed Senator may only be possible if the Senate has some indication that his appointment was corrupt. Since they have no such knowledge that Burris' appointment was corrupt, many constitutional experts say that to refuse to seat him would deny the citizens of Illinois proper representation in Congress. According to ABC news," . . election law attorneys said that senators may not have the constitutional power to refuse to admit Burris into the Senate without some indication that his appointment was corrupt." Thus, it is unclear what will happen if Burris attempts to take his seat. More HERE

If Burris shows up today to claim the seat given to him by disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the potential outcomes range from a denial of entry to a limbo where he can hire staff but not vote. The Chicago Sun Times is also following the story on how the United States Senate may block Burris and stall for time.

In Chicago one newspaper, The Chicago Tribune is HOT saying:Illinois Democrats played a starring role in this mess. The paper even going as far as saying, let Burris have the Senate seat and move on, already.

Now get this, The LA Times has wrote: Obama's election is changing the politics of race. They write, Reporting from Washington -- With Senate leaders threatening to block Roland Burris from being sworn in today as Barack Obama's replacement, many of his supporters see a familiar story of race and injustice.

An all-white club, they say, is trying to prevent a black man from gaining admission, as well as the power that comes with a Senate seat. Summoning a harsh metaphor from the nation's racial battles, Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) even called the Senate "the last bastion of plantation politics."

But the Burris episode has unexpectedly become the first example of how racial politics have changed with the election of Barack Obama to the White House.

Many black leaders, including Obama, have declined to back Burris, even if that leaves the Senate with no African American members. Some view his appointment by Illinois' embattled governor as an odd playing of the race card. Others are renouncing the style of politics that highlights racial grievances and inequality, saying it can no longer work now that the nation has elected its first black president.

"It is another statement on how black politics is now -- that the old regime, the old outlook, the old perspective has been displaced," said the Rev. Eugene Rivers, a black pastor from Boston and senior advisor to the Church of God in Christ, the biggest Pentecostal denomination in the country. "You can't use 50-year-old ideas in a new political era."

Even the Rev. Al Sharpton, known for his confrontational style of politics, is distancing himself from the Burris matter -- conferring privately Monday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid but refusing to join critics in denouncing the Democratic leadership in racial terms. Read More HERE

Roland Burris right, and wife Berlean, second from right, along with U.S. Congressman Bobby Rush (D)-Ill, second from left, attend the New Covenant Baptist Church during a rally in Chicago, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009. Burris is leaving for Washington D.C. on Monday, after Il. Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed him to fill President elect Barack Obama's Senate seat. Source: AP/The Seattle Times

AAPP: Damn, it looks like black elected and self appointed political leadership have sold black folks to the highest bidder. This whole situation is now pitting black ministers against black elected officials and Obama. I guess the bottom line is, I agree with the following comments in the LA Times article, from supporters of Burris:

Read More HERE

Diversity, Barack Obama, Black Dolls, White Dolls And Poetry

There is a lot of (white male) diversity in President Elect Barack Obama's administration, well kind of... Or is it business as usual?

There is much talk about how Obama goes for experience, pragmatism yet, There are some that question if that is really the case. I for one think I have heard those words of going for experience and pragmatism before with George W. Bush and the Ronald Reagan administrations. I guess the "post-racial" tag attached to Obama is being used by Obama to dismiss legitimate black concerns regarding the make up of his cabinet.

What happen to the word "change?" I guess Obama's Cabinet may be short on reformers. I guess America will have to get ready for middle-of-the-road no change politics. it appears that Obama is surrounding himself with a cabinet full of intellectuals. Or as some have said, it seems like a third Clinton administration, with a few political retiirees. No change here folks, just political debts repaid. No back to diversity:

As an example, As reported by bloomberg "there is Ivy league diversity." If Obama’s choices are confirmed, his Ivy Leaguers will represent a more diverse range of elite schools, as an example, two will hold degrees from Harvard -- Education Secretary- designee Arne Duncan and Housing and Urban Development Department-designee Shaun Donovan; two from Princeton -- Obama’s choice for OMB director Peter Orszag and EPA administrator Lisa Jackson; and one each from Yale, Dartmouth and Columbia -- Clinton, Treasury Secretary-designee Tim Geithner and Obama’s choice for attorney general, Eric Holder. More HERE

There is surely Latino and women diverity, bloomberg notes with Bill Richardson as commerce secretary, Hilda Solis as labor secretary and Ken Salazar as interior secretary, Obama has picked more Hispanics than Clinton or Bush. Bush named five women in his first Cabinet, while Obama ties Clinton with four. Obama has also named several women to White House posts and to head agencies -- Mary Schapiro will lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, Christina Romer will head the Council of Economic Advisers and Melody Barnes will direct his Domestic Policy Council.

Obama has mostly picked current and former lawmakers from states that helped win him the presidency. Some appointees were named even though they supported Hillary Clinton during the primary battle, including Clinton herself.

Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, who campaigned unsuccessfully for Clinton, is Obama’s choice for agriculture secretary; Solis was also a Clinton backer. Obama has chosen past and present lawmakers from Colorado, New York, California, Illinois, Iowa and New Mexico -- all states that went for him.

The exceptions: Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who will lead the Department of Homeland Security, and former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick for the Department of Health and Human Services. Their states went for Republican John McCain.

He “has explicitly indicated he wants people to take diverse positions and argue,” said Fred Greenstein, a presidential historian at Princeton University.

bloomberg reports on Republican Diversity, Obama has also named two Republicans: Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Representative Ray LaHood. Bush named Democrat Norman Mineta to head the Department of Transportation.

White men dominate the hierarchy of Obama administration. There are only five women, if one includes Jackson and Susan Rice, the nominee for U.N. ambassador, whose positions Obama considers Cabinet-rank. (Also named yesterday to head the sub-Cabinet Small Business Administration was Karen Mills, a Maine businesswoman.) Obama overlooks Northwest in cabinet choices.

There are three Latinos, four blacks and two Republicans. Hmm.. I'm not happy with the number of black folks in his administration, But I have no control over it, so I guess I will just let it go....

There are those who still pick the white doll even though the black doll may be the most qualified today.

We should all remember that some will never let Barack obama forget he is black,

I have been watching this issue of for some time.

I have been watching how my Latino sisters and brothers have been fighting for what the want and need, It to bad that many black folks have been lulled to sleep by the Obama win. Not willing to fight for what is rightfully ours like latinos, gays and women. We are giving up three U.S. Senate seats with a fight.

1 Presidency and no U.S. Senate seat(s)... Barack got a great deal, lets hope black America get's a good deal in the long run. In the meantime, all we black folks need to do is to act like President Elect Barack Obama—and our problems will be over. RIGHT!

Here’s an updated list after the Solis and Kirk picks:

-- 8 State Schoolers (Daschle, Vilsack, Chu, Napolitano, Salazar, Gates, Solis, Kirk)
-- 7 Ivy Leaguers (Clinton, Duncan, Geithner, Holder, Donovan, Orszag, Jackson)
-- 5 Raised in the Midwest (Clinton, Daschle, Gates, Duncan, LaHood, Vilsack) Note: This doesn’t include Chu, who was born in Missouri but grew up in New York or Vilsack who can be now considered a "midwesterner" since he had lived in and lives in Iowa, but he grew up in Pennsylvania.
-- 5 Women (Clinton, Napolitano, Solis, Rice, Jackson)
-- 4 Raised in New York (Holder, Donovan, Geithner, Chu -- who grew up on Long Island) Note: This does not include Napolitano who was born in NYC or Clinton who currently lives there.
-- 4 Basketball Players (Duncan, Rice, Holder, Kirk -- who also was a cheerleader in college)
-- 4 African Americans (Holder, Kirk, Rice, Jackson)
-- 3 Hispanics (Salazar, Richardson, Solis)
-- 3 Westerners (Salazar, Richardson, Napolitano -- who was born in NYC but raised in Albuquerque) Note: Solis is from L.A., but is that really a Westerner?
-- 2 Asian Americans (Shinseki, Chu)
-- 2 Republicans (Gates, LaHood)
-- 2 Sitting Senators (Clinton, Salazar)
-- 2 Sitting Governors (Napolitano, Richardson)
-- 2 Raised in the South (Kirk, Jackson -- who was born in Philadelphia, but adopted a few weeks later and grew up in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward)

Source: msnbc

Special Note, as reported by the NY Times, I'm glad to see that Elizabeth Alexander, who teaches at Yale, was plucked last week from the relatively obscure recesses of contemporary poetry for a moment on the world stage. President-elect Barack Obama has commissioned her to compose and read a poem for his inauguration, making her only the fourth poet in American history to read at one and elevating the art to unaccustomed prominence in the national psyche, at least for a day. More HERE

Will Class Trump Experience & Race and Make Caroline KennedyThe Next NY Senator

Not as far as New York activist Al Sharpton is concerned. He said in a statement that he is neutral but also defended Caroline Kennedy.

"I unequivocally disagree with those that say she is not qualified," he said, adding that Kennedy'sMore HERE I guess Al Sharpton feels that she deserves to be eased into a U.S. Senate seat because of her class and name? I guess her calls Sharptonblack folks hard hit in this economy. civic involvement makes her qualified. worked. Al must believe that she will fight harder NY residents and

AAPP: Hey, Rev. I understand that Caroline Kennedy is a very nice women. But Al, stop kissing up! You don't represent how all black people feel about Caroline Kennedy or for that matter Jesse Jackson Jr. There are many differing views.

Get this Rev. Al, as the New York Times reported, "She has not held a full-time job in years, has not run for even the lowliest office." More HERE Rev. Al you know here background, just as much as the NY Times who are reporting that she has no real work experience, aside from a 22-month, three-day-a-week stint as director of strategic partnerships for the New York City schools, her commitments generally involve nonprofit boards: the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., the American Ballet Theater, the Commission on Presidential DebatesJohn F. Kennedy Library Foundation. More HERE and the

Rev. Al, you know, News Day also reports that Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, JFK's only surviving child, has spent a lifetime on one podium or another, but has never sought elected office, a gap in her resume that is leading some fellow Democrats to ridicule the notion of naming her as Hillary Rodham Clinton's replacement in the U.S. Senate. More HERE

AAPP: Not everyone in Black NY or in Black Chicago are kissing up like Al Sharpton. But I will tell yah, the possibility of two or three black U.S. Senate seats seems to be over. It seems that black leadership in America is quiet of the Kennedy issue, or are kissing up... big time. There are many grassroot black folks who are concerned about the message being sent about Class and Race in the U.S. and whether OBAMA's CHANGE in his backdoor support of another Kennedy, or Biden, is just another day of old-school American politics that people are sick of. For me, I don't get this, is Carolyn Kennedy's only claim to fame, that she was raised on New York's Fifth Avenue after the assassination of her father, President John F. Kennedy?

Is there not more of a standard other than, "civic involvement," whatever that means. Why is it that Kennedy can be a front runner because of her name - with no experience, yet, a black person can have years of experience and be at the bottom of the list?

Is class and race involved? Of course it is. But guess what, Hillary Clinton is said to like the idea of Buffalo mayor Byron Brown. No idealist, he'd bring a hardball game to Washington. He'd be the first black Senator from New York. More HERE

As Karen Tumulty of the Times.com also noted, "The state has no shortage of more seasoned politicians who are also interested in the job. Among those who are being mentioned as possible candidates are Kennedy's former cousin-in-law, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo; at least four current House members, including Kirsten Gillibrand, Carolyn Maloney, Brian Higgins and Steve Israel; Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown; and Nassau County executive Tom Suozzi. Last week, New York Congressman Gary Ackerman said he didn't know of any qualifications that Kennedy has, "except that she has name recognition — but so does J. Lo." (See other possible candidates for Clinton's Senate seat.)" More HERE

Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy and niece of another Kennedy who previously held the seat — the late Robert F. Kennedy — decided "after a series of deeply personal and political conversations, in which Ms. Kennedy, who friends describe as unflashy but determined, wrestled with whether to give up what has been a lifetime of avoiding the spotlight." That, according to the Times' Nicholas Confessore, who reports that Kennedy will ask Gov. David Paterson (D) for consideration for the appointment. Source: NPR's Political Junkie

Two years after JFK was elected president, his brother Ted won a Senate seat in Massachusetts, and brother Bobby was elected in New York two years after that. JFK's grandfather John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, mayor of Boston, failed in a 1916 Senate bid against Republican Henry Cabot Lodge. Source: NPR's Political Junkie

As NPR's Political Junkie notes, "There has been no shortage of names thrown in the mix of potential candidates for the Senate post. As we wrote on Dec. 2, the list is thought to include state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand from upstate, Rep. Brian Higgins of Buffalo, Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan, and Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi." More HERE

As reported by Elizabeth Moore of Newsday, Kennedy campaigned with her "Uncle Teddy" to elect Hillary Clinton to the Senate. But it was Obama, not Clinton, who got her endorsement at a critical moment this year, in words that not so subtly slighted Bill Clinton as well.

"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them," she wrote in a New York Times op-ed in January. "But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president."

Elizabeth Moore notes that Clinton allies -- and those of state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is divorced from one of Kennedy's cousins -- were blunt last week in airing their doubts on Kennedy's fitness for the office. It's a debate that is fast becoming a proxy for the larger turf battles within the Obama-era Democratic Party. More HERE

Like the Political Junkie I also have to wonder how much warmth there is between Caroline and Hillary. The Clintons had lobbied hard for the endorsement of Sen. Ted Kennedy, and many in the Clinton camp were thrown for a loop when Ted and Caroline joined the Obama bandwagon.

	Reuters file photo

AAPP: I have been reading a lot about Caroline Kennedy lately, and as John Mecurio recently wrote in the National Journal, "Caroline Kennedy seems like an intelligent, competent woman. Her family should be proud of how she has conducted her life: as a (relatively) private citizen who, unlike many of her more ambitious relatives, has never openly sought advantage, political or financial, from her famous family name. She's never shown any enthusiasm for a job that people work tirelessly to acquire. Which is why she would be a bizarre choice." More HERE

John Mecurio also notes, "The choice is particularly curious in the wake of Obama's victory last month. I've always found it awkward to watch Obama embrace the Kennedy legacy as part of his mantra for "change." In some ways, they couldn't be more different. The story of Obama, who spent the past two years calming Americans' concerns about his untraditional family tree, centers on the claim that anyone can achieve anything, regardless of race or class. The story of the Kennedys, meanwhile, is America's most beloved bow to political dynasties and inherited prominence.

Democrats can... Read MORE HERE

African American Political Pundit is a 2008 DNCC Credentialed Democratic National Convention Blogger, and writes for African American Political Pundit Blog.

oops He Missed! Man Shows Iraqi Resentment, Throws Shoes at George W Bush - Video

Shoe Diary

Get this folks, as reported by the NY Times and the LA Times an Iraqi journalist shouted in Arabic — “This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog” — and threw one of his shoes at the president, who ducked and narrowly avoided being struck. As chaos ensued, he threw his other shoe, shouting, “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”

The second shoe also narrowly missed Mr. Bush as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki stuck out a hand in front of the president’s face to help shield him. More HERE

The incident will serve as a vivid reminder of the widespread opposition to the US-led invasion of, and subsequent war in, Iraq - the conflict which has come to define Bush's presidency says Aljazeera.

WaPo and Reuters, are also reporting on how George Bush arrived in Baghdad today for a farewell visit. WaPo reports Bush staunchly defended a war that has taken far more time, money and lives than anticipated, saying the conflict "has not been easy" but was necessary for U.S. security, Iraqi stability and "world peace."

But during a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush received a taste of the immense resentment many Iraqis feel toward toward his policies: an Iraqi journalist took off his shoes and hurled both of them at Bush, one after the other.

The incident lent an air of chaos and farce to a trip intended to highlight improving security conditions in the war-torn country.

An Iraqi man throws a shoe at President George W. Bush during a new conference with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008, in Baghdad. A man threw two shoes at Bush, one after another, during the news conference. Bush ducked both throws, and neither man was hit. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"This is the end!" the man, identified as Muntadar al-Zaidi, a reporter with the Cairo-based network Al Baghdadia Television, yelled as he threw the first shoe at Bush. The president narrowly missed being hit, according to on-scene reports.

The man then managed to toss a second shoe close to Bush before a scrum of security agents tackled him to the floor and removed him from an ornate room where the press conference was taking place.

Bush was not injured and joked about the incident. "All I can report is it is a size 10," he said.

Zaidi was seated in the second row of seats, about 12 feet from Bush's lectern. Zaidi, colleagues said, was kidnapped by Shiite militiamen last year and was later released. Throwing a shoe at someone is considered the worst possible insult in Iraq, and is meant to show extreme disrespect and hatred towards someone More HERE

AAPP: I guess his trip like his troubled presidency is nothing more than a horrible joke to the American people and the world. As US News notes Bush, "thought his presidency would somehow conclude on a high note despite his abysmal job-approval ratings and his unpopular policies." More HERE