by David
Swanson

The venerable Rep. John Conyers has long been
among the most progressive members of the U.S. House. Now chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, where impeachment proceedings must begin, Conyers concurs
with Speaker Nancy Pelosi that impeachment is "off the table" because "we don't
have the votes." When a multi-racial group of demonstrators recently occupied
his offices in protest, Conyers supporters cried foul, citing his perennial
introduction of bills on Reparations. But there have never been enough votes
for Reparations, either. The contradiction is obvious. Conyers is willing to
play Don Quixote on Reparations, but not impeachment.

by Paul Harris

U.S. presidents are fond of beginning their speeches
with the phrase, "My fellow Americans." However, in recent decades, and
especially since George W. Bush seized the White House, the super-rich have
created a "parallel world" almost totally divorced from their fellow citizens.
U.S.-based millionaires - Who can say where they really live? - account for $30
trillion in assets, almost three times the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
The number of U.S. billionaires has grown from 13 in 1985 to over 1,000, today.
Meanwhile, the number of people living at half the poverty level is at a
32-year high. There is "Richistan," and then there's the rest of us "fellow
Americans."

by BAR
executive editor Glen Ford

The American judicial system is not the place to
seek Black liberation or redress, but it can serve to put our grievances on the
record. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a corporate rag if there ever
was one, has for many years defamed, libeled and maliciously harmed former
Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, their nemesis in the campaign to prove
that Black voters are moving to the Right - a universal objective among
corporate media. The newspaper's point person in this assault is another Black
woman, editor Cynthia Tucker, a pet of her bosses and one mean pit bull.
McKinney's suit targets Tucker's and her corporation's crimes against truth,
but also illuminates the general offensive against Black self-determination.
It's gonna be a long war.

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret
Kimberley

Corrupted Black politicians have collaborated in the
disassembly and scattering of their own constituents' neighborhoods, and the
handover to corporations of public spaces and scarce urban amenities. Junior
partners in huge scams, this misleadership class buys into every phony promise
of "development" - projects that exile and price out the original inhabitants
in favor of Wall Street firms, sports teams and upscale new residents. This is
the real face of corporate welfare - theft on a massive scale. The public
treasury has been converted into a cash and real estate spigot for the rich,
while the rest of us are washed down the gutter.

by Kevin Alexander Gray

The Democratic field of presidential candidates are
all attempting to make the right noises in South Carolina, which is effectively
the "Black primary" in the race. But that's all it is: noise. While Republicans
kiss up to one of the most racist white electorates in the country (and that's
saying a lot), Democrats make symbolic gestures that do not address the core
issues of race-based poverty, redlining, horrific education for Black children,
and mass incarceration. Barack Obama is no better than the others in the "top
tier" - maybe worse, because he pretends to be "one of us" while "providing cover for those who blame the victims
or prod the victims to blame themselves." Hillary Clinton gets over with Black
voters on the ridiculous canard that her husband was "the first Black
president." The "Black primary" is shaping up as a sham.

by BAR
contributing editor Jeanette M. Pollard

The Virginia Tech massacre of three months ago
remains the subject of task force investigations. But none appear to be examining
the role that race played in fertilizing the killing grounds. Two women of
color, educators, recognized that something very wrong was going on in the mind
of the shooter, Cho Seung Hui. They were ignored. The first two killings, a
prelude to the larger carnage, seem to have been treated by campus police as a
case of a crazy Black student killing his white love interest and himself - and
dismissed as Thoughts on Virginia Tech and Racism evidence of a general threat to the campus. Finally,
when the full horror had unfolded, the Korean American community felt compelled
to apologize as a group for the crimes of one, disturbed member, lest they be
collectively blamed. Sound familiar?

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford

Posing as a modern-day
Joshua, a successor to the Civil Rights "Moses generation," Barack Obama
actually represents the opposite. The senator is thoroughly corporate, with no
interest in blowing any bugles to break down walls of oppression. To white
people, Obama positions himself as a singular solution to the nuisance of Black
people's irksome complaints about ongoing racism. His appeal to Blacks is
rooted in a lingering Jim Crow mentality that uncritically celebrates the
prospect of Black faces in high places. Obama's largely corporate-funded
campaign coffers testify to his real allegiances.