by BAR Managing Editor Bruce Dixon
More than two-thirds of the Congressional Black Caucus signed on as members of the Out of Iraq Caucus, but when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic corporate cohorts turned up the fire, all but four melted into the mass of hypocrisy that joined the U.S. war machine while pretending to resist it. The heroes are mostly heroines: Reps. Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Diane Watson, and the only man in the bunch, John Lewis. The collapse of the CBC is not a morality play, but the story of a power play. The lesson: the CBC will not stand up to Power, and is a politically spent force as presently constituted. The same must be said of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, only four of whose non-Black members stuck by their guns.
Hassan El-Tayyab, of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, discusses securing congressional support for a cease fire between Israel and Hamas.
Kareem Crayton is senior director for voting and representation at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Zulu Sharod is Chairman of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party which is based in New Jersey.
Ali Abunimah is Director of electronicantifada.net, an independent online news publication and educational resource focusing on Palestine.
In this week's segment we hear about the state of Black politics in Newark and across the country.
