Thursday, June 22, 2017

Democracy in Black, A Look into Eddie S. Glaude's Jr.'s Book

Democracy in Black was a book I happened to read early this year just in time for the inauguration of 45th US President.

A book recommended for all ages for the Los Angeles Times, bestselling author Eddie S. Glaude Jr. continues the discussion on the promise of equality in America. He capitalized on history, memoir's, call to action as well the still existing gap on the issue. One would think that perhaps the election of Former President Barack Obama has ended or answered the subdivide. Unfortunately as the author wrote racial habits are a particular kind of social habit which I truly agree. I remember on my first tour of Europe backpacking starting from the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France and the UK. When your young and travelling, the best gift about it is that experience of the different cultures, languages, lifestyles and way of life. Hence, in the process I sort of develop how I would later perceive someone from the countries I had been. I remember staying in a bread and breakfast inn in Tuscany which was owned and managed by a well educated affluent French Ethiopian couple. Then my recollection of a scene in Charing Cross on  street gang fighting right next to the hotel I was staying. In all those times looking at Caucasian Europeans to live normal lives with not much high and low memories during my trip.  

Today living in US metropolitan diverse cities, you get to experience the different paths and cultures when your a tourist to a particular city. There are the permanent communities like Chinatown for example as well as you would hear that a particular community resides in a certain demographic location. For example, the Latinos are concentrated this part of the city, the Chinese are on this part and so. It's not to state the racial subdivide it's just how were accustomed that people with racial origins have their own identified communities where a lot of the original cultures etc.., are concentrated.  

President Obama when elected was very promising to the African Americans as well the people of colors hope for equality. However, as President as much as he tried to open the discussions on equality he was only able to do as much as after all he represented all the cultures as President.
This was the disconnect as people thought of him as the black progressive  antidote but with the position of leader of the free world there was just too much risk if he indeed focus on pursuing inequalities faced by people of color.

Post Martin Luther King, the civil rights and now post Obama, the race inequality might have gain traction on getting the problem More discussed but the problem still persist. It is a discussion not just for the American Africans but also for any minority and people of color as after all we all live in this great country, we all work, and we all contribute to economy and society.

Kudos to Democracy in Black

Alex Esguerra
https://www.usedbookworld.com



Sunday, June 11, 2017

If The President does it, that means it's not illegal, is it still true even today


The Conviction of RICHARD NIXON by James Reston, Jr. writes the foreword, "If the President does it, that means it's not illegal," as quoted was the brazen words uttered by Richard Nixon in his famous interview with David Frost in 1977.

Nixon continued and argued that the President is immune. As the book describes about eavesdropping, cover up, and bend government agencies like the CIA and the FBI for his own political purpose. National Security and "Executive Privilege" hence when exposed were "mistakes". With such words and predicament came about "Obstruction of Justice", the case for impeachment which led the way for Nixon to resign as it was inevitable.

Reading through this book trying to get a well deserved sleep gave a lot of comparison to the new book, 
The Case For Impeachment by Allan J. Lichtman . Professor Allan J. Lichtman, who has correctly forecasted thirty years of presidential outcomes, makes the case for impeaching the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

Excerpt of the book annotation, "The Case for Impeachment also offers a fascinating look at presidential impeachments throughout American history, including the often-overlooked story of Andrew Johnson’s impeachment, details about Richard Nixon’s resignation, and Bill Clinton’s hearings. Lichtman shows how Trump exhibits many of the flaws (and more) that have doomed past presidents. As the Nixon Administration dismissed the reporting of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as “character assassination” and “a vicious abuse of the journalistic process,” Trump has attacked the “dishonest media,” claiming, “the press should be ashamed of themselves.”
Historians, legal scholars, and politicians alike agree: we are in politically uncharted waters—the durability of our institutions is being undermined and the public’s confidence in them is eroding, threatening American democracy itself."

With the recent testimony of the Former FBI Director James Comey about being asked repeatedly on the Russian interference investigations in  the 2016 elections, and the case of holding on to his position simply gives a more stronger case of Obstruction than the last impeachment case of Bill Clinton on an affair which never got passed. 
The months and circumstances to follow next will be part of the American history books as it unfolds. From the time this new book by Lichtman was release in April 2017, it hasn't yet gotten that much sales from a bookseller standpoint yet however this book is soon to be such an enormous bestseller that the publisher Dey Street Books will probably continually be making reprints.
For now, this is a new discussion between supporters of then failed candidate Hillary Clinton and the current 45th President Donald Trump.