Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Sept. 22, 2005, edition 1 / Page 5
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5A OPINIONS/tCie CisTlutte $o«t Thursday, September 22, 2005 D.G. Martin Helms What Democrats can learn from Helms’ memoirs Almost 30 years ago I was eating breakfast in a Charlotte hotel with a group of lawyers, all Democrats. One of our breakfast group suddenly whispered that Senator Jesse Helms had entered the dining room. I tried to look up to get a ^ance, without gawking. But the senator was walking directly towards our table. We stood He shook our hands and told us that he thought he was supposed to join us for breakfast. He was mistaken, of course, and I never learned how he woimd up at our table. It was a funny situation. I suppose none of us knew how to say, “This is the last group you would want to eat with” without seeming totally rude. So, he sat down at our table. The conversa tion was strained. We tried weather and sports. It was awkward for everybody but Helms was too polite to leave without finishing breakfast with us. I finally confessed that I was “on the other side” politically But, I said, my son, who was then 8 or 9 years old, had told me that he agreed with Senator Helms that we should not give up the Panama Canal. As the breakfast broke up. Helms gave me his card on which he had written a short mes sage to my son, thanking him for his support and promising to work to keep the canal. I acknowledge that I admire that ability to find per^nal connections even with political enemies, as he did that day with me at break fast. When I learned that Senator Helms had written a memoir, “Here’s Where I Stand,” I was determined to read it to see what I could learn fi*om him about how to win political contests. Others can review and criticize “Here’s Where I Stand” for some of its unbelievable claims, such as its assertion that Helms never supported segregation. I will leave for another time a discussion of Helms’ descrip tion of his “conversion” that led to his support for large amounts of American dollars to support the war against AIDS in Afiica, except to share Helms’ own explanation: ‘1 may have been late in seeing this need, but now that I have seen it, I feel committed to working as hard as I can to bring as many resources as possible to the.resolution of the problem.” What can Helms’ political opponents learn firom his book? Here are a few things. 1. Throw away the speeches that are full of facts. Instead, do what Helms says he did in Asheville at the first big speech in his first Senate campaign: Reach for the heart. “Suddenly it came to me. Do not talk to those people in Asheville about economics and give them a lot of facts and statistics. Thlk fix)m the heart. TfeU them that we need for America to have a spiritual rebirth.” Listen to one of John Edwards’ “T\vo Americas” speeches and you might think he’s i*ead Helms’ playbook. 2. Know the difference between principles and preferences. “.... [T]o be successful in politics and remain true to yorrr principles is to know the distinction between your principles and your preferences. On your principles, you should never yield; you should be prepared to be defeated. Nobody likes to be defeated, but you should let everybody know in the most articulate and thoughtful and civil way you can. .. that in certain matters that you define as matters of principle you will not biodge, you cannot yield, you will not compromise.” 3. Learn the rules. ‘T knew the value of amendments and how to keep things fiom being cau^t up in committees. I knew when and how to make the call for a voice vote so Senators would have to attach their name to the issues they supported or choose not to support. I knew how to introduce substitute bills and how to recruit cosigners.” 4. Know the value of helping your constituents. “Whatever these folks in my office did, they did with skill and courtesy In the process they developed a reputation as people who cared. They werfe, therefore, one of the best staffs in the Capitol for constituent services” I am going to share these lessons with some of my favorite Democratic politicians, including one who received that spe cial Panama Canal message fix)m Helms so many years ago. D.G. MARTIN is the host of UNC-TV’s "North Carolina BookwatchC which airs on Sundays at 5pm. Connect with Send letters to The Charlotte P(^, P.O. Box 30144 Charlotte, NC 28230 or e-mail editoriaKSthechariottepost. com. We edit for grammar, clarity and space where necessary. Include your name and daytime phone number. Marian Wright Edelman Who was left in Katrina’s wake? The Children’s Defense Fund’s logo illustrated by 7-year-old Maria Cote is a drawing of a bri^t sun shining on a small boat with a tiny sail adrift on a very wide sea. Above the drawing, in Maria’s handwriting, is the ancient traditional fisherman’s prayer ‘Dear Lord, be good to me. The sea is so wide and my boat is so small,” These words have a poignant and tragic reso nance today with so many American children, adults, and families adrift and in need. Across the Gulf Coast region, Hurricane Katrina left waves of devastation so wide and deep it is hard for any of us to bear but especially already fi'agile children and families So many questions have risen about what should have been done differently in the days leading up to the huiricane and just after the storm struck. In New Orleans, particularly, where so much of the most dramatic suffering happened after the hurricane, there is no question about two of the major causes behind the city’s tragedy The chronic quiet twin tsunamis of poverty and race that have been snufiSng out the lives and hopes of millions of American children were laid bare there. Many Americans were shocked that thousands of people trapped in New Orleans weren’t able to leave the city during the “manda tory evacuation” because they did not have cars, credit cards, or the money to find another way out of the city Who exactly was left behind? The television cameras have already shown us the plain truth: most of the residaits left behind were Black, many were poor, and many were families with children. Let’s look at the facts: One out of every three children in New Orleans lived in a house hold that didn’t own a vehicle, and nearly all of those children were Black, More than 98 percent of children in car-less households lived in minority households and 96 percent of them lived in Black households. Almost two out of five Black children in New Orleans lived in a household without a car compared to fewer than 4 per cent of White children. Not surprisingly, families who didn’t own vehicles were also more likely to be poor. More than half of all poor households and nearly 60 percent of poor Black households in New Orleans didn’t own a car. Without transportation of their own, these families had few choices t6 get out of New Orleans safely before the hurricane. In a city where almost two in five children lives in poverty, bus or train tickets would have been just as unaffordable fca* many fami lies as a car note or gas money So many of these children and families were forced to stay and try to ride out the storm as best they could. These were the people stranded on the roofs of their homes, on the exit ramps of high ways, or in the unspeakable conditions at the city’s “shelters of last resort.” And as we know, there wasn’t just one child left behind in New Orleans during the “mandatory evacuation,” or just a few, but thousands and thousands. The whole world was horrified by the images of aU of the des perate people left behind in the hurricane. But they are the same poor children and adults America has left behind for decades to weather social and economic storms - faceless and voiceless - without help and just treatment in our rich nation. Now that the veil of neglect and inequality has been tom off showing that the American empire and emperor have no clothes, it is time to act. Not to know is bad. Tb know and to do nothing is inexcusable. It is time to reset our nation’s moral and political compass. We must work together not only in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, but throughout the country to help working families hanging on the precariovis razor’s edge poverty creates. Crumbling schools, lack of health care, and loss of food stamps, after-school programs, and childcare are daily hardships for mUlLons of chil dren across the nation. We don’t want to send the thousands of dislocated people who deal with extreme hardships every day back to the same life that they had before the hurricane. They need decent paying jobs and job training. They need a safe, stable place to live. They need good schools to send their children to. They need quality childcare and after-school programs when they work. They need safe and healthy communities. This time when God has troiabled the waters, as our slave forebears sung, can and must become a time of hope and action to ensure access to opportunily for the 37 million poor Americans, including 13 million children. We must keep this story alive after the water recedes until the needs of our children and families are met. We must not forget the anguished faces when they no longer occupy the fix)nt pages of the newspapers. And we must say ov^ and over again now to our political leaders in Congress: stop the tax cuts for the rich and bud get cuts for poor children and families, Bennettsville,S.C., native MARIAN WRIGHT EDEIMAN is CEO and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. Government ineompetence By Randolph B. Muhammad SPECIAI. TO THE POST It is evident that the Bush administration lacks the appropriate level of leadership to govern. Bottom line up fix)nt (the BLUF), the Bush administration is dys functional. Death toll for 11 September 2001, approximately 2800; death toU as of 13 September 2005 in America’s war on terrorism precipitated by the hunt for weapons of mass destruction , Iraq and Afghanistan collectively approximately 2100 with number's rising, GKDD forbid; death toU as a result of diminishing gov ernment funds for infi'a-structure maintenance and the failure to heed scientific evidence for a potential hurricane and subsequent flood in America’s gulf states - still counting. How many more will have to die before Americans acknowledge that the Bush administi’ation is incom petent? Is it when each household suffers a personal loss in the name of disorganization, lies, and igno rance? The uncertain death toll of Americans due to the ineffectiveness of Bush’s administration, domestic and international, inclusive of both terms is uncon scionable and unacceptable. Government is charged to pi'otect and if nothing else mitigate potential and or probable harm to con stituents. In a country as grea,t as the United States of America this is not hard to do, American govern ment definitely has the material and human resources available to be effective and therefore com pliant to its charge. Tbday, national news is reporting that President Bush is accepting full responsibility for slow and inadequate government (Federal Emergency Management Agency), response to Hunicane Katrina. Surprisin^y this is newsworthy Why? As a former career/professional soldier, five leader reference points are indelibly etched in my mind and on my heart: • You can delegate authority, never responsibility deader is always I'esponsible for his or her charges actions, especially if appointed, hmed, or selected by he or she) • Lead by example • Be pt'esent immediately when those you lead are affected by an event; if unavailable, ensirre aU know you are aware and expeditiously enroute • Communicate effectively • When in charge, be in charge “Collateral damage” was a catch phrase a few year's ago. A catch phrase akin to acceptable. Is loss of life that you are charged to protect acceptable knowing you have the resouixes and power to mitigate? Emphatically, no! Is loss of home, culture, and liveli hood acceptable? Again, no! Political spin and rhetoric given over and over and over again, and yet people keep dying. How many will have to die? ^th this latest show of ineptness (incompetence, ineffectiveness, lack of ability, lack of skUl), our gov ernment’s response to the catastrophic hurricane Katrina has revealed to the world its lack of concern for its citizenry’s safety. These unfortunate American’s cau^t in a natural event, the majority, by circumstance happened to be the poorest and subse quently most helpless and vulnerable to such a cata strophe. And yes, majority by demographics in and arcund New Orleans, were Afiican-American. Is not citizen safety part of the democratic process? American government’s “messianic spirit” of espous ing democratic benefits to the world revealed its (America) hypocrisy to its own at such a crucial time (Katrina) - life versus death. Hard questions have been asked of the Bush administration after each horrific event noted in the openirrg of this dialogue/opinion, only to be answer'ed by passionate deflection (redirect, sidetrack, divert). Partisan and bi-partisan “ pundit rhetoric” comes to the forefront and we the public, constituents, Americana, irrespective of economic status and hue, become lost as to what is most important - we the peo ple! Bush’s administration has not shown that people are important or at least not as important as geo strategy and money, which ar'e the two most preva lent issues during this presidency. How many will have to die due to government incompetence before Americans speaking throu^ their respective elected representatives say - enou^ !Nh*. President; enou^! How many will have to die before our elected representatives in one of their con tinuous, monotonous (droning, repetitive) meetings demand accountability of the Bush administration. Yes, government accountability that is owed the pub lic by virtue of our often touted, rhetorically shouted democratic process. RANDOITH MUHAMMAD lives tn Charlotte.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 22, 2005, edition 1
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