Jack & Jill Politics

Ok, so sue me for the pun — I just finished watching Dancing with the Stars. Knock em out, Laila Ali!

Someone who shouldn’t be fox trotting with Fox News is the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. Somebody please hip a sister as to why this is even still under debate? It’s the equivalent of having a hard-left paper or magazine — say the Guardian in London or Mother Jones list profiles and debates of Republican candidates. Or for you inside the Beltway bruisers, if the Washington Times hosted a series of articles and interviews with only Democratic candidates. No one will come out smelling like a rose here.

IT’S A SETUP. The only way this makes sense is if someone is getting paid like Harold Ford from Merrill Lynch and ahem, Fox News. At least that’s a reason I can understand.

I’ll quote Matt Stoller from MyDD:

One member of the CBC could stop this debate with a phone call, or even one from a staffer. That member is Barack Obama. He is probably the most important member of the CBC and a key figure in this whole episode. One large dollar donor recounted a story to me that he was at an event with Obama, and asked him about the Fox News Nevada debate right after it was canceled. Obama said that he probably wouldn’t have gone anyway. This is a credible story; Obama had already frozen out Fox News. Obama could gain more credibility with new progressive activists that he’s serious about a new type of politics with some quiet behind-the-scenes maneuvering here.

Why hasn’t the NAACP or the National Urban League spoken out about this. At least one black organization has:

“No network that calls Black churches a cult, implies that Senator Barack Obama is a terrorist, and uses the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King’s funeral to call Black leaders ‘racist’ should be given a stamp of approval by the CBC Institute,” said James Rucker, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org, a 70,000 member citizens’ lobby dedicated to advocating for the interests of Black Americans “Validating Fox as a legitimate source of news hurts Black America.”

Call Barack Obama at (866) 675-2008 and ask him to use his influence as a CBC Member to stop the madness. His website, if you prefer email is www.BarackObama.com. This is seriously a no-brainer that can demonstrate the power of the CBC to bring a hostile, partisan, anti-black network to its knees begging for mercy. Obama’s done it. Now it can be the CBC’s turn.

There is a choice, after all. It’s not too late. From The American Prospect:

“Both CNN and Fox have presented the Institute with two great proposals and at some point in the coming days we will be making an announcement,” she said Candice Tolliver, a consultant working with the CBC Institute on the debates, adding that the Institute’s plans are not final.