11 APR 05: FACE THE FACTS
Georgia NAACP official Ed DuBose offered more of an explanation Sunday night about the planned boycott of Riverfest. He says civil rights groups do NOT want to make race an issue in the Kenneth Walker case. If that's true, those groups need to find some white people to stand around at their news conferences.
Ed DuBose told WCGT's "Out of Order" instead of focusing on race, a planned picket of Riverfest will "put a human face" on the Kenneth Walker case. So maybe there's a way for Riverfest artists to avoid the boycott - by selling Walker portraits.
(The civil rights groups have a big advantage in "putting a human face" on this case. We knew what Kenneth Walker looked like for 11 months, before David Glisson came out of hiding and appeared before the grand jury.)
Ed DuBose explains the goal of the Riverfest boycott is to get a second grand jury convened in the Kenneth Walker case, then get former Deputy David Glisson before "a jury of his peers." Now this truly would be interesting - since no other sheriff's departments have hired Glisson since he was fired 14 months ago.
For some reason, "Out of Order" host Nate Sanderson wanted to talk with Ed DuBose about topics other than Riverfest and Kenneth Walker. One of them was whether African-American candidates should run for office as Republicans, and not Democrats. C'mon now - don't tell me Calvin Smyre is thinking about switching parties....
Ed DuBose said the question of whether Democrats take African-American voters for granted is a topic "at every coffee table." It is?! To watch TV over the last week, I thought everyone was debating who the next Pope should be.
Ed DuBose admitted the country could use more "black Republicans" along the lines of former Secretary of State Colin Powell. DuBose explained the retired general would attract people from all viewpoints. I don't THINK DuBose meant he wanted all black Republicans to leave high office....
It seemed clear to me Ed DuBose wasn't prepared for some of Nate Sanderson's questions. For instance, when the host asked about the "Minuteman Project" patrolling the U.S.-Mexican border, DuBose didn't know what it was! This man has some work to do before he's ready for "Meet the Press."
(If Ed DuBose can't identify the Minuteman Project, this reveals several things. He doesn't watch network evening newscasts. He must not read a lot of blogs. And - well, I didn't really expect him to listen to conservative talk radio stations. The local shows have picked on him a lot.)
By the way, how bright is the future for "Out of Order" on TV-16? When a half-hour phone-in talk show gets only three calls, and two of them are from the same person.... [True!]
THE BIG BLOG QUESTION closed Sunday night, with most of you in favor of the change to daylight time. In fact, 62 percent like it while 25 percent hate it and 13 percent are indifferent. You opponents are invited to move to your choice of Arizona, Hawaii or western Indiana....
We still have time to examine other weekend short subjects:
+ Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to a series of deadly bombings across the South, including one at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics which killed Albany's Alice Hawthorne. Rudolph, you were not so bright - now get locked up out of sight....
+ The Oxbow Meadows science complex unveiled a new swamp -- complete with an alligator named Willie to live in it. This sounds to me like a way to make the new Infantry Museum nearby as realistic as possible.
(Columbus Boy Scout Ross Tew developed the swamp for Willie the alligator, but faced a challenge because it's on the site of an old landfill. For instance, who knows how many steamy pictures of old girlfriends were buried there by Fort Benning soldiers.)
+ A team from Northside High School won the Georgia state rifle championship. Hopefully the rest of the student body realizes they're not allowed to celebrate this by bringing weapons onto school grounds.
(Northside's rifle team won the school its first state title, in its third year of existence. By comparison, my 76-year-old high school NEVER has won a Kansas state team title -- in anything! My old debate coach sure tried to change that, by bringing it up almost every year....)
+ A group from Fort Benning won a "dream field" contest for renovations to Gowdy Field. They did it by using 6,400 gallons of Wisk detergent - so from now on when batters hit a home run on this field, they'll take a "ring around the collar."
+ The New York Mets beat Atlanta 6-1 - as Atlanta for some unknown reason wore fire-engine red uniforms. If there's a sponsorship deal coming with Budweiser....
+ Tiger Woods beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff, to win his fourth Masters golf title in Augusta. At least DiMarco can say he's won more Buick Challenges at Callaway Gardens than Woods. In fact, it appears he'll be able to say that to his grave.
+ Instant Message to the new Club V.I.P. on Midtown Drive: You're kidding with that flyer, right? The one saying your club is "for the grown and sexy"? Do you realize how few people in Columbus really fit both those standards?
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