Cornell Belcher, speaking on television to Anderson Cooper and Ari Fleischer, accused Herman Cain of racism and bigotry for saying that the explanation for black Americans voting in such a lopsided way for Democrats is that they’ve been “brainwashed.” (96% of blacks are believed to have voted for Barack Obama in 2008; 88% of blacks are believed to have voted for John Kerry in 2004.)

Belcher said among other things:

… it’s really a teachable moment. You know, if I came on your show, Anderson, and I said, all Jewish people are brainwashed, I probably wouldn’t be invited back to CNN and I assure you the condemnation would be swift and it’d be powerful and be strong.

What Herman Cain said was a racist, bigoted statement and it should treated like a racist and bigoted person who makes those racist and bigoted statements.

Belcher seemed to think the comparison with making the same remark about Jewish voters was his trump card, ending debate, and indeed neither Cooper nor Fleischer were willing to answer him on that. Well, I am. [Read more →]

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From section: 2012 CAMPAIGN, Commentary, Politics by Sean Curnyn

Newt Gingrich is correct, of-course, when he says of the GOP presidential contest: “There shouldn’t be a seventh grade recess argument. Because the media loves it. Every time we fight, we’re not hurting Obama.” He desires a campaign such as he himself is waging, where the candidates speak of their own strengths and solutions, and let the voters do the comparing and the picking. Ironically, if all of the other candidates switched to his style of campaigning, he himself would be the big loser, because it’s this positive approach that distinguishes him most dramatically from his rivals. Nevertheless, he’s right: the Republicans are handing the media just what they want by focusing on catty conflicts over this and that instead of just laying out what they each believe and why they are better than Obama. [Read more →]

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From section: 2012 CAMPAIGN, Commentary, Politics by Sean Curnyn

What a difference five or six days make. In a certain sense, at least. I visited the Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue in New York City last Saturday afternoon, with two companions, to view the exhibition of Bob Dylan’s “Asia Series,” which was described in a press release as “a visual journal of his travels in Japan, China, Vietnam and Korea.” I’m not an expert on the visual arts, nor someone who invests any significant amount of either passion or money into that area, but as I wrote when the exhibition was announced, I thought (as a long-time dedicated fan of Bob Dylan) that it would be real nice to have this opportunity to see some of his much-talked-about artwork up close and personal, the way it’s meant to be seen. Pictures on the internet or in a book only go so far. A painting is what it is based not only on the pure image but on qualities like texture and size which you can only appreciate when you’re right in front of it (I’m no expert but I’ve been in enough museums to at least know that much).

So we went to see Bob Dylan’s paintings last Saturday afternoon. I’ve been meaning to write a little on it ever since, but I didn’t really have much of significance to say; other than that, yes it really was nice to see some of his artwork up close and personal. So I was putting it off for an idle moment which wasn’t in a hurry to arrive.

In the last couple of days, however, a huge brou-ha-ha has developed over this exhibition, as explained in this Daily Mail story and countless others. The gist of it is that quite a few of these paintings are not of unique scenes that Mr. Dylan encountered during his concert tours in Asia, but are in fact based on old and classic photographs taken by some quite well-known photographers. (And not loosely-based either.) It seems perhaps to have set off the firestorm which previous allegations of plagiarism against Bob were merely kindling. But that remains to be seen. Certainly, it has to be deeply embarrassing for the gallery which characterized the work as something which it simply is not; i.e., a personal travelogue by Bob Dylan. [Read more →]

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From section: Dylanosophy by Sean Curnyn

I’ve written several times previously on the poetry of Samuel Menashe. He passed away last month. The magazine First Things published many of his poems in recent years, and it’s in fact there that I first encountered his work. Today a tribute to Samuel Menashe by Yours Truly is published on that magazine’s website.

…

By the way, I do highly recommend his book, New and Selected Poems, either in the Library of America editionor the updated British version from Bloodaxe Books.

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From section: Commentary, Faith by Sean Curnyn

Via RealClearPolitics, Janeane Garofalo said this while talking to Keith Olbermann (and what an erudite and open-minded duo they make): [Read more →]

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From section: 2012 CAMPAIGN by Sean Curnyn

L’shanah tovah to all Jewish readers, and indeed to all of us. May 5772 be a good and blessed year indeed.

(I think it’s going to take some work on our end.)

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From section: Shorts by Sean Curnyn

Herman Cain’s column the other day making the case for his “999″ tax reform plan is worth reading if you’re one of those taking a closer look at his candidacy. It is radical, of-course, but I don’t know who can possibly say that something radical isn’t needed to overcome the deep-seated economic doldrums which have set in here in America (and on the current trajectory are only going to get much worse). The two most significant things about his plan that strike me are (1) it does seem to be seriously pro-growth and (2) it would include everyone in the country in the same simple tax system, so breaking down the tug of war that currently exists. “What? You mean low income people would now pay federal taxes?!” Indeed, that’s his plan: but they already do, in the form of payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare) and the corporate and other taxes that get passed down to them in everything they purchase. Cain’s plan would wipe out payroll taxes, and roll everything into a single flat 9% rate for individuals. And of-course a big advantage of any flat tax system is that it disarms the politicians, preventing them from using tax code fine-tuning to manipulate people, rewarding friends and punishing enemies. But read his own case for the plan rather than my characterizations. [Read more →]

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From section: 2012 CAMPAIGN, Commentary, Politics by Sean Curnyn

Former Utah governor and Ambassador-to-China under President Obama, Jon Huntsman, may not qualify to participate in the next GOP debate based on his recent poll numbers. (A threshold of one percent is demanded.) As reported here:

The CNN/ORC poll released Monday found Huntsman trailing unknown candidates in the race, including “none/no one,” a choice that received 4 percent support; “someone else” (3 percent) and “no opinion” (2 percent).

Just to reiterate, Jon Huntsman has fallen behind “none/no one,” “someone else,” and “no opinion.”

It was on August 12th, after the debate in Ames, Iowa, that it was observed in this space of Jon Huntsman: In the current political climate he represents antimatter. [Read more →]

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From section: 2012 CAMPAIGN, Shorts by Sean Curnyn

Back in June of this year, President Barack Obama said of the war in Libya that “there’s no risks of additional escalation.” I responded in this space: [Read more →]

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From section: Commentary, News by Sean Curnyn

Although it arguably would only be fair to finally have a president who “looks like America,” I’ve never come near to getting on the bandwagon to draft Chris Christie. The Republican Governor of New Jersey seems to be doing a fine job in that traditionally-Democrat-dominated state, but he’s only been in office 21 months, and he can’t possibly be finished with his work there. If he’s as talented and effective as his fans think, reforming New Jersey is good and holy work for him to complete, surely.

Then there are the concerns that he is not really very conservative when looked at from the perspective of national issues. This morning Ed Morrissey of Hot Air has a post titled, “Should conservatives by clamoring for a Christie candidacy?” that touches on some of these problems. [Read more →]

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From section: 2012 CAMPAIGN, Commentary, Politics by Sean Curnyn