Not So Lame Duck

After the results of the mid-term elections had been recorded, the 111th Congress seemed poised for a stalemate. Republicans were swaggering about, drunk on election results that saw them gain six seats in the Senate and control of the House of Representatives. Democrats, on the other hand, were licking their wounds; reeling from what President Barack Obama called a shellacking, and pointing fingers at each other.

Now that the 111th Congress has ended, one might wonder if, in some demented way, the rise of the Republicans will prove good for America. Power concentrated in the hands of a few is deadly. When those powerful few are intoxicated with arrogance and their own sense of self-importance it can be devastating. We need only look at the results of the 1994 mid-term elections when the Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, took over the House of Representatives then quickly acted with utter disregard for what was in the best interest of the country. Arrogance led Gingrich and company to assume that they could do as they wished, including shutting down the Federal Government. It backfired on them.

It appeared that the Democrats, after they took control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives in the 111th Congress, had not learned any lessons from the Gingrich years. Party leaders acted with impunity, ignoring the seeds of discontent being sowed throughout the country. Democrats argued among themselves, seeking not to lead, but rather to dictate through extremes. As a liberal, I am more than elated that we have a national health-care plan. I am also overjoyed with many of the other legislative initiatives enacted in the last two years. Yet I am also disappointed that others were not completed – a revamping and strengthening of No Child Left Behind, for example – and that some of those initiatives that I cherish were set in motion through arrogance and a disregard for debate.

Democratic control of the 111th Congress reminded me of a conversation I had with a white postal worker in New York City after the 1993 election of Rudolph Giuliani as mayor.

"It's our time," the white postal worker proclaimed. "Now we're in control."

His statement carried the threat of revenge, a sense that it was time for white New York to lash back at the liberal agenda New York City had experienced. Enough with that liberal agenda and its leader, David N. Dinkins, the city's first black mayor, the postal worker argued as we continued to talk. White men had regained their rightful place in New York and they were ready to serve up retribution, he appeared to be saying. In his voice, and in the actions of many, there was a sense of entitlement and self-importance, a sense that now he and his put upon friends could finally put the city's minority population back in its place.

The comments that followed the 2010 mid-term elections carried the same threat. After two years of refusing to work with the current administration in an effort to win back Congress and make Obama a one term president, Republicans swore to continue their march, blocking all legislative action until they got what they wanted – a continuation of the tax cut for the wealthy. They did, indeed, receive what they sought. But at what price?

After the initial bellowing and grandstanding, several Republicans finally stood up and did the right things. The results were not totally to my liking, just as I am sure they were not to yours. But for the first time in many years, Washington seemed to at least be moving toward solutions to the problems that plague us as a nation.

Of course, this is not to absolve the far right of the Republican Party. They were obstructionists for the last two years, and they will seek to be obstructionists for the next two. Nor is it meant to coddle the far left of the Democratic Party, for many of them acted with the same arrogance as Gingrich's GOP majority.

At least, for a few days, we can bask in the sense of accomplishment that permeated Washington for the last few weeks. In doing so, we cannot forget that the afterglow of the lame-duck session of the 111th Congress was created by cross-aisle communication. And with a new year approaching, we should pray that leveler heads will prevail and more legislators will have the gumption to stand up, reach out to their counterparts and say, "Let's fix what we has been broken for too long."

An Open Letter to the Rev. Jesse Jackson

Dear Rev. Jesse Jackson:

I recently read in the Detroit News that you described urban farming in Detroit as a “cute, but foolish” idea. Instead of urban farming, you said, Detroit should add a battery plant. The city, you said, should obtain more industry because the Motor City should not become Moo-City. Also, you said, the city should allow urban squatting so people can take over vacant land and develop it. After all, you said, we are not urging farming in Baghdad.

Indeed.

Mr. Jackson, putting farms on uninhabited land is better than allowing weeds and garbage to grow from it. Growing food on urban farms could provide low-income residents with easier access to fresh produce and fruit. And if those farms use new technology, such as aeroponics, then a new green industry that uses less land and water could be developed. That can lead to new jobs producing not only food, but developing the technology used in such farming. There can even be an educational component to urban farming. Students could be exposed to other areas of agriculture, from creating plant hybrids to new food packaging methods to better storage facilities. Who knows, a Detroit high school student exposed to the possibilities of soy beans might decide to pursue a career that leads to finding other uses for soy. Simply, urban farming could be about more than just growing corn and selling it. It could be about developing technology so that food could be grown in the heart of Baghdad or even in drought stricken Ethiopia.

Adding a battery plant could further encumber the city to the auto industry, which has cyclical declines that often pull down the rest of the region’s economy. Part of the reason Detroit is in such financial trouble today is because of its dependency on the auto industry and the insulated nature of that industry. The city cannot abandon the auto industry, which is too much a part of its history and future, but Detroit must look to non auto-related ways to bring in revenue during an economic downturn. New farm technology could be developed and built in Detroit then shipped elsewhere.

In addition, urban areas have continuously been too dependent on manufacturing, particularly those enterprises that employ unskilled or low-skilled workers. We have seen manufacturing jobs dry up year after year, decade after decade, leaving most of urban America pot marked with abandoned factories and warehouses. Detroit doesn't need more of the same. The city is in desperate shape, so why not take a chance on something different? Why not break the mold and experiment with ideas that are not within the usual context of urban thinking? According to you, instead of using empty land for farming, the city should give it away to squatters for development. What a marvelous idea. Give away city land with the hope that someone will someday build on it. Such a plan could lead to land speculation and greater corruption in a city already reeling from corruption.

If you believe so much in the development potential of Detroit then how about you and some of your rich friends – the ones that received Coca-Cola franchises after your protests several decades ago – build a bottling plant in the city or some other business. And if you decide to do so, Mr. Jackson, please do it on land purchased from the city, not obtained through squatting. People like you have been squatting over Detroit for far too long, dropping all the wrong things on the city.

Time for Backbone and Vision

Are there any Democrats with backbone in this country, any willing to present a vision for America and then fight vigorously to realize it? In 2008 it seemed Barack Obama was such a Democrat, but since taking office he has appeared to have turned against his own vision as if it was a nightmare. Obama the presidential candidate painted a picture of an America where discourse would be common and people would seek to work for the better of society, refusing to give in to the pettiness of partisan politics and racial bigotry.

It hasn’t happened, and not simply because Republicans have fought as hard as hell to keep it from happening. It hasn’t occurred because Obama and his band of professional politicians have not had the gumption to make it happen. Yes, the GOP and its Tea Party minions have worked hard to distort the issues and distract the voters. They have taken attack politics and fear mongering to a new level. But too often the problems Democrats face have more to do with their ineptitude than with the opposition’s strengths. Democrats are too quick to step back from their convictions for fear of offending voters in the midterm elections. They are campaigning not to lose, rather than fighting to win.

For example, President Obama rightfully stood before a group of Muslims and non-Muslims in the White House and proclaimed that the people seeking to build an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan have the right to do so. He cited the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of religion. The next day, after being criticized for being out of touch with what most Americans feel, the President stepped back, saying that while he said Muslims had a right to worship, he did not necessarily say they had the right to build in Lower Manhattan. The President should have stuck by his earlier statement. More important, he should have been more emphatic in his support when the subject came up again.

Instead, his vacillation has led to such people as Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader and a Democrat facing a difficult re-election fight in Nevada, to attack the building of the Lower Manhattan mosque. “The First Amendment protects freedom of religion,” The New York Times quoted Jim Manley, a top adviser to Reid, as saying on Monday. “Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else.”

Reid and other Democrats reacted because Republican House and Senate candidates have challenged them on what is a singularly local issue. What is built in Lower Manhattan is a New York City, not a state or Federal issue. If Republicans and Democrats want to debate whether mosque should be built in the United States then let’s bring in the battles in Tennessee and California, where Muslims are facing opposition though they are not trying to build near “hallowed” ground. The battle is not about hallowed ground. It is about stirring up anti-Islamic fervor.

“Ground zero is hallowed ground to Americans,” said Elliott Maynard, a Republican running for Congress in Virginia. “Do you think the Muslims would allow a Jewish temple or Christian church to be built in Mecca?”

Newt Gingrich was no better. “Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington,” Gingrich said on Monday. “We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There’s no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center.”

The Democrats have accused the Republicans of exploiting the Sept. 11 terror attacks, telling voters that the GOP is more concerned about the symbolism of a mosque in Lower Manhattan that it is about the people injured at ground zero. Several weeks ago, many of the same Republicans who are standing up for the memory of those injured or killed in the Trade Center attacks opposed a new medical program that would have helped emergency workers and others who were exposed to hazardous materials at ground zero.

Yet, that Democratic message isn’t strong enough. The message that needs to be sent to voters during this off-season election cycle is that the Republicans, if they win the House or Senate, will seek to attack everything – from freedom of religion to who should elect U.S. Senators to who should receive U.S. citizenship. And that would create an even more frightening nightmare than anything from our outside enemies.

Restocking the Market

Reading and watching the news lately has brought two things to mind. One is a saying in education: For every step forward that a student takes, he takes two steps back once he is removed from the moment. The other is from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (Abrams v United States, 1919) in which he set the stage for what later became known as the "marketplace of ideas," a belief that truth or good policies always win out over lies or bad policies.

In November 2008 we took a major step forward, electing the first black President of the United States. This historic moment turned the world's eyes toward America in a positive way. The election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th president seemed to announce that the ideas and principles the Founding Fathers set down more than two centuries ago had finally come true. America, it seemed, had fulfilled her promise.

But as we head into the midterm elections this year, we are slipping backward, falling behind even where we were some 21 months ago. The Tea Party has risen from the muck of the political arena, giving face, voice and comfort to so much that is wrong with America. Racist pandering and fear mongering has again replaced ideas and truth. We are seeing the nightmarish side of democracy, where fairness is trumped by political expediency.

Just look at several incidents across the country. Ron Ramsey, the Republican lieutenant governor trying to be governor of Tennessee, recently told an audience that Islam may be a cult. According to Ramsey, he wonders whether Islam "is actually a religion or is it a nationality, way of life or cult, whatever you want to call it."

In Gainesville, FL, the Dove World Outreach Center, a non-denominational church, has announced that the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks will be “International Burn a Koran Day.” The church’s pastor, Terry Jones, who is also the author of a book titled "Islam is of the Devil," said, “We feel, as Christians, one of our jobs is to warn,” according to an article by The Religion News Service. Jones added that the goal of these and other protests are to give Muslims an opportunity to convert, the news service reported.

Jones and his church are not alone. Ramsey's quote came on the same day as a protest against the building of a mosque outside the town of Murfreesboro, TN. A similar battle rages in New York City where Muslims hope to build a mosque in lower Manhattan, not that far from the former World Trade Center site.

It doesn't stop there. Conservative operatives disguised as journalist distributed misinformation about Shirley Sherrod, a black USDA official, in hopes of discrediting the NAACP and embarrassing the White House. The Tea Party in Iowa likened Obama to Hitler, while some of its followers have engaged in racially-motivated personal attacks on political leaders.

Amazingly, the hate mongers cite religion and the Founding Fathers when making their arguments. The idea that Christians, who protest over anything that they see as an attack on their religion, would even discuss burning the holy book of another religion is beyond the pale. Yet, it is what we have become -- a people blinded by hatred and poisoned by venom.

Each day we take another step back while the marketplace is flooded with tainted products. We can only hope that Holmes was right -- truth and good policies will eventually win out.

Learning From Charter Schools

The debate continues to rage as if the answers are all in black or white. Yet, when it comes to the role of charter schools in the educational process, the answers are not simple. It is seldom that people can look at the issue without becoming polemic, either offering anti-union screeds or making it sound as if charter schools are the educational version of a Faustian bargain.

Tod Roberson's piece in the Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-robberson_11edi.State.Edition1.bdf5ee.html) is an example of someone possibly giving charter schools more credence than deserved. In fact, Roberson’s opinion article is probably more interesting for what it does not say than for what it does say.

While charter schools have increased performance in some districts, they are not the panacea that advocates suggest. Nor are they the scourge that detractors portray. What Roberson lists as good charter school methods are simple "best practices" in pedagogy: Classroom management, discipline, incentives, group study, high standards and jigsawing.

The differences with charter and non-charter schools often have more to do with the flexibility that charters enjoy. For example, most charter schools get to pick students, as opposed to neighborhood schools in which no student in the area can be denied a seat. Charter schools often can send problem students packing for failure to comply with the rules of decorum. Most neighborhood schools cannot. Charter schools also do not have to adhere to the union contract, and some do not have to take the same standardized tests as neighborhood schools. While principals often micromanage even down to the "flow of the day" in neighborhood schools, charters often give teachers greater freedom to adjust instruction to fit student needs. Allowing teachers to adjust curriculum or instruction to fit student needs as opposed to a timetable is simply good educational practice. In addition, most public schools have gone through so many convoluted adjustments of the curriculum that it is hard for teachers to keep track. (The recent push by conservatives in Texas on the Social Studies curriculum is a good example.)

The problem is not necessarily the union, though many locals do not help in developing charter schools. Let us be frank: The role of the teachers union, like any other union, is to protect its members, not to promote the industry in which members work. Journalists often go to public unions for comment, but the fire, police, teacher and hospital unions are not there to improve those departments or agencies, but rather to keep the government from abusing members. (And unions have always withheld support from politicians who do not do labor’s biddings.) So why do we expect the teachers union to be any different than the United Auto Workers or the International Brotherhood of Teamsters?

In addition, people who often write about charter school successes fail to document charter school failures. Many charter schools have failed for the same reasons that neighborhood schools continue to struggle – poor management. There is often a lack of a concrete analysis or a detailed examination of charter school curriculums. In Roberson’s piece, for instance, it would have been nice if he had spent less time criticizing the union and more time explaining what he called "the general concept of a Harlem Children's Zone approach." Also, he could have explained in more detail what SLANT stands for and the reasons for it. (I believe it is from the KIPP schools and it is used to teach students how to listen.) Good teaching methods are not relegated to charter schools and are not a non-union versus union issue. In NYC, the teacher's union has started a charter school, though results are still out, and in Detroit teachers plan to open a principal-less school in September.

So if charter schools are not the do all and be all, then how do we improve the education system? For one, we must seek to remove as many politicians from the mix as possible. Whenever politicians are involved the emphasis is on everything but education. In Detroit where the school board is fighting an emergency financial manager for system control the last few months have been spent talking about a school board president who cannot write a coherent sentence. (That now former board president was also accused of fondling himself during meetings with the female superintendent.) In New York City some time ago, the animosity between one former schools chancellor and members of the board of education escalated to the point that the chancellor referred to a board member as a “political whore.” And in Texas, as I said earlier, conservatives voted to make the Social Studies curriculum kinder and gentler to conservative causes.

Once we remove the politicians then we must allow educators greater flexibility inside schools. That means that principals and other administrators cannot continue to micromanage each classroom. We must also recognize that while SLANT may work in KIPP, for example, it may not work in another school. But any school that believes a SLANT-like program can help students should be allowed to try. At the same time, if a school believes that the Teachers College writing program better suits students then that school should be allowed to add the program. And we must look at school start and end times. Recent studies have shown that teenagers perform better when schools start later, while elementary school students perform better when schools start earlier in the day. Yet changing school start and end times, as well as the length of the school year, would be met with immediate rejection from most adults who depend on the schools for childcare.

But the first thing we must do is tamp down the rhetoric and allow for pedagogical ideas to be floated, experimented with and discarded when unsuccessful. And we need to remember that the key to a good education is critical thinking and problem solving skills, not test taking.

The Foolishness of Wooing

The featured performance in the center ring of this year's National Basketball Association three-ring, free-agent circus is done. We are now left with lesser performances in the other rings, large clowns squeezing into small cars for bigger money. LeBron James' decision Thursday to move from the shores of Lake Erie to the shores of Biscayne Bay brought an end to the most enticingly hyped free agent summer in recent history. Not since 2000 -- when Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan became unencumbered players -- has the off season stirred so much excitement and specualtion.

While Hill and McGrady (free agents again this year) joined the Orlando Magic in hopes of building an NBA dynasty, Duncan chose to return to San Antonio. Hill barely played in Orlando because of injuries, and McGrady was left to carry the team alone. A decade later, James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided to pull off what the class of 2000 could not. They have joined forces, hoping to find in each other what they couldn't find in lesser teammates.

Things should work out better in Miami. James, Wade and Bosh are healthy, three young stars seeking to be just average Joes. Team players. The question becomes when will they win their first championship together? Who will be the master of this three-headed animal? Unlike other situations in which high scoring, dominant players have joined forces, Miami's triumvirate has unselfish players. James and Bosh apparently had tired of carrying the load for their respective teams, of being leaders charged with making their teammates better. So they joined Wade's team in hopes that he will make them champions. Wade, the ring master, now has what he wanted -- a strong supporting cast. Pat Riley also has what he wanted. One must now wonder how long will it be before Riley leaves the front office and sends his coach, Erik Spoelstra, packing.

The Heat have already changed the roster on their Web site. So have the Cleveland Cavaliers. But questions still remain. Who will be paid the most in Miami -- Wade, James or Bosh? Will Udonis Haslem return and for how little? Cleveland, which lost the biggest prize of the summer, only has a few free agents. But can the team that couldn't win with James win without him? Will Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas come back? Does Cleveland want them back?

Meanwhile, the New York Knicks and the other teams that chucked big contracts in an effort to grab James have left themselves with little with which to compete. Two years of basketball down the drain. At least the free-agency hype has ended, though it will now be replaced by idiocy.

Just look at Minnesota, Milwaukee, Memphis, Atlanta, Toronto and the Knicks. Minnesota has offered Darko Milicic about $6 million a year. Milwaukee has promised roughly the same amount to Drew Gooden. Memphis offered Rudy Gay a maximum contract, and Atlanta did the same with Joe Johnson. Toronto gave Amir Johnson about $6 million a year. And the Knicks, who spent years getting out from under bad contracts, signed Amare Stoudemire to a 5-year, nearly $100 million deal.

Basketball power has shifted. New York, once the preeminent location, is a joke to many in the league. Los Angeles and Miami have the star power now. Hollywood East and Hollywood West. While many, most notably NBA commissioner David Stern, see this week's developments as good for NBA coffers and television ratings, teams in smaller markets have to wonder. Can Minnesota, Detroit, Memphis, Oaklahoma City or Portland counteract the glamour of LA and South Beach?

I doubt it. Luckily for most NBA teams, not every player wants to be a sidekick, to ride someone else's coattails. Some want to lead their own teams. Something James and Bosh couldn't or wouldn't do.

Joy in Spartanville

Tom Izzo is staying as basketball coach at Michigan State University. Another Final Four in the making? Maybe another national championship? The universe is as it should be.

The Importance of Being Unctuous

We should be happy we have such political leaders as Joe L. Barton of Texas. Who else would be willing to take on President Barack Obama or would have the foresight to apologize to Tony Hayward, the embattled and one hopes soon to be unemployed chief executive of BP? No one, except Barton, the oil industries $1.4 million man in the U.S. House of Representatives. Barton's comments during Thursday’s hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee make one proud to be a Democrat.

“I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday (Wednesday),” Barton said, referring to Obama’s announcement of a $20 billion liability fund that would be used for clean up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as for restitution to those who have been financially harmed by the spill. “I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case, a $20 billion shakedown.”

That nearly everyone agrees that BP should pay for the clean up and make restitution is lost on Barton. His desire to attack the President has overwhelmed his sense of fair play and justice. Even Republicans assailed his comments, with Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio threatening to remove Barton from the committee if he did not retract his statement.

Barton, who the Center for Responsive Politics says received more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests in 2009, eventually retracted his apology to BP, but it was too late. He had already provided a distraction from what should have been the issue of the day -- Hayward's explanation of what went wrong and what BP is doing to correct the problem.

Instead, politics became the story. Alabama Republican Parker Griffith decided to equate the spill to smoking. Griffith said that "if we're going to talk about the environment" then he would "like to remind the committee that the greatest environmental disaster in America has been cigarettes."

Rep. John Sullivan, the Oklahoma Republican who received $65,250 in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests according to the center, said the Obama administration is "focused on the politics of putting the oil and gas industry out of business."

Meanwhile, Mike Ross, an Arkansas Democrat, noted that 112,000 gallons of oil had flowed into the Gulf of Mexico in just the first few hours of Thursday's committee hearing. (New government estimates say about 60,000 barrels, or 2.5 million gallons, of oil are spewing into the Gulf each day.)

As Congressional Republicans and Democrats attack each other over the spill rather than join together to address the tragedy, Gulf coast fishermen, hoteliers and, yes, even oil workers on other off-shore rigs are losing their livelihoods. In addition, we still don't know why the Deepwater Horizon blew up, how to stop this leak or what will be the long term impact.

But at least we know that such leaders as Joe L. Barton are willing to apologize to corporate polluters so America won't lose face among the world's capitalists and multinational corporations.

Just Say "No" Tom Izzo

Every year, as head coaches bite the dust in the National Basketball Association, Tom Izzo's name pops up at the top of most general managers short lists. Each year, like many Michigan State University fans, I brush off the overtures, reminding my friends and others of Izzo's loyalty to MSU, his love of his players and his ties to the state of Michigan.

Not this year. Not when one of the teams said to be courting the Master of the Green and White is the Cleveland Cavaliers. The reasons are many fold, but the two biggest reasons for my fear are LeBron and James. Add to that combo the relationship that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has with the state of Michigan and Michigan State University and the situation becomes more troublesome.

Gilbert, who also owns Quicken Loans and is an MSU alumni, is willing to spend big bucks to lure talent to his team. While Izzo has said that he wants to win another national title before leaving MSU, working for Gilbert and with James might be too tempting. Izzo is currently one of the better coaches in the college game. Granted he is no John Wooden, but Izzo has made six NCAA final fours during his 15 years at Michigan State, including the last two. With Izzo still in charge, MSU would have to be considered a top contender for the NCAA title this year. Without Izzo... that's another question.

Published reports so far say that Gilbert has offered Izzo a $30 million, five-year deal. Izzo has spoken with Gilbert, signaling that the talks are serious. About 10 years ago, Izzo narrowly rejected an offer to coach the Atlanta Hawks. One can understand his reluctance to take on that team. But how can one who loves to coach turn away from coaching possibly one of the best players in pro basketball?

It's a tough decision and may depend on whether Izzo hears six simple words: LeBron James is staying in Cleveland.

Life's Tapestry

Death has a way of bringing back memories, some fond, others not so fond. In the last few weeks those memories have flooded me with greater force. It started with Ernie Harwell’s death on May 4, when nostalgia sent me spinning back to the 1960s when my grandfather and I would sit on the porch in Detroit listening to Harwell announce Tiger games.

It didn’t stop there. Since 1995, Memorial Day weekend has been extremely tough. Not only because of those we honor for sacrificing their lives in wars, but because that was when my mother died. The recent deaths of Lena Horne (May 9); Gary Coleman (May 28); Dennis Hopper (May 29), and Rue McClanahan (June 3) added to those memories. How often did those four entertain us, turning separate days, weeks, months and years into a rich tapestry of life? Do you remember how Dennis Hopper stole “True Romance” with his Sicilians are black screed? How often did you laugh and mumble “slut” when Blanche made some sexually outrageous comment on “Golden Girls?” Did every photo of Lena Horne stir up “Stormy Weather” in your mind?

“What’choo talkin ’bout, Willis?” Coleman would say, his cheeks puffed for extra emphasis.

The year is not half over yet, and the deaths already seem overwhelming. Dorothy Height (April 20); Benjamin Hooks (April 15); Dixie Carter (April 10); John Forsythe (April 1); Robert Culp (March 24); Fess Parker (March 18); Merlin Olsen (March 11); Pernell Roberts (Jan. 24); Teddy Pendergrass (Jan. 13), and Art Linkletter (May 26). There have been many others of note, but each of these reminds me of a different part of my life, a different thread. Parker as Daniel Boone when I was a little boy enraptured with cowboy movies. Culp in “I Spy” as I was trying to learn what it meant to be cool. Forsythe on “Charlie’s Angels” when I thought I was cool. And Pendergrass at basement parties where teenage bodies sought in the dance what could not be found so easily in the world.

Indeed, death does have a way of reminding us of so much.

The Eyes of Men

Wednesday night should have been Detroit's shining moment, a chance to bask in the afterglow of accomplishment, something the city and its residents have not been able to do in quite some time. Instead, it was a night of disbelief and anger, a night filled with threats to a woman and her children.

By now everyone -- baseball fans and nonfans alike -- have heard about the botched call in Wednesday's Tigers-Indians game at Comerica Park in Detroit. Pitcher Armando Galarraga, the Tigers and Detroit stood on the edge of history. Galarraga was one out from throwing the 21st perfect game in baseball history and the first ever by a Tiger. But Jim Joyce, a good umpire by most accounts, missed the call at first base, signaling the runner safe and snatching perfection from a career 20-18 pitcher who had recently been called up from the minors.

Detroit could have exploded, which seemed quite likely when Tiger players and coaches rushed Joyce after the game. In the umpire's clubhouse, Joyce realized his error and he apologized. Then he made the lonely drive down Interstate 75 to his home in Toledo, Ohio, where his wife and children had already fielded threats. On Thursday, baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced that the call would stand. Meanwhile, Detroit, the Tigers and the umpire had a love fest, a group hug, the shining moment that had escaped the night before. Galarraga took the lineup card to home plate. A misty-eyed Joyce accepted it. Each man gave the other a pat on the back. After Thursday's game, Joyce, Tiger manager Jim Leyland and others choked up as they talked about Wednesday's debacle and Thursday's redemption. The eyes of men, which a day earlier seemed to betray, welled with tears. A cleansing.

The disbelief and hatred spewed in the Wednesday night air had dissipated in the warmth of a Thursday afternoon sun. All seemed right again. The world had been set back upon its axis. And the performances of Galarraga and Joyce were recorded in our hearts, not the record books.

Everybody Needs a Reggie

"I didn't do right by you." Those words were uttered by Gerald M. Boyd during our last conversation of substance. Gerald wasn't managing editor of The New York Times yet, but he had ascended to the masthead. It was at a dinner at Gerald's East Side apartment, where he urged Michel Marriott to return to The Times from Newsweek. I was at The Daily News, having gone there after Marty Gottlieb offered me a job as an Assistant City Editor, a position I knew I would not get at The Times. Marty had returned to The Times and Gerald suggested that I do the same. "You can write your own ticket," he said.

I didn't have the heart to tell him he was wrong. I had upset too many people there and I knew it. Nonetheless, I agreed to talk to the paper. One of the first things I was told during that talk was that I could not expect to return anywhere near my Daily News level. I said thank you and left.

Gerald and I had subsequent conversations after my Times visit, mostly at journalism conventions. None of those talks were of great significance. We joked around, teased each other and drank scotch. Chivas seemed to be his favorite then. Occasionally things would get out of hand. Gerald had this way of taking gentle swipes at you, the mischief in him. Sometimes those swipes were hard and he had to be reminded to back off. Such an occasion occured when we were having drinks with other black journalists at a convention. Gerald made a comment and I took offense. I think Gerald realized what he had done. He quickly announced to everyone that I was the conscience of the Metro desk when he was its editor.

I thought about those incidents as I read Gerald's posthumously published memoir, "My Times in Black and White: Race and Power at the New York Times" (Lawrence Hill Books, $26.95). The book brought back a flood of memories, some good, others not so good. The more I read the more I thought about the lament I gave him when he did something I did not like or when I wanted him to know someone had his back, ready to step up and take the heat for him.

"Gerald, you're gonna mess around and lose your Reggie," I would say. "If you don't know what that means, just look at the Yankees and what happened to them after Steinbrenner lost his Reggie. Everybody needs a Reggie."

Gerald would smile, shake his head and walk away.

I also thought about the first time I met Jayson Blair, who had not yet been found out. I was having drinks with a friend at a bar around the corner from the old Times building.

"Man everytime I come in here I see you," my friend told Jayson.

"Then maybe you come in here too much," Jayson replied.

"Look man, I'm off. You're supposed to be at work."

"You're lucky I'm not at The Times anymore," I interrupted. "I'd have my foot so far up your ass you'd be tasting shoe polish for a month."

Jayson stared at me. My friend laughed.

"He would," my friend said. "He would."

But most of all, I thought about how a proud, black journalist was left hanging in the wind by several of his colleagues and people he thought were his friends. As I finished "My Times in Black and White," I thought, "Brother, you could've used your Reggie."

Wooing Makes Fools of Us All

It was enough to make Mars cringe, to throw his gold chain and medallion in the Hudson River.

Cheers reverberating off the ceiling and rafters of New York City bars as the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers battled in a decisive game six in the National Basketball Association Eastern Conference semi-finals. But it wasn’t transplanted Bostonians celebrating every Celtic basket or rebound, and every LeBron James turnover or missed shot. It was die-hard New Yorkers: Fans of the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Giants, Jets, Rangers and Islanders.

They stood in bars around New York City Thursday night, the wishful suitors, praying that the one they want to woo the most gets pulverized, embarrassed, humiliated so that they can offer comfort.

“They hurt you, King James, those big bad Celtics? Then come here and we’ll love you, come to our Garden and we’ll embrace you. Forget that we prayed for you to lose, for you to become a loser. We think you’re more apt to join our losing team if you’re a loser. So lose James, lose. We want you and we don’t care if you have to be hurt in order for you to love us.”

Even Spike Lee, the ultimate Knicks fan whose movie character Mars once insulted a black man by calling him a Celtics lover, was cheering for Boston to win, hoping that a wounded James, not a victorious James, would be more likely to come to the hapless New York Knicks.

Mars is throwing up right now.

When Death Is a Reminder

They were lazy days, those summers in Detroit, sitting with Big Daddy on the porch on Humphrey, his pipe, filled with Prince Albert tabacco, dangling between his lips. Big Daddy was my grandfather, a large man, more than six feet, four inches tall. Even when he sat on the porch swing he looked larger than life, his brawny right hand grasping the bowl of his pipe as white smoke haloed his head. Prince Albert had a wonderful smell, soft and fruity. Whenever I remember Big Daddy, I remember that tobacco, the way its aroma permeated the area around him. It was as if he and the Prince were one, sharing the same aura.

At the time, I was a young child, looking up into the pecan-colored face of my mother's father. Sitting next to Big Daddy was my favorite way to spend summer days. He wouldn't say much, except to occasionally warn me when Big Mama, my grandmother, was stalking around the house, looking for someone to blame for treading through her flower bed or leaving popsicle sticks in the grass. In that way he was my protector. Big Daddy, a son of the late 19th Century, died decades ago, and I still miss him, particularly on those days when a death reminds me of the times he and I spent together.

That happened Wednesday when I read the news that Ernie Harwell, the longtime radio voice of the Detroit Tigers, died the night before. Ernie Harwell was a big part of those summer days with Big Daddy. Harwell's voice carried us through those moments on the porch swing, when the Tigers were battling through 1968 and we were on Humphrey. I am not alone in such feelings. Harwell's voice carried many a person through the season, first introducing them to baseball, then solidifying their love of the game.

For me, he will always be the silky voice that came through my grandfather's black transistor radio as we sat in the shade of the awning, on a porch on Humphrey, on the west side of Detroit.

Calling All Educators

They are the kinds of things that should send every educator screaming through their state capitols whacking every politician with a pointer or a yardstick. Day after day, school boards in this country take action on something -- anything, it doesn't matter to board members -- that has little to do with what is in the best interest of educating children. Whether it is right-wing or left-wing ideologues trying to put their stamps on the curriculum or politicians fighting for control of the out-of-control, the kids and education keep getting lost.

Two examples:

In Texas, that state's school board voted to change the social studies curriculum because some members felt the current one portrayed conservatives in too negative a light. The board members want a curriculum "stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light," according to an article in The New York Times.

In Detroit, a judge recently upheld an injunction blocking that city's emergency financial manager, Robert Bobb, from initiating a downsizing that would have closed 29 schools by the summer as part of a new academic plan. The Detroit Public School board, led by a president who cannot write a coherent sentence, is battling Bobb over control of the system. Bobb, the board says, does not have the authority to create an academic plan. The governor of Michigan appointed Bobb in the hope that he could fix Detroit's troubled school system, which faces major financial and educational issues.

The Detroit school board may be right in battling Bobb, who may have overstepped his bounds by acting unilateral of the board. But while the board and Bobb battle over who can create an academic plan, the students slide further into the educational abyss.

The same with Texas. While politicians impose their philosophies on the curriculum, students fall further and further behind. Textbooks should present the facts and educators should be allowed to teach students the skills they need to engage in critical thinking and problem solving. Rewriting a textbook to make conservatives, and in particular Ronald Reagan, look better does not accomplish those goals.

Children who suffer a poor academic year or have one bad teacher have a chance to rebound later in their academic careers. But children who have several poor academic years or two bad teachers in a row are far less likely to rebound.

That is lost on the politicians. They fight over things that have little to do with learning and teaching. What make matters worse is the teachers and true educators often sit on the sidelines.

Texas and Detroit are not the only examples. Years ago in New York City, the then schools chancellor, Joe Fernandez, battled a fractured school board over efforts to strengthen the curriculum. The battle became so intense that Fernandez called one of the board members a "political whore."

Seems too many of those are on school boards around the country.

Teens, Sex and the Destruction of America

This country is in a world of trouble. The signs are all around us. And little of it has to do with threats from the outside. It's internal. Everyday. Everywhere.

Consider this:

Mississsippi: A young lesbian woman seeks permission to wear a tuxedo and take her companion to the high school prom. The school district denies her requests, then cancels the prom after the American Civil Liberties Union in Mississippi sues on behalf of the young woman. The American Humanist Association, whose mission is to promote "good without God," offers to donate $20,000 to finance an alternative prom. The Mississippi ACLU rejects the offer because Southern Baptist might be offended by a donation from an atheist group.

Virgina: A man walks around his home nude and is seen from the sidewalk by passers-by. He is accused of indecent exposure because prosecutors said he intended to be seen. The man is convicted in district court, but wins on appeal. He racked up thousands of dollars in legal bills.

Wisconsin: Teachers are warned by a prosecutor that if they discuss the proper use of contraceptives during sex education classes they face "possible criminal liability," although a new state law allows such lessons.

America: Among teenagers who aged out of foster care, only half were employed by their mid-20s; six in 10 men had been convicted of a crime; three in four women with children of their own were receiving some form of public assistance, and only 6 in 100 former foster care kids had completed a community college degree.

It makes you wonder.

Who is educating the educators?

I wrote this some time ago on my Facebook page, and I decided to repost it here. I was struck by the story of the Detroit school board president who can't write a sentence.

It is amazing the lengths to which people will go in protecting or justifying the inadequacies of those they admire. I could not help but think that as I read about Otis Mathis, the president of the Detroit Public Schools Board.

I recognize that one does not have to be the most learned person in a room to be the most successful. I even realize that my reaction is visceral, based solely on the limited information I read in the March 4, 2010, Detroit News. However, as a former newspaper reporter and editor, and a current adult basic education teacher, I cannot help but view Mr. Mathis’s poor writing skills as a travesty unleashed on the children of Detroit.

According to the Detroit News article, Mr. Mathis is currently leading a fight to wrest control of the Detroit Public Schools system from Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager. Mr. Bobb was appointed because of numerous problems within DPS, which runs one of the lowest achieving, big city school districts in the nation.

Now, Mr. Mathis might be the nicest guy in the world. Reading the Detroit News article, one does get the impression that he is a well-liked and influential member of the board and community, someone many people find effective. Mr. Mathis readily admits his literary limitations, and he does give the impression that he recognizes the issue, which is indeed admirable – just not admirable enough. DPS is already reeling from reports of its lowest scores ever on national standardized tests; an inability to get text books into classes in a timely manner; a general erosion of standards, and a decimation of its student body.

Does it also have to suffer this?

“If you saw Sunday's Free Press that shown Robert Bobb the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, move Mark Twain to Boynton which have three times the number seats then students and was one of the reason's he gave for closing school to many empty seats.”

I think, and pray, not.

Interestingly, few people seem bothered that the man who is seeking control of the school system lacks many of the skills demanded of the city’s students. Apparently some people sight Mr. Mathis’ likeableness and professional success as a sign of his importance to city students. Seeing such a successful person as Mr. Mathis, with all of his educational limitations, they say, gives students hope for their own futures.

I beg to differ.

“Your lack of skills is not a hindrance to success if you know the right people, can schmooze and maintain calm among buffoonery,” is not the message Detroit’s educators should be sending to students.

At what point will the people rise up and shout out: “Enough!”

Mr. Mathis might be right in his battle for control of DPS. He might even preface every discussion with students by urging them to steer clear of the educational pitfalls he suffered, pitfalls that led to his posting a 1.8 grade point average in high school (it was once reported as 0.98) and taking 15 years to get his degree from Wayne State University. (He finally got his degree when Wayne State dropped the requirement that all graduates pass an English proficiency test.)

But even if he does, it is not enough. Too many students in this nation are moved from grade to grade without the necessary skills. They are led to believe that professionalism and diligence are unnecessary. And each time Mr. Mathis sends out a poorly edited email, he further erodes what little bit of confidence people may have in the city’s schools system.

Requiem for Farmer Floyd

When I was growing up in Detroit, there was a little boy on our block whom we called Farmer Floyd because he liked to wear overalls. It was our little joke: The urban farmer.

A few years ago, when visiting Detroit and driving by my former high school, I noticed that one of the two other schools that shared the complex with Central had been razed. I wondered: What if Central took that land and turned it into a greenhouse, allowing its science students to experiment with growing flowers, vegetables and other plants in different environments? Or maybe creating hybrids? Depending on what was grown, the school could market the products to help pay for books, computers and other classroom equipment. And Farmer Floyd wouldn't be a joke from the 1960s.

My friends thought I had consumed way too many shots of Jameson Irish Whiskey.

That's because at the time they, nor I, had heard of John Hantz, a former executive at American Express Financial Services. Hantz is trying to take over 40 acres at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit to create an urban farm. Under Hantz's plan, the farm would not resemble the agriculutral behemoths of the Midwest, although he does someday invision a 1,000 acre tract. Instead, it would be a technological wonder, experimenting with such growing techniques as areoponics -- growing things in air.

According to an April 6 article by Laura Berman in The Detroit News, Hantz would start by growing a variety of lettuce and apples, and possibly Christmas trees. Using areoponics, he would be able to grow crops year round. To some people, particularly those who view argiculture as counter to the urban experience, Hantz's plan might sound absurd. But is it really?

Michigan has a wonderful agricultural tradition. The state is in the top three -- behind Washington and New York -- in growing apples. Bing cherries are a major crop. MSU experimented with Christmas trees in hopes of developing one with a longer shelf life after being cut. So why not experiment with growing food products on vacant land in Detroit? It would be a much nicer sight than empty, weed filled lots.

Working with other cities in the area with large swaths of vacant land, as well as the states numerous universities, Detroit could create the agricultural equivalent of the research triangle. An entire generation of miniority students could be turned on to agricultural research. The city could even go further and develop early-stage programs introducing students to animal husbandry and veterinarian medicine.

Doing so would mean taking "vocational" training to a new level. It also might make Farmer Floyd proud.