Very few things make my skin crawl more than listening to someone totally misrepresent the famous “I Have a Dream” speech the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave Aug. 28, 1963.

It’s clear that far too many people haven’t bothered to actually read or listen to the speech. Instead, folks — especially those who likely would have branded King a communist, a socialist, a Marxist or a racist hellbent on destroying America — love to tout Dr. King’s “content of character” line in order to push back against a variety of issues, especially affirmative action.

“My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.”
When those words were spoken on July 25, 1974, they were eloquently put by an outstanding woman and fellow Texan, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. She was a member of the House Judiciary Committee investigating the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

The beauty of having your own radio or TV show or column is that you have a wonderful opportunity to address many of the significant issues of the day by using the enormous platform that has been bestowed upon you.
That’s why when I read — and then heard — the stunning, childish and venomous discussion Dr. Laura Schlessinger had with one of her callers, it was clear to me that the firebrand radio talk show host blew a perfect shot at using a discussion around race, which could have really helped a lot of people.

Whether we are discussing the motives of the tea party, the legal ramifications of the new Arizona immigration law, the impact of the Supreme Court deciding a reverse discrimination case involving firefighters, or the speech of a Department of Agriculture official at a NAACP convention, it is an issue that permeates so many of our discussions, whether we want to admit it or not.

While Glenn Beck continues to pathetically assert that he is a modern-day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his listeners and viewers are the rightful heirs to the civil rights movement he spearheaded, it may catch some by surprise that tea party leaders claim their movement is about advancing the civil rights of Americans.

This Fourth of July weekend in New Orleans will be packed with nearly 300,000 people, as the National Education Association holds its annual convention. Folks from across the country will descend on the Crescent City for three days of partying and concerts.

This Fourth of July weekend New Orleans will be packed with nearly 300,000 people, as the National Education Association holds its annual convention, and folks from across the country descend on the Crescent City for three days of partying and concerts featuring Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and Earth, Wind & Fire, all headliners at the 16th annual Essence Music Festival.

Millions of Americans are currently enthralled with the performance of our USA soccer team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as evidenced by the eruption of cheers when Landon Donovan scored a goal in the final minutes of the match against Algeria.

If anyone has heard a corny joke, it likely was an Aggie joke. Launched against those who hold Texas A&M University near and dear, likely by fans of our archrival, the University of Texas, some are pretty funny, such as this one: “Did you hear about the Aggie that drove his pickup into the lake? His dog drowned while he tried to get the tailgate down.”

A lot of the attention this week was focused on the female Senate and gubernatorial candidates winning primaries in California, Arkansas, Nevada and South Carolina. Their wins were huge as they fought back salacious rumors of affairs and charges of buying an election, fended off a huge battle against big labor, and rode the tea party express to victory.

Instead of sticking to their principals when it came to their politics, both decided to play crass politics by switching parties in order to make it easier to be re-elected. Well, we see how well that worked out for them.

As I listened to White House and BP officials describe the frantic search for an answer to cap the massive oil leak one mile below the Gulf Coast, all I could think about was the movie, “Apollo 13.”

The nomination of Elena Kagan to fill the seat of a retiring Supreme Court justice has caused quite a stir on the political left and right, as operatives on both sides try to ascertain exactly where she stands on a variety of issues.

If a white Republican U.S. president appointed a white male as his next Supreme Court justice, and upon the inspection of his record, it was discovered that nearly all of the 32 full-time tenured or tenured track faculty he hired were white men, this would dominate the headlines.

Pure and simple, today’s politician is more concerned with winning a campaign. When Sen. Joe Lieberman lost to Ned Lamont in Connecticut’s Senate Democratic primary in 2008, he ran as an independent in the general election and was re-elected.

He’s tired of having meetings with members of Congress. Tired of trying to talk with the Obama administration and the president himself. Tired of hearing people say that they sympathize with his effort to fight the federal government’s widespread and longtime discrimination against the nation’s black farmers.

An angry bunch of Americans have taken to the streets to protest government spending and the direction of the nation. And judging by the massive media coverage, it’s as if we have been invaded by a foreign entity, marching on state capitols and Washington, D.C., ready to lead a coup d’etat against our elected officials.

After reading the hundreds of e-mails, Facebook comments and Tweets in response to my denunciation of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s decision to honor Confederates for their involvement in the Civil War — which was based on the desire to continue slavery — the one consistent thing that supporters of the proclamation offer up as a defense is that these individuals were fighting for what they believed in and defending their homeland.

“If it would just go away.” That could be the new motto of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, a plea for the constant drumbeat of stories related to years and years of sexual abuse against boys by priests.

On the day President Barack Obama signed the bill into law, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who often tout their ability to work across the aisle, said Republicans will no longer cooperate with Democrats because of the passage of health care.