[Peace-discuss] Kerry - Nader - Cosby

[Chuck Minne]

Getting Nader out of the way should be Kerry's first goal 

May 24, 2004 
BY NEIL STEINBERG SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement
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Opening shot 


If John Kerry can't find a way to get Ralph Nader to drop out of the race, then how can he be president? I'm not saying that he can't be elected -- perhaps the 1 or 2 percent of Americans who will vote for Nader, disappointed that the Tooth Fairy isn't on the ballot, won't swing the election to the Republicans this time. What I mean is, how can we expect Kerry to combat world terror, knock Sharon's and Arafat's heads together, outfox a united Europe, put out fires in South America, slap sense into African dictators, thwart a bellicose China, shore up a faltering economy and perform the thousand other tough tasks of being president, if he can't persuade one slightly daft, 70-year-old consumer advocate to do what is best for the country, best for everything he believes in and, ultimately, best for whatever shred of reputation Ralph Nader retains? 
But no. Kerry didn't even ask Nader to drop out when they met last week. Maybe that is part of the plan. Maybe Kerry is finessing Nader -- who certainly was cooing like a dove after the meeting, giddy at being paid attention to by a real adult. Perhaps he'll be dancing like a monkey on a string by the convention. I sure hope so. Kerry has a big job to do, and if he wants to knock off George W. in November, he should practice by crushing Ralph Nader first. 
One that got away 


I always thought of Bill Cosby as just an avuncular, low-key comedian in a fancy sweater. But he said some very sharp, very candid remarks last week at a celebration in Philadelphia marking the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education. So sharp that most newspapers and media outlets ignored them. But the Washington Post didn't, and I wanted to pass some of his words along to you, both for the sentiments he conveyed and as a reminder that black leaders do actually say these things. It's we, the media, apparently, who tend to miss them: 
"Ladies and gentlemen,'' said Cosby, who holds a doctorate in education. "The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids -- $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.' ... They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' . . . And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. . . . Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. . . . You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.'' 
Cosby's comments, the Post said, were met with "astonishment, laughter and applause'' by the audience. While the "leaders" sharing the spotlight with Cosby -- Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and NAACP legal defense fund head Theodore Shaw -- rose "stone-faced'' to back-pedal and apologize. The sort of kneejerk denial that makes Cosby's words so valuable. 


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