Fifty years ago his weekend, the Berlin Wall was erected by the puppet Soviet state of East Germany. Unless you are over sixty five or are a history buff, you may not understand the tensions that existed then that had many observers feel we could be on the brink of war with the Soviet Union. Just a year later, that concern almost became a reality as then President John Kennedy faced down Russia's Premier Nikita Khrushchev over the Cuban missile crisis.
East German and Russian soldiers scurried throughout the night on August 14th and 15th of 1961 to erect a 25 mile long barbed wire fence, forcing some 2000 East Germans to flee their homes. In the months that followed, the "wire wall" became concrete with guards aloft who shot anyone trying to climb the wall and make their way into West Berlin. For the next 26 years, German citizens were not allowed to cross the wall. Americans could enter into East Berlin at 'Checkpoint Charlie," assuming they could establish some business purpose for crossing the border.
At the time, I was a politically naïve graduate student at Cambridge University in England. I had the privilege of being a member of the US Track Team that had run track meets throughout Europe. And strangely enough, my track career led to the first significant political crisis I ever faced. After competing for a month, we had a two-week break in the schedule, and the American team was going to vacation in various parts of Europe, then regroup in Bremerhaven, Germany, for our next official competition.
A promoter approached me to compete at a major track meet in East Berlin during the break. The promoter assured me that I would receive full expenses and appropriate prizes. There was no professional track in the 1960s, but the better runners could negotiate for their prize - a clock radio, a T.V. set, maybe a refrigerator, all of which could be cashed in after the meet. I had never been to East Germany, and I figured if the promoter was willing to cover the expenses of a struggling student runner, why not go for it.
I would have to cross the Berlin Wall and compete at the Olympic stadium in East Berlin. Now at this time, America did not recognize East Germany as a legitimate country. It was considered a Russian puppet state, and the U.S. maintained no diplomatic relations with them. Once you crossed to the other side of the wall, you were on your own.
On the afternoon of the track meet, I crossed the border from West Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie, along with the agent who had arranged for me to run in the meet. (He also served as my interpreter.) It was an evening meet, and I was scheduled to compete in the high hurdles against an East German who was world ranked. The East Germans had built up the competition as a grudge match between our two countries and made it a point of honor for their national pride.
Our team had been competing several times a week, but the break had given me a lengthy rest from the grind of competition. I felt extra spring in my legs and anticipated a good run and victory over the East German.
The 100-meter dash was about to begin when my agent brought over an American who wanted to talk to me. He did not fully identify himself, but he said he was with the American Embassy in West Germany. He told me in strong terms that it would be completely unacceptable for me to run the high-hurdles race that was about to start. As a member of the American team, he argued, I was a representative of my government. Since America did not recognize East Germany, I would be giving tacit recognition to a country that the United States felt was illegitimate. He implied that by competing I could start an international incident; if I had any patriotism, I would get my gear and head back across the border to West Berlin immediately.
What a dilemma for a twenty-one-year-old who was simply enjoying the opportunity to travel and had no real understanding of the international consequences supposedly at stake. I wanted to run, but I certainly was not going to go against the wishes of my country. So I gathered my warm-ups and had the interpreter tell the meet promoter that I was not going to run.
As the announcement was being made that I would not compete, I headed for the locker rooms, which were located at the other end of the stadium, diagonally across the infield. Thousands of people in the stadium stood up and whistled loudly, which was their way of booing. I learned later that the announcer had told the crowd the American was afraid to compete against the East German. I was angry and disappointed, but I had enough common sense to change my clothes and get back across the border.
Many years later, I would look back on this controversy as my first political act. I guess the possibility of starting an international incident certainly qualifies as a baptism in politics.
The following year, President Kennedy stood at the foot of the Berlin Wall, and told a crowd of 125,000 that "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words,Ich bin ein Berliner."" But the wall stayed in place for another 25 years. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan spoke in West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate and admonished; "Mr. Gorbachev take down that wall." The wall finally fell three years later.
Fifty years have gone by, and we no longer fear one super power. There are brush fires worldwide that have overwhelmed America's resources. Stephen Glain, a guest on my radio show this weekend, and author of the best seller, State vs Defense" articulately argues that America is in a whole new era of defining America's empire in the years to come. Let's hope we will continue to argue about destroying walls and not destroying countries in the future.
*****
"Sometimes I think it should be a rule of war that you have to see somebody up close and get to know him before you can shoot him." ~M*A*S*H, Colonel Potter
Peace and Justice
Jim Brown
Jim Brown's syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the South. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim's nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.
Republican hopeful John Kennedy's efforts to corral the upstate vote took a big hit yesterday when the Shreveport Times decided to endorse Senator Landrieu's re-election:
Sen. Mary Landrieu's experience, willingness to work across party lines and fierce loyalty to Louisiana makes her the best candidate in the heated U.S. Senate race against state Treasurer John Kennedy.
For 12 years, Landrieu has been building relationships and gaining experience. If elected to a third term, she will retain her spot on the all-important appropriations committee and expects to become chair of the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs - certainly critical with expected expansions at Fort Polk and - we hope - Barksdale.
Her relationships in the Senate have repeatedly included members of the other party. Her position on offshore drilling and voting against the economic bailout package put her at odds with other Democrats.
She has also taken action to reduce partisan rancor in the Senate by joining "every gang in Washington" - those bipartisan committees that have pushed pragmatic over partisan legislation on heated issues such as energy and judicial nominees.
While I was checking emails this afternoon, I received an email from the Kennedy campaign. (I'm not really a fan, I just wanna keep tabs on the Wanna Be.) Before I get into the spin Kennedy's people are putting out there, if y'all missed the debate, you can find out all y'all need to know about from Lamar. He put up a pretty concise explanation of the debate.
Now, for dat spin ... they sent out an email claiming that confused John Kennedy is the "most qualified candidate" to lead Louisiana through these "unprecedented economic crisis."
I think they forgot about the Great Depression. Did they miss American history that day?
Anyhow ... back to that email. Wanna Be's people claim Kennedy won the debate ... which is to be expected. But the email links to SIX times to the same blogpost.
The blogpost author is none other than conservative brown-noser Jeffrey Sadow. Just read the link, and you'll know all you need to know about him. 'Nuf said.
Now, for dat poll ... for the third straight poll, Senator Landrieu leads Kennedy by double digits, 53% to 43%. The key here is that Landrieu is still over the magic 50% marker.
Now, dat don't mean we can afford to be complacent. No ... we have to be vigilant, and get our people out to the polls. Drag a friend to the polls ... between now and Tuesday ... and then volunteer to help get out the vote on Election Day.
The final debate between Senator Landrieu and Republican hopeful John Kennedy is set for tonight at 7 PM Louisiana time. You can watch it on the following channels throughout the state:
WWL-TV in New Orleans
WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge
KSLA-TV in Shreveport
KLFY-TV in Lafayette
KNOE-TV in Monroe
KPLC-TV in Lake Charles
The question for tonight's debate is whether John Kennedy will constantly mention his love for John McCain, or will he run as far from McCain as he can? Tune in to find out!
Earlier this week, it came out that Louisiana GOP Chairman Roger Villere was considering censuring Louisiana Republicans that have endorsed Senator Mary Landrieu in her campaign against Republican John "Wanna Be" Kennedy.
Well, the Times-Picayune reported on Wednesday that Republican Congressman Rodney Alexander attended a fundraiser for Senator Landrieu that was held at former State Senator Randy Ewing's home.
Rodney even spoke(!) in support of Senator Landrieu at the event:
"I spoke for her and told the people there how we have worked closely together on projects for farmers."
So, Roger, what's the punishment you're gonna levy on Rodney?
On Wednesday, it came out that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), sensing that their incumbents in Kentucky and Georgia were in serious trouble, were pulling their ad buys in Louisiana after Tuesday.
I just wanna thank the NRSC for staying here in Louisiana. According to sources, the NRSC is buying a mere $500k ad buy, which is a maintenance ad buy. And it's only for the week, which means the average voter will only see the ad 6 times, which ain't enough to move them, usually.
They did release a poll that supposedly only shows Landrieu up by only 5 points, but they won't release the party affiliation breakdown, nor do they release the ethnic breakdown. So, until they do, I'm skeptical. If any of the national polling outfits want to chime in about now, that'd be awesome.
So, my fellow Democrats ... don't rest on your laurels ... this race truly ain't over yet. Leave it all on the field by going to volunteer for Mary and get out that vote!
Hey y'all, just wanted to stop by and tell y'all that the NRSC is pulling out of Louisiana and has apparently given up on Wanna Be.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has decided to pull its television advertising out of Louisiana, a decision that drastically reduces the party's chances at its lone takeover opportunity in this election cycle.
The ads, according to buy information obtained by The Fix, will end next Tuesday -- two weeks before the Nov. 4 election between Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) and state Treasurer John Kennedy (R).
NRSC communications director Rebecca Fisher offered no comment when asked about the move to pull down the ads.
The decision to stop advertising in the race against Landrieu reflects a recognition by the NRSC of the stark financial reality it faces in the fall campaign. The Republican committee has been consistently outraised by its Democratic counterpart and, as the political environment has worsened for the GOP in recent weeks, several Republican senators that appeared safe -- Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) to name two -- have suddenly appeared more vulnerable.
And this is my favorite part of all:
The news is a blow for Kennedy who was personally lured into the race by former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, and touted as one of the few recruiting successes for Senate GOPers in an admittedly difficult cycle.
Now we are even closer to 60 seats than before. Let me congratulate Mary Landrieu for running a GREAT campaign and all of you pelicans on a job well done!
[Editor's Note]But don't get complacent, y'all! Leave it on the field, and make sure that you volunteer to get folks to the polls, starting on Tuesday, when early voting starts!
In all the hoopla surrounding Round 3 of the Obama-McCain debates, I forgot that Senator Landrieu and Republican hopeful John "Wanna Be" Kennedy have a debate scheduled for tonight at 6 PM.
Regrettably, I will not be able to live-blog the Senate debate, as I will likely be stuck in traffic on the way to New Orleans this evening.
Y'all can watch it live on C-SPAN 2 throughout Louisiana, online at c-span.org or WDSU 6 in New Orleans.
If it's anything like the first two debates, it'll be a back and forth barrage of attacks, with Senator Landrieu coming across as more likable, as she delivers her jabs with a smile.
The Wanna Be's campaign has been trying to make hay out the fact that if you want change in Washington, we need to change the Senator here in Louisiana.
Well, with this new information out there, I'm not so sure anybody is gonna want to change the Senator:
You say you wanna change Washington? That's all good and fine. But I gotta ask:
Has your ambition to be a big dog clouded your ethical judgments?
And with all the information in the ad being fact-checked quite nicely by the folks behind One Confused Politician, and posted below the jump, I know you have taken $350,000 from folks who appear before the Bond Commission. Damn, I know you wanna be the Senator, I just never realized how badly.
I was in New York this weekend for a wedding, so I missed the debate. However, Lamar over at CenLamar gives a pretty good synopsis of the debate, including the latest immortal line of Louisiana politics:
"John, I know you're trying very hard, but Senator McCain's coattails are not long enough for you."
Wanna Be has been trying very hard to tie Senator Landrieu to Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama, much like Suzanne Haik Terrell tried to tie Mary Landrieu to Senator Hillary Clinton 6 years ago.
I guess the Republicans never learn ... if it didn't work 6 years ago, why would it work 6 years later?
UPDATE: The Landrieu campaign released a video of the first debate at the Baton Rouge Press Club, taken from the Fox News report of the debate:
Now, one of John Kennedy's biggest supporters - Republican Senator Tom Coburn, (R-Ok) - who directed $5,000 of his PAC money in March and again in September to the Wanna Be, used procedural maneuvers to block passage of legislation that would aid farmers affected by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, not just in Louisiana but wherever the storm passed through.
The Wanna Be originally supported Coburn's maneuver. But when he realized that he was going against members of his party here in Louisiana - in particular Sinator Vitter and Ag Commissioner Mike Strain - he changed his tune.
Louisiana, at this critical juncture, does not need someone who's gotta be told what's the right thing for Louisiana ... we need someone who's gonna get it right the first time around. And that someone sure ain't Wanna Be.
Folks ... Wanna Be wanted to veto $1.5 million for hurricane response equipment and first responders back in 2006, calling the earmarks "junk":
Hey Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Acadiana, how much were those generators worth in the aftermath of Gustav? Priceless, right? Apparently, John Kennedy didn't think so.
UPDATE on Wednesday morning: The Advocate reports on Kennedy's remarks!
In honor of Wanna Be's campaign event before the Shreveport Republican Federation of Women tomorrow, Tuesday, August 26th, I want to air this clip of Wanna Be at a Bond Meeting this week to discuss a bond for Antoine's:
The audio ain't that great, admittedly. But the clearest line in that is of Wanna Be saying "This is Antoine's, not Hooters."
Apparently, the Sinator's got hookers on his mind, and Kennedy's got hooters on his mind. Strange bedfellows they are.
It's incredible that the Wanna Be's campaign has relinquished the airwaves to the Landrieu campaign for so long. They've already introduced Wanna Be as ONE confused politician. They're hitting him on his flip-flop on Social Security with this ad ... I mean, putting Social Security into the stock market? That means some folks will be winners and some will be LOSERS. Social Security was not meant to for some to win and some to lose. It was supposed to be a win-win for every senior citizen in America.
Wanna Be, you wanna "fix" Social Security? Then do the right thing, and raise the payroll taxes on Social Security. Right now, the payroll taxes are capped with Social Security at $102,000. This means that us poor working class folks are paying more of our paychecks percentage-wise into Social Security than folks who make more than $102,000. Doesn't seem fair, does it?
And now Wanna Be wants to help Wall Street make a killing on our Social Security money? Yeah, Wanna Be's really looking out for us.
There he goes again! John "Wanna Be" Kennedy sends out an email to his supporters blasting Senator Mary Landrieu for not agreeing to debate yet. Here's the pertinent language:
Over one month ago, John Kennedy called on Mary Landrieu to debate, because he believes Louisianans deserve ample opportunities to hear directly from the candidates. On Wednesday, John even sent Mary Landrieu a formal letter reiterating his call for campaign debates.
... she's now trying to duck debates until October!
Oh, Wanna Be ... Your confusion is confounding. Because the Louisiana Municipal Association had a major conference in Lafayette that started on Thursday and ends today. And they invited you and Senator Landrieu to discuss the issues at a forum before their members. Senator Landrieu accepted. YOU, John "Wanna Be" Kennedy, DID NOT, instead choosing to campaign at the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Baton Rouge.
I guess because the TV cameras weren't going to be in Lafayette, it's not a debate. So enjoy your time at the Hot Air Ballon Festival ... because that's just what your campaign is, Wanna Be. A whole lotta hot air about nothing.
