Bu$h Approval Rating At 2% Amongst African-Americans

[JRSWRITER]

From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton


“Two percent. That's the percentage of U.S. blacks who approve of President Bush's job performance, a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found. Blacks' current two percent approval rating of Bush is down from 19 percent a half-year ago. Why is this? Hurricane Katrina and modern communication. Millions of African Americans watched TV coverage of the post-Katrina human suffering, and they are furious about it. The pain of Katrina was borne most heavily by blacks. The mighty Karl Rove can't spin the president out of this. No amount of Rove's strategic and tactical skill can counter the televised imagery of modern-day savagery after Katrina. He and the neo-cons can only hope for a miracle to counter what the world has seen in the hurricane region. Recall the images of elderly blacks in their walkers moving painfully down the road away from their storm-ravaged homes to where? Remember black infants lacking clothing, food, shelter and water in the Big Easy? How about thousands of blacks abandoned to their own devices on the streets of New Orleans? Meanwhile, non-union Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rushed to the rescue of some of these storm victims as Uncle Sam sat on his hands.�- Seth Sandronsky, Alternative Press Review 10-15-05

A recent article on the Alternative Press Review Website http://www.altpr.org mentioned the approval rating for George W Bu$h was an abysmal 2% amongst African-Americans and suggested the recent debacle of Hurricane Katrina was the cause. Maybe, maybe not. Bu$h has never been popular amongst black folks. Even his courting of opportunist “religious leaders� like T.D.Jakes, Jesse Lee Patterson and “Bishop� Sedgewick Daniels (who are fast becoming to the religious Right what Jesse L. Jackson and Al Sharpton are to the Left) and sliding them money through his “faith based� initiatives has not abated the negative perceptions or the precipitous drop in Bu$h’s approval ratings amongst African-Americans. Blacks have been leery of Bu$h ever since he was installed as president by the US Supreme Court. We overwhelmingly opposed the invasion ad occupation of Iraq so his bungling militarization of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina was just another nail in Bu$h�s PR coffin as far as free thinking African-Americans were concerned. Not even the millions of dollars Bu$h and the Republican Party siphoned off to influential Negro preachers has stemmed the tide of distrust, animus and anxiety resident amongst people of African heritage in AmeriKKKa. “Bishop� T.D. Jakes pleading with folks to move on and not to hold any animosity towards government officials following Hurricane Katrina, while it is sound advice from a metaphysical and psychological standpoint, it was also very self-serving since Jakes is Bu$h’s shill. Jakes advice is an attempt to deflect criticism away from his benefactor.
While on one hand I recognize the importance of not limiting our options, and Africans in AmeriKKKa should, if we choose, be a part of all political parties, major and minor; I find it hard to fathom why any sane race conscious African would link up with the fascists in the Bu$h regime. No matter how much money they are doling out, and believe me they are doling out a lot of money would make me want to sign up to be a part of anything team Bu$h is doing. A Working For Change Article www.workingforchange.com dated 02-23-05 reveals just how much federal dollars these money grubbing preachers are getting for their support of the Bu$h “moral agenda� (how can a man who lied to justify an illegal war dare call himself moral?) The article says, “After months of investigation, the Los Angeles Times reported in January that out of the more than $1.5 billion in federal funds handed out to faith-based organizations in 2003 African American churches had received many millions of dollars. And many African American church leaders had subsequently switched party affiliation in time for the 2004 presidential election. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for example, Bishop Sedgwick Daniels, one of the ‘city's most prominent black pastors’, who had supported both Bill Clinton and Al Gore in ‘past presidential elections,’ had switched to Bush this time around. His ‘face appeared on Republican Party fliers in the battleground state of Wisconsin,’ and he endorsed President Bush ‘as the candidate who shares our views.’ Two weeks before the election Bishop Daniels turned over the pulpit to Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, one of Bush's most prominent African American advocates. ‘We know what faith-based can do every single day," Steele told the congregation, drawing head nodding and remarks of ‘yes’ and ‘Amen’ from more than 1,000 in the vast sanctuary. The Times also reported that Bishop Daniels met ‘with top administration officials’ and also met with ‘the president himself.’ Later, his church received $1.5 million in federal funds through Bush's faith-based initiative. ‘A Philadelphia church led by the Rev. Herb Lusk II received $1 million in federal funds for a program to help low-income Philadelphians,’ The Los Angeles Times reported. ‘Lusk gave the invocation at the 2000 Republican convention and has been an outspoken Bush supporter.’ In South Florida, an organization headed by Bishop Harold Ray, ‘a longtime Bush acquaintance’ who gave an invocation for Vice President Dick Cheney at a West Palm Beach, Fla., rally. Ray's group received $1.7 million in taxpayer funds. �
Does the fact these ministers hopped on the Bu$h bandwagon mean they have done anything unethical? No. But given most Africans in AmeriKKKa ( wisely or not) are blindly wedded to the Democratic Party, what are they getting out of their switch in loyalty? The article concludes by saying, “The GOP strategy is ‘not to convert legions of Blacks to the GOP, which would seriously dilute the party's white appeal and is, at any rate, impossibility. The Right's real goal is to create the impression of fundamental splits in Black ranks, and thus subvert the credibility of mainstream leaders who hold to the historical Black Political Consensus. Everywhere, there exist Black preachers and hustlers who are willing to advance the GOP project. Money does the trick. Marginal increases in Black votes for Republicans are welcome, especially in close races, but this is not a battle for the hearts and minds of Black America. Rather, it is an assault on the historical unity of African Americans.�
The question now is how long will the money grubbers remain loyal to Bu$H now that his approval rating amongst all AmeriKKKans is in the toilet and about to be flushed even farther down the drain by the Valerie Plame scandal? Have the preachers foolishly purchased tickets on a sinking ship? Time will tell. Other questions we need to ask are: how are these religious leaders using this federal (taxpayer) money and what oversight provisions have been installed to make sure the money is being used appropriately? Two things we must always keep in mind: the Bu$h cabal has a sordid history of cronyism, scandal and fraud and the money being given to these preachers is taxpayer’s money. As taxpayers we have a right to know how our money is being used and spent. All the gold in Fort Knox could not tempt most black folks to trust or side with Bu$h. Those Negro preachers who have done so are taking a huge risk and they are putting their credibility on the line. But if things keep going the way they are for Bu$h and Co., the chickens may soon come home to roost for all the Negro preachers they bribed.