"Legitimate Political Discourse" is the latest version of white privilege

The Hump Day Hot Topics

***Nearly a week later, I am still blown away by the Republican National Committee's decision to call the January 6th MAGA Riots "Legitimate Political Discourse." 

Truly, the politically insane are now running the right wing asylum...

***Speaking of the right wing short bus riders, I agree with longtime conservative Republican Liz Cheney's reticence to engage with those in her party who believe that the 2020 election was "stolen" and that Donald Trump is still the legitimate President of the United States. Said Cheney, "I'm not going to convince the crazies...I'm not trying to get their support because they've abandoned the Constitution."

MAGA Rioters breaking the law

Indeed, they've abandoned not only the Constitution, Rep. Cheney, but also any semblances of logic and common sense. 

***This week, a lawyer for Lee Boyd Malvo, the juvenile who joined John Allen Muhammad on a Beltway killing spree in 2002, said that his client's punishment of six life sentences violates a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prevents juveniles from receiving life sentences. 

While Malvo's lawyer is correct, the likelihood that Malvo will be released from prison anytime soon is slim to none in that even if he convinces a Maryland parole panel to set a potential release date, his client is still locked up for crimes in Virginia and would have to have a separate proceeding.

Malvo wearing the juvenile orange jumpsuit circa 2002

Since 2012, I have observed judges that were tapped to reconsider juvenile life sentences later resentence the accused to terms that don't say "life" but essentially mean "life" (60 or more years).

It will be interesting to see what decision is ultimately made for Malvo, one who avoided the death sentence that his co-defendant Muhammad received for killing 10 people and wounding dozens of others in the D.C. Metro area...

***I still can't get past the fact that Joe Rogan has nearly 11 million listeners to his podcast on Spotify, which is clear evidence as to why he is that medium's $100 million man.

Now, I find Rogan to be totally disinteresting, but again, to each his own; even racists and anti-science types can spew their vile rhetoric as much as they wish so long as there is a demanding audience for it. 

Still, the main issue for me is that once it is clear that someone is a racist or an idiot, and Rogan qualifies as both in my estimation, the question that I pose is the same one that Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi posed to Han Solo in the original Star Wars: "Who is the more foolish? The fool? Or the fool who follows him?"

Simply put, the tragedy in the so-called "Rogan Experience" is that there is such a strong demand for unenlightened drivel among the masses and, to that end, it seems that Rush Limbaugh may have died last year—but his wicked spirit lives on in Rogan. 

***Kudos to director Jane Campion on becoming the only woman in Academy Awards history to receive two Best Director nominations!

Jane Campion

Ms. Campion will vie for Best Director honors next month for her film The Power of the Dog, which follows her 1994 nomination for The Piano.

Black History Hobbservation: Dr. Louis Sullivan, former Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush

Dr. Sullivan (Morehouse Class of ‘54) and Ol’ Hobbs (Morehouse Class of ‘94) during our 2014 class reunions.

Dr. Louis Wade Sullivan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, raised in rural Blakely, Georgia and later returned to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1954. Sullivan subsequently enrolled at the Boston University School of Medicine and upon graduation in 1958, completed his residency at New York Hospital/Cornell University.

After nearly two decades of practicing medicine, in 1975, Sullivan joined several Morehouse alums in establishing a two year Medical Education Program at their alma mater, one that provided clinical training partnerships with several established medical schools that led to the eventual awarding of the M.D. degree. In 1981, the Morehouse School of Medicine was officially founded and became the first such school chartered at an Historically Black College and University in the 20th Century, thus, joining Meharry Medical College and Howard University. Three years earlier, in 1978, Dr. Sullivan had been named dean at Morehouse and he remained in that post until 1989, when President George Herbert Walker Bush nominated him to serve as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services(HHS)—the first black to serve in that position.

Sullivan’s ascent to lead HHS marked the beginning of nearly two decades of Morehouse Men and/or Morehouse School of Medicine alums assuming prominent cabinet level medical positions including Dr. Henry Foster (Morehouse undergrad), who was appointed Surgeon General by President Bill Clinton in 1995; Dr. David Satcher (Morehouse undergrad), appointed Surgeon General by President Clinton in 1998, and Dr. Regina Benjamin (Morehouse School of Medicine), who was appointed Surgeon General by President Barack Obama in 2009.

Following the end of President Bush’s presidency, in 1993, Sullivan returned to the Morehouse School of Medicine and served as its president for nearly a decade. Widely published, Sullivan has remained at the forefront of the health care cost debate as he frequently travels and lectures about the need to develop better delivery models to curtail costs.

Dr. Sullivan has received numerous awards and honorary degrees and was the founding president of the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools, while remaining active in numerous other civic organizations, including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the Boy Scouts of America.

Black College Feature

This Black History Month, each day I will feature one of America's leading HBCUs. 

Next up—Tuskegee University

History: Tuskegee Institute was founded on July 4, 1881 following an agreement between Lewis Adams, a formerly enslaved man who felt it crucial to provide education to the masses of Blacks in Alabama; former Confederate Army Colonel W.F. Foster, a candidate for the Alabama Senate who promised the creation of a school for Blacks in exchange for votes, and George Campbell, a former slave owner who was interested in promulgating education for the formerly enslaved.

The first classes were held in what has been described as a one room shanty near Butler Chapel AME Zion Church, and the students were taught by Hampton Institute graduate Booker T. Washington. Over the next 34 years, until Washington's death in 1915, the University grew in acquisition of land, prestige, and financial donations due to Washington's fame as an educator (and focus on trade education and social segregation of the races), and buildings—many of which were built by hand by the formerly enslaved students and benefactors.

The legendary Booker T. Washington

While the early bent was on industrial education, by the 1930s, the University had developed a broad based liberal arts curriculum across multiple disciplines. Due to Jim Crow segregation, the University also became subject to both fame and infamy; fame was garnered throughout World War II as Black pilots were trained for service in the United States Army Air Corps. These pilots, under the leadership of then Colonel (later General) Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., gained distinction fighting in Europe with their signature "Red Tails" plane markings. The school drew infamy once it was learned that from 1932 to 1972, a study was begun by the U.S. government where Black men were injected with syphilis under the guise of "studying" its effects. 

Motto: "Scientia Principatus Opera"

Academics: Tuskegee is a comprehensive University that is consistently ranked among the Top 15 HBCUs according to US News &  World Report. The University offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in the following five Colleges and two Schools: The College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences; College of Arts and Sciences; The Brimmer College of Business and Information Science; College of Engineering; College of Veterinary Medicine (only such program at an HBCU); Nursing and Allied Health; The Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science; School of Education. Tuskegee is the only HBCU with a distinct and fully accredited Aerospace Engineering Program. In 1993 and 1994, the University became the first repeat champions in the annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge Quiz Bowl tournament that at the time, was aired each summer and fall on BET.

Colors: Crimson and Gold

Mascot: Tigers

Athletics: Tuskegee is a member of the SIAC, an NCAA Division II conference comprised of HBCUs. Over the past century, the University historically has won numerous conference championships in football, basketball and baseball.

Famous alumni/figures: Educator, political adviser and social leader Booker T. Washington; Famed agronomist and professor,  Dr. George Washington Carver; General Daniel "Chappie" James, the first Black Four Star General in the Air Force; Robert Robinson Taylor, first African American graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dr. Andrew Torrance, former President of Tennessee State University; Chalmers Archer, author of "Growing Up Black in Mississippi" and "Green Berets in the Vanguard;" Alice Coachman, the first Black woman to win an Olympics gold medal; Grammy Award winning artists Lionel Richie and The Commodores, Radio Host/Philanthropist Tom Joyner,  Comedian/Entertainer/Producer Keenan Ivory Wayans; Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay, acclaimed writer Ralph Ellison, author of the classic "Invisible Man," civil rights leader Betty Shabazz, wife of Minister Malcolm X, Albert Murray, literary and jazz critic, novelist, and biographer; former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Baltimore District Attorney Marilyn Mosby; Dr. Ptolemy Reid, former Prime Minister of Guyana.

Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a wonderful Wednesday!