On LSU, terror bombings in Afghanistan, and the passing of the great Colin Powell

The Monday Musings!

"...Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones..." Charlotte Bronte, "Jane Eyre"

LSU "Separates"from Coach Ed Orgeron

Not even 24-hours after the LSU Tigers defeated the 20th ranked Florida Gators 49-42 in Baton Rouge, what seemed like a strong enough victory to cool the hot seat that LSU head coach Ed Orgeron has sat upon all year reached peak boil as news broke that the same coach who led LSU to a 15-0 national championship run in 2019, was accepting a nearly $17 million dollar severance package that would kick in at the end of this season. 

Upon hearing the news, my first instinct was that Orgeron was being released because in the time since that 2019 championship run, LSU was 9-8 overall. But the truth of the matter is that this "separation" had less to do with his on-field record and an impatient fan base, and everything to do with Orgeron's horrific mishandling of sexual assault allegations against his players during his tenure.

Coach O after his Tigers won the 2019 championship

Chief among these incidents includes the fact that former LSU star running back Derrius Guice sexually harassed a 74-year-old Black woman named Gloria Scott who worked at the Superdome in New Orleans. According to USA Today, in 2017, Ms. Scott told Orgeron that Guice had approached her and while running his genitals in front of several other laughing players, said, “I like to f--- women like you, you older women, because y'all know y'all like us young men to f--- y'all. And, you know you want this body.” Coach Orgeron took a "hear no evil, see no evil" position and instead of kicking his star ball player off the team for his vulgarity towards an older woman, he allowed him to stay on the team and play ball.

Derrius Guice was accused of sexual assault while playing for Orgeron

Moving forward, keep an eye out for Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher as Orgeron's possible replacement. Why Fisher? Lest we forget that Fisher was a long-time assistant coach at LSU under Nick Saban before ultimately becoming offensive coordinator and later head coach at Florida State University. Second, Fisher's best friend is current LSU Athletics Director Scott Woodward, the same man who was AD at Texas A&M when Fisher was lured there in 2017...

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on "60 Minutes"

I was very impressed with former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the life-long Republican who served in different capacities under eight Democratic and Republican presidents, who admitted last night that not only had he made mistakes with regards to the war in Afghanistan, but that both former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden had badly mishandled the withdrawal this past summer that left hundreds dead while diminishing America's standing as the omnipotent superpower. 

What really struck me as profound was when Gates noted that of the eight presidents that he served, including Democrats Obama and Clinton, that, “I’ve never heard one say 'I blew it'." Indeed, when I heard Gates admitting his own mistakes—and the lack of presidents who were (or are) honest enough to admit their own mistakes, such reminded me of just what is wrong with America's political leadership; there are far too many politicians within both parties who are arrogant and self-centered, thus, the gridlock and stagnation that prevents things getting done on myriad issues ranging from the budget, to infrastructure, to foreign policy. 

Last, when the conservative Republican Gates was asked whether he thinks that his former boss Mr. Trump should run for president again in 2024, his blunt reply was, “I hope not. He’s a thin-skinned, temperamental, shoot from the hip and lip, totally uninformed commander-in-chief--and too great a risk for America."

I agree with that frank assessment but again, the problem across the ideological divide is not just Trump or Biden, but uniformed leaders being elected by uninformed voters who are unwilling to know better and demand better. I don't know whether this trend will ever change, but I do know that if the American Republic ultimately wanes, that the lack of true statesmen/women who are accountable to the majority and minority, both in Washington and our state capitals, will be the major contributing factor. 

Gun violence at HBCUs

As I posted on Facebook yesterday, as I read about gun violence at Grambling and other recent HBCU gatherings, such reminded me of how in my own experiences, that most of the violence I had personally experienced was a result of cowardly dudes that had no direct ties to our colleges and universities starting trouble among themselves—or with young men and women who were students or alumni. 

In the photo below, two of my closest friends, Victor Owens and Bill Norris, joined me in a whimsical ride to Nashville in November of 1993 for Tennessee State University's Homecoming. We linked up with two of our other close friends from Tallahassee, then TSU student Fred Higgs and FAMU student Jason Ward, on campus during a bitterly cold fall day. 

From left: Victor Owens, Fred Higgs, Jason Ward, and Hobbs right before TSU's Homecoming game in 1993.

After the game, we headed to an Alpha/AKA party that we were invited to by yet another close friend of ours from Tallahassee, then TSU-AKA Nikki Hill, and as we stood in a packed line to get in, some local jackass, clearly not a Tennessee State student, was desperately trying to get the attention of an attractive young lady who was smushed in the line next to me and the Boyz. Clearly disinterested, after the young lady asked the guy to leave her alone, he pulled out a handgun, cocked it, and aimed towards her face at point-blank range. The crowd began dispersing like ants before any of us could wrestle the weapon away, but thinking back, being literally within arm's distance of what could have been a deadly shooting (before the crowd nearly trampled us) reminded me of just how fleeting life could be. 

So what's the solution? Robert Frost once wrote that "good fences make good neighbors”—perhaps it is time to fence off all of our college campuses and require folks to have to present identification or pass through metal detectors to get on the yard?

I don't know if that's the best solution, but doing nothing isn't a solution, either…

Afghanistan Bombings

Last Friday, ISIS terrorists upped the ante in their battle with the Taliban when a suicide bomber killed 65 worshipers at a Shiite Temple, this not long after another bombing that killed over 100 Shiites earlier this month in the City of Kunduz.

While both the Taliban and ISIS are adherents of Sunni Islam, the recent U.S. withdrawal left a power vacuum in which violence will not wane in the foreseeable future as ISIS, arguably the least tolerant of their Shiite brethren, will continue to press their murderous advantage. Now, the Taliban has often persecuted Shiites as well throughout the decades but of late, Taliban leaders have noted that they would be far more tolerant moving forward—while ISIS leaders have deemed Shiites as infidels who must be wiped out. 

Much like the violent clashes and genocide among Protestants and Catholics over the past several hundred years, Sunni Muslims, named because they are descended from the "Sunnah" or followers of the Prophet Muhammad's closest lieutenant Abu Bakr, have had sharp theological differences with the "Shia" or "Shiites," those descended from Muhammad's cousin (and son by law) Shiatu Ali. With the majority of the world's Muslim being Sunni (85% according to the Pew Research Center), the Shiite minorities have often been considered outcasts and treated with murderous disdain by some Sunni political regimes and terror cells. 

Thus, yet another sad reality that as America has finally removed itself from Afghanistan, that violence will only increase and leave us all to wonder whether the violence towards Shiites could have been far less had we not engaged the Taliban in combat for nearly 20 years and by so doing, give ISIS and other cells time to organize and pursue their malevolent machinations?

United Arab Emirates winning Covid battle

This past weekend, the United Arab Emirates reported that it has seen less than 100 daily COVID-19 cases for the first time since the Pandemic began! The UAE is still under mask mandates, but what's also telling is that 96% of its population is partially vaccinated, while 86% is fully vaccinated!

Juxtapose this success to the United States, the self-described "best nation on Earth," one that has fewer than 70% fully vaccinated in most states. Which, interestingly enough, is odd when considering recent poll results chronicled in The Hill which show, "...governors in states with vaccine mandates are averaging 52 percent approval on their management of the pandemic. In states where there are no vaccine mandates, that figure dropped to 42 percent, and in places where mandates are banned, only 36 percent of people approved of the governors' handling of COVID-19..."

This goes back to the statesmanship that I mentioned above—and the lack thereof—as governors like Florida's Ron Desantis, Georgia's Brian Kemp, and Texas's Greg Abbott continue to play the part of knuckle dragging Neanderthals when it comes to realizing that masking and social distance inconveniences today, coupled with vaccinations, could lead to a return to normalcy tomorrow!

In Memoriam: General Colin Powell

As I was finishing my blog this morning, I learned of the passing of the great Colin Powell, the former Army General, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of State who has died of Covid-19 complications. Later this week, the Hobbservation Point will publish a full tribute to a man whose impact on my life was so pronounced that during my days at Morehouse College, I hung a picture of him on my dormitory walls in tribute. 

Until then, my sincerest condolences are extended to Mrs. Alma Powell and their entire family—and I pray that the Holy Spirit comforts and keeps them in the days ahead!

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