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Originally uploaded by Steph & Adam

This is the weight US President Barack Obama will be carrying on his shoulders for the next four years. Good luck, Mr. President
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Quebec Comedians’ Racist Remarks: Canada Owes President Obama an Apology

By OBERT MADONDO

Following a Presidential tradition, the new US President Barack Obama will visit Canada in first foreign trip after inauguration. Great. But Canada owes Mr. Obama and the American people an official apology for the tasteless and racist New Year’s Eve special broadcast by CBC/Radio-Canada, the country’s public radio and television broadcaster.

During segments of the show, Quebec comedians insulted the President-elect, played on black stereotypes and insulted English Canadians and sex-abuse victims. They called Mr. Obama the “n” word. They insinuated that his assassination would be practical since “a black man will be more visible in the White House and be easier to shoot“.

In a recent apology, Ms. Veronique Cloutier, the producer of the show, and head writer, Louis Morissette, dodged responsibility. They insisted that they meant no harm to President-elect Obama. They were “just trying to put on an edgy comedy show.“

Well, the result was comedy that potentially nurtures hate crimes. Last October two men were arrested in Tennessee for allegedly plotting to kill Mr. Obama. Last November, the Miami Herald opined: Every American president is at risk of an assassination attempt. But because of the historic nature of President-elect Barack Obama's victory as the African American in that office, the risk of assassination is greater.”

Ms. Cloutier claims that she and the others behind the show are not racist. They cried during Mr. Obama's acceptance speech last November. Well, Senator John McCain’s supporters cried too during his concession speech. Theirs were tears of joy?

And yet the Quebec incident is one of numerous many high profile racist remarks and apologies are flying around these days. Britain’s Prince Harry faces racism inquiry over footage of ’Paki’ remark, according to “this Guardian story“. A few weeks ago, would-be Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman, Chip Saltsman, send out a Christmas CD to GOP committee members featuring a song calling the US President-elect “Barack the Magic Negro”.

Unfortunately, a serious backlash against the Quebec comedians and the creators of the show is unlikely. Radio Canada has already defended the freedom of the show's creators. The show received high ratings of about four million views. Ms. Cloutier is considered a “sweetheart” in the Quebec entertainment industry.

At the minimum, the comedians insulted the office of the President of the United States. With the election of Barack Obama as the first African American President, this office is set to build global bridges toward a more perfect world tolerant of diversity. Canada must show its seriousness in advancing this noble agenda. How about an apology for the racist Quebec comedy, to begin with? Sphere: Related Content Sphere: Related Content

Global Headlines: Editor's Pick

NEWS
Prince Harry Faces Racism Inquiry Over Footage of 'Paki' Remark - The Guardian, Stephen Bates and Richard Norton-Taylor
A Klan Initiation Murder: A Backlash to Obama's Victory? - Time, Steve Gray
How One Book Ignited a Culture War - The Guardian, Andrew Anthony
Government Fights Slave Labor in Brazil - CNN, Arthur Bice
U.S. Rejected Aid for Israeli Raid on Iranian Nuclear Site - New York Times, David E. Sanger
Survey Finds 42 Per Cent of Canadians Can't Name First Prime Minister - Globe & Mail
Shopping for Fertility Markets: When It Comes to Reproductive Technology, Americans Are More Tolerant Than the French - Reason Online, Guillemette Faure
Black directors Face Frustration, Hope and Elusive Success - IHT, Gene Seymour

OPINION
Revolutionary Road: 50 Years Later, Who Wins and Who Loses - Washington Post, Ann Louise Bardach
Europe's Southern Escape: An Alternative to Annual Gas Fights With Russia May Lie in North Africa - Wall Street Journal, Francis Ghiles Sphere: Related Content Sphere: Related Content

Video of The Day: Goerge Carlin - Saving The Planet

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Global Headlines: Editor’s Pick

NEWS
Global Financial Crisis Upends the Plans of Many South Koreans to Study Abroad - Martin Fackler, New York Times
Boom in Surrogacy Despite Recession - Anchal Vohra, NDTV.com
China: 2009 a Year of Notable Dates - John J. Metzler, The China Post
Toward A Nuclear-free World: A German View - Helmut Schmidt, Richard von Weizsacker, Egon Bahr & Hans-Dietrich Genscher, International Herald Tribune
Obama Camp 'Prepared to Talk to Hamas' - Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian
Quebec Comedians Apologize For Jokes Spoofing Blacks, Sex-abuse Victims - Nelson Wyatt, Globe & Mail
Raiding the Polygamists: An Eldorado North of the Border - John Nadler/Creston, TIME

EDITORIAL/OPNION
Cellphones Give Africa's Farmers a Chance to Set Out Their Stall - Mail & Guardian
Reinventing The European Left - Financial Times
Bangladesh Elects Secular Alliance, Dealing Blow to Fundamentalism - Ravi R. Prasad, World Politics Review Sphere: Related Content Sphere: Related Content

Global Headlines: Editor's Pick

NEWS
Global Protests Condemn Gaza War - Al Jazeera
Brits Own Up to Euro-Phobia - Der Spiegel, Carsten Volkery
Russia Looks At America, Sees Itself - Forbes, Melik Kaylan
Rio Slum Barrier Plans Spark Outcry - The Guardian, Tom Phillips
Shooting 'Slumdog' in Mumbai, City of Extremes - CNN, Mairi Mackay

EDITORIAL / OPINION
Ghana’s Democratic Example - Washington Post
How the U.N. Perpetuates the 'Refugee' Problem - Wall Street Journal, Natan Sharansky Sphere: Related Content Sphere: Related Content

Video Of The Day: The Mom Song

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Africa: Where The Heart Is

By OBERT MADONDO

Africa is not a scary place of war, poverty and disease, after all. So suggests this cute little Germany lovers' story recently carried by the guardian.co.uk website: German lovers – aged six and five – try to elope to Africa

The 19th-century romanticism aside, the lovers argued that Africa is a place where innocent love can still escape Hollywood and thrive. Sphere: Related Content Sphere: Related Content

Bush Borrows From Robert Mugabe

By OBERT MADONDO

Remember, back in December, when the Bush Admnistration told the Obamas they could not move into Blair House in early January so their daughters could start school in Washington DC because the house was already booked?

The Washington Post uncovered the mysteryt guest who is booked at Blair House, kicking President-elect Barack Obama and his family to the waiting list and across Lafayette Park to the Hay-Adams Hotel. It's former Aussie PM John Howard.

Howard and former British PM Tony Blair and Colombian Prez Alvaro Uribe are in town to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bush

Now, are we surprised that Bush withheld the respect and tradition due to his successor, Obama, to accomodate his coalition of the willing pals, Blair, Howard and Uribe? Bush's mind is now glued to only one thing: his legacy. As he heads into the sunset of retirement and potential oblivion, he hopes his pals will continue to nurture his legacy.

It's a doomed aspiration. The three men would be fools if they continued to cling to the Bush way of doing business in an Obama World defined by mutual respect, a little more dialogue and a lot less unilateralism.

But the three gentlemen are not being rewarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom solely for supporting the Iraq War. Bush is also thanking them for supporting his other unpopular approaches to international engagement, including Guantanamo and unilateralism.

The last time I searched Google for a leader abusing his office and national treasurers to patronize and reward loyal followers and accomplices, the name Robert Mugabe showed up. Sphere: Related Content Sphere: Related Content

What Will "Brother Barack" Do For Africa?

Truthdig.com | Gbemisola Olujobi | December 26, 2008


Photo by Gregor Rohrig

A mobile phone text message spread across Africa in the wake of Barack Obama’s victory. It said “Rosa [Parks] sat so Martin [Luther King] could walk, Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so our children can fly!”

And why should African children not fly in the wake of the senator’s triumph in the U.S. presidential election? The president-elect’s father was Kenyan, and Africans, whose ties of kinship stretch beyond the limits of modern sociology, generally regard “our brother’s victory” as everyone’s victory.

“After all, he’s one of us,” says Frank Chikonga, one of hundreds of jobless people in Cape Town, South Africa. “He has to help us.”

Shamina from Malawi says of Obama, “Africans are supporting him, so he should support us as well.”

Ray Hartley, editor of The Times of South Africa, compares Obama to George W. Bush, whose administration has paid quite some attention to Africa, and says, “We expect so much more of Obama, who has a direct link to this continent via his family in Kenya. We look to him to finally turn decades of fine words about debt relief and open trade on the world stage into a job-creating reality for this continent. It’s a change we can believe in.” (full story)

Photo by Gregor Rohrig, licensed under Creative Commons License Sphere: Related Content Sphere: Related Content