Beran Jeng/ Momodou Sidibeh, Your reaction to my rather short follow-up to Jassey-Conteh's posting is simply shadowy! In case you all need reminders, we live in a realistic world where realistic minds will decipher and react in a realistic and rational manner to any situation that will affect their lives. Earl's defeat in the primary is a result of this simple concept. The voters in Alabama are just being realistic. Simple! This is what I was trying to convey in my rather incoherent follow-up to Conteh's posting. Blame it on lack of mental dexterity due to fatigue at the time of writing. My apologies. Beran Jeng's statement: "The idea that anyone who has some association with Gaddaffi and by extension Jammeh, is anti Gambia or anti democracy is pathetic." Is an outrageous misconception of my stance on this issue. My ensuing response to Sidibeh will perhaps help Beran understand that my mind is an enquiring one. Quite contrary to what he thought - pathetic? I don't think so, dude! Now, Sidibeh, my assertion that Earl has learnt a lesson that a battle against anyone supported by the Jewish community in this country is suicidal is factual and it is the political reality in the United States as we speak. Start from the White House down to Alabama, Jewish money, power and influence is everywhere they want to be. This has been the case and is even more emphasized by the Bush "War on Terror". Any politician that underrates this fact is committing political suicide and Earl knew that. Earl, being the first black man elected to Congress from Alabama since Reconstruction, and a five-term incumbent faced a challenge of his life in Davis, a 34-year-old lawyer and graduate of Harvard Law School who has never held elective office. Why was a veteran of the House and a mainstay of Alabama politics in political danger? He's got a lot of stains on his record, and some of them are the kind that, post-September 11, just won't easily wash off. First, there's Israel. He was one of eleven members of Congress to vote against a December 2001 resolution "expressing solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism." He has lobbied members of the black caucus to oppose pro-Israeli initiatives. In May, he was one of 21 members to vote against another resolution supporting Israel's military offensive into Palestinian territory. Then there's his support for brutal, terror-sponsoring regimes: On November 13, 2001 — just two months after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — he introduced a bill to remove constraints from what Americans term as "rogue nations." The "American Renewed Diplomacy Act of 2001" would terminate all American economic sanctions worldwide and require the U.S. to form diplomatic ties with all nations within 90 days. It would also divest the Secretary of State of the power to prohibit Americans from visiting certain places, such as Cuba. This is all in line with his 1997 trip to Libya, which drew criticism from supporters of Israel at the time. His defense: "Libya is an African nation. It carries no negative connotation in my community." Another stain unrelated to international relations is his receipt of an official rebuke from the House ethics committee for using tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds for private purposes in June of last year. According to New York Times, $50,000 went to pay the salaries of people employed by companies owned by Earl and his family, and $16,000 for unsecured loans to his niece and two others. And, he also has been remiss in paying his taxes. Arturo Davis, his challenger, has received a great deal of support from Jewish organizations and from private Jewish donors. According to reports, days before the primary, Davis had raised over $364,000 in two months, as compared to Earls $157,575. Earls' strategy was to capitalize on the newfound kinship between blacks and Arab Muslims. He was reported to have said: "I see more and more blacks identifying with Arabs and Muslims than with Jews. They see Arabs … being profiled like we are." He even resorted to dirty politics. He was seen on TV claiming that Davis had been forced to resign as a federal prosecutor "because of a date-rape charge." He even had a flier that says: "Davis and the Jews: No Good for the Black Belt." So Sidibeh, as you can see from these facts, the voters of Alabama did do their homework. They have concluded five terms of representation spent on cruising around the world of "rouges" collecting handouts from tyrants is not what they expected. They have found the alternative in Arturo Davis a liberal Democrat with lots of promises and potential in his years to come. For what it's worth, Earl has taken a number of good steps in supporting some positive initiatives on immigration especially. These need to be noted too. Sidibeh wrote: "Apart from Mr Earl F. Hilliard´s association with Ghadaffi, can anyone of the commentators give me a concrete reason why he is bad for his people and why Mr Davis is better? Don`t tell me about health care affordability in the district, persistent poverty and unemployment in the black communities. Those problems are something the black communities are encountering in all American cities. And remember keep his assoication to others out of the equation, if not proven to have effected his work. I just want to know what he has done or left undone for his people." Let me tell you what Earl has not done for his people. He has not introduced ONE bill in the house that has directly affected the social status of his people. " Those problems are something the black communities are encountering in all American cities." I will tell you that he has done little effort in his five terms to alleviate some of those problems for his people. Instead he was busy selling his time and effort in the House to tyrants around the world. I am sure you are aware of the adage " all politics is local." Well Alabama voters have found the alternative they were looking for in Davis. Good night and no hard feelings, just a pathetic thought, as Beran would say. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~